NFL Player News

Winston completed seven of nine passes for 97 yards and a touchdown in Thursday's preseason opener against the Eagles.

Winston did lose a fumble on a sack, but he then bounced back to lead the Bucs on a seven-play, 79-yard scoring drive, capped off by a 26-yard touchdown strike to WR Russell Shepard. Although the second-year quarterback didn't have any rush attempts in Thursday's game, he should be a bit quicker on his feet this season, after losing approximately 20 pounds since last year.

Garoppolo is expected to start Thursday's preseason contest against the Saints, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com reports.

In anticipation of Tom Brady's four-game suspension to start the season, Garoppolo will handle snaps with the first-teamers, but the likely absences of Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman (foot), Danny Amendola (knee), and Dion Lewis (knee), among others, won't really mimic the reality of Weeks 1-4. No matter, the grooming of Garoppolo will begin in earnest Thursday.

Rodgers isn't expected to suit up for Friday's preseason game against the Browns, Jason Wilde of ESPN.com reports.

During the final practice open to the media prior to Friday, Rodgers directed the scout-team offense, which is the clearest indication that the Packers won't risk any hits for at least another week. If he follows his preseason reps from the past three seasons, he'll take the field two times and total about 5-to-6 series in advance of the regular season. With Brett Hundley (ankle) still tending to an ankle injury, Joe Callahan and Marquise Williams will be under center for the exhibition.

Prescott has another strong day in team drills Wednesday, The Ft. Worth Star-Telegram reports.

He completed 8-of-13 passes with the Cowboys' first team offense, with only one of those incompletions being the result of a poorly-thrown pass. Prescott is getting valuable reps when Tony Romo is rested, but Dallas is still looking to add a veteran backup QB before the preseason is through. It remains highly unlikely that Prescott will see meaningful regular season snaps in 2016.

Gradkowski will likely see action in Friday's preseason opener since, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Ben Roethlisberger is expected to sit out against the Lions.

With Roethlisberger joining several key offensive players including Le'Veon Bell, Antonio Brown, and DeAngelo Williams on the sidelines, Gradkowski will have an opportunity to show why he deserves the backup quarterback spot over Landry Jones and Dustin Vaughan, despite missing all of last season.

As expected, both Gabbert and Kaepernick were listed as co-starters on the 49ers' unofficial depth chart.

This comes as no surprise a day after offensive coordinator Curtis Modkins stated that neither quarterback was ahead of the other in the competition for starter. Modkins followed up on Wednesday stating that the team still doesn't know who will start Sunday's preseason against the Texans, CSN Bay Area reports. While whoever starts Sunday's matchup will undoubtedly be named the frontrunner for the job, it won't necessarily indicate who will start Week 1 of the regular season.

Neither Gabbert nor Colin Kaepernick have pulled ahead in the battle for the right to be San Francisco's starting quarterback for Week 1, the Mercury News reports.

Gabbert has been splitting first-team reps with Kaepernick during training camp, and neither is "ahead of the other right now" according to offensive coordinator Curtis Modkins. It seems as though this competition will come down to the wire and a starter may not be named until both have seen action against opposing defenses during the preseason. Modkins stated that the decision will ultimately fall on head coach Chip Kelly. Whoever comes out as the starter Week 1 will likely see a boost in value over last season given the fast-paced nature of Kelly's offensive game plan.

Siemian will play the second quarter of Thursday's preseason opener against the Bears, Mike Klis of 9News Denver reports.

Siemian is listed atop the initial depth chart alongside Mark Sanchez, who will play the first quarter of Thursday's preseason opener. Siemian could get the first look in Denver's second preseason contest, as early reports suggest the battle is tight. Paxton Lynch is expected to play the second half of Thursday's game, but he's not technically considered to be part of the competition.

Keenum appears to be the leading candidate to start in Week 1, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.

The Rams made quite the commitment to their quarterback of the future in order to select Jared Goff first overall in the 2016 NFL Draft. Despite the assets required to obtain him, the Rams have handed the bulk of first-team snaps to Keenum, the incumbent, and even listed him at the top of the depth chart in the early stages of training camp. All signs point to Keenum serving under center for the Rams' first series of the season on Sept. 12 at San Francisco, but Goff could surprise the football world yet again with a strong showing in the preseason.

Siemian is tied atop the Broncos' depth chart, the team's official site reports.

There's been whispers of Siemian giving Sanchez a run for his money for months now, but this first released depth chart provides weight. With rookie first-rounder Paxton Lynch supposedly catching up to speed, it's still hard to imagine the team not looking toward its future should Sanchez fail to impress - but Siemian is clearly more than a motivating chip.