NFL Player News

Taylor is expected to make an early exit from Friday's preseason game against Washington, the Bills' official website reports.

While most teams give their starters extended run in the third preseason game, Buffalo is holding out a slew of healthy first-teamers, including LeSean McCoy and Charles Clay. Though not expected to sit entirely, Taylor may only play a series or two in Friday's game, likely staying in for as long as Sammy Watkins (foot) does. Watkins will be making his first appearance of the preseason.

Rodgers (rest) will play in Friday's Week 3 matchup against the 49ers, Bob Holtzman of ESPN reports.

Rodgers has not played yet this preseason, as the Packers have opted to keep their star quarterback off the field in exhibition games. He's not expected to see more than a quarter of action Friday, just to clear the cobwebs with some live action in advance of the regular season.

Siemian (shoulder) will play "a lot" in Saturday's preseason game against the Rams, said head coach Gary Kubiak on Thursday.

Although he was limited in practice earlier in the week with a sore shoulder, Siemian has shown the coaching staff over the last few days that he'll be ready when the Broncos take the field Saturday. Given that starters play most of the game during the third week of the preseason and Kubiak said that Siemian will play a lot, it appears that the Northwestern product will be getting the start against Los Angeles.

Tannehill completed 20 of 29 passes for 155 yards with no touchdowns and an interception in Thursday's 17-6 preseason victory over the Falcons. He also gained 22 yards on two rushes.

He looked mostly sharp for the second consecutive game, with even his interception coming as a result of a tipped pass at the line of scrimmage that diverted a throw intended for Kenny Stills. Tannehill once again looked comfortable and smooth in his handling of the offense, even rattling off a 22-yard gain on a designed run. He displayed solid rapport with Kenny Stills for the second straight game, while also finding favorite target Jarvis Landry on four occasions as well. The fifth-year pro seems to have taken extremely well to the pace that Adam Gase's offense dictates, and his preseason play could certainly be a harbinger of what might be his most prolific year yet.

Smith is slated to be the first quarterback off the bench during Saturday night's preseason game against the Giants, ESPN.com reports.

Smith appears to be the front-runner to serve as Ryan Fitzpatrick's top backup this season, but things are still somewhat fluid on that front, given that Bryce Petty is still in the mix and second-round draft pick Christian Hackenberg figures to be a virtual lock to make the Jets' roster.

Heinicke (ankle) has shed the walking boot he wore to protect his foot from further injury, Scout.com reports.

Heinicke declined to talk about his injury after practice, reportedly saying it was time to go lift weights. If those were indeed his plans, his foot may be further along than anticipated. However, Shaun Hill has done nothing to relinquish his role as the backup to starter Teddy Bridgewater, and the Vikings project to carry only two quarterbacks on their active roster entering the regular season. Ultimately, Heinicke appears destined for either the practice squad or injured reserve list in 2016.

Stafford acknowledged the complexity of OC Jim Bob Cooter's offense, but believes the Lions' offense will be "dangerous" once players are able to fully learn the system, the Detroit Free Press reports.

Calvin Johnson's retirement signaled the end of an era in Motown, and the Detroit front office presumably understood the team can't employ the same offensive game plan anymore. Hence, the Lions installed a "newfangled, whiz-bang, up-tempo, no-huddle offense" this spring. Fundamentally, the idea is to tire the defense as well as limit the other team's ability to both substitute players and call plays to counter the offense. However, the scheme's watchword is communication, as Cooter devised a way to allow Stafford to realign the offensive formation and call plays with a system of simple commands. In the past, simplicity has benefitted Stafford, most recently when Cooter took control of the offense in the midst of the 2015 campaign. Here, Stafford did not experience an increase in attempted passes, but rather an increase in per-clip efficiency. Case in point, Stafford's final eight games in 2015 extrapolate to a highly-efficient 4,358-yard, 38-touchdown, four-interception stat line across 16 games while his first-half numbers project an underwhelming line of 4,166 yards, 26 touchdowns and 22 interceptions. Those two sets of numbers could very well represent Stafford's ceiling and floor entering the 2016 campaign. Regardless, Stafford appears poised to continue on his current trajectory and resume his late-2015 efficiency come the start of the regular season against the Colts' injury-marred secondary.

Siemian (shoulder) was able to make throws at practice Wednesday, James Palmer of NFL Network reports.

A sore shoulder has limited Siemian's activity level of late and even forced the quarterback to nix throwing from his workload Tuesday. Just one day later, though, he was easing into tosses, backing up his "day-to-day" status. With that knowledge, he'll start Saturday's preseason game versus the Rams, assuming any lingering discomfort has subsided.

Bridgewater (shoulder) said he plans to play in Sunday's preseason game, and head coach Mike Zimmer said he hasn't decided how many possessions he'll receive, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. Zimmer said Bridgewater had no limitations in Tuesday's practice, Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.

Bridgewater was held out of Minnesota's second preseason game and didn't throw during pracice Saturday and Sunday. However, his return to practice Tuesday without any limitations should alleviate any concerns about his status for the start of the regular season, even if he doesn't play in the preseason again.

Head coach Chip Kelly has yet to name the 49ers' starting quarterback due to Colin Kaepernick's shoulder concern, Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com reports. "It's a competition, and Kap hasn't had a chance to perform yet," offensive coordinator Curtis Modkins said. "So, when that happens and when coach [Kelly] feels like it's time, we'll do that. But right now it's not time."

Entering training camp as the co-No. 1 quarterbacks, Gabbert and Kaepernick were expected to split reps with the first-team offense in both practices and games, but the latter's bout with "dead arm" has forced Kelly to shelve his decision for the time being. With Kaepernick logging full practices both Monday and Tuesday, he declared an expectation that he'll play in Friday's exhibition against the Packers, which should reopen the battle for the top QB job in San Francisco. In six total drives this preseason, Gabbert has produced 14 points, while completing 10 of 19 passes for 132 yards and one touchdown.