NFL Player News

New Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson plans to emphasize the running game more as a way of taking pressure off quarterback Andy Dalton, reports ESPN.com. "You have to have the threat of running the ball and the threat of being a physical unit in order to last for the duration of the season," Jackson said.

Jackson added that Dalton has the makeup to be one of the league's top quarterbacks.

"What I've got to do is just continue to push, prod, pull, motivate, support him and the rest of this offensive unit, and then we've got to pick up the pieces everywhere else to give him a chance to do his job," Jackson said. "If we do that, this young man will be right where he needs to be."

Texans backup quarterbacks T.J. Yates and Case Keenum are expected to compete for one roster spot this summer, the Houston Chronicle reports. The Texans figure to draft a quarterback in early May and have already signed Ryan Fitzpatrick to a contract this spring. 

Quarterback Colt McCoy signed with the Redskins. He appeared in four games for the 49ers last year after spending his first three seasons with Cleveland. McCoy heads to Washington as the No. 3 QB behind Robert Griffin III and Kirk Cousins.

Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson is setting a lofty goal after winning the Super Bowl. "Why can't I be the best quarterback to ever play the game one day?' Wilson said, per ESPN.com. "I'm not right now. I've got a long way to go. But one day, you know?"

Wilson said he was inspired by his late father, who always used to tell him: "Russ, why not you?"

Wilson said he's going through "a championship offseason" and that he and his teammates are hungry for another title, the report said.

The Lions signed quarterback Dan Orlovsky to a one-year deal. He'll replace Shaun Hill as the backup to Matthew Stafford.

The Packers finally have a running back in Eddie Lacy who can take pressure off Aaron Rodgers and the passing game, reports the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Defenses won't be able to let their safeties sit back in coverage.

“You hope they play you two-shell defense all day when Eddie’s in the backfield,” coach Mike McCarthy told the paper. “But there’s more to it than that, too, because you don’t want to be one-dimensional one way or the other. We’ve lived that life where we were heavy one-dimensional throwing it, and you’d like to have balance. It makes it easier, puts a little less stress on your quarterback, your best player.”

Lions coach Jim Caldwell said "all options are open" when it comes to finding a backup quarterback. Shaun Hill signed with the Rams, leaving only Kellen Moore behind Matthew Stafford.

Moore has not appeared in a regular-season game, and it's unclear if he has a legitimate shot at the No. 2 job.

“We keep looking and we could certainly address it a number of different ways, and all options are open at this time,” Caldwell said, per the Detroit Free Press.

Signing Dan Orlovsky is one possibility. He started seven games for the Lions from 2005-08.

The Bengals opened talks on a contract extension with quarterback Andy Dalton, who's entering the final year of his rookie deal.

"There have been talks about it. There have been a couple of proposals sent over and different things," Dalton told SiriusXM NFL Radio. "We're working. Hopefully, we can get something done. I'm not too worried about it. I know in the right timing, everything is going to happen. Obviously, everyone would like to get something done sooner rather than later."

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said quarterback Russell Wilson is still "a young guy figuring it out."

"He needs all the attention that everyone else needs, and he’s gonna get it,” Carroll said. “Russell’s just a young guy figuring it out. Of course, he applies himself so well that you think that he’s okay. I think that would be a tragic mistake. He’s just developing. He’s just coming on. He needs work fundamentally. He needs work on the principles of what we’re doing. He needs repetitions with the guys he plays with. All of that will just continue to add to his play.

"So we’re not going to treat him any differently than anybody else. We’re gonna battle like crazy to make him push his game as far as he can take it."

Browns quarterback Brian Hoyer, who's coming back from October ACL surgery, expects to participate in OTAs. “I’m on track to do some of that stuff, most of it I would think,” Hoyer told CBS Cleveland. “I feel like I’m ready to go.”

Hoyer still must meet with doctors to get medically cleared. The offseason program begins April 7 with weight training and meetings with coaches.

“There’s not going to be any contact that I have to worry about,” Hoyer said. “I’m basically out there throwing now the way I’ll be throwing in a practice, so in my mind I’m ready to go…from my part there’s nothing holding me back.”