NFL Player News

The Houston Chronicle reports that Texans coach Gary Kubiak predicted that Case Keenum, who spent his rookie season last year on the practice squad, is “going to push” T. J. Yates for the backup quarterback job behind Matt Schaub. “Everybody’s always competing,” Kubiak said. “Case has obviously made up a bunch of ground from the standpoint of what he knows and what he can handle as a player.”

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said Monday that quarterback Russell Wilson was "a million miles ahead of where we were." But there's more to it than that: Wilson has put on six pounds of muscle to his lower body to handle the wear and tear of the football season. He also is taking first-team reps this spring instead of third-team reps, which is where he was as late as last August. Wilson also said a passing camp he held with teammates in L.A. helped him get a head start on offseason training. As such, the offense flowed rather smoothly in OTA workouts Monday. "I thought we did great," Wilson said. "There were a couple of miscues here and there, but I thought we were pretty sharp. Compared to where we were last year, compared to where we were last week, I think we’re miles and miles ahead."

The Browns have signed quarterback Brian Hoyer, according to multiple reports.

New Dolphins receiver Mike Wallace told the Miami Herald that his new quarterback's arm is as strong, if not stronger, than his old quarterback's arm. In a quick comparison of both passers Wallace noted both are former receivers and both developed chemistry with him early on. "Both have strong arms," Wallace said. "Ryan has a cannon, can really fling it. ... [He] may be able to throw the ball a little farther than Ben. Obviously, Ben is more experienced in game-time experience. The way it's going, it won't take long for Ryan to be one of the great quarterbacks. I feel like we can make a lot of big plays."

The Cardinals have waived quarterback Brian Hoyer. Signed off waivers by the Steelers in December, the Cards gave him a second-round tender as a restricted free agent and tried to trade him but couldn't find a trade partner.

The New York Post reports Jets decision-makers are "in love" with rookie quarterback Geno Smith, who impressed during a recent minicamp both on and off the field. He held a players only meeting at the team hotel to work on the playbook, he handled the media with aplomb and threw well during practices. The report believes Smith did so well that he could eventually take over for David Garrard, not Mark Sanchez, when the season gets going.

A full practice report of the Jets' first day of rookie minicamp by ESPN revealed rookie quarterback Geno Smith went 11 of 15 passing in 7-on-7 drills with a drop before going 6 of 10 in team drills. The report noticed he threw fast balls into tight spaces but also was a little slow to throw a few times. According to the New York Post, Smith gave himself an "F" for his first day. "I've been studying my butt off, learning formations, learning protections," Smith said. "I had 'install one' two days ago and had to learn every single play and be able to go into the huddle and tell it to my teammates and go out there and execute it. I think I did a good job overall today. There were some bumps in the road. Those are things I think I can clean up."

New Jets rookie quarterback Geno Smith is doing damage control after a rocky start to his NFL career. First, he slipped to the second round of the NFL Draft. Then he promptly parted ways with his agents. In an interview with USA Today, Smith addressed recent anonymous criticisms about his game. "I don't worry about what people say -- my skin is pretty thick," Smith said. "I've never been in trouble." The quarterback also denied a Yahoo.com report that he was more interested in texting and tweeting than meeting with at least one NFL team prior to the draft. "That's not true," he said. "I got strong remarks from all the teams I visited with. ... I couldn't care less what's coming out in the media because I know what's true." Smith also said that his draft-day free fall from a sure-fire first-round pick to ultimately going to the Jets with the 39th selection wasn't why he fired his agents.

In the wake of firing his agents after falling to the second round on Draft Day, Yahoo Sports reports quarterback Geno Smith's tumble was in part because of how he handled his business with coaches in visits before the draft. Apparently there are some leadership and mental issues that concerned teams who looked into Smith. During visits, Smith would play on his cell phone rather than talk with coaches and executives. Multiple sources told Yahoo Sports fellow quarterback E.J. Manuel was much more receptive. "His biggest problem is that he doesn't know what he doesn't know," a league executive familiar with Smith said. "I'm not sure he knows how to take instruction because he pretty much wouldn't listen or talk to our coaches … he's talented. He can sling it, he can fit it into tight spots, he can do a lot of things and I think he wants to be good. But you can't tell him anything right now. He's tuned out because he thinks he's got it all down."

Dolphins offensive coordinator Mike Sherman promised the official team website that quarterback Ryan Tannehill will be "the most improved quarterback in the National Football League from year one to year two this year." Tannehill had a quality rookie season in 2012 with 3,294 passing yards, 12 touchdowns and 13 interceptions and 214 rushing yards and two touchdowns and saw the team add talent around him in Mike Wallace, Brandon Gibson and tight end Dustin Keller. "I thought he had a good rookie year for what we asked him to do," Sherman said. "Now, with us building up some more weaponry around him, I think he'll be even better this upcoming year. So we're excited to get on the field and start practicing, OTAs and mini-camp, and see where we’re at."