NFL Player News

Keenum replaced an injured Sam Bradford (knee) in the second quarter of Monday's 20-17 win at Chicago and was 17 of 21 passing for 140 yards and a touchdown.

Bradford aggravated a knee injury, and his status for next week is in doubt, making it look likely Keenum will start against Green Bay. However, a decision on Minnesota's starting quarterback may not come until later in the week. Keenum bounced back from a disappointing performance last week against Detroit as he made several big plays in the second half to lead the team to a win.

Bradford has been ruled out for the remainder of Monday's game against the Bears after appearing to aggravate his injured left knee, Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun Times reports.

Bradford had been struggling to get anything going offensively all night, although it's fair to wonder if his performance was compromised by his physical condition. Now that he's been pulled for the game, Case Keenum will take the reins of the Vikings offense.

Bradford (knee) is active for Monday's contest in Chicago, Ben Goessling of the Minneapolis Star Tribunereports.

Bradford preceded his first game action since Week 1 with limited practices both Thursday and Friday. Head coach Mike Zimmer was coy with Bradford's potential to return after Friday's session, but he revealed Sunday evening that he expected the veteran quarterback to play Monday, per Courtney Cronin of ESPN.com. After taking part in pregame warmups for the first time since Week 2, Bradford indeed will make his second start of the season against the Bears' 12th-ranked pass defense.

Head coach Jack Del Rio said Monday that he believes Carr (back) will return to action Sunday versus the Chargers, Michael Gehlken of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.

After suffering a transverse process fracture in his back in Week 4, Carr was handed a 2-to-6 week timetable to return. He appeared to expedite his recovery with limited participation in each practice last week and receiving a questionable designation for Sunday's game against the Ravens. Ultimately, he was termed inactive, but another week of rehab and reps will seemingly aid in Carr's ability to play. His activity level at Wednesday's practice will give a decent indication of his odds to suit up this Sunday.

Lynch (shoulder) will begin throwing at a distance of 10 yards next week, Troy Renck of Denver 7 News reports.

Lynch initially was expected to miss five weeks, but that timeline has already passed and he hasn't even started a throwing program. Brock Osweiler could end up serving as Trevor Siemian's backup for the entire season.

Lions head coach Jim Caldwell said that Stafford was "sore" after sustaining a right leg/ankle injury in Sunday's 27-24 loss to the Panthers, but declined to elaborate on the extent of the issue, Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com reports. "I think like most of the guys, [Stafford is] pretty sore after a game," Caldwell said. "The rest of it, you'll just have to wait for the injury report."

Caldwell refused to say whether Stafford needed X-rays on his leg after the game, so it appears more information on the quarterback's health may not be known until the Lions resume practicing Wednesday. Stafford, who suffered the injury in the second half, returned to the game and led the Lions to two touchdown drives, but was visibly hobbling up and down the field. Per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Stafford's ankle and quad area were also heavily taped at the end of the game, so it wouldn't be surprising if the Lions limited his practice time this week in an effort to get him as healthy as possible for next Sunday's game against the Saints. Stafford has routinely played through injuries throughout his career and hasn't missed a game since 2010, so the early expectation is that he'll suit up against New Orleans, even if he remains at well below 100 percent health.

Titans coach Mike Mularkey disputed a report that Mariota (hamstring) will need 2-to-4 weeks to recover from his injury, Jason Wolf of The Tennessean reports. "You can listen to NFL Network or you can listen to me," Mularkey said after Sunday's 16-10 loss to the Dolphins. "When I say day-to-day, I tell you like it is."

Mularkey said his quarterback is still day-to-day, yet he also admitted that Mariota didn't come close to playing in Sunday's loss. Based on the early comments, this already seems to be headed for another 'questionable' designation and game-time decision for Week 6 against the Colts on Monday Night Football. It would be highly encouraging if Mariota logged a full practice by the end of the week. He was a limited participant in each Week 5 practice.

Bridgewater (knee) is expected to practice soon after Week 6, provided his rehabilitation continues without setbacks, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.

Bridgewater has not returned to practice since suffering a torn ACL during training camp in 2016. His progress is reported to be going well. Once he returns to practice, the Vikings will have a three-week window to decide whether to activate him from the PUP list. With Sam Bradford's left knee issues, it's possible Bridgewater could be an option at quarterback in the second half of the season. However, his activation could also become a contract issue as the Vikings may be motivated to keep him on the PUP list all season, as it would extend his rookie contract another year and delay his free agency until at least 2019.

With Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer indicating that he "anticipates" Sam Bradford (knee) to play Monday against the Bears, Keenum will likely settle back into his normal backup role, Courtney Cronin of ESPN.com reports.

Keenum has had the keys to the Vikings' offense the last three weeks after Bradford came out of the team's season-opening win over the Saints with a bone bruise in his surgically repaired left knee. Though the Vikings have won just one of the three games Keenum has started, the 29-year-old has proven capable under center, completing 61 percent of his passes for 755 yards, three touchdowns and no turnovers. Despite his solid performance, Keenum won't present a serious threat to Bradford if the latter is reasonably healthy, which now seems to be the case. So long as Bradford, who is officially listed as a game-time decision, makes it through pregame warmups without issue, Keenum will be holding a clipboard in Week 5.

Watson completed 16 of 31 passes for 261 yards and five touchdowns during Sunday's 42-34 loss to the Chiefs. He added 31 rushing yards on three carries.

Watson's final stat line isn't quite as impressive as it seems, considering he racked up 112 passing yards and two touchdowns in garbage time. Still, fantasy owners will take it. From a real-life perspective, though, Watson displayed a Russell Wilson-esque ability to navigate collapsing pockets that bought him the time to throw deep on multiple occasions -- which, given the success Watson had in throwing jump balls Sunday, seems to add an explosive vertical element to the Texans offense that they haven't had in a long time. We'll see if the rookie gunslinger can keep it going in Week 6 against a soft Browns pass defense that's allowed the fourth-most yards per pass attempt in 2017.