NFL Player News

Rudolph completed 20 of 36 passes for 251 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception in Monday's 27-14 win over the Dolphins.

Looking rusty after returning from a concussion suffered in Pittsburgh's Week 4 overtime loss to Baltimore, Rudolph's first pass of the game was intercepted by Xavien Howard. Rudolph continued to struggle and had a second interception reversed and ruled incomplete on the next offensive series. Trailing 14-0 after one quarter, Pittsburgh got things going on offense, including a 45-yard touchdown pass to Diontae Johnson and a 26-yard touchdown pass to JuJu Smith-Schuster. The Steelers have now earned victories in three of their last four games after starting the season 0-3, but this coming Sunday they'll face a tough Indianapolis team that heads into Week 9 on a three-game winning streak.

The Bears will continue starting Trubisky, though the team expects to see improvement soon, Patrick FInley of the Chicago Sun TImes reports.

Coach Matt Nagy explained that Trubisky has time to turn things around this season, and he noted that his quaterback is still learning the offense, though if the mistakes continue, the staff will be forced to make some tough decisions. Obviously, Trubisky hasn't been a solid fantasy option this year, as he's thrown touchdown passes in just two games while his rushing yardage has mostly evaporated from what he produced in 2018. Should he eventually lose the starting job, Chase Daniel would be a slight upgrade for fantasy owners. For now, Trubisky's downside makes him a risky player to trust in fantasy lineups.

Coach Vic Fangio said Monday that Lock's sprained right thumb has healed, Mike Klis of 9News Denver reports. Fangio wouldn't disclose whether Lock would resume practicing this week.

Among their 10 players on injured reserve, the Broncos are considering multiple candidates for their two "designated-to-return" spots. GM John Elway already has suggested that one of those spots will be reserved for receiver Tim Patrick (hand), so the team may want to evaluate Lock for a little longer before deciding whether to commit the other spot to him. Lock's potential return from IR took on greater import Monday, when Fangio revealed that top quarterback Joe Flacco (neck) was dealing with a disc issue that could require season-ending surgery. Fangio has already named Brandon Allen the starter for Sunday's game against the Browns, so Lock -- if he practices this week -- could be activated right away and slot in as the backup. Practice squad quarterback Brett Rypien is another candidate to be added to the 53-man roster.

Interim coach Bill Callahan said Monday that Keenum remains in the NFL's concussion protocol but noted that the quarterback would start Week 9 in Buffalo if cleared to play, Kyle Stackpole of the Redskins' official site reports.

The Redskins currently are viewing Keenum as day-to-day while he works through the protocol. At this point, he hasn't seemed to have made much tangible progress in his recovery since suffering the head injury last Thursday in the loss to the Vikings, as he wasn't cleared for non-contact work during Monday's practice. Dwayne Haskins handled the first-team reps and presumably will be in line for the Week 9 start in the event Keenum is ruled out.

Coach Ron Rivera said Allen will be the Panthers' starting quarterback Sunday against the Titans, Joe Person of The Athletic reports.

Cam Newton remains embedded in his rehab program, with no end in sight to his recovery from a Lisfranc injury in his left foot. As such, Allen will get his sixth consecutive start Week 9, though his output has wavered from week to week. Overall, he's completed 62 percent of his passes, averaged 211.8 passing yards per game and posted a 7:3 TD:INT. He'll aim for a bounce-back effort Sunday versus Tennessee's 15th-ranked pass defense (239.1 yards per game).

Allen will start Sunday's game against the Browns and perhaps beyond that point, Nicki Jhabvala of The Athletic reports.

The Broncos are making a change at QB with Joe Flacco suffering a neck injury. A precise timetable for his recovery isn't known, but it's believed to be a multi-week issue. In Flacco's place, Allen will make his first appearance as a professional after bouncing around three organizations throughout his career.

Darnold sprained his left thumb during Sunday's 29-15 loss at Jacksonville, Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News reports. "This is one of those things that's going to bother him all year, but he's going to play through this," coach Adam Gase said.

Since missing three games due to mononucleosis, Darnold has been all over the place, production-wise, going for 338, 86 and 218 passing yards the past three contests. Fueled by a four-interception performance Week 7 against the Pats, he has a 4:8 TD:INT during that stretch. In the midst of Sunday's game, he was seen with his left thumb wrapped, which since has been diagnosed as a sprain. While the injury may impact his practice reps, Darnold will continue to be under center for the Jets, if Gase's comments are to be believed.

Allen is expected to retain the Panthers' starting quarterback job for the Week 9 game against the Titans with Cam Newton (foot) unlikely to be ready to play, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.

After Newton was shut down following the Panthers' Week 2 loss to the Buccaneers, Allen was mostly dependable over his first four starts, completing 65.6 percent of his passes for 7.4 yards per attempt and a 7:0 TD:INT over that stretch. However, the second-year signal-caller saw his strong run come to a screeching halt Sunday in San Francisco, where he went 19-for-37 for 158 yards, no touchdowns and three picks in a 51-13 blowout loss. The poor showing has strengthened Newton's case for reclaiming the starting gig once he's received full medical clearance, but that apparently isn't expected to happen this week, even though the Panthers are hopeful he'll resume practicing Wednesday. Allen should thus be in line for a sixth consecutive start next weekend and will be looking to rebound after the worst outing of his young career.

Rodgers (knee) completed 23 of 33 pass attempts for 305 yards and three touchdowns while adding 29 rushing yards on six carries in a 31-24 win over Kansas City on Sunday.

Rodgers picked apart a subpar Chiefs defense with ease, focusing his attention on passes to his running backs that were matched up up with linebackers. The former MVP has looked like his prime self over the past two weeks, racking up over 750 yards and nine total touchdowns over that span. Rodgers will take on the Chargers in Week 9, and the key matchup will be San Diego's elite edge rushers versus Green Bay's top-tier offensive tackles. The star quarterback may see his production come back down to earth if coach Matt LaFleur decides to attack the Chargers on the ground (117.1 yards allowed per game), where they have been far more vulnerable in comparison to the pass (216.1 yards allowed per game).

Jones completed 28 of 41 pass attempts for 322 yards and four touchdowns Sunday against the Lions. He also carried four times for 13 yards and lost a fumble in the 31-26 loss.

Jones completed an impressive 68.3 percent of his attempts as he topped the 300-yard mark for the second time in his young career. He also set a new career high with four touchdown passes, including two to Darius Slayton, one to Evan Engram, and one to Sqauon Barkley. Jones had four touchdowns compared to nine turnovers in his previous four games, so this outstanding effort was a pleasant surprise to fantasy owners who were brave enough to start him this time around. He'll now turn his focus to next Monday's home matchup against the Cowboys.