NFL Player News

Rodgers (knee) was a participant at Saturday's practice, Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com reports.

It was the first practice session Rodgers was able to participate in since spraining his knee in last week's season-opening win over the Bears. While his involvement is certainly encouraging, it does not guarantee he will be able to suit up for Sunday's matchup with the Vikings. Still, he appears to be trending in the right direction at this point.

Coach Mike Vrabel said he expects both Gabbert and Marcus Mariota (elbow) to get playing time in Sunday's game against the Texans, ESPN.com's Turron Davenport reports. "We are evaluating. Marcus is going to do everything he can to get ready, like every player is going to do," Vrabel said after Friday's practice. "I would anticipate both of those guys playing at some point and time."

This is shaping up as a situation to avoid for fantasy purposes, especially with the Titans missing both starting tackles for a matchup against a tough defensive front. Mariota was a full practice participant to start the week, but his availability for Sunday came into question after he scaled back to limited participation Thursday and Friday. With Mariota listed as questionable on the final injury report, Gabbert could get his first start in a Tennessee uniform. There's apparently also some chance of Vrabel splitting snaps between the two quarterbacks -- a tactic rarely seen in the NFL.

Mariota (right elbow) is listed as questionable for Sunday's game against the Texans after practicing in a limited fashion both Thursday and Friday, ESPN's Turron Davenport reports.

It sounds as though Mariota will probably suit up for Sunday's 1:00 PM ET contest, but coach Mike Vrabel threw fantasy observers a curveball Friday by noting that he expects both Mariota and Blaine Gabbert to play Week 2. "We are evaluating. Marcus is going to do everything he can to get ready, like every player is going to do," Vrabel noted after Friday's practice. "I would anticipate both of those guys playing at some point and time." If that tricky context isn't modified in Mariota's favor before game time, he'll be a risky lineup roll this weekend.

Rodgers (knee) didn't practice Friday and is listed as questionable for Sunday's game against Minnesota, Ryan Wood of the Green Bay Press-Gazette reports.

Rodgers didn't practice in any capacity this week, but both he and coach Mike McCarthy said the quarterback's knee has been feeling better. This could come down to a game-time decision ahead of Sunday's 1 p.m. EDT kickoff, with DeShone Kizer expected to start if Rodgers is ultimately ruled out.

With Mariota (elbow) still being evaluated, coach Mike Vrabel suggested Friday that he expects both Blaine Gabbert and Mariota to play Sunday against the Texans, Jim Wyatt of the Titans' official site reports.

That's not the most fantasy-friendly nugget, and unless there's added clarity on that front, Mariota will be a risky Week 2 roll. Look for the QB to be officially listed as questionable once the Titans issue their final injury report of the week later Friday.

Head coach Mike McCarthy said Friday morning that Rodgers (knee) is "getting better" and that "he feels better than he did at the beginning of the week," Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

McCarthy's comments don't provide any evidence one way or another in regards to Rodgers' availability for Sunday's game against the Vikings, but it is encouraging to hear Rodgers is progressing in the right direction. McCarthy did add that Saturday's practice will be important for Rodgers, so it could be a day or two until his Week 2 status is ultimately decided. More updates regarding Rodgers' status are sure to come leading up to Sunday's kickoff, but for now, he remains day-to-day.

Dalton completed 24 of 42 passes for 265 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions in the Bengals' 34-23 win over the Ravens on Thursday.

As his numbers imply, Dalton was brilliant, particularly during a first half when he connected with A.J. Green for touchdowns of four, 32 and seven yards. He notched his fourth and final score of the contest before halftime as well, hitting Tyler Boyd from 14 yards out with 2:58 remaining in the second quarter to give the Bengals a seemingly commanding 28-7 lead at the time. Through two games, Dalton now has an impressive 6:1 TD:INT to go along with 508 yards, numbers he'll look to continue building on against the Panthers in Week 3.

Titans head coach remains optimistic that Mariota (elbow) will play Sunday against the Texans, despite the quarterback being limited in Thursday's practice, Jim Wyatt of the team's official site reports.

While Mariota still seems to be trending toward playing Week 2, enthusiasm about his availability was dampened a bit after he followed up a full practice session Wednesday with a limited one. Vrabel indicated that Mariota didn't experience a setback with his right elbow and instead had his reps capped so the Titans could get a better evaluation of backup Blaine Gabbert in the event the Mariota doesn't make the progress the team expects him to by the time Sunday arrives. If Mariota is able to return to full participation by Friday, it would certainly help allay some of the lingering concern about his health heading into the weekend.

Dobbs has been taking reps with the first-team offense this week with Ben Roethlisberger (elbow) sitting out practices Wednesday and Thursday, Chris Adamski of TribLive.com reports.

While it's generally expected that Roethlisberger will play through any lingering pain and suit up Sunday against the Chiefs, his back-to-back absences from practice create more uncertainty about his status than initially anticipated. After beating out rookie Mason Rudolph for the top backup job during the preseason, Dobbs would be the first man up if Roethlisberger ends up being unavailable at any point. Dobbs brings intriguing athleticism and arm talent to the position, but his lack of regular-season experience would make it difficult to justify using him outside of two-quarterback or quarterback-flex leagues if he were to receive the start in Week 2.

Coach Mike Vrabel relayed that Mariota (right elbow) was limited at practice Thursday, Jim Wyatt of the Titans' official site reports.

Mariota was listed as a full practice participant Wednesday and with no reported setbacks, for now we'll operate under the assumption that his limitations Thursday were maintenance-related.