NFL Player News

Darnold will start Thursday night's preseason tilt against Washington, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.

Darnold is gaining momentum in his quest to open the regular season as the Jets' starting QB over veteran signal-callers Josh McCown and Teddy Bridgewater. Per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, the rookie is expected to garner "extensive snaps" Thursday, which sets the stage for Darnold to carve out DFS utility this week.

Garoppolo will play at least one series during Saturday's preseason game in Houston, Matt Barrows of The Athletic Bay Area reports. "I see it [his playing time] pretty similar to the first game," coach Kyle Shanahan said Thursday. "We'll feel it out. But he'll probably go a little more. I wouldn't expect much more."

Garoppolo was contained to one series last Thursday against the Cowboys, completing three of six passes for 34 yards. Among the attempts, three were directed at Marquise Goodwin, who has developed into Garoppolo's favorite target in his first training camp with the 49ers. With regard to this next exhibition, Garoppolo won't have three key members of the offense -- running backs Jerick McKinnon (calf) and Matt Breida (shoulder), plus tight end George Kittle (shoulder) -- at his disposal, so Shanahan can't be blamed for yanking the quarterback after just 1-2 possessions.

Darnold is "trending toward the opening-day start" at QB for the Jets, per ESPN's Rich Cimini.

That's a notion echoed by Manish Mehta of the Daily News, who states that "it'd be an upset if Darnold isn't the Week 1 starter." Darnold is expected to see plenty of action in Thursday night's preseason game against Washington and barring a regression in that contest, it may be hard to stop the momentum that the No. 3 overall pick in April's draft has built toward the goal of officially overtaking veteran signal-callers Josh McCown and Teddy Bridgewater.

Coach Bill O'Brien said Watson will have a similar workload in Saturday's preseason game against the 49ers as he had in the first exhibition game, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Watson was in for one drive in the preseason opener against the Chiefs, completing his only pass for four yards. The second-year pro is coming off a torn right ACL that sidelined him for the final nine games of the 2017 season, so any preseason workload, albeit small, proves he's on track to start Week 1. O'Brien also added that the starters are getting plenty of practice reps, and it's clear he doesn't want to risk injuries for Watson or the team's other starters.

Darnold is expected to play extensive snaps in Thursday's preseason game against the Redskins, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.

Darnold completed 13 of 18 passes for 96 yards, one touchdown and zero interceptions in his first preseason action against the Falcons. He also ran twice for eight yards. Rapoport added that Darnold could "solidify his hold on the starting job" with another strong performance, though note that veteran signal-callers Josh McCown and Teddy Bridgewater remain on hand to helm the offense in the event that the Jets elect to ease Darnold into his destined role as the team's franchise QB. In any case, the rookie could be a decent DFS option this week, with a number of high-profile established quarterbacks destined to see little-to-no-action in preseason Week 2.

Morris was released by the Texans, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Morris was the fourth quarterback on the depth chart and was deemed superfluous after the Texans signed placekicker Nick Rose. With starting kicker Ka'imi Fairbairn nursing a minor injury that could prevent him from participating in this week's preseason matchup against the 49ers on Saturday, Rose was signed and a roster spot was needed. Morris has previous stints with Washington, Seattle, Philadelphia and Jacksonville, though he's yet to appear in a regular-season game.

Mayfield should again see a significant amount of playing time during Friday's preseason game against the Bills, Mary Kay Cabot of The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.

Two caveats apply here: current No. 1 quarterback Tyrod Taylor is expected to play more than two series Friday, while head coach Hue Jackson reportedly also wants to see veteran Drew Stanton take some reps. With only so many snaps to go around, this likely means that Mayfield will wind up seeing less action than he did in the preseason opener, when he checked in during the first quarter and didn't leave until the fourth. Mayfield is still a viable target in preseason DFS contests nonetheless, but it might be a stretch to expect him to approach 20 pass attempts again.

Browns head coach Hue Jackson said Taylor will play more than two drives in Friday's preseason game against the Bills, Mary Kay Cabot of The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.

Taylor was sharp on two drives in last week's preseason opener against the Giants, completing all five of his pass attempts for 99 yards and a touchdown. Baker Mayfield then handled the vast majority of playing time under center after the first quarter, throwing for 212 yards and a pair of scores. While Mayfield's professional debut was impressive, Jackson has been adamant that Taylor will be the team's Week 1 starter.

Allen practiced with the second team for the third straight day Wednesday, Chris Brown of the Bills' official site reports.

It looks as though Allen is on track to see time with the second-team offense during Friday's exhibition against the Browns, but that doesn't mean he's passed AJ McCarron or Nathan Peterman in the battle for the top job. More likely, the Bills want to give the prized rookie a good test in the second preseason game, and preferred not to throw him out there without any prior familiarity with second team. Allen impressed while running the third unit in the preseason opener, so another good showing Friday would help his case for climbing the depth chart.

Dobbs will split playing time with Mason Rudolph in Thursday night's preseason game at Green Bay, Bob Labriola of Steelers.com reports. According to coach Mike Tomlin, the plan is "to focus on the young quarterbacks. They're going to play and play exclusively."

The news of Ben Roethlisberger being evaluated as part of the league's concussion protocol likely had no bearing on this decision, as Tomlin added that Landry Jones will also sit this one out. Dobbs was third on the depth chart behind Roethlisberger and Jones last season, never taking a single snap, and the addition of Rudolph could result in either Dobbs or Jones failing to make the roster coming out of camp.