NFL Player News

Johnson completed nine of 15 passes for 157 yards and one touchdown during Thursday's preseason game against the Browns. He added four carries for 17 yards and one rushing touchdown.

With David Fales out of the picture, Johnson split playing time with Tom Savage, who completed five of nine passes for 33 yards. While Johnson was considerably more productive Thursday, a healthy Savage was considered a shoo-in for the No. 2 role earlier this preseason and it's not certain the Lions will carry three quarterbacks on the active roster.

Rudolph completed 7 of 11 passes for 125 yards and a touchdown in Thursday night's 25-19 preseason loss to the Panthers.

Rudolph entered the game after Joshua Dobbs was in charge of two drives ending in punts to start the contest. On his first series, Rudolph put Pittsburgh in scoring position, but a missed field goal spoiled his efforts. His next drive, however, resulted in a made kick, and then Rudolph closed the first half with a 31-yard touchdown toss to Johnny Holton. In doing so, Rudolph capped the preseason with another superb performance, almost certainly cementing himself as Ben Roethlisberger's backup ahead of the regular season.

Walker completed eight of 16 passes for 90 yards and added 10 yards on three rushing attempts in Thursday's preseason finale against the Bengals.

Walker was outplayed by Chad Kelly, who also got the start in this one. While it appears Walker will be relegated to a third-string role when Kelly returns from his two-game suspension, Walker should open the season as Jacoby Brissett's backup while Kelly sits out the first two weeks. However, the Colts may try to acquire a veteran backup before Week 1 with Walker's mediocre preseason performance.

Dobbs completed three of five passes for 21 yards and rushed once for 11 yards in Thursday night's 25-19 preseason loss to the Panthers.

Dobbs started the game for the Steelers, but couldn't get much going on his mere two drives in charge. From the sideline, he then saw fellow quarterback Mason Rudolph impress once again, likely sealing Rudolph's fate as Ben Roethlisberger's backup ahead of the regular season. Unless Pittsburgh opts to retain three signal-callers, Dobbs appears to be the odd man out at the position.

Bridgewater (illness) completed 15 of 26 passes for 126 yards with zero touchdowns or interceptions in Saturday's preseason game against the Jets.

Bridgewater played through the illness in the previous preseason contest but looked significantly more comfortable Saturday. The 26-year-old remains primed to begin the season as the Saints' top backup behind Drew Brees.

Carr has the green light to go deep more often this season, Vic Tafur of The Athletic reports. "The better your receivers are, the more aggressive you are," coach Jon Gruden said. "And the better your line is, the more vertical shots you can call. We think we are better on the line. We think we are better outside. With that being said, we are going to take more shots, I hope."

There's no question about offseason acquisitions Antonio Brown and Tyrell Williams providing more of a deep threat, but Gruden's analysis of the offensive line is optimistic, especially with both starting guards out at the beginning of the season. Carr specifically mentioned throwing deep to Williams, whose average depth of target (12.4) in 2018 ranked 16th among 62 wide receivers with 40 or more catches. Carr placed 31st among 33 qualified passers in aDOT (7.3) last year, with Jordy Nelson (9.2 aDOT), Seth Roberts (8.7), Jared Cook (8.0) and Jalen Richard (1.5) dominating the targets in Oakland. It sounds like the Raiders will make a concerted effort to be more aggressive, though a Week 1 matchup with the Denver secondary might encourage a return to the familiar dinking and dunking. Carr threw just two passes in the preseason, completing both for 40 yards and a touchdown.

Jackson told Adam Schein of Mad Dog Sports Radio on Monday that he would like to throw about 30 passes per game, with fewer designed quarterback runs built into the offense.

Including the playoffs, Jackson averaged 23.4 pass attempts and 16 carries in eight starts last season, producing 7.0 YPA and 4.8 YPC. The rushing volume probably isn't sustainable long term, but it could be temporarily buoyed by the Ravens bringing in offensive coordinator Greg Roman, who previously oversaw prolific rushing seasons from Colin Kaepernick and Tyrod Taylor. There's also the matter of coach John Harbaugh recently telling reporters to "take the over" when he was asked about Jackson's rushing volume relative to Cam Newton's career-high mark of 139 carries. On the other hand, Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti suggested Jackson won't run as much this season, a sentiment the quarterback seems to support. Of course, there's room for Jackson to lose a good portion of last year's per-game rushing volume and still easily lead all quarterbacks in carries. For what it's worth -- probably not much -- he had 16 pass attempts (10 completions for 117 yards and a score) and just two carries for 14 yards in two preseason games. Jackson starts the regular season with a favorable schedule, traveling to Miami in Week 1 before returning to Baltimore to face the Cardinals in Week 2.

Browns head coach Freddie Kitchens acknowledged Mayfield was off during last week's preseason game against the Buccaneers but offered a defense for his quarterback, Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.

Mayfield completed just 10 of 26 throws for 72 yards and an interception for a quarterback rating of 30.6, but the coach understands a lot goes into the offense beyond the quarterback's statistics. "Baker was not the sharpest tool in the shed, but there's so much of it that goes into making him look more sharp. I think collectively, O line, tight ends, running backs, wide receivers and quarterback, we were off and that can't happen," said Kitchens. Indeed, there were dropped passes, shaky protection and errant routes in addition to Mayfield's off-target throws. Several starters were held out, too, but the personnel got a boost this week with the return of Odell Beckham Jr. and David Njoku to practice Monday.

Jones will start at quarterback in the Chargers' regular-season finale on Thursday, Gilbert Manzano of the Orange County Register reports.

With Thursday being the final preseason game, the Chargers will want to get a good look at all their reserves. With that, Jones will get the opportunity to prove himself against the 49ers in a fight for the No. 3 quarterback spot on the final roster.

Rudolph completed six of nine passes for 75 yards with one touchdown and one interception in Sunday's 18-6 preseason win over Tennessee.

Fighting to overtake Joshua Dobbs on the quarterback depth chart, Rudolph looked good for a third straight game, with the highlight coming on a connection with James Washington deep down the middle for a 41-yard touchdown. The interception -- also intended for Washington -- was his first of the preseason. The Steelers have one more contest before the games actually count, Thursday on the road against the Panthers.