NFL Player News

GM John Schneider told Seattle Sports 710 AM that Smith will play "a series or two" during Friday's preseason game at Dallas, Brady Henderson of ESPN.com reports.

Smith thus will get the first QB reps in all three of the Seahawks' exhibitions, but his workload will be far less than in the first two contests, when he handled the entire first half both times. This time around, he'll welcome back Drew Lock after the latter sat out preseason Week 2 due to a positive test for COVID-19. The competition between Smith and Lock remains unsettled, but Smith has maintained his lead from the offseason program into training camp and the preseason, so it appears he's the favorite to be under center for Seattle in Week 1.

Winston (knee/foot) is expected to play in Friday's preseason finale against the Chargers, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports.

Winston has not seen game action since he suffered a torn ACL in Week 8 of the 2021 season, but he's been practicing leading up to Friday's tilt and is now poised to see some preseason snaps. Though we'd expect him to log an abbreviated appearance versus the Chargers, it's clear that Winston is on track to play in Week 1 against Atlanta, barring any setbacks.

The Jaguars waived Luton on Monday.

Luton was waived by the Jaguars last week but returned to the team Tuesday. However, he once again finds himself on waivers after the team claimed Jake Verity off waivers from the Colts. Luton appeared in two preseason games with Jacksonville and completed 22 of 38 passes for 186 yards and one interception.

Prescott and most other starters aren't expected to play in Friday's final preseason game against Seattle, with the Cowboys looking ahead to their Week 1 matchup with the Buccaneers, Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.

Prescott hasn't played in the preseason since coach Mike McCarthy took over, and this year it had nothing to do with an injury or pandemic. The 29-year-old QB stayed healthy throughout spring and summer after having minor surgery on his non-throwing shoulder in February, but he may nonetheless find the upcoming season more challenging than last, as the Cowboys no longer have WR Amari Cooper, won't have WR Michael Gallup (knee) for Week 1 and expect LT Tyron Smith (knee) to miss most or all of the season. Prescott still has WR CeeDee Lamb and TE Dalton Schultz at his disposal, plus RBs Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard, so it's not like he won't have some help when the Cowboys square off with Tom Brady and Co. on Sunday Night Football in Week 1.

Coach Mike Tomlin relayed that Trubisky will start Sunday's preseason finale against the Lions.

Per Teresa Varley of the Steelers' official site, Trubisky will be followed in the contest by Kenny Pickett and Mason Rudolph. At this stage, the team has yet to declare a Week 1 starting QB, but Trubisky has been viewed as the favorite on that front. That said, Pickett -- the No. 20 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft -- remains a threat to overtake his veteran counterpart at some point, and how the two fare in Sunday's action could well add some intrigue to the competition.

Mike Reiss of ESPN.com notes that the expectation is for Jones and most of the Patriots' top players to see minimal action in Friday's preseason finale against the Raiders.

Per Reiss, Jones and company got in some good work during a pair of joint practices with the Raiders this week, so it seems likely that key starters who suit up Friday will log limited snaps. In that context, rookie QB Bailey Zappe is a candidate to see extended action in New England's exhibition finale.

Love completed 16 of 26 passes for 148 yards and an interception in Thursday's preseason game against Kansas City. He also gained five yards on his only carry.

The 23-year-old got the start at quarterback for the Packers and played into the second half, and while Love's numbers weren't great he did did engineer two scoring drives, leading to all 10 of Green Bay's points on the night. The 2020 first-round pick will back up Aaron Rodgers once again this season, a role which afforded him only one start and 62 total pass attempts last year.

Lance played the first three drives of Thursday's 17-0 preseason loss to the Texans, completing seven of 11 passes for 49 yards and adding one yard on one rushing attempt.

Lance targeted each of Deebo Samuel, George Kittle and Brandon Aiyuk once, but all three passes fell incomplete. The only sustained drive Lance led was his last, which ended with a turnover on downs in Houston territory. Lance's preseason was a mixed bag, as he played well in limited action in the preseason opener, then sat out the second game before posting this clunker in the third. The dual-threat quarterback is heading into his first season as San Francisco's starter after spending most of last season sitting behind Jimmy Garoppolo.

Mills completed six of 10 passes for 58 yards, one touchdown and one interception in Thursday's 17-0 preseason win over the 49ers.

You wouldn't know it from his modest stat line, but Mills actually played the entire first half and the first drive of the second half for Houston, capping his final possession of the game with a 16-yard touchdown pass to Chris Moore. The Texans did most of their damage on the ground, which is something the team failed to find success at during Mills' rookie season. If rookie running back Dameon Pierce -- who capped Houston's opening drive with a one-yard touchdown -- can breathe life into the Texans' rushing attack in 2022, that could free up more space for the Mills-led Houston passing game.

Cousins doesn't expect to play in Saturday's preseason finale against the Broncos, Andrew Krammer of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.

Supporting the notion that Cousins will be held out of the contest is that coach Kevin O'Connell doesn't expect many, if any, of Minnesota's starters to play versus Denver. In that context, Sean Mannion, Kellen Mond and Nick Mullens would be the team's QB options Saturday.