NFL Player News

The Panthers remain hopeful that Bridgewater (knee) will be able to start Sunday's game against the Lions, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.

A report Thursday suggested the veteran quarterback was unlikely to play, but he apparently looked better Friday, potentially putting him on track to carry a questionable designation into Sunday's game. The Panthers haven't clarified whom might start at quarterback if Bridgewater can't play, as the team has both P.J. Walker and Will Grier on its roster.

The Lions expect Stafford (thumb) to play Sunday against the Panthers, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com reports.

Stafford was held out of Wednesday's practice while tending to a ligament injury to his right thumb. He then returned Thursday as a limited participant, and he apparently looked good enough to make the Lions feel confident in his availability for Sunday. Teammates D'Andre Swift (concussion), Kenny Golladay (hip) and Danny Amendola (hip) may not be as fortunate, with each of the three missing Friday's practice and seemingly trending toward sitting out the Week 11 contest.

Coach Adam Gase said Friday that Darnold (shoulder) has a "good shot" to return to action the Jets' Week 12 game against the Dolphins, Ralph Vacchiano of SportsNet New York reports .

Darnold has already been ruled out ahead of Sunday's game against the Chargers due to a sprained AC joint in his right shoulder, paving the way for Joe Flacco to draw another start. The 23-year-old is trending in the right direction for Week 12, but his activity in practice next week will ultimately dictate whether or not he's fit to play. Darnold has just 1,045 passing yards and a 3:6 TD:INT through six appearances.

Winston will serve as the backup to Taysom Hill during Sunday's game against the Falcons, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.

Winston was thrust into action after Drew Brees (chest) exited last weekend's win over San Francisco, but he was lackluster in completing just six of 10 pass attempts for 63 yards despite playing the entire second half. Coach Sean Payton has since elected to allow Hill the entire portion of starting reps at practice, and Schefter reports that Winston won't be involved in any offensive packages against the Falcons -- two hints suggesting the decision to roll with Hill under center is a firm one. Even with Brees on track to miss at least 2-to-3 weeks, it looks like Winston may not get another chance to enter the lineup unless Hill really struggles.

Lock (ribs) is expected to be limited at Friday's practice and continue splitting quarterback reps with Brett Rypien, Mike Klis of 9News Denver reports.

The 24-year-old is apparently trending in the right direction for Sunday's matchup with the Dolphins, but he isn't expected to significantly increase his practice work in the Broncos' final practice of the week. Lock seems likely to be considered questionable for Week 11, but his status won't receive official clarity until the injury report is released later Friday.

Wilson completed 23 of 28 passes for 197 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions in the Seahawks' 28-21 win over the Cardinals on Thursday night. He also rushed 10 times for 42 yards and was charged with two fumbles, including one on a pitchback toss that Carlos Hyde mishandled, but both were recovered by Seattle.

Wilson checked in under 200 passing yards for the first time all season, but he turned in a much-needed turnover-free effort devoid of some of the risky throws and questionable decisions that had characterized his play in recent contests. Wilson had thrown seven of his 10 interceptions on the campaign in three of his prior four games, but Thursday, he appeared to stick to what the defense gave him and picked his spots effectively. Two of those came on scoring strikes of 25 and 11 yards to DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, respectively, in the first half. Wilson would go on to connect with eight different pass catchers overall on the night while posting only his second interception-free performance since Week 3. He'll now look to carry over the momentum into a Week 12 Monday night matchup against the Eagles on Nov. 30.

Murray completed 29 of 42 passes for 269 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions in the Cardinals' 28-21 loss to the Seahawks on Thursday night. He also rushed five times for 15 yards.

Murray's ledger ultimately corroborates a mistake-free effort, but he was still directly involved in a couple of plays that proved pivotal to the Seahawks' win. The 23-year-old signal-caller was charged with intentional grounding deep in his own end on the first play of an early fourth-quarter drive with Arizona trailing by just two points, and J.R. Sweezy was subsequently whistled for holding in the end zone a play later, resulting in a safety. Murray also took a sack at Seattle's 33-yard line on 4th-and-10 with 38 seconds remaining, a play in which he failed to feel the pressure and step up into what was a clean pocket. Murray otherwise kept his squad on the comeback trail throughout the night and connected with Dan Arnold and Chase Edmonds for his pair of scoring tosses. Murray now has multiple touchdown throws in four of his last five contests heading into a Week 12 road interconference matchup against the Patriots on Sunday, Nov. 29.

Rypien split reps in Thursday's practice with top quarterback Drew Lock (ribs), who was listed as a limited participant in the session, Zac Stevens of TheDNVR.com reports.

As Sunday's game against the Dolphins approaches, the Broncos are viewing Lock as day-to-day after he came out of the Week 10 loss to the Raiders with a muscle strain and bruising to his ribs. The fact that Lock returned to the field in some fashion Thursday is an encouraging sign that he'll be ready to play once the weekend arrives, but head coach Vic Fangio is keeping Rypien prepared in the event Lock's condition takes a turn for the worse. Rypien previously picked up a start Week 4 while Lock was out with a shoulder injury, completing 19 of 31 attempts for 242 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions in a 37-28 win over the Jets.

Lock (ribs) split QB reps with Brett Rypien during Thursday's practice, Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com reports.

Lock, who was officially listed as limited Thursday, noted afterward that he felt good while throwing in drills, but he fell short of confirming that he'll play Sunday against the Dolphins. "I would like to be (available to play)," Lock said Thursday. "Obviously I'll give my opinion and it's going to be I want to play, but in the end it's not 100 percent up to me what happens." Added clarity with regard to his Week 11 status should arrive no later than Friday after the Broncos trainers and doctors assess the signal-caller following practice.

Bridgewater (knee) appears unlikely to start for the Panthers in Sunday's game against the Lions, sources tell Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero.

While the report notes that a final call on Bridgewater's Week 11 status hasn't been made, the quarterback doesn't seem to be trending in the right direction after he was limited in practices Wednesday and Thursday. When asked Thursday about how Bridgewater was coming along in his recovery from an MCL sprain, head coach Matt Rhule said wasn't willing to rule the signal-caller out for Week 11, though he admitted that Bridgewater was "extremely limited" in the aforementioned practices, according to Bill Voth of the Panthers' official site. Bridgewater could create more positivity about his status by increasing his activity at Friday's practice, but the Panthers will continue to keep backup quarterbacks Will Grier and P.J. Walker prepared in the event Bridgewater can't play this weekend.