NFL Player News

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin confirmed Tuesday that Trubisky will serve as the team's backup quarterback Week 5 in Buffalo while Kenny Pickett takes over as the starter, Dale Lolley of DKPittsburghSports.com reports.

The writing was on the wall for Trubisky's demotion to the No. 2 role after he was benched for the second half of Sunday's 24-20 loss to the Jets, with Pickett stepping in to engineer two scoring drives to give the Steelers a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter that the team ultimately couldn't maintain. Even though Pickett threw three interceptions on the afternoon, he completed his other 10 passes for 120 yards in addition to scoring twice on the ground, and the spark he provided was enough for the Steelers to move the rookie first-round pick into the starting role. While playing every snap on offense in the Steelers' first three and a half games of the season, Trubisky guided the team to a 1-2 record and completed only 59.5 percent of his throws for 5.6 yards per attempt.

Pickett is listed as the top quarterback on Pittsburgh's Week 5 depth chart, confirming he'll make his first NFL start Sunday in Buffalo, Teresa Varley of the Steelers' official site reports.

As anticipated, the rookie first-round pick will supplant Mitch Trubisky as Pittsburgh's new starter after taking over for the second half of last week's 24-20 loss to the Jets. Though Pickett threw three interceptions in his NFL debut, he was at least able to provide a spark by completing 10 of 13 attempts for 120 yards to go with six carries for 15 yards and two scores, the second of which gave the Steelers a 20-10 lead early in the fourth quarter. Pickett didn't showcase major rushing ability in college and can't be counted on to be as useful of a contributor on the ground as he was in Week 4, but the 24-year-old at least displayed efficient passing in the preseason and shouldn't be as turnover prone as he was in his NFL debut. He'll make for a worthy speculative pickup in superflex leagues or formats that start two quarterbacks each week.

Cowboys team owner Jerry Jones said Tuesday that Prescott isn't able to comfortably grip footballs with his surgically repaired right thumb, suggesting the quarterback isn't on track to play Week 5 against the Rams, Clarence E. Hill Jr. of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.

Though Jones didn't explicitly rule Prescott out for Sunday's matchup with the Rams and said he's confident the signal-caller will make some progress in his recovery during the upcoming week, Prescott doesn't look as though he's on pace to put an end to his three-game absence. Prescott previously expressed optimism as recently as last Monday that he would be back in action Week 5, but the fact that he can't yet securely grip the football is likely to result in his return timeline being pushed back another week. Cooper Rush, who has led the Cowboys to a 3-0 record in Prescott's absence, should be in store for at least one more start.

Garoppolo completed 16 of 27 passes for 239 yards and one touchdown in Monday's 24-9 win over the Rams. He added three yards on one rushing attempt.

Garoppolo was credited with a 57-yard touchdown pass to Deebo Samuel in the second quarter, though Deebo did the vast majority of the work after catching a short pass. The 49ers got back to their identity of winning with their defense and running game while relying on Garoppolo for little more than timely third-down conversions and game management. That role doesn't usually lead to much fantasy success, and in Week 5 Garoppolo will face a Panthers defense that's held three of four quarterbacks to under 210 passing yards this season.

Stafford completed 32 of 48 passes for 254 yards, no touchdowns and one interception in Monday's 24-9 loss to San Francisco. He added six yards on two rushing attempts and lost a fumble.

San Francisco's defense flummoxed Stafford throughout the night and sacked him seven times, as the Rams struggled to move the ball on most of their drives and settled for field goals whenever they got any momentum going. It was still a one-possession game in the fourth quarter until Stafford's back-breaking pick-six, which was taken 52 yards to the house by budding defensive star Talanoa Hufanga. Stafford ended Los Angeles' next possession with a fumble, putting to bed any doubt about the final result. He'll bring an alarmingly poor 4:6 TD:INT into a tough Week 5 matchup against the talented Dallas defense.

Grier reverted to the Cowboys' practice squad Monday, Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com reports.

Grier did not play during Sunday's win over Washington after being elevated from Dallas' practice squad for the third week in a row. The 2019 third-round pick has essentially served as the Cowboy's backup quarterback behind Cooper Rush while starter Dak Prescott (thumb) has been sidelined. However, Grier is no longer eligible for any further practice-squad promotions with Dallas and will need to secure a full-time roster spot in order to suit up for the team again this season.

The Steelers are expected to move forward with Pickett as their starting QB, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.

The Steelers have yet to confirm their starter for this weekend's game against the Bills, but after Pickett replaced Mitch Trubisky in Sunday's 24-20 loss to the Jets, it looks like the 2022 first-rounder is poised to get his first NFL regular-season start Sunday on the road versus the 3-1 Bills. Pickett thus is a worthy roster addition for those in need of short-term signal-caller help or who are in QB-heavy fantasy formats.

Coach Nathaniel Hackett relayed that Wilson (right shoulder) would have been limited Monday, if the Broncos had practiced, Aric DiLalla of the Broncos' official site reports.

Per Hackett, Wilson "got dinged up a little bit" during Sunday's loss to the Raiders, with Tom Pelissero of NFL Network indicating that the QB is dealing with some shoulder soreness. Either way, Hackett told DiLalla that he expects Wilson to play Thursday night against the Colts.

Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy said Monday that Prescott (thumb) will meet with a doctor Tuesday, and the team will formulate a plan following the appointment, Calvin Watkins of The Dallas Morning News reports.

Prescott reportedly is eyeing a Week 5 return, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.com, but the team will have to wait until Tuesday's appointment to get clarity on his potential return timetable. The quarterback began throwing last week after he had the stitches from his surgery removed, but McCarthy said he wants to see the quarterback put together a full week of practices before throwing him into game action, per Todd Archer of ESPN.com. If Prescott is able to return Sunday at the Rams, he's expected to have his full bevy of weapons available after Michael Gallup made his season debut Week 4.

McCoy (calf) was designated to return from injured reserve Monday.

McCoy has missed the minimum four games since being placed on IR on Sept. 7. The veteran quarterback will have up to three weeks to be placed on the active roster, or he'll be forced to miss the rest of the season. Once activated, McCoy is expected to be the backup to Kyler Murray, although he likely has competition with Trace McSorley currently handling the role.