NFL Player News

Zappe will back up Mac Jones on Sunday against the Eagles after signing with the Patriots' 53-man roster Saturday, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports.

The Patriots placed Matt Corral on the exempt/left squad list in a corresponding move, seemingly ending a confusing two-week period where it appeared Zappe and promising rookie Malik Cunningham had both lost the backup job without a clear option for the role on the active roster. Zappe wasn't particularly impressive during the preseason, especially in the team's final game, but the second-year quarterback does have more in-game experience than any of the other options for New England and will likely remain the backup moving forward.

Corral (not injury-related) is listed as questionable for Sunday's game against the Eagles, Evan Lazar of the Patriots' official website reports.

Corral has been in New England for only eight days after being claimed off waivers from the Panthers at initial roster cuts. Bailey Zappe will get the promotion from the practice squad to back up Mac Jones if the team deems Corral not ready.

Coach Sean McVay said Friday that Bennett (shoulder) could be placed on injured reserve this week, Field Yates of ESPN reports.

Bennett has been battling arm soreness much of the summer and struggled in the preseason. Brett Rypien will serve as Matthew Stafford's backup for however long Bennett is sidelined.

Bagent will be Chicago's emergency third quarterback behind Justin Fields and Nathan Peterman against the Packers on Sunday, Courtney Cronin of ESPN reports.

A new NFL rule for the 2023 season will allow teams to carry an emergency third quarterback from the 53-man roster without using one of the 48 active gameday spots. Bagent will fill such a role for the Bears, which means the rookie won't get a chance to make his NFL debut unless both Fields and Peterman get hurt. Peterman's experience ultimately helped him edge out Bagent for the top backup spot.

Coach Matt Eberflus announced Peterman as Justin Fields' backup for Sunday's game against the Packers, Chris Emma of 670TheScore.com reports.

Peterman was part of the Bears' initial 53-man roster cuts but re-signed with the team a few days later. Undrafted rookie Tyson Bagent made the team over PJ Walker following an impressive preseason.

Coach Zac Taylor confirmed Friday that Burrow (calf) will play in Sunday's season opener against the Browns, Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic reports.

Burrow, who's bouncing back from a strained right calf, practiced fully Wednesday and Thursday and will be available to start the Bengals' season opener on the heels of agreeing to a five-year, $275 million extension with the team, per Ben Baby of ESPN.com. With the QB's calf issue no longer impacting his playing status and his contract situation resolved, Burrow is poised to continue to helm a productive Cincinnati passing attack that features the returning starting wide receiver trio of Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd.

Prescott said he had extra time to prepare for Week 1 at the Giants once he knew he wouldn't play at all in the preseason, Todd Archer of ESPN.com reports.

Other veteran starters also were held out for the entire preseason, including offseason trade acquisition Brandin Cooks. The switch from Kellen Moore to Brian Schottenheimer at offensive coordinator was taken by some as a signal of intent for Dallas to run the ball more, but the team's other moves hinted at the opposite with Cooks brought in and Ezekiel Elliott leaving for New England. The Cowboys don't have much experience behind Tony Pollard in the backfield, but they do have a veteran trio of wideouts -- Cooks, CeeDee Lamb and Michael Gallup -- for Prescott to lean on Sunday night at the Meadowlands.

Goff completed 22 of 35 pass attempts for 253 yards with one touchdown during Thursday's 21-20 win over Kansas City.

Despite pulling off an upset over the reigning Super Bowl champions, Goff and the Lions offense did not put forth an overly encouraging performance. The unit punted five times after averaging 3.1 of them per game last season, and an inability to consistently get into scoring position -- against a middling Chiefs defense without its best player in defensive tackle Chris Jones -- resulted in Detroit finishing well below the 26.6 points per game it averaged a year ago. However, outside of any scoring-related stats, Goff's modest statistical output was largely in line with his 2022 averages, and his incredible streak of consecutive passes without an interception (359) not only lives on but ranks third all-time behind those set by Aaron Rodgers (402) and Tom Brady (399). Next up for Goff and company is Detroit's home opener indoors against Seattle.

Mahomes completed 21 of 39 passes for 226 yards with two touchdowns and one interception in the Chiefs' 21-20 loss to the Lions on Thursday night. He also rushed six times for 45 yards.

Mahomes figured to have more of a challenge than usual with Travis Kelce (knee) sidelined, and that ultimately came to fruition, although largely due to an utterly forgettable night on the part of Kadarius Toney. The third-year wideout's shaky hands directly led to a pick-six early in the third quarter that proved to be critical, given the one-point final margin of victory for Detroit. Mahomes spread the ball around plenty in Kelce's absence, recording multiple completions to six different targets and connecting with a whopping 11 players overall. However, even the two-time NFL MVP couldn't overcome the long odds Kansas City faced on its last two offensive plays, when a Toney drop and an offensive holding call put the Chiefs in a second-and-20 scenario they never recovered from. Kelce should have a solid chance of suiting up in a Week 2 road matchup against the Jaguars a week from Sunday, which would give Mahomes a very good opportunity of rebounding with much better passing numbers.

Burrow signed a five-year, $275 million contract extension with the Bengals on Thursday, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.

Burrow and the Bengals have been working on an extension for some time, though there was little doubt a deal would eventually get done. He becomes the highest-paid player in NFL history, and $219 million of his total deal is guaranteed. In addition to his excellent statistical output, Burrow has played a significant role in turning around Cincinnati's fortunes as a franchise, leading the team to a Super Bowl appearance and AFC Championship Game appearance in the last two seasons.