NFL Player News

Fields (abdomen) was a full participant in Tuesday's practice, Brooke Pryor of ESPN.com reports.

Fields has been inactive for the Steelers' last two games, but head coach Mike Tomlin said earlier this week that he expects the quarterback to be ready to go for Saturday's regular-season finale versus the Bengals. Fields looks like he'll be ready to reprise his usual duties as the top backup to Russell Wilson. Before Fields missed time with the abdominal injury, the Steelers had been sprinkling him into the weekly game plans to take advantage of his rushing ability. Fields could have the opportunity to play more extensively Saturday if the Steelers elect to rest Wilson, which could become a consideration if the Ravens beat the Browns earlier in the day to clinch the AFC North crown and a home game in the wild-card round of the playoffs. For his part, Tomlin said earlier in the week that he's not yet in the mentality of resting players for the finale, but that could change closer to Saturday's 8 p.m. EST kickoff.

Head coach Sean McVay suggested Monday that Garoppolo will be the Rams' starting quarterback in Sunday's game against the Seahawks, Cameron DaSilva of USA Today reports. "I think he's a really, really good football player and I'm looking forward to seeing him just go play the way he's capable of," McVay said of Garoppolo. "It's a great challenge against an excellent defense that's hitting their stride at the right time."

While they can claim the No. 3 seed in the NFC playoffs with a win over the Seahawks, the Rams are already assured no worse than the fourth seed -- and the home game in the wild-card round that comes with it -- after having already clinched the NFC West title. McVay suggested that he'll prioritize resting the team's top players and avoiding injuries rather than going all in to secure the No. 3 seed, meaning that Matthew Stafford will likely be inactive for the contest while Garoppolo steps in to direct the offense. With 63 career NFL starts on his resume, the 33-year-old Garoppolo is about as battle-tested as it gets for a backup quarterback, but he has yet to make his Rams debut, as Stafford has played every snap through Los Angeles' first 16 games.

Stafford isn't expected to play Sunday against the Seahawks after head coach Sean McVay confirmed Monday that he plans on resting most of the Rams' key starters for the regular-season finale, Cameron DaSilva of USA Today reports. "Typically, we've erred on the side of leaning a little bit more towards [resting players] and I would imagine as we continue to finalize our plans, that's probably the direction we'll go," McVay said, when pressed about the Rams' plans for Week 18.

While they can claim the No. 3 seed in the NFC playoffs with a win over the Seahawks, the Rams are already assured no worse than the fourth seed -- and the home game in the wild-card round that comes with it -- after having already clinched the NFC West title. McVay suggested that he'll prioritize resting the team's top players and avoiding injuries for Week 18 rather than going all in on securing the No. 3 seed, an approach similar to the ones the Rams took in 2017 and 2023, when the team had little at stake in regular-season finales. While McVay didn't specifically mention that Stafford would sit out, the coach said that he was excited to see what backup Jimmy Garoppolo could do in his first extended snaps as a member of the Rams. The Rams also have a third quarterback in Stetson Bennett on the roster, so Stafford will most likely be a healthy inactive for the matchup with the Seahawks rather than suiting up as Garoppolo's top backup.

Dobbs took the field for the 49ers' final five offensive snaps of Monday's 40-34 loss to the Lions and completed three of four pass attempts for 35 yards while rushing for a seven-yard touchdown.

Made active over Brandon Allen as the 49ers' No. 2 quarterback for Week 17, Dobbs was thrust into action with 1:45 remaining in the fourth quarter, when starter Brock Purdy was forced out of the game with an elbow injury. Dobbs proceeded to finish out the drive with a touchdown run, but the 49ers' comeback bid ended when the Lions recovered the ensuing onside kick. Per Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area, head coach Kyle Shanahan said Tuesday that Purdy will likely be held out for Sunday's season finale in Arizona after an MRI revealed a contusion and nerve inflammation to his throwing elbow, but Shanahan was not willing to commit to whether Dobbs or Allen would draw the starting nod for Week 18. Shanahan told Maiocco that Dobbs' scrambling ability was a primary factor in the decision to keep him active ahead of Allen against the Lions, but Dobbs has otherwise been behind Allen on the depth chart all season.

San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan said that Purdy was diagnosed with a contusion and nerve inflammation in his right elbow and is unlikely to be available for Sunday's game against the Cardinals, Lindsey Pallares of the 49ers' official site reports.

Purdy sustained the injury with less than two minutes remaining in Monday's 40-34 loss to the Lions, resulting in Joshua Dobbs finishing out the game as the 49ers' quarterback. Given that the 6-10 49ers are eliminated from playoff contention, Purdy likely won't be rushed back to the field on a short week, especially after he previously had the same elbow surgically repaired after suffering a UCL tear in January 2023. Expect the 49ers to formally rule Purdy out for Sunday's game by the end of the practice week if they don't move him to injured reserve, but fortunately, Shanahan said that the signal-caller's injury isn't viewed as a long-term concern. According to Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area, Shanahan said a decision would be made later Tuesday whether Dobbs or Brandon Allen -- who was inactive Monday as the emergency third quarterback -- draws the Week 18 start in place of Purdy.

Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski said Tuesday that Winston (shoulder) will likely be inactive for Saturday's game at Baltimore as the team's emergency No. 3 quarterback, Scott Petrak of the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram reports.

Since being demoted from the starting role following a three-interception performance in a Week 15 loss to Kansas City, Winston has been inactive while managing an injury to his throwing shoulder. The Browns have listed him as a limited participant in each of their last five practices, and Stefanski's comments Monday seemingly indicate that Winston is unlikely to make enough progress with his injury to make himself available as the top backup for the regular-season finale. With Dorian Thompson-Robinson having sputtered in both of his starts since displacing Winston atop the depth chart, Stefanski said he's leaving the door open for both Thompson-Robinson and Bailey Zappe to play snaps in Week 18.

Trubisky is likely to play extensively in Sunday's game at New England, after head coach Sean McDermott said Monday that Josh Allen will "be out there for a very, very short-lived amount of time," Alec White of the Bills' official site reports.

The Bills are locked in as the AFC's No. 2 seed regardless of how Week 18 action plays out, and McDermott hinted that the team will use its regular-season finale as an opportunity to rest some key players ahead of the playoffs while getting more extensive evaluations of players on the back end of the roster. The Bills will allow Allen to extend his streak of consecutive starts to 105 games, but he may only direct the offense for a possession or two before giving way to Trubisky, who has played just 53 snaps all season, mostly at the tail end of blowouts. Though he has played infrequently behind Allen in stints with Buffalo in 2021 and 2024, Trubisky made five appearances (two starts) for Pittsburgh a season ago and completed 67 of 107 pass attempts (62.6 percent) for 632 yards (5.9 YPA), four touchdowns and five interceptions while adding 54 yards and two scores on 16 carries.

San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan said after Monday's 40-34 loss to Detroit that Purdy's right elbow injury isn't believed to be serious, Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com reports. Purdy carried three times for 12 yards and a touchdown and completed 27 of 35 pass attempts for 377 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions before leaving the game late in the fourth quarter.

Purdy will undergo an MRI on Tuesday, but the belief is that he's dealing with a nerve issue while initial tests on his surgically-repaired UCL came back OK, per Matt Barrows of The Athletic. The quarterback was injured with just under two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, when Lions defensive end Patrick O'Connor's hand and facemask landed on Purdy's elbow while safety Brian Branch brought Purdy to the ground for a sack. Backup Joshua Dobbs then came on to play the 49ers' final snaps of the loss while Purdy was seen getting his right arm checked out by team doctors on the sideline. With little at stake for the 49ers in their season finale Sunday in Arizona, Purdy could be a candidate to sit out, even if his injury isn't viewed as a major concern.

Purdy (elbow) completed 27 of 35 pass attempts for 377 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions while rushing three times for 12 yards and a touchdown in Monday's 40-34 loss to Detroit.

Purdy danced around a pair of interceptions in order to deliver a gaudy fantasy score for fantasy managers Week 17. The 25-year-old left some points on the table when he was forced to exit Monday's contest after absorbing a hard hit from a blind-side sack just inside of the two-minute warning. Backup Joshua Dobbs finished the scoring drive for San Francisco before time expired. After the game, head coach Kyle Shanahan announced that Purdy is dealing with an injury to his right elbow and will undergo further tests Tuesday, Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area reports. It is worth noting that the injury sustained was to the same elbow that the signal-caller underwent surgery on to repair a torn UCL after injuring it in the 2022 NFC Championship against the Eagles. Purdy should be deemed questionable for Sunday's season finale against the Cardinals until more information is disclosed by the team.

Goff completed 26 of 34 passes for 303 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions and rushed three times for minus-3 yards in the Lions' 40-34 win over the 49ers on Monday night. He also threw a two-point conversion pass.

Despite the fact Monday night's outcome wouldn't have changed the fact the Lions and Vikings would be facing off for the NFC North crown and No. 1 seed in Week 18, Detroit played as aggressive as usual on offense, and Goff's numbers reflected as much. The veteran signal-caller played close to a perfect game and connected with Jameson Williams (42 yards), Sam LaPorta (six yards) and Amon-Ra St. Brown (four yards) for his three scoring tosses. Goff also hit Tim Patrick for a two-point conversion pass after the second touchdown, and he'll head into the aforementioned showdown against Minnesota with three straight 300-yard efforts and four consecutive multi-touchdown-pass tallies.