NFL Player News

Zappe completed 16 of 31 passes for 170 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions in Saturday's 35-10 loss to the Ravens. He added two rushes for two yards.

Zappe drew the start Saturday and ceded relatively limited work to Dorian Thompson-Robinson. The former's opportunity to start didn't go as planned, as he threw a pick-six on Cleveland's second possession and was unable to get the Browns into the end zone until early in the fourth quarter with the team down three scores. Zappe will become a free agent this offseason and will try to compete for a backup job during training camp for the 2025 campaign.

Allen (coach's decision) is inactive for Sunday's game against the Bengals, Teresa Varley of the Steelers' official site reports.

Allen will be the Steelers' emergency quarterback for Saturday's regular-season finale. He'll only see the field if Russell Wilson and Justin Fields were both forced to exit due to injury, illness or ejection.

The Chiefs elevated Oladokun from their practice squad to their active roster Saturday, Matt Derrick of ChiefsDigest.com reports.

Patrick Mahomes (ankle) isn't expected to play Sunday against Denver with Kansas City having wrapped up the AFC's No. 1 playoff seed, so the Chiefs are likely to deploy Oladokun as their backup QB behind Carson Wentz. Oladokun has yet to see action in an NFL game, and he's spent the last two years with Kansas City's practice squad. He probably won't see much, if any, action Sunday unless Wentz is forced to exit the contest.

Winston (right shoulder) is the Browns' inactive third quarterback for Saturday's game against the Ravens.

Winston, who was listed as limited at practice Tuesday through Thursday, approached the contest listed as questionable. While he's been deemed the Browns' emergency No. 3 QB on Saturday, Bailey Zappe is slated to draw the start versus Baltimore, with Dorian Thompson-Robinson also expected to see signal-caller snaps in Cleveland's season finale.

The Cowboys signed Grier off their practice squad Saturday, Tommy Yarrish of the team's official site reports.

Grier signed with Dallas' practice squad in mid-November a few days after he had been cut from Philadelphia's practice squad. The veteran quarterback hasn't gotten into an NFL game since 2019, when he completed 28 of 52 pass attempts for 228 yards with no touchdowns and four interceptions while adding 22 rushes on seven carries over two games with Carolina. Grier will likely be third on the depth chart at quarterback behind Cooper Rush and Trey Lance if he suits up in Sunday's Week 18 game against Washington.

The Dolphins elevated Thompson from their practice squad to their active roster Saturday.

With Tua Tagovailoa (hip) deemed doubtful for Sunday's matchup versus the Jets, Tyler Huntley will likely start at quarterback for Miami. As a result, Thompson is probably going to be needed to serve as the team's backup signal-caller. Thompson made a start in Tagovailoa's stead Week 3 versus Seattle, but he has logged just two offensive snaps without throwing a pass since then while Huntley has emerged as the Dolphins' preferred No. 2 QB.

Rush may start Sunday's game versus the Commanders, but backup QB Trey Lance is expected to earn "significant" snaps as well, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.

Rush has taken on the vast majority of QB reps since Dak Prescott (hamstring) was lost for the season in the second half of a Week 9 loss in Atlanta. In parts of nine games in the interim, Rush has completed 60.5 percent of his passes, averaged 199.1 yards per game and put together a 12:4 TD:INT. He's also notched 17 yards on 24 carries and fumbled nine times (three lost). With the Cowboys out of the playoff picture, it appears the team wants to see what Lance can do with more than the three brief appearances he's made so far this season, but it's also unclear how much he'll eat into Rush's typical workload.

Lance is expected to see "significant" snaps during Sunday's season finale against the Commanders, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.

Even with No. 1 QB Dak Prescott sidelined since he suffered a season-ending hamstring injury Week 9, Cooper Rush has handled just about all the reps under center in the meantime, while Lance has completed five of seven passes for 22 yards, no touchdowns and an interception and recorded five carries for 15 yards in three mostly brief appearances. Rapoport also noted that Rush still may start Week 18, but Lance should receive plenty of run to see how he handles extended game action. The breakdown of reps between Rush and Lance hasn't been made clear, though, so it remains to be seen what kind of workload either player will have Sunday.

Purdy (elbow) has been ruled out for Sunday's game against the Cardinals, Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com reports.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan made it clear earlier in the week that Joshua Dobbs would start the final regular-season game. Purdy banged his right throwing elbow toward the end of a Week 17 loss to the Lions, missing the final few minutes after playing well for most of the night. San Francisco general manager John Lynch said Friday that Purdy's injury isn't anything serious and isn't related to his 2023 elbow surgery, per Cam Inman of The San Jose Mercury News. Purdy should be fine for the start of the offseason program.

Tagovailoa (hip) is listed as doubtful for Sunday's game at the Jets, David Furones of the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports.

Tagovailoa's listing on the Dolphins' final Week 18 practice report isn't a surprise after coach Mike McDaniel told Travis Wingfield of the team's official site on Friday that it's "unlikely that Tua will see any action" Sunday. McDaniel also spoke of Tagovailoa's particular injury. "I wouldn't say it's a bruise, but it's kind of a unique muscle issue as a result of the hip," McDaniel relayed to Marcel Louis-Jacques of ESPN.com. Assuming Tagovailoa is among Miami's list of inactives about 90 minutes before Sunday's 4:25 p.m. ET kickoff, as expected, Tyler Huntley will earn a second start in a row.