NFL Player News

Allen completed 21 of 25 passes for 308 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions during the Bills' 47-17 win over the Patriots in an AFC wild-card matchup Saturday night. He also rushed six times for 66 yards.

Allen spearheaded an unforgettable offensive performance by the Bills, one in which the team set a new postseason record with seven touchdown drives in its first seven possessions. The fourth-year signal-caller capped off five of them with scoring tosses to Dawson Knox (twice), Emmanuel Sanders, Gabriel Davis and Tommy Doyle, and he became the third player in the Super Bowl era with at least 150 passing yards and 50 rushing yards in a single half of a playoff game. Allen's 84 percent completion rate on the night also qualified as the highest by a quarterback with 25 or more attempts in a playoff game since Aaron Rodgers' 86.1 percent figure in a 2010 divisional-round game. With this momentous, confidence-building performance under his belt, Allen heads into the divisional round with an abundance of momentum as he and his teammates prepare to either visit the Chiefs or host the Bengals next weekend.

Jones completed 24 of 38 passes for 232 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions in Saturday's 47-17 loss to Buffalo.

Though New England was overmatched in nearly all aspects of its wild-card matchup, Jones was unable to get the offense moving while the game remained within reach. His play during the first offensive possession was an exception, as he found Hunter Henry for a 30-yard completion and also scrambled for a 16-yard gain. However, he was picked off by Micah Hyde in the end zone to end the rally. After that, positive plays were few and far between, as Jones ended the first half with only 10 completions for 106 yards. He managed to pad his stat line with a pair of touchdown passes to Kendrick Bourne with the Patriots down by at least three scores the entire second half. Despite the loss, Jones showed promise during his rookie season and will be back under center to lead the New England offense for the 2022 campaign.

Carr completed 29 of 54 pass attempts for 310 yards, one touchdown and one interception while running for 20 yards on one carry against Cincinnati on Saturday.

Carr has a history of struggles in colder conditions like these, so it's unsurprising that he got by more on volume than efficiency in this game. The unusually high pass attempt volume can't always be counted on, so it could have gone a lot worse for Carr's fantasy investors. While he'll never compete for elite distinction at quarterback, it's impressive that this year marked the eighth with Carr starting at quarterback for the Raiders, and the last three years in particular have marked a turned corner for him.

Burrow completed 24 of 34 pass attempts for 244 yards and two touchdowns against Las Vegas on Saturday.

The numbers are modest at a glance, but the Bengals controlled this game from start to finish and it's possible that they could have done more if they needed to. With that said, Burrow did most of his damage early, throwing one touchdown to each of Tyler Boyd and C.J. Uzomah in roughly the first third of the game and not doing a whole lot afterward. With higher stakes in the second playoff round it's possible that Burrow and the Bengals take a more aggressive approach.

White made four appearances (three starts) in 2021, completing 88 of 132 passes for 953 yards, five touchdowns and eight interceptions.

White had never gotten into a regular-season game before the 2021 season, but the 26-year-old quarterback took the league by storm in his first NFL start, throwing for 405 yards and three touchdowns in a Week 8 upset win over the Bengals. Unfortunately for White, he was unable to replicate that success in any of his other outings, quickly putting an end to the brief quarterback controversy for the Jets. Zach Wilson is the clear quarterback of the future for the franchise after being selected second overall in the 2021 NFL Entry Draft, but it wouldn't be surprising to see the Jets bring back White -- who is a restricted free agent -- to serve as Wilson's backup again next season.

Jackson (ankle) finished the season completing 64.4 percent of his passes for 2,882 yards, 16 touchdowns and 13 interceptions in 12 games. He added 133 carries for 767 yards and two scores.

Jackson endured a health-challenged season, with an illness sidelining him for a game and a right ankle injury keeping him out for the final month. When he was available, Jackson showed improvement as a passer, especially in terms of generating explosive plays; his 41 completions of 20-plus yards nearly matched what he did in 15 games during his 2019 MVP season. He also led to Ravens to comeback wins from double-digit deficits against the Chiefs, Colts and Vikings. Still, it wasn't a perfect season from Jackson, who committed 16 turns in total, including a career-high 13 picks. It's important to note that the Baltimore offense was upended late in training camp with its top two running backs suffering season-ending injuries and its first-round receiver going out with a core-muscle injury that sidelined him well into the regular season. The absences of key skill-position players put more on Jackson's shoulders, and he still managed to put the Ravens in playoff position before the illness and injury railroaded his season. Jackson enters 2022 on the fifth year of his rookie deal, and he'll make north of $23 million unless the he and the team negotiate a long-term extension.

Garoppolo (thumb) practiced in full Thursday, Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com reports.

Garoppolo has been trending in this direction after appearing to handle a larger workload Wednesday than he did last week, according to David Lombardi of The Athletic. Still, Garoppolo was listed as limited on the 49ers' first practice report of this week. With a full session now under his belt, he upheld his thoughts from Wednesday, when he told Lombardi that his right thumb was "feeling great" after experiencing a "little" soreness in the wake of the team's Week 18 win against the Rams. Garoppolo thus is set to start Sunday's wild-card game at Dallas.

Stafford (toe) was a full participant at Thursday's walkthrough, Lindsey Thiry of ESPN.com reports.

Coach Sean McVay stated Monday that Stafford came out of the Rams' Week 18 loss to the 49ers with a toe injury. While he was seen limping at one point this past Sunday, Stafford revealed Thursday that he picked it up on a third-down pass to Cooper Kupp, according to Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic. Per the quarterback, his health is OK four days removed from getting hurt, and the issue shouldn't impact him during Monday's postseason opener against the Cardinals. Assuming he continues to string together uncapped practices, Stafford soon will earn his 18th start in as many chances as a member of the Rams.

Beathard was activated off of the reserve/COVID-19 list Thursday, Aaron Wilson of Sportstalk 790 Houston reports.

The quarterback was placed on the COVID list Friday, which forced him to miss the Jaguars' season finale victory against the Colts. Beathard signed a two-year contract with the Jaguars in the offseason, appearing in two games as Trevor Lawrence's primary backup.

The Bears activated Fields (illness) from the reserve/COVID-19 list Thursday, Adam Hoge of NBC Sports Chicago reports.

Fields spent exactly one week on the COVID-19 list as a result of a positive test for the virus, forcing him to sit out the Bears' season finale. He thus ended his rookie campaign with 12 appearances, 10 of them starts, en route to 1,870 yards, seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions on 59 percent passing. The 2021 first-round pick also racked up 72 carries for 420 yards and two more scores. With Andy Dalton and potentially Nick Foles iffy to be around next season, Fields doesn't have any impediments to the starting quarterback gig in Chicago moving forward.