NFL Player News

Garoppolo (back) practiced fully Friday, Anthony Galaviz of The Fresno Bee reports.

After not practicing at all last week and being inactive for the Raiders' loss to the Bears, Garoppolo returned to the field Thursday as a limited participant. A full practice Friday sets the stage for the quarterback to return to the starting role Monday against the Lions, making him a Week 8 lineup option for those in deeper formats or in leagues that start two quarterbacks. In the five games he's played this season, Garoppolo has posted a 7:8 TD:INT and 1,079 passing yards.

Dobbs is in line to start Sunday's game against Baltimore with the Cardinals listing Kyler Murray (knee) as doubtful for Week 8, Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com reports.

Dobbs could be making his last start of the season Sunday, considering Murray was a full practice participant throughout the week and no longer is listed with a knee injury on Arizona's official injury report. The task won't be easy, with Baltimore leading or tied for the league lead in a slew of defensive stats, including net yards allowed per pass attempt (4.1), touchdown passes allowed (four) and points against (97).

Murray (knee) is listed as doubtful for Sunday's game against Baltimore, Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com reports.

The Cardinals are no longer listing Murray with a knee injury but nonetheless consider him unlikely to be activated from the PUP list ahead of Sunday's game. The team's decision to give Murray the doubtful designation presumably means that the 2019 No. 1 overall pick needs another week or two to prepare for his 2023 debut, thus giving Joshua Dobbs another shot to start at quarterback for a struggling offense. Murray was a full participant in practice throughout the week, working with the scout team during the media-access portions of practices.

Hill (chest) is listed as questionable for Sunday's game at Indianapolis.

Hill has been practicing in a non-contact jersey this week, while fellow tight end Juwan Johnson upgraded to full participation Friday and will return from a four-game absence this Sunday. The past two weeks featured the two largest target counts of Hill's career -- seven and five -- but he's unlikely to match those numbers with Johnson back in the fold. If he does indeed play, Hill likely will return to a hybrid role on offense that typically entails a few carries and perhaps a target or two.

Purdy is practicing Friday and appears to be on pace to clear the NFL's concussion protocol ahead of Sunday's game against the Bengals, Matt Barrows of The Athletic reports.

Purdy initially appeared in doubt to be available Week 8 after entering the protocol following Monday's loss to the Vikings, but the second-year quarterback has seemingly progressed more quickly than anticipated. After sitting out Wednesday's walk-through session while Sam Darnold took all the first-team reps, Purdy returned to practice Thursday as a limited participant. It's unclear whether Purdy was cleared for contract and thus able to take part in a full practice Friday, but head coach Kyle Shanahan should shed light on the matter when he addresses the media later in the day. Whether he was cleared for contact Friday or not, Purdy will still need an independent neurologist to give him the green light to play before he's removed from the protocol. With that in mind, Purdy still seems likely to head into Sunday with a questionable designation, even though he's seemingly trending toward getting cleared.

Lawrence (knee) is listed as questionable for Sunday's game against the Steelers.

Lawrence was a limited participant at practice all week while he continues to manage the left knee sprain that he played through in the Jaguars' Week 7 win over the Saints. So far, no reports have suggested that Lawrence's status for this weekend's contest is any danger, but the quarterback won't be officially cleared to play until Jacksonville releases its inactive list 90 minutes prior to Sunday's 1 p.m. ET kickoff.

Fields (thumb) has been ruled out for Sunday's game against the Chargers, Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune reports.

Tyson Bagent will make a second consecutive start with Fields missing another game due to a dislocated thumb on his throwing hand. The Bears haven't commented on Fields' availability beyond Sunday, so a return for Week 9 at the Saints on Nov. 5 isn't out of the question. After the Week 9 game, the Bears have a Thursday night game just four days later against the Panthers in Week 10.

Watson (shoulder) is officially listed as out for Sunday's game against the Seahawks, Kelsey Russo of the Browns' official site reports.

After playing less than a quarter of action in last week's win over the Colts in his return from a two-game absence, Watson was dealing with some residual swelling in his throwing shoulder, which prompted the Browns to play it safe with their top quarterback this week. Rather than practicing, Watson has spent all week focusing on rehab work for the shoulder. As a result, PJ Walker has already been named the starter for Sunday's contest, with Dorian Thompson-Robinson slated to serve as the team's top backup versus Seattle. Watson's next chance to see game action will come Nov. 5 against the Cardinals, but he's not a lock to be ready by then, per Jake Trotter of ESPN.com. Watson noted Thursday that while he hopes to return "as soon as possible," he acknowledged that he's unsure when exactly when he'll be available.

Head coach Mike Vrabel said Friday that both Levis and Malik Willis will take snaps at quarterback Sunday against the Falcons with Ryan Tannehill (ankle) ruled out for Week 8, Jim Wyatt of the Titans' official site reports.

Vrabel made similar comments about the Titans' quarterback situation earlier in the week when Tannehill's status for Sunday's game looked to be in doubt, and the coach hasn't named a fill-in starter even with Tannehill having now been officially ruled out. Given that Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported Wednesday that Levis is being prepped for the start and is expected to see the bulk of the playing time behind center, the second-round pick out of Kentucky appears to be a higher percentage fantasy play than Willis, despite Vrabel's lack of commitment regarding how the playing time might break down between the two. Even if two quarterbacks don't alternate series and Levis does get the bulk of the playing time, the rookie could still cede snaps to the more mobile Willis when the Titans want to get more of a rushing threat on the field to complement lead back Derrick Henry. The uncertain playing-time outlook along with the fact that the Titans are likely to lean heavily on their ground game makes Levis a low-end lineup option at best, especially while all 32 teams are playing Week 8.

Head coach Mike Vrabel said Friday that both Willis and Will Levis will take snaps at quarterback Sunday against the Falcons with Ryan Tannehill (ankle) ruled out for Week 8, Jim Wyatt of the Titans' official site reports.

Vrabel made similar comments about the Titans' quarterback situation earlier in the week when Tannehill's status for Sunday's game looked to be in doubt, and the coach hasn't named a fill-in starter even with Tannehill having now been officially ruled out. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported Wednesday that Levis is being prepped for the start and is expected to see the bulk of the playing time behind center, and even if that comes to pass, Willis is still expected to have a role in the game plan. If the two quarterbacks don't alternate series, the Titans could make use of the more mobile Willis by deploying him as a change-of-pace option behind Levis.