Who’s starting, who’s hurt, and who’s on the move?
NFL news is nonstop, and we’re breaking it all down week by week this season.
Here’s the latest on what’s happening around the league entering Week 15:
Giants HC won’t comment on fired defensive line coach
New York Giants interim head coach Mike Kafka “again declined” to share details on the recent news that assistant defensive line coach Bryan Cox was let go during the team’s Week 14 bye. There was reported tension between Cox and the rest of the staff after previous head coach Brian Daboll was fired earlier this season, and things boiled over last week. Daboll brought Cox onto his staff when he was first hired in 2022, and now their departure will happen, basically, in tandem.
Buccaneers star WR returns
Wide receiver Mike Evans was added to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ 53-man roster ahead of their game Thursday against the Atlanta Falcons. Evans hasn’t played since Week 7 when he sustained a collarbone injury against Detroit. His return will help the Buccaneers as they battle with the Carolina Panthers for the NFC South. As will Jalen McMillan’s presence — the second-year pass-catcher will come back in unison with his veteran counterpart. McMillan hasn’t played this season after hurting his neck in a preseason game in August.
Smith will likely miss the Las Vegas Raiders’ road matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles due to a shoulder injury, per NFL Media. He suffered the injury in the Raiders’ Week 14 loss to the Denver Broncos. This would put Kenny Pickett, who came in for Smith last week, in line to make his first start of the season. Smith has thrown an NFL-high 14 interceptions this season. Las Vegas is 2-11.
Update on injured Bengals WR
Tee Higgins was a limited participant in practice Wednesday, according to head coach Zac Taylor, after the WR sustained his second concussion in the last three weeks in Sunday’s game against the Bills. Despite sustaining multiple blows to the head, Higgins was cleared to remain in Sunday’s game. However, following the contest, he approached Taylor omitting that he was experiencing symptoms. He was placed back in the concussion protocol, but is seemingly progressing, and could be available for Cincinnati in the near future.
Cook taking snaps at QB for Jets
Brady Cook will take the snaps with the New York Jets’ starters at practice Wednesday, opening the possibility the undrafted rookie quarterback could start Sunday at Jacksonville. Coach Aaron Glenn said neither Tyrod Taylor nor Justin Fields will participate on the field while dealing with injuries, and the team will see how both quarterbacks feel as the week progresses.
“There’s a plan for the quarterbacks,” Glenn said. “Either way it works out during the week, we’ve got all our bases covered.”
Taylor made his third straight start for the benched Fields last Sunday before injuring his groin late in the first quarter of the Jets’ 34-10 loss to the Miami Dolphins. Cook, who was Taylor’s backup because Fields was ruled out ahead of the game with knee soreness, filled in and went 14 of 30 for 163 yards and two interceptions in his NFL regular-season debut.
“I thought he did a pretty good job,” Glenn said of Cook’s performance. “It was a tough situation for him with Tyrod going down and him not getting all the reps with the first team.”
New York also signed Adrian Martinez to the practice squad after he was released Tuesday by San Francisco. Martinez, the 2024 UFL MVP and UFL championship game MVP, was with the Jets through training camp this past summer.
Washington will be without quarterback Jayden Daniels for its road matchup against the New York Giants due to a left elbow injury, head coach Dan Quinn announced on Dec. 10. Daniels suffered the injury in Washington’s Week 14 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, which was the quarterback’s first game back from a Week 9 elbow injury. Marcus Mariota will make his seventh start at quarterback for Washington, which is 3-10. Daniels, the 2024 Offensive Rookie of the Year, has seen his sophomore campaign be mired by knee and elbow injuries, with the quarterback boasting just an 88.1 passer rating (Daniels posted a 100.1 passer rating in 2024) and completing 60.6% of his passes (Daniels completed 69% of his passes in 2024) in the seven games that he has appeared in.
A brief hospital visit won’t keep Metcalf from playing next week against the Dolphins. Metcalf was hit hard in the abdomen during the team’s 27-22 victory against the Ravens on Sunday and stayed behind when the issue persisted after Metcalf was treated with over-the-counter remedies during the game, according to head coach Mike Tomlin.
“It [probably got] progressively worse after the sport, and so I’m appreciative of our medical consultants,” Tomlin mentioned. “We simply exercised an abundance of precaution. We didn’t wish to get him within the air with out having a whole understanding about what he was coping with, they usually did a very good job of that.”
