NFL Player News

Williams won't play in Saturday's preseason opener against the Browns, Courtney Cronin of ESPN.com reports.

Head coach Ben Johnson revealed Thursday that the Bears plan to sit "a number" of their starters, with Williams among those getting the day off. Per Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times, Johnson seems to be leaning toward resting Williams for the entire preseason, though a final determination on the starting quarterback's status for the second and third preseason games has yet to be made. Tyson Bagent, Case Keenum and Miller Moss are the other QBs on Chicago's roster, and Finley reports that Bagent is on track to play the first half of Saturday's preseason opener.

Rattler will start Saturday's preseason game against the Jaguars, per Saints head coach Kellen Moore.

Rattler will get the first opportunity to make his case for the backup role behind Tyler Shough. Zach Wilson is competing for the second spot on the Saints' quarterback depth chart as well, and New Orleans also has Hunter Dekkers in the QB room. Rattler and Wilson are likely to both see plenty of preseason action as the Saints sort out their backup QB situation.

Mahomes (knee) won't play in Kansas City's preseason opener against the Rams on Saturday, Matt McMullen of the Chiefs' official site reports.

Mahomes has been progressing well in his recovery from a torn ACL that was surgically repaired in December. He has been cleared for 11-on-11 drills, but the Chiefs don't have much incentive to rush the star quarterback's return to game action. Justin Fields, Garrett Nussmeier and Chris Oladokun will suit up at quarterback Saturday. Mahomes continues to target the Sept. 14 regular-season opener against the Broncos as his return date.

McCarthy told reporters Wednesday that he wants to remain in Minnesota despite losing the Vikings' quarterback competition to Kyler Murray, Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com reports.

"This is the place I want to be," McCarthy said. "And I love every single person in this building. I love the state. I love the fanbase. And I'm going to continue to just do whatever I can for this team and this organization." Murray was named the team's Week 1 starter Tuesday and veteran backup Carson Wentz remains on the roster, leading to speculation that the Vikings could try to trade McCarthy. Minnesota's 2024 first-round draft pick missed his entire rookie season due to a knee injury, and McCarthy then threw for 1,632 yards with an 11:12 TD:INT across 10 starts during the 2025 regular season, prompting Minnesota to bring in an alternative option in Murray.

Head coach Joe Brady said Thursday that Allen and the rest of Buffalo's healthy starters will play in Saturday's preseason opener against the Panthers, Maddy Glab of the Bills' official site reports.

Brady added that he wants Allen to be competitive but mindful Saturday, per Glab. Allen is expected to start Saturday's preseason game but probably won't play more than a few series before giving way to backups Kyle Allen and Shane Buechele.

Deshaun Watson will get the start in Saturday's preseason opener against the Bears, while Sanders will draw the start in the team's Aug. 22 contest against the Bills.

Per coach Todd Monken, each quarterback will likely play a half during the team's first preseason game, as he wants to have both Watson and Sanders experience a two-minute situation Saturday. For now, Watson and Sanders -- who are listed as co-starters on the team's unofficial depth chart -- continue to share first-team practice reps, with Monken having yet to outline a timetable for selecting his Week 1 starter.

Watson will start Saturday's preseason game at Chicago, Kelsey Russo of the Browns' official site reports.

Coach Todd Monken relayed Wednesday that whoever starts Cleveland's preseason opener between Watson and Shedeur Sanders will play the first half, with the other entering the contest afterward. Then, the order will switch for the team's second exhibition Saturday, Aug. 22, against the Bills. Watson and Sanders have been alternating days working with the first-team offense in most practices during training camp, but Watson will get the first chance in a game to stake a claim to the No. 1 gig.

Coach Kevin Stefanski said Wednesday that Rush will rotate into Friday's preseason game versus the Broncos, Tori McElhaney of the Falcons' official site reports.

Per Stefanski, Tua Tagovailoa (back) is getting the nod to start in Atlanta's preseason opener, and Rush will be the team's next man up at quarterback. The Falcons have yet to name their starting signal caller for Week 1 of the regular season, as 2024 first-rounder Michael Penix continues to recover from the ACL tear he suffered in Week 11 of the 2025 campaign.

Nix isn't in line to play in Friday's preseason opener against the Falcons, James Palmer of The Athletic reports.

Per Palmer, the Broncos' franchise QB is, however, on track to see action Aug. 21 against the Packers, as well as in the team's Aug. 28 preseason finale, per coach Sean Payton, who noted that the signal-caller has practiced fully since the start of training camp and has taken the same number of snaps as he did during last year's camp, Jeff Legwold of ESPN reports. With Nix slated to sit versus Atlanta, Zac Stevens of TheDNVR.com relays that Jarrett Stidham and Sam Ehlinger are each in line to play a half on Friday.

Coach Todd Bowles said Wednesday that Browning (back) could still play in Friday's preseason game against the Jets, Jeff Dubrof of WFLA News Channel 8 reports.

Browning strained his back during Tuesday's joint practice with the Jets, but there's apparently still a chance he could suit up for the Buccaneers' preseason opener. If he can't though, Connor Bazelak would figure to be Tampa Bay's starting signal caller Friday.