NFL Player News

Rush is set to make his fourth straight start Sunday against the Rams with Dak Prescott (thumb) not having made enough progress in his recovery to play this weekend, Michael Gehlken of The Dallas Morning News reports.

Dallas formally signed Will Grier -- who had backed up Rush in each of the previous three contests -- from the practice squad Tuesday, which supports the notion that Prescott isn't on track to be available even as an emergency No. 2 option. A return in Week 6 against the Eagles is still a realistic possibility for Prescott, but Rush will get at least one more chance to direct the Dallas offense. The backup has been a competent caretaker while leading the Cowboys to wins over the Bengals, Giants and Commanders. He has yet to commit a turnover this season and has completed 61.8 percent of his throws for 7.6 yards per attempt and four touchdowns.

Dallas signed Grier to its 53-man roster Tuesday, Michael Gehlken of The Dallas Morning News reports.

The Cowboys had already used their allowed three standard practice squad elevations on him in Weeks 2, 3 and 4, so with Dak Prescott (thumb) likely sitting out another game this Sunday, they saw fit to sign Grier to the active roster. The 27-year-old signal caller did not play a snap in any of the three games for which he's been called up so far, and he's just an insurance policy in case Cooper Rush goes down.

Prescott (thumb) isn't in line to play in Sunday's game against the Rams, a source familiar with his situation tells Michael Gehlken of The Dallas Morning News.

Though Dallas head coach Mike McCarthy hasn't officially ruled Prescott out, the quarterback hasn't made enough progress in his recovery from right thumb surgery to realistically take back starting duties this weekend. Prescott was cleared to resume some light throwing last week, but team owner Jerry Jones noted earlier Tuesday that the 29-year-old isn't yet able to grip a football well enough to play. The Cowboys' decision to sign Will Grier off their practice squad implies that Prescott won't dress Sunday even as a backup option behind Cooper Rush, who is poised to pick up his fourth consecutive start. Prescott should still have a realistic shot at returning to action for Week 6 in Philadelphia.

Wilson (shoulder) was listed as a limited participant at Tuesday's practice, James Palmer of NFL Network reports.

For the second day in a row, "Mr. Unlimited" found himself on the Week 5 injury report as a limited participant, though this time the Broncos actually got on the field for a walk-through session after Monday's practice was merely an estimated one. Wilson is tending to some soreness in his throwing shoulder in the aftermath of Sunday's loss to the Raiders, but head coach Nathaniel Hackett said he doesn't believe the quarterback is in danger of missing Thursday's game against the Colts, per Aric DiLalla of the Broncos' official site. Whether Wilson approaches the contest with an injury designation will likely be determined by what he's able to do at Wednesday's practice.

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin confirmed Tuesday that Trubisky will serve as the team's backup quarterback Week 5 in Buffalo while Kenny Pickett takes over as the starter, Dale Lolley of DKPittsburghSports.com reports.

The writing was on the wall for Trubisky's demotion to the No. 2 role after he was benched for the second half of Sunday's 24-20 loss to the Jets, with Pickett stepping in to engineer two scoring drives to give the Steelers a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter that the team ultimately couldn't maintain. Even though Pickett threw three interceptions on the afternoon, he completed his other 10 passes for 120 yards in addition to scoring twice on the ground, and the spark he provided was enough for the Steelers to move the rookie first-round pick into the starting role. While playing every snap on offense in the Steelers' first three and a half games of the season, Trubisky guided the team to a 1-2 record and completed only 59.5 percent of his throws for 5.6 yards per attempt.

Pickett is listed as the top quarterback on Pittsburgh's Week 5 depth chart, confirming he'll make his first NFL start Sunday in Buffalo, Teresa Varley of the Steelers' official site reports.

As anticipated, the rookie first-round pick will supplant Mitch Trubisky as Pittsburgh's new starter after taking over for the second half of last week's 24-20 loss to the Jets. Though Pickett threw three interceptions in his NFL debut, he was at least able to provide a spark by completing 10 of 13 attempts for 120 yards to go with six carries for 15 yards and two scores, the second of which gave the Steelers a 20-10 lead early in the fourth quarter. Pickett didn't showcase major rushing ability in college and can't be counted on to be as useful of a contributor on the ground as he was in Week 4, but the 24-year-old at least displayed efficient passing in the preseason and shouldn't be as turnover prone as he was in his NFL debut. He'll make for a worthy speculative pickup in superflex leagues or formats that start two quarterbacks each week.

Cowboys team owner Jerry Jones said Tuesday that Prescott isn't able to comfortably grip footballs with his surgically repaired right thumb, suggesting the quarterback isn't on track to play Week 5 against the Rams, Clarence E. Hill Jr. of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.

Though Jones didn't explicitly rule Prescott out for Sunday's matchup with the Rams and said he's confident the signal-caller will make some progress in his recovery during the upcoming week, Prescott doesn't look as though he's on pace to put an end to his three-game absence. Prescott previously expressed optimism as recently as last Monday that he would be back in action Week 5, but the fact that he can't yet securely grip the football is likely to result in his return timeline being pushed back another week. Cooper Rush, who has led the Cowboys to a 3-0 record in Prescott's absence, should be in store for at least one more start.

Garoppolo completed 16 of 27 passes for 239 yards and one touchdown in Monday's 24-9 win over the Rams. He added three yards on one rushing attempt.

Garoppolo was credited with a 57-yard touchdown pass to Deebo Samuel in the second quarter, though Deebo did the vast majority of the work after catching a short pass. The 49ers got back to their identity of winning with their defense and running game while relying on Garoppolo for little more than timely third-down conversions and game management. That role doesn't usually lead to much fantasy success, and in Week 5 Garoppolo will face a Panthers defense that's held three of four quarterbacks to under 210 passing yards this season.

Stafford completed 32 of 48 passes for 254 yards, no touchdowns and one interception in Monday's 24-9 loss to San Francisco. He added six yards on two rushing attempts and lost a fumble.

San Francisco's defense flummoxed Stafford throughout the night and sacked him seven times, as the Rams struggled to move the ball on most of their drives and settled for field goals whenever they got any momentum going. It was still a one-possession game in the fourth quarter until Stafford's back-breaking pick-six, which was taken 52 yards to the house by budding defensive star Talanoa Hufanga. Stafford ended Los Angeles' next possession with a fumble, putting to bed any doubt about the final result. He'll bring an alarmingly poor 4:6 TD:INT into a tough Week 5 matchup against the talented Dallas defense.

Grier reverted to the Cowboys' practice squad Monday, Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com reports.

Grier did not play during Sunday's win over Washington after being elevated from Dallas' practice squad for the third week in a row. The 2019 third-round pick has essentially served as the Cowboy's backup quarterback behind Cooper Rush while starter Dak Prescott (thumb) has been sidelined. However, Grier is no longer eligible for any further practice-squad promotions with Dallas and will need to secure a full-time roster spot in order to suit up for the team again this season.