NFL Player News

Grier is expected to get his first NFL start Sunday at Indianapolis, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.

He'll take over for a struggling Kyle Allen, who has quarterbacked the Panthers during their current six-game losing streak. According to Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic, Grier has yet to receive first-team reps in practice, so the 2019 third-round pick will be leading the offense for the first time when Carolina takes the practice field Wednesday.

Coach Pat Shurmur stated Monday that the Giants will proceed with the expectation that Jones (ankle) will be ready to start Week 16 in Washington, but a decision on the rookie's status will be made based on how he progresses as the week rolls along, Ralph Vacchiano of SportsNet New York reports. "We'll just have to see. We'll just push him along like we did last week. We started [last] week with the idea he might be ready to play. We'll do the same this week," Shurmur said.

In other words, the Giants aren't viewing Jones as a shutdown candidate, even with the team sitting at 3-11 and having little to gain by rushing the rookie first-round pick back into action. Jones never advanced beyond limited participation in practice last week before being ruled out two days ahead of Sunday's win over the Dolphins, so he'll probably need to put in a full workout or two during the current week for the Giants to sign off on his availability. Per Art Stapleton of The Bergen Record, Shurmur said Monday that it would be "overthinking it a little bit" for the Giants to give the third option on the depth chart, Alex Tanney, work under center for either of the final two games, so Eli Manning would be in position for a third straight start if Jones fails to gain clearance this week.

Interim coach Perry Fewell said that he's evaluating the Panthers' quarterback position and will announce Wednesday whether Grier or incumbent Kyle Allen draws the Week 16 start in Indianapolis, Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic reports.

Grier, a 2019 third-round pick, has yet to make his NFL debut after opening his rookie campaign third on the depth chart before moving up to the No. 2 spot Week 3, when Cam Newton went down with what ultimately was a season-ending foot injury. Allen guided the offense effectively in the Panthers' first handful of games sans Newton, but the second-year signal-caller has been a turnover machine of late, tossing 15 interceptions -- including three in the Week 15 loss to the Seahawks -- and fumbling seven times (losing three) over the past eight contests. The 5-9 Panthers don't have much at stake over the final two contests, so it makes sense for the organization to give Grier a look and see if he can be a potential long-term answer behind center.

Interim coach Perry Newell said he's evaluating the quarterback position and will announce Wednesday whether Allen or Will Grier draws the start under center Week 16 versus the Colts, Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic reports.

In the aftermath of Allen's other rocky outings this season, Fewell or former coach Ron Rivera have always reaffirmed their faith in the second-year signal-caller by labeling him as the Panthers' starter early in the week. The decision to evaluate the position represents a departure from the norm and may signal the end of Allen's 12-game run atop the depth chart. After posting a 7:0 TD:INT through his first four outings, Allen has been in a tailspin ever since, completing only 60.7 percent of his attempts while tossing 10 touchdowns against 15 picks and losing three fumbles. With the playoffs now out of reach, the 5-9 Panthers may be incentivized to see what Grier -- a rookie third-round pick -- can do over the final two games of the season.

Allen completed 13 of 25 pass attempts for 139 yards, a touchdown and an interception while adding 28 yards and a rushing touchdown on seven carries in Sunday's 17-10 win over Pittsburgh.

It was a classic Allen game from start to finish as he flashed inaccuracies while also making plays when it mattered with both his arm and legs to lead the team to another win. From a fantasy perspective, the strong-armed quarterback doesn't put up gaudy enough passing numbers to warrant "must-start" status, and he usually needs to make some noise with his legs -- as he did with a rushing touchdown Sunday -- to post a big line. Allen may struggle to post a big fantasy game against the tough Patriots defense next week in a Saturday matchup.

Cousins completed 19 of 25 pass attempts for 207 yards, one touchdown, and one interception Sunday against the Chargers, adding 14 rushing yards in the 39-10 victory.

Cousins completed 76 percent of his passes while his team's defense and rushing attack allowed him to take a risk-averse approach. He averaged 8.3 yards per attempt and threw a one-yard touchdown pass to Irv Smith on the opening possession, but the lopsided nature of the game limited the necessity to pass. Next Monday's game against the Packers should be much more competitive, and with Dalvin Cook (shoulder) potentially sidelined, Cousins could be asked to throw early and often.

Prescott completed 15 of 23 passes for 212 yards and two touchdowns in Sunday's 44-21 win over the Rams. He also gained 12 rushing yards on seven carries.

The Cowboys relied on their running game to pound the Rams into submission, but Prescott was deadly when called upon, hitting Jason Witten for a 19-yard TD to open the scoring late in the first quarter and then finding a wide-open Tavon Austin in the second quarter for a 59-yard score. Prescott has fallen behind Jameis Winston in the race for the league's passing-yards crown, but he has bigger fish to fry next Sunday in Philadelphia, as a win would lock up the NFC East title for Dallas.

Garoppolo completed 22 of 34 pass attempts for 200 yards and one touchdown during Sunday's 29-22 loss to Atlanta. He also registered six rushing yards on two carries.

Garoppolo and the 49ers dropped a second game in three weeks, this time in an upset defeat to the Falcons. The 28-year-old quarterback has been contained to 200 or fewer passing yards in two of his past three outings, with the 49ers being held under 23 points during each of those instances. In Garoppolo's other 12 appearances thus far in 2019, San Francisco has been held under 23 points on just two occasions, and he is averaging 240 passing yards per game. Garoppolo is liable to piece together an impressive stat sheet any given Sunday, but his odds are less than favorable with a Week 16 matchup against the Rams' top-10 pass defense awaiting on the docket.

Goff completed 33 of 51 passes for 284 yards and two touchdowns with one interception in Sunday's 44-21 loss to the Cowboys.

The quarterback was frankly awful to begin the game, consistently under or overthrowing his targets as the Rams fell into a 28-7 hole heading into halftime, but Goff was able to pile up some yards and an extra TD in the fourth quarter when the game was out of reach. He also banged his thumb on a helmet in the second quarter and appeared to be in some pain, but he stayed in the game and the issue didn't seem to make his accuracy any worse. Goff has tossed multiple TDs in three straight games and now sits only four yards shy of his second straight 4,000-yard campaign, but with the team all but eliminated from the postseason with this loss, personal milestones and the chance to play spoiler are all he has to play for in next Saturday's road clash with the 49ers.

Carr completed 22 of 36 passes for 267 yards and a touchdown in Sunday's 20-16 loss to the Jaguars.

The Raiders seemed to have things well in hand when they took a 16-3 lead into halftime, but Carr couldn't get anything going in the second half as the team ultimately lost its final game in Oakland. The passing yards were actually his highest total since Week 11, and Carr could struggle to be even that productive in next Sunday's road game against a Chargers' defense that held him to 218 yards and one TD in their prior meeting this season.