NFL Player News

Jackson completed 16 of 21 pass attempts for 175 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 81 yards on 15 carries in Saturday's 28-14 wild-card round win over the Steelers.

Jackson had his squad sitting pretty at halftime after throwing a pair of touchdown strikes to help build a 21-0 lead that Baltimore would never relinquish. The dual-threat quarterback wasn't needed much in the second half outside of some drive-extending rushes, finishing with modest fantasy numbers in a convincing victory. The 175 passing yards is his third-lowest mark this season. Expect Jackson to be leaned on more in the divisional round.

Wilson completed 20 of 29 passes for 270 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions in Saturday's 28-14 loss to the Ravens. He added three rushes for six yards.

Wilson struggled to close the regular season and that carried over into the first half of Saturday's playoff matchup. Things turned around in the second half for him, however, as he aired the ball out with the Steelers down multiple scores and tallied six completions of more than 20 yards. That included a pair of long passing scores that went for 36 and 30 yards to George Pickens and Van Jefferson, respectively. Despite that fairly impressive close to the campaign, Wilson lost five straight games as the leader of the Steelers offense, and he totaled just seven touchdowns while averaging only 6.4 yards per attempt in that span. That sets him up for an intriguing offseason, as he enters free agency clearly on the back end of his career but still capable of orchestrating an effective offense at times.

Stroud completed 22 of 33 passes for 282 yards, one touchdown and one interception in Saturday's 32-12 win over the Chargers. He added six rushes for 42 yards.

Stroud took some time to get the offense moving, as a lost fumble by John Metchie and an interception ended a few of Houston's drives early on. However, Stroud hit his stride on a possession late in the second quarter, connecting on long passes of 34 and 37 yards before delivering a 13-yard touchdown to Nico Collins. That was his only score of the game, but Stroud put together an efficient performance the rest of the way to earn the second postseason victory of his career.

Herbert completed 14 of 32 pass attempts for 242 yards, one touchdown and four interceptions with no rushing stats in Saturday's wild-card round loss to the Texans.

Herbert picked an inopportune time to have the worst passing game of his promising career, as Saturday's four-pick performance was the primary cause of the Chargers' season coming to an abrupt end. The 26-year-old is now 0-2 in two career playoff appearances, which comes on the heels of a solid regular season (3,870-23-3) in head coach Jim Harbaugh's first season with Los Angeles. Herbert and the Chargers' more-balanced offense will have to regroup for the 2025 campaign despite finishing the season well ahead of franchise expectations.

Allen (coach's decision) is inactive for Saturday's wild-card game against the Ravens, Teresa Varley of the Steelers' official site reports.

As the Steelers' emergency quarterback Saturday, Allen will be allowed to see the field only if both starter Russell Wilson and backup Justin Fields were to be taken out of the game due to injury, illness or ejection.

Stick (coach's decision) is inactive and serving as the Chargers' emergency third quarterback for Saturday's wild-card matchup against Houston.

Stick was frequently Los Angeles' emergency third QB on gamedays during the regular season, and he'll serve in that role in the opening contest of the playoffs Saturday. The veteran signal-caller can only enter against the Texans if both Justin Herbert and Taylor Heinicke are unable to play due to injury, illness or ejection.

The Packers signed Clifford from their practice squad to their active roster Saturday.

Clifford was elevated twice during the regular season when Jordan Love was sidelined Weeks 2 and 3 due to a knee injury, though Clifford didn't see any action as Malik Willis' backup. Both Love and Willis are in line to suit up in Sunday's wild-card contest against the Eagles, but both were limited by injuries during practice this week, so Clifford is expected to serve as Green Bay's emergency third quarterback, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.

Pickett (ribs) was a limited practice participant Friday but doesn't have a designation for Sunday's wild-card game against the Packers.

Pickett operated with a cap on his reps this week due to the rib injury that he sustained Week 16 at Washington and then aggravated Week 17 versus the Cowboys. He yielded the start under center in the Eagles' regular-season finale against the Giants to Tanner McKee with Jalen Hurts in the concussion protocol, but the latter gained clearance from an independent neurologist Friday, ensuring the team's franchise QB will be back this weekend. As a result, Pickett will return to his typical backup role Sunday.

Hurts cleared concussion protocol and will start Sunday's game against the Packers, Tim McManus of ESPN.com reports.

This was the expected outcome once Hurts progressed from a limited practice Wednesday to full participation Thursday. He'll return for the wild-card round after missing the final two games of the regular season.

After rupturing his Achilles again, Watson underwent another surgery Thursday to address the injury, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network and Adam Schefter of ESPN report.

As a result of the setback, Watson's 2025 season could now be in jeopardy. Look for further details regarding Watson's estimated recovery timeline to emerge in the coming days and weeks, but the Browns figure to fortify their depth at the quarterback position this offseason, via free agency, trade or through the 2025 NFL Draft in which Cleveland holds the No. 2 overall selection.