NFL Player News

New Jaguars coach Gus Bradley turned to a former colleague for his first hire -- maybe his most important one. Bradley hired University of Miami offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch to the same position Saturday, charging him with remodeling one of the league's worst offenses. Jacksonville ranked 29th in the league in total offense this season, slightly better than its last-place finish in 2011. Fisch spent the past two years as Miami's play-caller and quarterbacks coach, and his pro-style offense was consistently one of the most efficient in the country. The Hurricanes made significant progress in his second season, gaining 63.3 yards more a game and improving their scoring average by nearly a touchdown.

The Seattle Times reports that with Darrell Bevell returning for a third season as Seattle’s offensive coordinator, it means continuity going forward for quarterback Russell Wilson. Bevell coming back means Wilson won't have to learn a new offensive system heading into his second year. In fact, Bevell received a new contract, according to ESPN.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that with offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer coming back to the Rams in 2013, that bodes well for quarterback Sam Bradford. With the return of Schottenheimer, Bradford will have the same coordinator and same offensive scheme in back-to-back seasons for the first time in his NFL career. Bradford went from Pat Shurmur and a West Coast scheme in 2010, to Josh McDaniels and more of a deep-passing approach in 2011, to Schottenheimer and something in-between in 2012. “Traditionally, it means quite a bit just because you hit the ground running,” Schottenheimer said. “In this day and age where you’ve got limited opportunities to meet and to work, I think it can mean great things."

The Detroit Free Press reports that Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford could get a new contract this offseason. General manager Martin Mayhew said he hopes to work out a new deal with Stafford before the start of free agency in March. Stafford's cap figure for next year is $20.3 million.

Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said he will not play in this year's Pro Bowl because of multiple injuries, according to ESPN. Rodgers certainly deserved the honor, completing 67.2 percent of his passes for 4,295 yards, 39 touchdowns and eight interceptions while leading his team to the NFC North title and the divisional playoffs. Interestingly, Rodgers was not listed on the injury report last week or the injury report from the Wild-Card weekend game against the Vikings. Rodgers said he had problems with his knee and ankle, though he's not likely to undergo offseason surgery.

Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson led a valiant comeback attempt Sunday at Atlanta, but his Hail Mary pass as time expired was intercepted in the Falcons' end zone and Seattle suffered a 30-28 loss in the Divisional round of the playoffs. Seattle briefly held the lead at 28-27 with 31 seconds left, but Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan led a quick scoring drive, setting up Matt Bryant for the game-winning 49-yard field goal with 8 seconds remaining. Seattle had trailed 20-0 halftime and 27-7 heading into the fourth quarter. Wilson finished 24 of 36 for 385 yards and three touchdowns (two passing). He completed touchdown passes of 3 and 29 yards. He also had a 1-yard touchdown run and led the team with 60 rushing yards on seven carries.

Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers turned in a decent performance but saw his streak of 183 passes without an interception come to an end during Saturday's NFC Divisional Playoff game at San Francisco. He was picked off by Tarell Brown on a deep third-down pass in the second quarter for his first interception since Dec. 2. Rodgers was able to find the end zone twice on a 20-yard strike to James Jones in the second quarter and a short 3-yard touchdown pass to Greg Jennings in the fourth quarter. He completed 26 of 39 passes for 257 yards with two touchdowns and an interception in a 45-31 defeat. He also rushed for 28 yards and was sacked once in the defeat.

When Aaron Rodgers was a kid, he rooted for the 49ers. On Saturday, he'll attempt to end their season. Rodgers grew up three hours northeast of San Francisco and would have played for the Niners had they drafted him instead of Alex Smith at the top of the 2005 NFL Draft. Rodgers will now play as a rival, taking on a pass defense that has allowed five quarterbacks to throw multiple touchdowns against them this season, including Rodgers in Week 1. Rodgers and the Packers hosted the Niners in the season opener and threw for 303 yards with two scores and an interception. Rodgers is one of two quarterbacks (Tom Brady) to exceed 300 passing yards against the Niners.

The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton is hoping to improve heading into 2013 following a disappointing ending in the playoff loss at Houston. Said Dalton about the growing criticism of his play: “I’m not worried about that. Not that we’re satisfied where we’re at, but we went to the playoffs in my first two years that I was here. That’s something that hasn’t happened in 30 years. To go from 4-12 before I got here to 9-7 and now 10-6, we’re getting better and going to be better next year.” Dalton wants to get better on deep throws. “I still think I can improve on it. If I hit on a couple of those longer throws in a game it changes things. I have to be better in that phase of the game,” Dalton said. “Put it in a spot where they can make a play and do a better job of that.”

Washington rookie quarterback Kirk Cousins came in for starter Robert Griffin III after exiting late in the fourth quarter of Sunday's NFC Wild Card game against the Seahawks with a re-aggravated right knee injury. Cousins was unable to lead his team back into the game as he completed just 3 of 10 passes for 31 yards in a 24-14 defeat.