NFL Player News

McCoy was absent from Sunday's practice after injuring his right thumb in Friday's game against the Broncos, John Keim of ESPN.com reports.

McCoy was 3-of-8 passing for 19 yards and was sacked twice by the Broncos defense. The Redskins went out and acquired undrafted free agent quarterback Connor Jessop on Sunday, which could be a move corresponding to McCoy getting injured. As long as the veteran remains out of practice, expect Kevin Hogan to take snaps with the second-team offense.

Allen has been medically cleared after being evaluated for a head injury.

Great news for the Bills after the rookie signal-caller left Sunday's preseason game against the Bengals after being taken down to the ground by a defender and landing awkwardly. He was replaced in the contest by Nathan Peterman and presumably won't return to action Sunday despite being cleared.

Prescott is not in line to play in Sunday's preseason game against the Cardinals, David Moore of The Dallas Morning News reports.

The same applies to running back Ezekiel Elliott, which sets the stage for the duo's next game action to arrive in Week 1 of the regular season, against the Panthers.

Allen left Sunday's game against the Bengals late in the second quarter, presumably to undergo concussion testing, Mike Rodak of ESPN.com reports.

With Allen forced out of the game, Nathan Peterman took over at QB for the Bills. Regardless of whether Allen is medically cleared during halftime, his day is probably done. The Bills' Week 1 QB situation remains cloudy.

Beathard (foot) completed seven of eight pass attempts for 78 yards in Saturday's preseason tilt against the Colts.

Beathard suffered a foot sprain in the 49ers' second preseason game, but his presence in Saturday's contest confirms his good health heading into the regular season. The 23-year-old is a lock to serve as Jimmy Garoppolo's backup this year. With the latter not expected to play in Thursday's preseason finale, Beathard could get some decent run in the club's final tune up against the Chargers.

The quarterback competition between Bridgewater and rookie Sam Darnold may still be ongoing, as SNY NFL Insider Ralph Vacchiano reports that coach Todd Bowles won't name a starting quarterback until at least "sometime next week".

Darnold appears to be the frontrunner for the job after playing the entire first half in each of the team's past two preseason contests, but Bowles isn't quite ready to pull the plug on the quarterback competition. The Jets are likely interested in dealing Bridgewater for a high draft pick if another team's quarterback goes down, so it's still possible he opens the year as the starter to showcase his skills. On the other hand, Bridgewater has only played 16 percent of first-team reps in camp while usually working with backups in the preseason, so the lack of experience with the first unit doesn't bode well for his chances of winning the job.

Darnold has "all but wrapped up the starting job", according to ESPN's Rich Cimini.

While Jets coach Todd Bowles continues to play coy when it comes to the team's Week 1 starter, Cimini is justified in believing Darnold is the clear-cut frontrunner. Teddy Bridgewater has only played 16 percent of first-team reps in camp, with Darnold and Josh McCown splitting the remaining 84 percent almost straight down the middle. McCown has played only one drive in the preseason, though, and Darnold helped his case in Friday's matchup with the Giants by leading a pair of first-half touchdown drives.

Driskel is in a legit job battle with Matt Barkley to be Andy Dalton's backup, Michael LaPlaca of Bengals.com reports.

Driskel has some semblance of upside, having never thrown a pass in an NFL regular season game, whereas Barkley is more of a known commodity. Both have had game-winning touchdowns this preseason, to the extent that matters. Driskel is 20 of 31 for 258 yards and a touchdown, whereas Barkley is 8 of 17 for 118 yards and a touchdown. Playing time for both on Sunday against Buffalo might be sparse, but they could get extensive work in next week's preseason finale.

Coach Hue Jackson said he's leaning toward having Mayfield serve as the Browns' No. 2 QB this season, Mary Kay Cabot of The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.

It's no surprise that the rookie won't supplant Tyrod Taylor (hand) out of the gate, but Mayfield has evidently already overtaken veteran Drew Stanton. With no immediate path to regular-season playing time, Mayfield's early-season fantasy value is minimal, though he profiles as one of the league's highest-upside backups. In the meantime, he's in line to play some snaps in the Browns' preseason finale, but chances are that fellow signal-callers Drew Stanton and Brogan Roback will see the bulk of the work Thursday night against the Lions.

Vikings' head coach Mike Zimmer says there's "no question" that Siemian is the backup quarterback, Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.

Siemian had been competing with Kyle Sloter and Peter Pujals for the backup job in training camp, but Zimmer has put to bed any doubts about the status of the competition. Siemian played in 26 games for the Broncos the past three years, so he'll be an experienced backup behind starting quarterback Kirk Cousins.