NFL Player News

Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill earned praise from offensive coordinator Bill Lazor after his 6-for-6 passing performance against the Falcons. Tannehill drove the team 73 yards in 10 plays, capping the drive with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Gibson.

"I thought he had 10 good plays," Lazor told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. "I thought he showed command, I thought he was very decisive on the field, the ball came out of his hand on time with all of them. He has a really good grasp of what we're doing.

"My job right now is to push him," Lazor added. "I've got to make it very hard for him out here on the practice field. I heard a rumor that some people have reported we've made it hard for him on the field. That's on purpose. That's how you build a quarterback. He's coming."

Browns quarterback Brian Hoyer got the first reps with the starters in Monday's practice, ahead of rookie Johnny Manziel, reports the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram. "Not Johnny's job yet," the paper added.

Coach Mike Pettine said he has not decided who will start next Monday's game the Redskins.

With reports circulating that Kirk Cousins has been outplaying Robert Griffin III in training camp, Redskins offensive coordinator Sean McVay sought to dispel any notion of a quarterback controversy. "Robert is our starting quarterback," McVay emphatically told reporters.

Texans coach Bill O'Brien did not rule out a change in the quarterback rotation when asked about it Sunday, reports Pro Football Talk. Starter Ryan Fitzpatrick went 6 of 14 for 55 yards with two interceptions in Saturday's 32-0 loss to Arizona, while backups Case Keenum and Tom Savage combined to go 5 of 8 for 43 yards.

"I think you’re always thinking about what you can do to make the team better," O’Brien said. "So any time you have a chance to review things and regroup a little bit on a day off like it is today, as a head coach, you’re always thinking about things that can make the team better, whether that’s a change in the depth chart, a change in a scheme, a change of a position of a player, whatever it may be. We’ll continue to discuss that today."

The Redskins' Robert Griffin III "didn't look like the best quarterback on his own team" in joint practices with the Patriots last week, reports ESPN.com. Kirk Cousins played better than Griffin "from the perpsective of running the offense, fine-tuned mechanics and how decisively the ball came out of his hand," the report said.

That sentiment was echoed by several people in the Patriots' organization, the report added.

Rams quarterback Sam Bradford, who sat out the preseason opener, will play Saturday against the Packers. "I haven't decided how much, but he's going to play this week," coach Jeff Fisher said, via the Belleville News-Democrat.

Bradford, coming off ACL surgery, has shown good mobility in camp and is throwing with as much or more velocity than ever.

Browns rookie quarterback Johnny Manziel has pulled ahead of Brian Hoyer in the battle for the starting job, reports ESPN. Manziel hit 7 of 11 throws for 63 yards and ran six times for 27 yards against the Lions on Saturday.

NFL Network reports Manziel is expected to start Cleveland's second preseason game Aug. 18 against Washington.

Browns quarterback Brian Hoyer got the start and worked four drives during Saturday's preseason opener against the Lions.

Hoyer completed a 28-yard pass to MarQueis Gray in the opening drive and hooked up with Andrew Hawkins for a 15-yard pass in the second drive. On a playaction play, Hoyer fooled the defense and found Josh Gordon for a gain of 22 yards in the third drive.

Hoyer completed 6 of 14 pass attempts for 92 yards. His days as the starter could be numbered, however, as the Browns plan to have Johnny Manziel start the second preseason game against the Redskins, per Dan Hellie of the NFL Network.

According to Dan Hellie of the NFL Network, Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel will start the second preseason game against the Redskins, per a team source. Brian Hoyer got the start on Saturday and Manziel took over the game on the fourth drive with the second-team offense in the preseason opener against the Lions on Saturday.

Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford made a brief appearance in Saturday's preseason opener against the Browns.

Stafford got the start and played just one series with the first stringers. He completed a short pass to Golden Tate for a gain of 14 yards and another short pass to Khris Durham for a gain of 4 yards in the opening drive. He completed 2 of 4 pass attempts for 18 yards, as his first drive resulted in a field goal.