NFL Player News

Stroud completed 16 of 21 passes for 274 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions in Saturday's 45-14 win over the Browns.

Stroud was impressive in his playoff debut, particularly considering the Browns allowed only 164.7 passing yards to opponents during the regular season. He connected on five passes of more than 20 yards, highlighted by 76- and 37-yard touchdown passes. The only thing that slowed him down was the context of the game, as the Texans built up a three-score lead by midway through the third quarter. As a result, Stroud attempted only five passes in the second half and was pulled on Houston's first offensive possession of the second half. He and the team will now await the results of the rest of the wild-card games to find out their opponent in the divisional round.

Thompson (coach's decision) is inactive for Saturday's playoff game against Kansas City, and he will serve as Miami's emergency third quarterback for the contest.

Thompson hasn't seen any game action this year, so it's not surprising that he's inactive for the opening round of the postseason. Mike White is serving as the backup to Tua Tagovailoa for the Dolphins in the wild-card contest.

Mayfield (ankle/ribs) is slated to play in Monday's wild-card game against the Eagles, Jeff Howe of The Athletic reports.

In the wake of limping around the Buccaneers' Week 18 win at Carolina, Mayfield managed a pair of limited practices Friday and Saturday due to ankle and rib injuries before being listed as questionable for the team's playoff opener. No matter, he appears as if he'll be available to direct Tampa Bay's offense Monday, which will be clarified approximately 90 minutes before an 8:15 p.m. ET kickoff.

Hurts (right finger) doesn't have a designation for Monday's wild-card game at Tampa Bay.

Hurts departed the Eagles' regular-season finale at the Giants before halftime due to a dislocated right middle finger, but after opening the week of prep as limited Thursday, he capped it with back-to-back full sessions. On Friday, in particular, when he attempted his first passes since suffering the injury, he "was throwing deep balls, he was throwing lasers," as WR Britain Covey told Reuben Frank of NBC Sports Philadelphia. While Hurts will continue to lead the offense, he'll be without A.J. Brown (knee) for the first time since the wide receiver was acquired from the Titans during the 2022 Draft. With Brown sidelined, WRs DeVonta Smith, Julio Jones and Quez Watkins, TE Dallas Goedert and RB D'Andre Swift will be the key pass catchers available to Hurts.

Mayfield (ankle/ribs) is listed as questionable for Monday's wild-card game against the Eagles.

Mayfield fought through injury to lead the Buccaneers to a 9-0 win at Carolina in Week 18, handling all 65 offense snaps in the process. He then was listed as a non-participant on Thursday's practice estimate due to ankle and rib issues, which capped his reps both Friday and Saturday. Mayfield's status for Tampa Bay's playoff opener now won't be confirmed until about 90 minutes before Monday's 8:15 p.m. ET kickoff.

Driskel (coach's decision) is inactive for Saturday's game against the Texans.

Despite offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt's comments Wednesday about Driskel serving as the Browns' top backup in their wild-card matchup, he'll be the team's emergency third QB. PJ Walker is active and will backup Joe Flacco on Saturday.

Keenum (coach's decision) is inactive for Saturday's game against the Browns, Drew Dougherty of the Texans' official site reports.

As expected, Keenum will serve as the Texans' emergency third quarterback in the team's wild-card affair. The 35-year-old will only be able to enter Saturday's game if both C.J. Stroud and Davis Mills leave with injuries.

Garoppolo completed 110 of 169 pass attempts for 1,205 yards and seven touchdowns to nine interceptions across seven games in his first season as a Raider. He also rushed 20 times for 39 yards and one lost fumble.

Garoppolo, who'd been demoted from the starting quarterback role by interim head coach Antonio Pierce after a dismal Week 8 performance against the Lions, made a brief appearance in the Raiders' Week 18 win over the Broncos when rookie Aidan O'Connell exited the contest for three snaps with a finger injury. Garoppolo was sacked on a third down to end his lone drive in three-and-out fashion, which symbolized his disappointing 2023 campaign. While the Raiders are slated to fill their permanent general manager and head coaching positions in 2024, Garoppolo could be on the move to another franchise for a fresh start at 32 years old.

Rudolph and the Steelers will play their wild-card matchup against the Bills on Monday at 4:30 p.m. ET after the game was postponed Saturday due to extreme weather conditions.

It doesn't appear as if Monday's conditions in Buffalo will be all that much better from a weather perspective, though the high gusts will be down a bit and fans attending the game should at least be out of harm's way for the most part. With the weather still a factor, expect Rudolph and the Steelers to likely play it safe and rely heavily on the duo of Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren on the ground, a formula that's been working in the Steelers' last three games with Rudolph at the helm, all resulting in wins.

Due to a snowstorm in Buffalo, Allen and the Bills will now meet the Steelers on Monday afternoon instead of Sunday, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.

It's a bizarre situation where there will now be two playoff games on a Monday, but the league couldn't risk having a game at the regularly scheduled time due to emergency conditions in Buffalo. The development might actually benefit those using players in the passing game for either team, as the snow and high winds may have been so nasty Sunday that any sort of successful attack through the air would have been very difficult to achieve. That will still be a factor come Monday, but with the winds expected to be down a bit, each team may be able to at least pass the ball without it looking like a cartoon, for those that may recall the Bills-Patriots primetime game in December of 2021.