NFL Player News
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Sam Darnold QB | SEA
Seahawks' Sam Darnold: Added to injury report, plans to play
Darnold (oblique) is listed as questionable for Saturday night's divisional-round game against the 49ers, Curtis Crabtree of Fox 13 Seattle reports.
Darnold wasn't listed on the Seahawks' injury report Tuesday or Wednesday, so his addition to it Thursday as a limited participant, per Brady Henderson of ESPN.com, is notable and thus makes the QB's status worth tracking ahead of Saturday's 8:00 p.m. ET kickoff. As a result of Darnold's oblique issue, Drew Lock logged some first-team QB reps Thursday, per Gregg Bell of The Tacoma News Tribune. That said, Michael-Shawn Dugar of The Athletic relays that Darnold, who said he felt something during practice and didn't want to push it, elected to play it safe and got some rehab during Seattle's final practice this week, but he indicated that he feels like he'll be "ready to go for Saturday."
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Josh Allen QB | BUF
Bills' Josh Allen: Cleared to play Saturday
Allen (foot/knee/right finger) doesn't carry an injury designation for Saturday's divisional-round game against the Broncos.
Following the Bills' wild-card win over the Jaguars, the QB has been managing a trio of injuries, but after being listed as a limited participant in Tuesday's walkthrough, Allen logged back-to-back full sessions, paving the way for him to start Saturday's contest. In the process, he'll be working with a banged-up wideout corps that will be minus Joshua Palmer (ankle), Tyrell Shavers (knee) and Gabe Davis (knee), who all are on IR. In that context, WRs Khalil Shakir and Brandin Cooks and TEs Dalton Kincaid and Dawson Knox figure to be Allen's top targets, with WRs Keon Coleman and Curtis Samuel (elbow, questionable) also candidates to contribute this weekend.
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Matthew Stafford QB | LAR
Rams' Matthew Stafford: Logs full walkthrough Wednesday
Stafford (right finger) was a full participant at Wednesday's walkthrough, Adam Grosbard of The Orange County Register reports.
Stafford banged his right hand on a follow-through in the second quarter of this past Saturday's wild-card win at Carolina, and while his accuracy and touch dipped afterward, he still played all 76 offensive snaps, completing 24 of 42 passes for 304 yards, three touchdowns and one interception, rushing twice for no yards and taking only one sack. On Monday, coach Sean McVay revealed to Sarah Barshop of ESPN.com that Stafford was diagnosed with a sprained index finger, but he also wasn't concerned about the quarterback's status for Sunday's divisional-round game in Chicago. Stafford himself expressed a similar sentiment Wednesday, telling Adam Grosbard of The Orange County Register that he feels "great" and doesn't expect to wear any protection on his right hand. With a full listing to kick off the week, Stafford is good to go ahead of the weekend.
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Josh Allen QB | BUF
Bills' Josh Allen: Works fully Wednesday
Allen (foot/knee/right finger) practiced fully Wednesday.
Allen emerged from the Bills' wild-card win over the Jaguars managing a trio of injuries and was deemed a limited participant in Tuesday's walk-through. The QB's return to a full session a day later, however, solidifies the notion that he'll be available for Saturday's divisional-round game at Denver and has him trending toward not being assigned an injury designation for the contest when Buffalo's final injury report is posted Thursday.
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DJ Uiagalelei QB | LAC
Chargers' DJ Uiagalelei: Set to spend offseason with Bolts
Uiagalelei signed a reserve/future contract with the Chargers on Tuesday.
Uiagalelei spent the entire 2025 season on the Chargers' practice squad after failing to make the active roster at the end of training camp. He was elevated for the Chargers' Week 18 clash against the Broncos and served as Trey Lance's backup, though the former did not see the field. Uiagalelei will be a part of the Chargers' 90-man roster in the offseason, allowing him to participate in OTAs and minicamp.
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Josh Allen QB | BUF
Bills' Josh Allen: Limited by trio of injuries
Allen was a limited participant in Tuesday's walk-through practice due to foot, finger and knee injuries.
The superstar QB has been listed with the foot issue on injury reports since Week 17, but the finger and knee injuries are new concerns coming out of this past Sunday's wild-card win. Per Jay Skurski of The Buffalo News, head coach Sean McDermott noted that Allen is feeling sore but didn't seem worried about his availability for Saturday's divisional-round game in Denver.
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Bryce Young QB | CAR
Panthers' Bryce Young: Fifth-year option getting picked up
General manager Dan Morgan announced Tuesday that Carolina plans to exercise the 2027 team option on Young's contract this offseason, Darin Gantt of the Panthers' official site reports.
Young's fifth-year option is projected to come in at around $26.5 million and will be fully guaranteed. While the Panthers' willingness to pick up the option represents some level of commitment to the 24-year-old signal-caller, Young may need to make more dramatic strides in 2026 in order to land a long-term extension. He showed some modest improvement in Year 3, leading an 8-9 Panthers squad to its first NFC South title in a decade while directing six game-winning drives. Young completed 304 of 478 pass attempts for 3,011 yards, 23 touchdowns and 11 interceptions to go with 216 yards and two scores on 54 carries over 16 starts during the regular season. A respectable showing against the heavily favored Rams in the wild-card round this past weekend will also be a confidence booster for the QB heading into 2026.
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C.J. Stroud QB | HOU
Texans' C.J. Stroud: Overcomes early mistakes to advance
Stroud completed 21 of 32 pass attempts for 250 yards, one touchdown and one interception while recording a pair of lost fumbles in Monday's 30-6 wild-card win over the Steelers.
Stroud struggled with ball security against Pittsburgh after losing possession of two of his four fumbles in the first half of Houston's wild-card matchup. The Ohio State product tacked on an interception in the third quarter and another fumble that he recovered on the fourth quarter, but the Steelers were only able to generate three points off of the signal-caller's three turnovers Monday. Stroud would settle down behind a dominant performance from his defense (including two defensive TDs) and comfortably guide the Texans to victory in the second half. The 23-year-old will have to clean up those mistakes in the divisional round in order to put his team in position to advance past the Patriots on Sunday.
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Aaron Rodgers QB | PIT
Steelers' Aaron Rodgers: Difficult night in playoff loss
Rodgers completed 17 of 33 passes for 146 yards with no touchdowns and one interception in the Steelers' 30-6 wild-card loss to the Texans on Monday night. He also committed two fumbles, losing one.
If this was indeed Rodgers' NFL swan song, the Texans did plenty to encourage him to hang up the cleats thanks to a relentless defense that sacked him four times. Rodgers had DK Metcalf back at his disposal following the latter's completion of a two-game suspension, but outside of a pair of solid gains, the duo and the rest of the Steelers offense managed precious little against Houston's elite unit. Both of Rodgers' fourth-quarter turnovers -- a fumble on a strip sack and a interception on what may have been his final career pass attempt -- were returned for touchdowns as well. He did put together a solid regular season, completing 65.7 percent of his passes for 3,322 yards with a 24:7 TD:INT and adding 61 rushing yards and an additional score on the ground over 16 games while playing out a one-year deal. The future Hall of Famer will presumably take some time to contemplate his future this offseason before deciding whether he'd like to continue his playing career.
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Carter Bradley QB | JAC
Jaguars' Carter Bradley: Sticking with Jacksonville
Jacksonville signed Bradley to a reserve/future contract Monday.
Bradley spent the campaign on the Jaguars' practice squad, and he'll remain with the organization throughout at least the coming offseason. The South Alabama product has yet to make his NFL debut, but he'll give Jacksonville some quarterback depth and will get a chance to complete for a roster spot ahead of the 2026 campaign.