NFL Player News

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.

Stafford feels comfortable with the passing game weapons that will be surrounding him for Sunday's game in Seattle, even though top wideout Cooper Kupp (hamstring) has been ruled out for the season opener, Stu Jackson of the Rams' official site reports. "Cooper was out some of training camp as well and we had some guys have to come in there and step up and make plays for us and they've done that," Stafford said after Wednesday's practice. "Through joint practices, practicing against our defense, we've had a lot of guys step up and make some great plays and [I have] total trust in everybody that's put out there to go out there and make plays."

Over the past two seasons, perhaps no quarterback has been reliant on one pass catcher than Stafford on Kupp. In the 25 regular-season games the two have played together, Kupp has drawn a whopping 32 percent of the quarterback's targets. The Rams won't rely on any of their other pass catchers to singlehandedly fill Kupp's high-volume role on offense, but Stafford believes the wideout quartet of Van Jefferson, Tutu Atwell, Puka Nacua and Ben Skowronek as well as tight end Tyler Higbee can capably absorb the vacated targets and ensure the passing attack remains productive. While the confidence that Stafford has expressed in his group of pass catchers may offer some reassurance, fantasy managers in leagues that start just one quarterback may be best off keeping the 35-year-old on the bench Week 1 with his go-to option out of the mix.

Hill (oblique) was absent from the Saints' injury report Wednesday, John Hendrix of SI.com reports.

Hill had been dealing with a strained oblique since the middle of August, but his ability to take every rep at practice Wednesday clears the way for him to play Sunday against the Titans. He'll continue to serve in a diverse, jack-of-all-trades role in a Saints offense that will be without running back Alvin Kamara (suspension) for the first three weeks of the season. With Kamara suspended and with rookie Kendre Miller (hamstring) also in danger of missing Week 1, Hill could end up taking on an elevated profile in the Saints' running attack behind Jamaal Williams, who is likely to serve as the team's lead ball carrier.