NFL Player News

Bridgewater (illness) completed 15 of 26 passes for 126 yards with zero touchdowns or interceptions in Saturday's preseason game against the Jets.

Bridgewater played through the illness in the previous preseason contest but looked significantly more comfortable Saturday. The 26-year-old remains primed to begin the season as the Saints' top backup behind Drew Brees.

Carr has the green light to go deep more often this season, Vic Tafur of The Athletic reports. "The better your receivers are, the more aggressive you are," coach Jon Gruden said. "And the better your line is, the more vertical shots you can call. We think we are better on the line. We think we are better outside. With that being said, we are going to take more shots, I hope."

There's no question about offseason acquisitions Antonio Brown and Tyrell Williams providing more of a deep threat, but Gruden's analysis of the offensive line is optimistic, especially with both starting guards out at the beginning of the season. Carr specifically mentioned throwing deep to Williams, whose average depth of target (12.4) in 2018 ranked 16th among 62 wide receivers with 40 or more catches. Carr placed 31st among 33 qualified passers in aDOT (7.3) last year, with Jordy Nelson (9.2 aDOT), Seth Roberts (8.7), Jared Cook (8.0) and Jalen Richard (1.5) dominating the targets in Oakland. It sounds like the Raiders will make a concerted effort to be more aggressive, though a Week 1 matchup with the Denver secondary might encourage a return to the familiar dinking and dunking. Carr threw just two passes in the preseason, completing both for 40 yards and a touchdown.

Jackson told Adam Schein of Mad Dog Sports Radio on Monday that he would like to throw about 30 passes per game, with fewer designed quarterback runs built into the offense.

Including the playoffs, Jackson averaged 23.4 pass attempts and 16 carries in eight starts last season, producing 7.0 YPA and 4.8 YPC. The rushing volume probably isn't sustainable long term, but it could be temporarily buoyed by the Ravens bringing in offensive coordinator Greg Roman, who previously oversaw prolific rushing seasons from Colin Kaepernick and Tyrod Taylor. There's also the matter of coach John Harbaugh recently telling reporters to "take the over" when he was asked about Jackson's rushing volume relative to Cam Newton's career-high mark of 139 carries. On the other hand, Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti suggested Jackson won't run as much this season, a sentiment the quarterback seems to support. Of course, there's room for Jackson to lose a good portion of last year's per-game rushing volume and still easily lead all quarterbacks in carries. For what it's worth -- probably not much -- he had 16 pass attempts (10 completions for 117 yards and a score) and just two carries for 14 yards in two preseason games. Jackson starts the regular season with a favorable schedule, traveling to Miami in Week 1 before returning to Baltimore to face the Cardinals in Week 2.

Browns head coach Freddie Kitchens acknowledged Mayfield was off during last week's preseason game against the Buccaneers but offered a defense for his quarterback, Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.

Mayfield completed just 10 of 26 throws for 72 yards and an interception for a quarterback rating of 30.6, but the coach understands a lot goes into the offense beyond the quarterback's statistics. "Baker was not the sharpest tool in the shed, but there's so much of it that goes into making him look more sharp. I think collectively, O line, tight ends, running backs, wide receivers and quarterback, we were off and that can't happen," said Kitchens. Indeed, there were dropped passes, shaky protection and errant routes in addition to Mayfield's off-target throws. Several starters were held out, too, but the personnel got a boost this week with the return of Odell Beckham Jr. and David Njoku to practice Monday.

Jones will start at quarterback in the Chargers' regular-season finale on Thursday, Gilbert Manzano of the Orange County Register reports.

With Thursday being the final preseason game, the Chargers will want to get a good look at all their reserves. With that, Jones will get the opportunity to prove himself against the 49ers in a fight for the No. 3 quarterback spot on the final roster.

Rudolph completed six of nine passes for 75 yards with one touchdown and one interception in Sunday's 18-6 preseason win over Tennessee.

Fighting to overtake Joshua Dobbs on the quarterback depth chart, Rudolph looked good for a third straight game, with the highlight coming on a connection with James Washington deep down the middle for a 41-yard touchdown. The interception -- also intended for Washington -- was his first of the preseason. The Steelers have one more contest before the games actually count, Thursday on the road against the Panthers.

Dobbs completed four of nine passes for 79 yards and an interception in Sunday's 18-6 preseason win over Tennessee. He also ran five times for 10 yards.

Dobbs was outperformed by Mason Rudolph for the third time in three games but will have one last chance to prove he deserves to be Ben Roethlisberger's backup in the final preseason game Thursday against the Panthers.

Coach Frank Reich expressed his confidence in Brissett during a Monday press conference in the wake of Andrew Luck's retirement, Zak Keefer of The Athletic reports. "We are in good hands with Jacoby Brissett as our starting quarterback," Reich noted.

Brissett has a full season as the team's starter under his belt, as he filled in for Luck in 2017, en route to logging 3,098 passing yards and a 13:7 TD:INT to go along with 63 carries for 260 yards and four rushing scores. While he's not the passer Luck is and therefore not expected to come close to replicating the numbers of the player he replaces, it's reasonable to expect Brissett to put up more production this time around, protected by a strong offensive line and bolstered by a solid supporting cast that includes the likes of T.Y Hilton, Devin Funchess, Marlon Mack and tight ends Eric Ebron and Jack Doyle.

Mariota did not complete any of his three pass attempts before exiting Sunday's 18-6 preseason loss to Pittsburgh.

Mariota was removed after just two brief drives, only contributing points for Pittsburgh (a safety). The signal caller barely had any time to operate behind an offensive line that was abused by the Steelers defense. That may be why Mariota was pulled by head coach Mike Vrabel so early, as to not risk his oft-injured starter's health in an unfavorable situation. The 25-year-old was recently confirmed as the team's starter, but Mariota has a lot to prove in the final year of his rookie contract after four seasons of inconsistent play.

Beathard was not used in Saturday's dress rehearsal preseason game against the Chiefs.

Beathard was not listed on the injury report, so Saturday's absence heavily signifies that Nick Mullens will be Jimmy Garoppolo's primary backup to begin the regular season. That said, head coach Kyle Shanahan stated that the 49ers will unconventionally keep all three of its signal callers this season, Cam Inman of The Mercury News reports. The possibility remains that one of the NFL-capable backups is traded before the season (potentially to Indianapolis following Andrew Luck's sudden retirement).