NFL Player News

McCown (shoulder) didn't play in Saturday's preseason win against the Colts.

After serving solely as the holder during the Hall of Fame Game, McCown was less than inspiring in preseason Week 1 against the Rams, completing six of 13 passes for 31 yards with no touchdowns, no interceptions and two fumbles, one of which he lost. He suffered the injury in the latter outing and has subsequently been held out of practice. Because Kellen Moore has underwhelmed as well during exhibition season, undrafted rookie Cooper Rush has staked his claim to a job with impressive performances, albeit against lesser competition late in games.

Petty completed 15 of 24 passes for 160 yards and one interception during Saturday's preseason loss to the Lions.

Petty, who played the entire second half, looked much more comfortable leading the offense than Christian Hackenberg did in the first half. Then again, Petty played against the Lions' backups, while Hackenberg mostly went up against first-team players. While it's dangerous to draw too many conclusions from preseason, Saturday's game simply confirmed what the Jets probably already knew: Josh McCown will give them the best chance to win games in 2017.

Dobbs completed 10 of 19 passes for 70 yards and a pick in Sunday's preseason win over Atlanta.

With Ben Roethisberger and Landry Jones both nursing injuries, Dobbs got the start for a second straight exhibition on Sunday. While the final product wasn't inspiring, he showed good pocket mobility and had a nice 23-yard strike to Martavis Bryant. Dobbs, recently removed from Tennessee's spread attack, is likely a developmental prospect that won't see the field any time soon. On the other hand, Pittsburgh is just two seasons removed from having to turn to a third-string quarterback, a product of Roethlisberger's style of play and expansive injury history.

Heinicke has an undisclosed injury that isn't thought be much of a concern at the moment, Andrew Krammer of The Star Tribune reports.

The key takeaway is that Heinicke's injury doesn't appear to be serious. Heinicke likely won't have much of a fantasy impact this season given his status on the team's depth chart.

Trubisky completed six of eight passes for 60 yards and a touchdown in Saturday's victory against the Cardinals.

The Chicago coaching staff continued to use their rookie quarterback on rollouts to try to keep him comfortable as he acclimates to NFL defenses. Trubisky took his only sack on a third-down play in which he was stationed in the pocket. For him to reach his full potential, he'll need to show the ability to work from the pocket on a regular basis. Overall, however, he's having an excellent preseason, and it appears to be just a matter of time until he takes over as the starting quarterback.

Mariota is expected to play at least the first half of the Titans' third preseason game against the Bears, Jim Wyatt of the team's official site reports.

After attempting 11 passes through the first two games of the preseason, Mariota should at least match that total against the Bears since the third exhibition is typically regarded as a dress rehearsal for the regular season. While the signal caller could be without two of his top pass catchers in Corey Davis (hamstring) and Eric Decker (ankle), he'll still have his most trusted targets from a season ago (Rishard Matthews, Delanie Walker), not to mention explosive rookies Taywan Taylor and Jonnu Smith.

Rush completed eight of nine passes for 92 yards and two touchdowns in Saturday's preseason game against the Colts.

For the second straight game, Rush badly outplayed presumed Cowboys No. 2 QB Kellen Moore, and it's becoming a distinct possibility that the undrafted rookie will win the backup spot behind Dak Prescott. Dallas trusts Moore's intelligence and familiarity with coordinator Scott Linehan's offense in that role, but if Rush continues to put up big numbers in the preseason and makes it too risky for the team to try and place him on the practice squad, they may have little choice but to keep him on the 53-man roster in Moore's place.

Watson completed three of 10 passes for 102 yards and added four rushes for 10 yards and a touchdown in Saturday's 27-23 preseason win over the Patriots.

The rookie took a step back in the passing game, although he did connect with fellow first-year man D'Onta Foreman for a 63-yard catch-and-run that put the ball at the Patriots' four-yard line midway through the third quarter. Watson was able to take it in himself two plays later from two yards out, giving him two rushing touchdowns over his first two exhibitions. The 2017 first-round pick looks very likely to start the season behind Tom Savage, who's been razor-sharp thus far in preseason. However, the playmaking dimension Watson brings to the table is likely to push the issue sooner or later. Watson figures to see another healthy dose of playing time when the Texans take on the Saints next Saturday in their third preseason contest.

Stafford completed eight of 10 passes for 84 yards and a touchdown during Saturday's preseason win over the Jets.

Stafford led two scoring drives in three series before calling it a successful night Saturday. He projects to turn in another solid fantasy campaign, but unless Detroit abandons the dink-and-dunk offense it leaned on in 2016, his overall upside is likely capped. The pieces are in place for the passing attack to take a step forward, and Stafford also offers sneaky value on the ground. He's willing to scramble to extend the play and isn't afraid to call his own number at the goal line.

Savage completed eight of nine passes for 98 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions in Saturday's 27-23 preseason win over the Patriots.

Savage has been getting pushed by rookie Deshaun Watson, but he likely took a major step towards locking up the starting job with Saturday's performance. The 27-year-old relied heavily on receiver Bruce Ellington in the Texans' first possession and capped off a subsequent 11-play, 58-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown pass to receiver Jaelen Strong. Savage has now impressively completed 17 of 20 passes over two preseason contests, and he'll look to make an even stronger case to retain the top spot when the Texans tangle with the Saints next Saturday in their third preseason contest.