NFL Player News

Lions stud wideout Calvin Johnson has yet to play a down in the preseason - and quarterback Matthew Stafford claims he doesn't care if he remains nothing more than an interested viewer in the last two exhibition games.

"We've been practicing quite a bit," Stafford explained to the Detroit Free Press. "There's obviously a difference between practice and the game, there's no question. But Calvin and the decision makers need to do what's best for him and make sure that he's feeling as good as he can possibly feel come Game 1. ... We can talk and get a lot of things done verbally and on the practice field."

The Lions are wary of Johnson overworking in the preseason after injuries cost him two regular season games in 2013.

Dennis Allen has announced that a concussion knocked Raiders rookie quarterback Derek Carr out of the Friday night preseason game against Detroit.

Allen, however, praised Carr for his performance before going down. "I thought he was better in this game," Allen told NFL.com in comparing his performance to that in the exhibition opener.

Carr finished 9 of 16 for 109 yards, one touchdown and no picks.

Raiders rookie quarterback Derek Carr was forced out of Friday's preseason game against the Lions with an apparent rib injury.

Carr entered the game in the second quarter for Matt Schaub and sustained the injury late in the fourth quarter. He was taken back to the locker room for further tests. While walking back to the locker room, Carr told team doctors he "heard a crunch," according to Sports Illustrated.

Carr threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Jake Murphy in the third quarter. He completed 9 of 16 pass attempts for 109 yards, with one touchdown and no interceptions. He was replaced by Matt McGloin in the final minutes of the game.

Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford was nearly perfect as he struck paydirt twice in Friday's preseason game against the Raiders in Oakland.

Stafford hooked up with Golden Tate for a 28-yard strike on the opening drive of the game. On the ensuing series, he found Kris Durham for a 4-yard pass in the end zone. He was limited to three series with the first team and completed 9 of 10 pass attempts for 88 yards, with two touchdowns and no interceptions.

Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson scored two rushing touchdowns during Friday's preseason game at home against San Diego.

Wilson punched it in the end zone from 1-yard out and had 5-yard touchdown run all in the second quarter. He played nearly a half of football before donning a baseball cap on the sidelines.

Wilson completed 11 of 13 pass attempts for 121, with one touchdown and no interceptions. He rushed for 31 yards on four carries. Through two preseason games, he's completed 15 of 22 passes for 158 yards.

Patriots quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo leaped over Ryan Mallett in the depth chart and was used as the first backup during Friday's preseason game against the Eagles.

Garoppolo entered the game for Tom Brady on the third drive of the game and fired a 15-yard touchdown pass to James Develin. On the ensuing drive, he hooked up with Brandon LaFell for a 4-yard touchdown strike in the second quarter. He completed 6 of 12 pass attempts for 72 yards, with two touchdowns and no interceptions. He finished with a 108.3 quarterback rating.

Mallett started the third quarter in place of Garoppolo and scored on a 6-yard run in his first drive. He then fired a 17-yard touchdown to Brian Tyms, who leaped over the defender to make the grab. He completed 7 of 11 pass attempts for 92 yards, with one touchdown and no interceptions. He was sacked once and had four rushes for 9 yards.

Titans backup quarterback Charlie Whitehurst left Friday's preseason game against the Saints with a hand injury.

Whitehurst sustained the injury on a sack by Kenny Vaccaro late in the second quarter for an 11-yard loss. He did not have a pass attempt before leaving the game. He told reporters than initial X-rays on his right pinkie finger, came back negative, per the Tennessean.

49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh told reporters there's no shakeup planned in the quarterback order for Sunday's preseason game in Denver, according to the Sacramento Bee.

Blaine Gabbert will remain the No. 2 quarterback behind Colin Kaepernick. Gabbert played all but the opening series in the first half and showed some struggles.  He completed 3 of 11 pass attempts for 20 yards, with no touchdowns and one interception.

Mike Pettine is planning on revealing his starting quarterback Tuesday, but the winner apparently shouldn't get too comfortable. The tag could be quite temporary for the Browns if Brian Hoyer or Johnny Manziel doesn't doesn't perform well after the regular season begins, though Pettine is planning on giving his quarterback a bit more leeway.

"Quarterback is different from other positoons, in that you do want to make a commitment," Pettine told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "(But) I don't know if you can necessarily make a permanent commitment. So much can change over the course of an NFL season, the circumstances. ... I think that's the one position where you have to have a little bit more patience, maybe than some others as far as if a guy's not performing to the level you think he can and you're not getting the results, then you'd go ahead and make a move. It's somewhere in between. I don't want whoever the starter is to feel like, 'oh, if I make one mistake, I'm out.' But I also don't want hm to feel like, 'hey, I've achieved something, this is my team for the year.'"

Pettine earlier in the week told ESPN's Mike and Mike in the Morning that he was declaring starters at quarterback and other positions only on a "week-to-week basis."

Mike Pettine has revealed that the starting quarterback battle between Browns incumbent Brian Hoyer and rookie Johnny Manziel could be won and lost by Tuesday.

Hoyer is set to start the Monday night preseason game in Washington, but Manziel is slated to receive an equal number of reps with the first team. The decision as to who starts in Week 1 in Pittsburgh is likely to come down the following day.

"I'm sure we'll sit down at some point next week, maybe more than likely later in the day on Tuesday and get our heads together and wee what we come up with," Pettine told 92.3 The Fan. He added that the decision will be based on more than just game action, though that will be heavily factored in.

"We've been able to evaluate the quarterbacks literally with everything they've done," he added. "How they are in the meeting room, how they are on the practice field, how they are when they're doing their individual period, how they are in the 7 on 7 and how they are in the team work."

Neither quarterback distinguished himself in the preseason opener against Detroit, though both were plagued by drops from a receiving corps that remains the biggest concern of the offense.