NFL Player News

Mayfield (ankle/ribs) is listed as active for Monday's wild-card game versus the Eagles.

Mayfield was visibly bothered by injury during the Buccaneers' Week 18 win at Carolina, but he played all 65 offensive snaps in that contest. He then opened prep for Tampa Bay's postseason opener with a DNP on last Thursday's practice estimate due to ankle and rib issues and followed it up with limited sessions Friday and Saturday to put himself in a position to suit up. With his status confirmed for Monday, Mayfield will be taking on a Philadelphia defense that conceded the second-most touchdown passes (35) to opposing quarterbacks in 17 regular-season games.

Goff completed 22 of 27 pass attempts for 277 yards and a touchdown with no turnovers in Sunday's 24-23 win over the Rams.

The term "revenge game" gets bandied about frequently, but it might be tough to find a stronger example than Goff's performance Sunday against the team that drafted him first overall in 2016. The 29-year-old completed nearly every pass attempt for a 121.8 QB rating en route to a victory over the quarterback (Matthew Stafford) he was traded for back in 2020. Goff has show steady improvement since the trade, which culminated in a win over his former club Sunday and Detroit's first playoff win since 1992. Goff and the Lions will now prepare to host the divisional round of the NFL playoffs next Sunday.

Stafford completed 25 of 36 passes for 367 yards and two touchdowns in Sunday's 24-23 wild-card round loss to the Lions.

Stafford threw second-quarter touchdowns of 50 and 38 yards to Puka Nacua and Tutu Atwell, respectively, but the Rams had three other drives stall in the red zone, and that inability to convert in close proved crucial in the narrow loss. The quarterback went into the medical tent with the independent neurotrauma specialist after taking a big hit in the second half, per Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic, but Stafford was cleared to return to the game and continue a comeback bid that came up just short despite his connection with Nacua, who finished with 181 receiving yards. Stafford exceeded expectations with 3,965 yards and a 24:11 TD:INT in the regular season to lead LA back to the playoffs after an injury-riddled 2022 campaign, so the nearly 36-year-old quarterback looks like he still has some gas left in the tank.

Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski said Sunday that Watson (shoulder) is expected be fully recovered from shoulder surgery by the spring, Jake Trotter of ESPN.com reports. "He's doing great in rehab," Stefanski said. "I'm confident he'll be ready to roll [for OTAs]."

If Watson is healthy by the spring as expected, he'll have the opportunity to go through a full offseason program and should be able to hit the ground running for the start of training camp. Watson went 5-1 as Cleveland's starting quarterback in 2023 but threw for just 1,115 yards with a 7:4 TD:INT. He led the league with 4,823 passing yards as Houston's quarterback in 2020, but Watson hasn't come close to replicating that success as a member of the Browns.

Willis completed four of five passes for 74 yards during the 2023 season with the Titans. He added five rushes for 21 yards.

Willis appeared in only three games during the season, the latest of which came in Week 8. His only pass attempts came in Week 6 in relief of Ryan Tannehill, and he otherwise spent much of his season as the third-string quarterback. With Tannehill's tenure in Tennessee almost certainly over, Willis may enter the 2024 campaign as the backup to Will Levis (foot).

Prescott completed 41 of 60 passes for 403 yards and three touchdowns with two interceptions in Sunday's 48-32 wild-card loss to the Packers. He added 45 rushing yards on six carries and also ran in a two-point conversion.

While the final numbers were fantastic from a volume perspective, most of Prescott's production came in the second half when the game was well out of reach -- the Cowboys were in a 27-7 hole at halftime and never got a whole lot closer. That deficit was created in part by a pick-six off Prescott on a 64-yard interception return by Darnell Savage in the second quarter, which typified the QB's first-half struggles. Prescott put together an excellent regular season, completing a career-high 69.5 percent of his passes for 4,516 yards and a league-leading 36 TDs against nine INTs, but another early exit from the postseason could have owner/GM Jerry Jones taking a long look at whether he's worth a top-of-market contract extension this offseason.

Love completed 16 of 21 passes for 272 yards and three touchdowns while rushing once for minus-1 yard in Sunday's 48-32 wild-card round win over the Cowboys.

Love was sensational in his playoff debut, though the Cowboys helped him out with numerous defensive breakdowns. After a pair of short Aaron Jones touchdown runs, Love extended Green Bay's lead to 20-0 with a 20-yard touchdown pass to Dontayvion Wicks in the second quarter. Jones and Love each added a touchdown in the third quarter, with Love's coming on a 38-yard pass to a wide open Luke Musgrave without a defender in sight. Love poured it on with a three-yard touchdown pass to Romeo Doubs, which put Green Bay up 48-16 in the fourth quarter, and he would have finished with a perfect passer rating if not for an incomplete pass on his final attempt. Up next for Love and the Packers will be a trip to San Francisco in the divisional round.

Rush (illness) is listed as active ahead of Sunday's playoff matchup against the Packers, Jon Machota of The Athletic reports.

Rush was deemed questionable due to an ailment Friday after avoiding the Cowboys' injury reports Wednesday and Thursday. While the nature of this issue was never disclosed, the 30-year-old will once again be available as the team's backup quarterback behind Dak Prescott for Sunday's wild-card game. Rush has seen action in mop-up duty during seven games this season, completing 18 of 24 passes for 144 yards and one interception.

Haener did not appear in a game during his 2023 rookie season.

Haener was suspended for the first six games of the season and never appeared in any games as a rookie. The fourth-round pick likely never would have seen the field even if he was not suspended, as veteran Jameis Winston appeared firmly planted as the Saints' primary backup quarterback behind Derek Carr heading into the regular season. The starting signal-caller was knocked out of three games due to injuries this season, and Winston handled the remainder of quarterback reps in his absence. Haener will likely get an opportunity to compete with Winston for the No. 2 quarterback spot heading into the 2024 campaign.

Winston completed 25 of 47 passes for 264 yards and two touchdowns to three interceptions across seven appearances.

Winston was firmly planted as the Saints' No. 2 quarterback behind Derek Carr this season. The veteran backup saw meaningful playing time in three of his seven appearances when Carr was forced out with injuries. While the latter quarterback was plagued by injury for much of the season, he still managed to start all 17 games for the Saints. As a result, Winston had his least productive season since 2020 when he first joined the Saints. While on a small sample size, his completion percentage (53) and yards per attempt (5.6) fell short of his averages from the past two seasons, though his overall play didn't seem to take a significant hit. Winston has one season remaining on his current two-year, $28 million contract with the Saints, and he'll likely compete with Jake Haener for the team's No. 2 QB job heading into the 2024 campaign.