NFL Player News

The NFL fined Packers outside linebacker Clay Matthews $22,050 for his illegal blindside hit on Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson in the NFC Championship Game, reports ESPN's Adam Schefter. The vicious shot to Wilson's head occurred in the second quarter.

New Browns offensive coordinator John DeFilippo, introduced at a news conference Thursday, stopped way short of committing to Johnny Manziel as his starting quarterback. "We're not sure if our starting quarterback is in the building or not," DeFilippo said, per the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Manziel did not impress as a rookie. In five games, including two starts, he completed 18 of 35 throws for 175 yards and no touchdowns with two interceptions. Manziel ran nine times for 29 yards and a score.

Brian Hoyer is about to hit free agency, and undrafted rookie Connor Shaw is the only other quarterback on the roster.

The Browns own the 12th and 19th picks in the first round of this year's draft. They selected Manziel at No. 22 overall last year.

DeFilippo said he's looking forward to working with Manziel and that Manziel will have a "clean slate."

The Bengals are sticking with Andy Dalton at quarterback and have no plans to bring in competition. But coach Marvin Lewis didn't exactly give Dalton a ringing endorsement.

Noting Dalton, Carson Palmer and Jon Kitna have started all but 12 of his 198 games as Cincy's coach, Lewis said he prefers the status quo.

“Fortunately, somehow I’ve got the right little thing on my shoulder that says, ‘Don’t get into a quarterback controversy,’” Lewis told the team's website. “That’s worked from Jon to Carson to Andy. It’s helped us have the success we’ve had and those guys have been good players, productive players. Even when they’ve left out of here they’ve been productive. It works.

“We have no problem with Andy Dalton as our quarterback. We don’t have time to waste time with another QB. To not continue to press forward and get Andy better and to get whoever the backup quarterbacks are better. The quarterback competition. Where has it worked? It doesn’t get you wins.”

The team hopes to re-sign Jason Campbell as Dalton's backup.

David Lee has returned to his role as the Bills quarterbacks coach after spending the last two seasons as the Jets quarterbacks coach, where he spent a great deal of time tutoring Geno Smith. 

While Lee was complimentary of the progress Smith made late in the 2014 season, he didn't have any issues opening up about Smith's struggles as well.

“Rex and I talked about it. He had some inconsistency, and the up-and-down part is what killed us,” Lee told the Bills' official website. “He would get loose with the football. We played good enough defense to win over there both years, but his play, it’ll cost you and it cost us.

"But he also did some great things. The last five games this season he was the seventh-rated passer in the league. He had a perfect passer rating in his last game at Miami. The potential and ability is there.” 

Smith had a 97.9 passer rating over the Jets' final five games in 2014. However, he was benched in favor of Michael Vick for a stretch this season and finished 29th in the league with a passer rating of 77.5.

Dolphins general manager Dennis Hickey said the team is excited about third-year quarterback Ryan Tannehill as the long-term starter, reports the Miami Herald. Tannehill set career highs this season in passing yards (4,045) and passing touchdowns (27) while throwing a career-low 12 interceptions.

"We're excited about what Ryan has brought to the Dolphins," Hickey said. "We're excited about his future with the Dolphins."

The paper said the team must decide whether to negotiate a long-term contract extension with Tannehill "or simply exercise a one-year injury guarantee option that extends Tannehill through the 2016 season."

Tannehill is due $660,000 in 2015, plus a $1.5 million roster bonus.

New Jets coach Todd Bowles and general manager Mike Maccagnan had little to say about quarterback Geno Smith's future at a news conference Wednesday, reports Pro Football Talk. Bowles referred to Smith as "a great college quarterback" but didn't assess his performance as a pro or say whether Smith would be his 2015 starter.

Maccagnan, asked about the team's quarterback situation, said he doesn't "want to get too far ahead of ourselves." Smith is under contract through 2016, while Michael Vick is set to hit free agency. Smith accounted for 14 touchdowns and 16 turnovers this season.

The Jets could draft a quarterback at No. 6 overall.

Newly hired Raiders offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave said Tuesday he thinks the offense he worked with in Phliadelphia could fit pretty well in Oakland.

"We talked about tailoring our system to fit them, but I've got a hunch that a lot of the things we did in Philadelphia will match up real nice and be effective," Musgrave said on a conference call.

Oakland ranked dead last in offense in 2014 with rookie quarterback Derek Carr at the helm. But Musgrave and a few other coaches were attracted to the job because of Carr.

"The presence of Derek was definitely a factor," Musgrave said. "I think a number of coaches have expressed interest in being Jack's offensive coordinator I know he talked to a number of people, and one of the main reasons would be the presence of Derek Carr."

Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton, who threw 19 touchdowns and 17 interceptions, is going to the Pro Bowl in place of Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the Bengals announced. Rodgers pulled out due to his calf injury.

This will be Dalton's second Pro Bowl, as he also made it in 2011.

Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw for just 178 yards on 19 of 34 passing in Green Bay's 28-22 loss to the Seahawks in Sunday's NFC Championship Game.

After settling for field goals on their first two chances, Rodgers scrambled around the pocket before finding wide receiver Randall Cobb in the back of the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown.

Despite the strong early start, Rodgers threw two interceptions and was limping most of the second half, most noticeably on a 12 yard scramble to get out of bounds to set a field goal late.

"It's going to be a missed opportunity that we're probably going to think about the rest of my career," Rodgers said. "We were the better team today and we played well enough to win and we can't blame anybody but ourselves."

Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson struggled for most of the NFC Championship Game, throwing four interceptions. However, when the game reached overtime, Wilson connected on two different plays for 35 yards each, including the game-winning touchdown to Jermaine Kearse to send Seattle to the Super Bowl.

Wilson threw for 209 yards in the game and rushed for 25 yards, including a touchdown.