NFL Player News

Allen will start Sunday's preseason game against the Bengals, Chris Brown of the Bills' official site reports.

This is a huge opportunity for the rookie, who should play with the starters well into the game. The news doesn't mean Allen has won the starting job over Nathan Peterman and an injured AJ McCarron (collarbone), but it does mean he's in the running for the Week 1 start, and he may just be the favorite after two strong preseason showings. Coach Sean McDermott should have a good idea of his starter after Allen takes his turn with the ones in what's normally the most important preseason game.

Rodgers may not play in Friday's preseason game against the Raiders, Jason Wilde of ESPN.com reports.

Packers coach Mike McCarthy said his squad won't approach Friday's game the way most teams treat the third week of the preseason, providing a hint that some key starters could be held out or at least restricted to only one or two drives. Rodgers and most of the other offensive starters are running scout team Monday, which is the same thing they did leading up to the first game of the preseason -- a contest the 34-year-old quarterback didn't play in. Rodgers played two drives and attempted five passes in the third week of the preseason last year.

Trubisky completed nine of 14 passes for 90 yards with a touchdown along with an interception in Saturday's preseason game against the Broncos.

Trubisky was able to find TE Trey Burton on four occasions, resulting in 45 yards and a score. It appeared that the coaching staff made that connection a focus in the contest. On his interception, the quarterback appeared frustrated that Tarik Cohen didn't flatten out his route, which allowed the defensive back to step in front of Cohen to pick off the pass. In fantasy drafts, it'll only take a low investment to select Trubisky as a backup with potential for upside.

Allen worked with the starting group during Monday's practice, Chris Brown of the Bills' official site reports. "(Josh) will be working with the ones and Nate will be working with the twos today," said coach Sean McDermott. "We're staying with the rotation. Nate had the reps with the ones yesterday. Josh will have them today."

AJ McCarron suffered a collarbone injury during Friday's preseason game, and all McDermott would say about the matter is that McCarron would miss Monday's practice and is still under evaluation. Consider Allen firmly in the mix to start Week 1 given that he'll be alternating with the ones and twos as long as McCarron is out. We'll see if the rookie, who has looked progressively better through training camp and two preseason tilts, or Nathan Peterman gets the start in Sunday's third preseason game, a contest in which the starting group usually plays a good deal.

Heinicke is entrenched in a close competition with Garrett Gilbert for the Panthers' second-string quarterback position, the team's official site reports.

Heinicke entered Friday's second preseason game ahead of Gilbert, going on to complete five of nine attempts for 88 yards and an unfortunate interception. Following his turnover, Heinicke led Carolina on an eight-play, 92-yard touchdown drive before handing the keys over the Gilbert to start the fourth quarter. While neither player will be needed as long as star Cam Newton is healthy during the regular season, a No. 2 gig would still be an upgrade to both players' previous positions elsewhere.

Beathard suffered a foot sprain in Saturday's preseason tilt against the Texans and will be evaluated further Monday, ESPN's Nick Wagoner reports.

There were no reports of an injury after Beathard completed 10 of 17 passes for 82 yards in relief of Jimmy Garoppolo, so the foot injury must have flared up after he left the contest. The 49ers will run tests on the backup quarterback's foot Monday, and Nick Mullens figures to move up the depth chart if Beathard is unable to go next week against the Colts.

Jones completed three of his four passes for 27 yards and also carried the ball four times for 41 yards in Saturday's 24-14 preseason win against the Seahawks.

That's now two straight weeks Jones followed behind Geno Smith, leading to the prevailing theory that the former Jets quarterback appears to have the edge on the backup job.

Smith completed six of his eight passes for 85 yards and a touchdown, and also ran two times for 14 yards in Saturday's preseason win over the Seahawks.

Smith was the first quarterback to relieve starter Philip Rivers, playing into the first drive of the second half. Given the competition with Cardale Jones has been neck-and-neck up until this point, it's telling that Smith was allowed to play almost a full two quarters, and looked well doing so. Week 4 will likely be the deciding factor as to who will earn the starting gig, but at least for now, Smith appears to have the upper hand.

Darnold got the bulk of the Jets' QB reps Sunday, likely setting the stage for him to start Friday's preseason game against the Giants, Rich Cimini of ESPN.com reports.

Though the Jets have yet to tip their hand with regard to their Week 1 starter at QB, Cimini noted Sunday that the sense he gets "is that, barring regression against the Giants, (Darnold is) trending toward" earning the assignment. While veteran signal-callers Josh McCown and Teddy Bridgewater are still on hand, from the moment Darnold was taken third overall in April's draft it was only a matter of time before he gained the Jets' starting role.

Winston (suspension) completed 13 of 18 passes for 226 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions in the Buccaneers' 30-14 preseason win over the Titans on Saturday.

Seeing extended work for the second time in as many preseason games, Winston produced 12.6 yards per attempt while making impressive scoring connections with Chris Godwin and Justin Watson. Each play stood out for a different reason -- the score to Godwin came after Winston eluded multiple rushers, while the pocket pass to Watson was a perfect back-shoulder strike down the right sideline. The nifty juggling act coach Dirk Koetter has put on with respect to splitting reps between Ryan Fitzpatrick and Winston seems to be working, as Winston also displayed excellent chemistry with starters Mike Evans and DeSean Jackson, hitting both for long completions Saturday. Looking ahead to Friday's preseason game against the Lions, it's likely Winston's playing time takes a hit due to Fitzpatrick seeing additional reps with the first unit he'll lead to open the season.