NFL Player News

The Eagles have released their inactives for their season opener against visiting Jacksonville on Sunday.

Among the scratches are quarterback Matt Barkley, offensive linemen Dennis Kelly and Matt Tobin and defensive end Taylor Hart. Wide receiver Josh Huff (shoulder), running back Chris Polk (hamstring) and cornerback Jaylen Watkins are also sidelined.

The Titans have listed three players on their final injury report Friday heading into their Sunday opener against Kansas City.

Defensive lineman Mike Martin (hamstring) is the only deemed questionable for the game. He was a limited participant in practice Friday. Running back Jackie Battle (shoulder) and Charlie Whitehurst (finger) were both full participants in Friday's session and are officially probable for Week 1.

Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was limited to just one touchdown Thursday against the Seahawks.

Rodgers completed 23 of 33 passes for 189 yards and one touchdown. He also threw one interception during the outing. Seattle did a great job limiting the big play against Rodgers. He completed just one pass over 20 yards. Rodgers also didn’t have a ton of time to throw. Lineman Bryan Bulaga left the game early, forcing Rodgers to make decisions quickly. He was sacked three times, losing a fumble on one of those plays. Aside from a big offensive pass interference play, the Packers were mostly held in check throughout the game. 

Rodgers will take on the Jets Week 2.

Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson threw two touchdowns in the season opener against the Packers. 

Wilson was efficient, completing 19 of 28 passes for 191 yards. He seemed to enjoy having a healthy Percy Harvin in the lineup. Harvin led the team with seven receptions. On his two touchdown throws, Harvin was not the target. On his second quarter touchdown pass, Wilson got the Packers cornerback to bite after a read-option play. This freed up Ricardo Lockette, who broke a tackle en route to a 33 yard score. 

With the Seahawks trying to run out the clock late, Wilson managed to chip in another touchdown. On a fourth and one play, Wilson faked to running back Marshawn Lynch before hitting a wide open Derrick Coleman for the score. 

Wilson was nearly picked off twice during the contest, but had both balls knocked away by his receivers. He was sacked once by the Packers defense. Wilson also ran for 29 yards. 

Wilson will take on the Chargers Week 2. 

Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford had a rough outing his last time out against the Giants in 2013. He'll look to rebound at home come Week 1.

Stafford completed 25 of 42 passes for 222 yards, with no touchdowns and two interceptions. This time around, he'll have a few new weapons to target, most notably Golden Tate. Last season, Stafford averaged 290.6 yards per game. The Giants allowed 223.3 yards through the air in 2013, which ranked 10th best in the league.

Regardless of the matchup, Stafford was one of the most consistent signal callers in Fantasy last season, and that hasn't changed. Starting Stafford against New York is about as safe of a bet as it gets for Week 1.

The thought of starting most quarterbacks at home against the Oakland defense has been typcially intriguing.

But perhaps not Jets second-year quarterback Geno Smith. And perhaps not against the 2014 Raiders.

Smith did enjoy a quietly strong preseason. He completed 23 of 33 passes for 268 yards with one touchodwn and one pick. His 91.5 quarterback rating was encouraging. But several factors weigh against sticking him in lineups, even in deeper leagues.

One is that the Raiders have bolstered their defense with the acquisitions of pass-rushing ends Justin Tuck, LaMarr Woodley and Antonio Smith, who combined for 21 sacks last season, as well as promising outside linebacker and top draft pick Khalil Mack. These are not the same Raiders that allowed opposing quarterbacks to compile a league-high 102.4 quarterback rating in 2013.

Smith, who finished last season with 3,046 yards passing, but 12 touchdowns and 21 interceptions, might also be short on weapons. It's too early to determine if new wideout Eric Decker was merely the beneficiary of having Peyton Manning at quarterback or if he can thrive playing pitch-and-catch with Smith. Jeremy Kerley is starting on the other side and the Jets have no featured back. Rex Ryan has declared that he will switch off between Chris Johnson, Chris Ivory and Bilal Powell.

Perhaps Smith will emerge as a viable Fantasy starter this season. But he's too big a risk at this point to trust.

Raiders rookie and surprise starter Derek Carr could not have picked a more troubled cornerback corps to debut against Sunday.

The Jets are a mess in that area. Antonio Allen, who has moved from safety to corner, has just been cleared after sustaining a concussion. An ankle injury will almost certainly keep Dee Milliner sidelined. Dimitri Patterson went AWOL and was cut. And the Jets are so desperate they might start Browns castoff Leon McFadden, who was seemingly whistled for interference on every pass thrown his way in the preseason. The Jets ranked 22nd in the NFL in pass defense a year ago and could be worse in 2014.

That makes Carr an intriguing Fantasy start. Also encouraging is that the Raiders have added playmakers in the offseason that should give him several viable weapons. Running back Maurice Jones-Drew and wide receiver James Jones are legitimate threats, as are holdover wideouts Denarius Moore and Rod Streater.

Don't expect Carr to light it up for 300 yards and three touchdowns - such is too much to ask for in his introduction to the regular season in the NFL and he will be playing in front of a hostile crowd. But he is coming off a preseason finale in which he completed 11 of 13 passes for 143 yards and three touchdowns and he clearly outperformed expected starter Matt Schaub in exhibition play. There are certainly worse options against a Jets pass defense that appears destined for disaster early in the season.

One day after releasing quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson from the practice squad, the Patriots have re-signed him to the unit.

Bethel-Thompson Has hooked up with four different NFL teams since 2011, but has yet to take a snap in a game.

Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill has addressed a concerning issue about his struggles throwing deep with accuracy, particularly with speedster Mike Wallace as his primary receiver.

"I feel great," he told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. "We had two deep balls, I think, to Mike (on Wednesday) in practice, hit on (Tuesday) on a double move deep in practice, so I feel great about our chemistry on the deep ball right now. I'm really trusting him, laying it out there, letting him use his speed to run out there and get it."

Tannehill developed enough of a rapport with Wallace to feed him a career-high 73 passes last season. But they could not connect deep often, as his career-low 12.7 YPC attests. Wallace caught five passes of 40 yards or longer.

The Patriots signed offensive lineman Chris Barker, tight end Allen Reisner and running back Marcus Thigpen to the practice squad and released quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson, safety Kanorris Davis and defensive back Dax Swanson from the squad.