NFL Player News

There are fears that Watson suffered a torn ACL during Thursday's practice, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.

Per the report, Watson suffered a non-contact injury Thursday, with an MRI on tap to determine the extent of his knee injury. If an ACL tear is confirmed, Watson would be done for the season, which would set the stage for Tom Savage to reclaim the Texans' starting QB job.

Watson was listed as a limited participant in Thursday's practice due to a knee injury.

Watson popped up on the injury report in Week 2 ahead of his first NFL start with an ankle issue, but he played that week and hasn't appeared to experience any restrictions with his mobility, as evidenced by the 253 rushing yards he's accumulated since that time. After putting in a full practice Wednesday, it's possible that Watson might have been a bit banged up coming out of the session a day later, which may have influenced the Texans' decision to limit his practice load. Unless head coach Bill O'Brien indicates that Watson's knee is a serious concern, however, look for the rookie to be on the field Sunday against the Colts.

Brissett is slated to start at quarterback the rest of the season after Andrew Luck (shouder) was placed on injured reserve Thursday, Andrew Walker of the Colts' official site reports.

It's an assignment that Brissett has held since Week 2, but there previously had been optimism that Luck would return to action at some point in the second half of the campaign to take back starting duties. Brissett will now look to help the 2-6 Colts engineer a turnaround of their 2017 season, beginning with Sunday's road matchup against the Texans. Brissett tossed two touchdowns in Week 8, but prior to that, he recorded just three passing scores in his previous six starts. Overall, he's logged a 5:4 TD:INT ratio for the season, while adding 32 carries for 135 yards and three touchdowns.

Sudfeld was promoted to the Eagles' active roster Wednesday.

The Eagles would apparently feel more comfortable with some added depth at the quarterback position. With star quarterback Carson Wentz and Nick Foles ahead of him in the depth chart, it would take a catastrophe to get Sudfeld on the game field.

Winston (shoulder) was a limited participant at Wednesday's practice, Jenna Laine of ESPN.com reports.

Like the past two weeks, Winston kicked off this one with a cap on his practices reps. However, he bucked the trend by taking part in every passing drill during the open portion of Wednesday's session, per Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. The Buccaneers have suggested a lack of timing was to blame for Winston's miserable outing Sunday against the Panthers, during which he completed 21 of 38 passes for 210 yards and two interceptions. On the other hand, Winston may be experiencing improvement with the sprained AC joint in his right shoulder. Only time will tell, but he doesn't appear in any danger of sitting in Week 9 against the Saints.

San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan said Wednesday that he can't promise that Garoppolo will play this season, Joe Fann of the 49ers' official website reports.

Per Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area, Shanahan emphasized that the team acquired Garoppolo to improve their organization rather than save their 2017 season. That probably goes without saying for a team has an 0-8 record, but it nonetheless seems the 49ers have every incentive to at least give Garoppolo a look for a few games before the end of the campaign. He's scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent after the season, and while a strong showing undoubtedly would raise his price, it also would give the 49ers a better idea of what they'd be getting. C.J. Beathard will start at least one more game and possibly a few more after that, but Garoppolo should get his shot before the season concludes.

Winston (shoulder) threw during the portion of Wednesday's practice open to the media, Scott Smith of the Buccaneers' official site reports.

Since suffering an AC joint sprain in his right throwing shoulder Week 6, Winston has followed a strict regimen of no throws until Friday, so he appears to be in a better spot than the last two weeks. It remains to be seen if he'll be able to log a full practice, which will be confirmed during the release of Wednesday's injury report. Achieving such status would more or less clear Winston for Sunday's divisional game at New Orleans, barring a setback.

Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer said Tuesday that Bridgewater (knee) isn't necessarily guaranteed to start for the team once the quarterback is activated from the Physically Unable to Perform list, Jeremy Bregman of NFL.com reports. "I haven't decided that yet," Zimmer said, regarding who would start at quarterback for the VIkings when Bridgewater returns. "We'll continue to take it one day at a time. Just see where [Bridgewater] is at, where the team is at, how Case [Keenum] is doing. The whole deal."

With Bridgewater's left knee apparently presenting few complications since he resumed practicing Oct. 18, Zimmer noted that the team is "prepared" to activate the signal caller ahead ahead of its Week 10 matchup with Washington. Given that Keenum has admirably guided the Vikings to a 6-2 record amid the season-long absence of Bridgewater and the absence of Sam Bradford (knee) for all but two games, there's reason to believe that Zimmer will elect to maintain the status quo coming out of the team's bye week. That would allow Bridgewater to get some more practice time under his belt and remain sharp in the event that Keenum regresses or succumbs to an injury.

Vikings general manager Rick Spielman told SiriusXM NFL Radio on Wednesday that Bradford (knee) is "getting healthier and has made some progress this week," but the team has yet to issue a definitive timetable for the quarterback's return.

Since sitting out the entire second half of the Vikings' Week 5 win over the Bears after enduring a setback with his surgically repaired left knee, Bradford has yet to resume practicing this week. While Spielman's comments seemingly paint a positive picture for the quarterback's health, Bradford will likely need to string together multiple practices in a row before the Vikings have a better feel for when he might be able to suit up again. With Case Keenum playing effectively as the interim starter and Teddy Bridgewater (knee) seemingly further along than Bradford in his recovery from injury, it's possible that Bradford's services won't be needed by the time he's healthy again.

Winston is nursing some soreness with his right shoulder, but is set to practice Wednesday, Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

During preparations for both of the Buccaneers' last two games, Winston hadn't practiced until Friday while nursing the shoulder injury, so even if he ends up going down as a limited participant Wednesday, his involvement in the team's first session of the week suggests he may be showing some improvement on the health front. Winston struggled mightily in Sunday's loss to the Panthers, completing 21 of 38 passes for 210 yards and tossing two interceptions, but since he shredded the Bills for 384 passing yards and three touchdowns a week earlier, his poor play probably can't be attributed solely to the shoulder injury. Even in times of better health, Winston's production has proven quite volatile from game to game, and the high variance in his performance will likely only continue in the second half of the season.