Metcalf completed with season highs in receptions (seven) and yards (148) as Pittsburgh regained management of the AFC North. The 2-time Professional Bowler additionally stuffed in as a gunner on punt protection late within the sport after particular groups ace Ben Skowronek exited with an damage, one thing Metcalf hadn’t achieved since highschool. Tomlin said that Metcalf is “shifting in the precise route” and he would not anticipate the difficulty jeopardizing Metcalf’s availability.
Kelly, who leads Las Vegas with three interceptions, was positioned on IR on Dec. 9 with a season-ending tear in his patellar tendon. The staff signed cornerback Chigozie Anusiem off Arizona’s apply squad in a corresponding transfer.
Kelly was injured within the Raiders’ 24-17 loss to the Broncos on Sunday. “It was only a freak accident,” head coach Pete Carroll mentioned Monday. “You didn’t see it buckle or something. He simply planted — and typically that occurs.”
The Colts bolstered their injury-depleted quarterback corps by bringing 44-year-old Rivers out of retirement and signing him to the apply squad, in keeping with a number of studies. The transfer comes lower than 24 hours after head coach Shane Steichen confirmed that Indianapolis’ starter, Daniel Jones, would miss the remainder of this season after tearing his proper Achilles tendon and backup quarterback Riley Leonard injured his proper knee throughout Sunday’s loss to the Jaguars.
It isn’t clear how lengthy it would take Rivers to be taught Indianapolis’ playbook — or work his approach into sport form — because the reeling Colts attempt to snap a three-game dropping streak subsequent weekend on the Seahawks.
Rivers hasn’t taken a snap since ending his profession with a playoff loss following the Colts’ 2020 season; that was the final time Indianapolis made the postseason. The eight-time Professional Bowler introduced his retirement in January 2021 and has been teaching at St. Michael Excessive College in Fairhope, Alabama, ever since.
Head coach Dan Quinn introduced that Ertz would miss the remainder of the season after the 13-year veteran tore his ACL within the Commanders’ 31-0 shutout loss to the Vikings on Sunday. Ertz, who was upended throughout an incomplete go over the center thrown by backup QB Marcus Mariota after starter Jayden Daniels was sidelined after reaggravating his elbow damage, left the staff’s locker room on crutches. Ertz was unable to place any weight on his leg when he was helped off the sphere and was visibly upset as he reached the sideline earlier than being transported inside on a cart.
A second-round draft decide by Philadelphia and a Tremendous Bowl champion with the Eagles, Ertz had 50 catches for 504 yards in 2025. In his second season with the Commanders, Ertz has the second-most receptions by a good finish (825) within the NFL since his debut in 2013, trailing solely Travis Kelce (1,063 getting into Sunday).
Browns identify rookie QB Shedeur Sanders as starter for remainder of season
Following a powerful efficiency towards the Titans on Sunday, Sanders has formally been named the Browns’ starter for the rest of the season. He threw for a career-high 364 yards and three touchdowns — plus a fourth on the bottom — within the slender 31-29 loss. Sanders joins Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow as the one rookie quarterbacks with no less than 350 passing yards, three landing passes and one speeding rating in a sport.
Head coach Kevin Stefanski can be satisfied that Sanders can be taught from his errors, such because the ill-fated third-quarter interception the place he scrambled and threw a deep go to the center of the sphere — which was picked off by Tennessee’s Xavier Woods. The interception would later result in the Titans scoring the go-ahead landing.
“I feel he has continually and constantly gotten higher in every one in all these video games,” Stefanski mentioned. “He’s been working very laborious, so I be ok with the place his growth is heading. He is aware of there are all the time going to be performs that he will be higher … however he’s very intentional about getting higher each sport he’s on the market.”
Buccaneers welcome again two-time Tremendous Bowl champion go rusher
A well-recognized face has returned to Tampa Bay. The Bucs have signed defensive lineman Jason Pierre-Paul, 36, to the apply squad, setting him up for an opportunity to assist his former staff’s go rush and playoff push with 4 video games left within the common season. A 2010 first-round decide by the New York Giants, Pierre-Paul beforehand performed for Tampa Bay from 2018 to 2021 and was a member of the membership’s Tremendous Bowl LV-winning protection in 2021. Pierre-Paul has 94.5 sacks, 632 tackles and 21 compelled fumbles in 180 profession video games, together with his final motion coming in 2023 when he performed one sport for the Saints and two for the Dolphins.
The Related Press contributed to this report.
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