NFL Player News

Hill (chest) was limited in practice Thursday.

Hill has been donning a red non-contact jersey in practice so far during Week 8 prep as he deals with a chest injury, per Mike Triplett of NewOrleans.Football. With back-to-back capped sessions in his back pocket, Hill has only one more chance to get back to all activity Friday, at which point he may enter the weekend with a designation for Sunday's game at Indianapolis. Meanwhile, fellow TEs Juwan Johnson (calf) and Jimmy Graham (illness) also were limited Thursday, creating a murky situation at the position for New Orleans.

Purdy (concussion) is taking part in Thursday's practice session, Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com reports.

Shortly before the team's first practice of the week Wednesday, head coach Kyle Shanahan revealed that Purdy entered the NFL's concussion protocol after being evaluated at some point following Monday's 22-17 loss to the Vikings. With just five days off between games than the usual six, Purdy is facing an uphill battle to gain clearance to start this Sunday against the Bengals, but his presence at practice Thursday at least keeps the door open for him to play. The 49ers will reveal after practice concludes whether Purdy was a limited or full participant, but the signal-caller will still need to gain clearance from an independent neurologist in any case before exiting the protocol. Sam Darnold took all the first-team reps at Wednesday's walk-through session and would be in line to start Sunday if Purdy isn't available.

Lawrence (knee) remained a limited participant at practice Thursday.

Lawrence was also limited Wednesday, but so far there's nothing to suggest that the quarterback is in danger of missing Sunday's contest against the Steelers. However, Lawrence will probably need to be a full practice participant Friday in order to head into the weekend without an injury designation.

Tannehill (ankle) isn't participating in Thursday's practice, Turron Davenport of ESPN.com reports.

Per Jim Wyatt of the Titans' official site, Tannehill is dealing with what he described as a right high-ankle sprain, an injury that leaves the quarterback unlikely to play Sunday against the Falcons. If Tannehill ends up sidelined this weekend, head coach Mike Vrabel has said that both Will Levis and Malik Willis will be in line to see snaps in the contest. Levis is expected to start in such a scenario and would likely be in store to take the majority of the snaps at quarterback.

Watson (shoulder) isn't participating in Thursday's practice, Scott Petrak of the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram reports.

Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski already announced that Watson won't start Sunday's game in Seattle after the veteran signal-caller didn't look to be fully healed from his right rotator cuff strain in his brief return from a two-game absence during the team's Week 7 win over the Colts. Though PJ Walker will get the starting nod Sunday, the Browns haven't officially ruled Watson out from being available as an emergency backup, though the 28-year-old's back-to-back absences at practice to begin Week 8 prep suggests that he's trending toward being inactive for the game. Look for Dorian Thompson-Robinson to serve as the No. 2 option behind Walker on Sunday while Watson focuses on rehabbing his shoulder this week. Stefanski confirmed Wednesday that an MRI on Watson's shoulder came back clean following his departure from the Week 7 game, but the signal-caller is still dealing with "residual swelling that's affecting his throwing," per Jake Trotter of ESPN.com. For his part, Watson told Trotter that while he won't need surgery, he's uncertain how long the injury might linger, making it far from a lock that he'll be ready to play Week 9 against the Cardinals.

Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels said that Garoppolo (back) will practice Thursday and is "hopeful" the quarterback will play Monday against the Lions, Paul Gutierrez of ESPN.com reports.

Garoppolo didn't practice at all last week before sitting out Sunday's loss to the Bears, but the Raiders appear confident that the veteran signal-caller won't be headed for any further absences, barring a setback. The Raiders will release theri first Week 8 injury report later Thursday, which will indicate whether Garoppolo was a limited or full participant in his return to the field.

Giants head coach Brian Daboll said that the status quo remains in place for Jones (neck), who still hasn't been cleared for contact and will be a limited participant in Thursday's practice, Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com reports.

Jones will go down as a limited participant for the fifth practice in a row, and unless he takes a dramatic step forward in terms of his practice activity Friday, he'll most likely miss a third consecutive game this Sunday against the Jets. The Giants listed Jones as questionable ahead of their Week 7 game versus Washington, but he was ultimately inactive while practice-squad call-up Tommy DeVito served as the backup behind fill-in starter Tyrod Taylor. With Taylor taking all the first-team reps to begin Week 8 prep Wednesday, he appears to be headed for a third straight start while Jones gets more time to heal up from his neck injury.

Mayfield (knee) is expected to suit up for Thursday's game at Buffalo, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports.

Mayfield is officially listed as questionable for the Week 8 game, but the expectation is that he will take the field and play through his knee injury after being listed as a full participant on Wednesday's injury report. Chris Godwin (neck) is also expected to play versus the Bills. Official word on Mayfield's status will come when the Buccaneers release their inactive list roughly 90 minutes before Thursday's 8:15 p.m. ET kickoff.

Purdy (concussion) officially didn't take part in Wednesday's walk-through session, Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com reports.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan told Cam Inman of The San Jose Mercury News on Wednesday that Purdy developed concussion symptoms on the flight back to San Francisco after Monday's 22-17 loss at Minnesota. Per Wagoner, Shanahan wasn't sure when Purdy sustained the injury but thought it may have happened on one of his two quarterback sneaks in the fourth quarter. Purdy may have a tough time passing through all five phases of the concussion protocol on a short week, and if he's unavailable Sunday against the Bengals, the 49ers will turn to Sam Darnold under center.

Cunningham cleared waivers Wednesday and is slated to re-sign with the Patriots' practice squad, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com reports.

Cunningham -- who served as Mac Jones' top backup Week 6 against Las Vegas -- was waived by the Patriots after being inactive for this past Sunday's win over the Bills, but the versatile quarterback/receiver is back with the organization in short order. Meanwhile, Bailey Zappe and Will Grier remain on the 53-man roster as quarterback depth behind Jones.