NFL Player News

Raiders coach Klint Kubiak said Tuesday that Mendoza will play in Thursday's preseason opener against Arizona and may even get a few snaps with the starting offensive line, Ryan McFadden of ESPN.com reports.

It sounds like Kirk Cousins will make the start, but Mendoza could enter the game fairly early on, and he's expected to play a lot this preseason (if not necessarily Thursday night). Kubiak hasn't announced his Week 1 starter, but Cousins has been treated as the starter throughout training camp.

Richardson will start Thursday's preseason opener against the Patriots, James Boyd of The Athletic reports.

Richardson will handle the first half of the contest, while Riley Leonard will start the second half. Then in the team's second preseason tilt, Aug. 22 against the Falcons, that arrangement will be reversed. The two signal callers remain in contention to serve as Daniel Jones' top backup and will have their chance to make their cases in the coming weeks, with Jones not slated to play at all in the preseason.

Willis has shown increased comfort with offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik's concepts during the first two weeks of training camp and has been stacking up positive performances during practices, David Furones of the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports.

After joining the Dolphins in March on a three-year, $67.5 million deal, the fifth-year quarterback is heading into his first season as a full-time NFL starter. Willis has limited his mistakes and has been able to build chemistry with a mostly unproven receiving corps during OTAs, minicamp and now training camp, but the 27-year-old will get his first real test this week. He's set to receive extended reps against the Commanders defense in a joint practice Wednesday, and he could be in line to play a few drives against them in the preseason opener two days later.

Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles said Tuesday that Mayfield will be rested for the preseason opener Friday versus the Jets, Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Bowles indicated that the Bucs had been planning for backup Jake Browning to direct the first-team offense Friday, but Browning's status is now in question after he appeared to suffer a back injury during Tuesday's session. Mayfield didn't see any action during the 2025 preseason, and a similar approach with the veteran signal-caller seems likely in 2026. The 31-year-old is heading into his fourth season with Tampa Bay on an expiring contract and will be aiming for a bounce-back campaign after noticing a steep decline in his passing efficiency and touchdown total between 2024 and 2025, in large part due to injuries that accumulated over the course of last season.

Ward and other starters are scheduled to play in Thursday's preseason opener against San Francisco, Terry McCormick of TitanInsider.com reports.

The combination of a young QB and a new coaching staff could lead to more playing time than usual this preseason. Still, there's no guarantee of Ward playing more than a series or two Thursday night.

Jaguars head coach Liam Coen said Tuesday that Lawrence and the team's other established starters will sit out Saturday's preseason opener versus the Saints, Ryan O'Halloran of The Florida Times-Union reports.

Per John Shipley of SI.com, the Jaguars don't plan on having Lawrence see much action in their final two exhibition contests either, a departure from how he's been utilized in his prior five preseasons. The QB doesn't believe a lack of preseason reps will affect his preparation heading into Week 1, especially now that he has a year under his belt in Coen's offensive system. The 26-year-old had the best fantasy season of his career in 2025, setting personal bests in touchdown passes (29), rushing yards (359) and rushing touchdowns (nine).

Coach Mike LaFleur said Tuesday that Brissett and the rest of the Cardinals' starters will play one or two possessions during Thursday's preseason game at Las Vegas, Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com reports.

LaFleur held out Arizona's starters in last Thursday's Hall of Fame Game versus the Panthers, but Brissett and the rest of the first-team offense are slated to get some run this week. Brissett will likely be throwing passes to the Cardinals' top skill-position talents, including rookie first-round RB Jeremiyah Love, WRs Marvin Harrison and Michael Wilson and TE Trey McBride.

Coach Jesse Minter noted Tuesday that Jackson and other key starters won't play in Saturday's preseason opener against the Eagles, Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com reports.

There's little to gain by putting Jackson in harms way during the preseason, and there's a pretty solid chance he'll be held out of the team's other two exhibition contests as well. Tyler Huntley, Skylar Thompson (undisclosed) and Joe Fagnano are candidates to lead the offense this weekend against the Eagles.

When the Brown' unofficial depth chart is posted later Tuesday, the top QB slot will show 'Watson or Shedeur Sanders,' Zac Jackson of The Athletic reports.

Meanwhile, Jackson notes that coach Todd Monken doesn't plan to reveal his QB plans for Saturday's preseason opener against the Bears just yet, but it's expected that whichever of the two starts that contest will give way the other in the Browns' second exhibition tilt. The two signal-callers continue to share first-team practice reps, with Monken having yet to outline a timeline for his decision on when a Week 1 starter will be named.

Coach Aaron Glenn noted Tuesday that the Jets' starters, a group that includes Smith, will play in Friday's preseason opener against the Buccaneers, Al Iannazzone of Newsday reports.

It remains to be seen how much work Smith will see Friday, but after the veteran QB gets his reps in, Cade Klubnik, Brady Cook and Bailey Zappe are candidates to see action against Tampa Bay. As the coming campaign approaches, Smith is slated to lead a New York offense paced by top RB Breece Hall and which features a diverse pass-catching group that includes WRs Garrett Wilson, Adonai Mitchell and Omar Cooper, as well as TEs Kenyon Sadiq (hernia) and Mason Taylor.