MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK

The Rams have had plenty of great quarterbacks over the years. None have accomplished what current starter Matthew Stafford finalized tonight.

Stafford, as noted during the Amazon Prime broadcast, has gone four straight games with two or more touchdown passes and no interceptions. He’s the first Rams quarterback to ever do that.

 

Mason Rudolph will become the 58th starting quarterback in the NFL this season

When Mason Rudolph starts at quarterback for the Steelers on Saturday against the Bengals, he will be the 58th different quarterback to start an NFL game this season.

It’s a reminder of how often teams have to turn to their second, third and even fourth quarterbacks in a season — and how the difference between a backup playing well, like Gardner Minshew for the Colts, and a backup playing poorly, like Zach Wilson for the Jets, can be the difference between remaining in the playoff race and being mathematically eliminated.

And we probably won’t be done with Rudolph at No. 58. If Wilson isn’t cleared to play on Sunday, Trevor Siemian is expected to start for the Jets. He would be the 59th starting quarterback in the NFL this season.

More injuries in Week 16 could lead to more new starting quarterbacks in Week 17. And there will almost certainly be some first-time starters in Week 18, when teams with nothing to play for often start their backups.

By the end of the season perhaps the NFL will have had 64 starting quarterbacks, an average of two per team, and an illustration of what backup quarterback play looks like. In most cases, it looks like bad football.

 

Zach Wilson is out, at least for Sunday.

The starter turned backup turned starter turned backup turned starter will miss Sunday’s game against the Commanders. Jets coach Robert Saleh said Friday that Wilson is out with a concussion sustained last weekend in Miami.

The two quarterbacks will be Trevor Siemian and Brett Rypien. Siemian will start. Although Aaron Rodgers is on the 53-man roster so that he can continue to practice, he won’t be the emergency third quarterback.

The Jets have been eliminated from playoff contention. At this point, there’s a benefit to losing — since it will push them higher in the draft order for round one. (Their second-round pick was sent to the Packers as part of the Rodgers trade.)

But the first rule of Tank Club is don’t talk about Tank Club. It’s far better to just let it happen. With Siemian and Rypien as the options for the 5-9 Jets, it’s more likely to come naturally.

NBC

 

Trevor Lawrence will practice on Friday

Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence’s bid to return from a concussion will move forward on Friday.

Head coach Doug Pederson said at his press conference that Lawrence will practice with the team. Lawrence did not practice on Wednesday or Thursday and Pederson said that the quarterback will do as much as he can “tolerate” during the final workout ahead of Sunday’s game in Tampa.

Lawrence remains in the concussion protocol and Pederson said he thinks the odds of him clearing it are “better” than a coin flip. That will have to happen before the Jaguars travel to Tampa on Saturday in order for Lawrence to play.

If he does not get the green light, C.J. Beathard will run the offense for the Jags as they try to help their chances of winning the AFC South for the second straight season.

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Geno Smith “totally back” for Sunday’s game

Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith was close to playing against the Eagles in Week 15 and he’s set to play against the Titans in Week 16.

Smith practiced fully all week and he did not receive an injury designation on the team’s final injury report of the week. Carroll said, via the team’s website, that Smith had “as good a Friday as I can remember for a quarterback” and that he is “totally back and primed” for Sunday’s game.

There’s less clarity about four other Seahawks. Center Evan Brown (illness), cornerback Tre Brown (heel), running back Kenneth Walker III (shoulder), and cornerback Devon Witherspoon (hip) are all listed as questionable.

Walker and Witherspoon practiced on Friday after missing Wednesday and Thursday, but Carroll said Witherspoon “couldn’t do much” during the session.

Safety Jamal Adams (knee), linebacker Frank Clark (illness), and wide receiver Dee Eskridge (ribs) will not play for the Seahawks.

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Officially out.

 

Report: Trevor Lawrence clears concussion protocol

It looks like Trevor Lawrence will keep his starting streak.

Per Ian Rapoport of NFL Media, Lawrence has cleared concussion protocol and will travel to Tampa with the Jaguars to play the Buccaneers on Sunday.

Head coach Doug Pederson said on Friday that he thought the odds of Lawrence clearing concussion protocol were “better” than a coin flip. The quarterback is officially listed as questionable.

Lawrence has not missed a start since the Jaguars selected him at No. 1 overall in the 2021 draft. In 14 games this season, he’s completed 66 percent of his passes for 3,525 yards with 18 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He’s also rushed for 300 yards with four TDs.

C.J. Beathard was in line to make his first start since 2020 if Lawrence had not been cleared.

After losing their last three games, the Jaguars could surely use a victory over the Bucs to keep pace with the Texans and Colts in the AFC South. Jacksonville will play Carolina at home and Tennessee on the road to finish the season.

NBC

 

Trevor Lawrence on Jaguars: “We look lost”



Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence has had two head coaches in three NFL seasons. The first one, Urban Meyer, had no business being there. The second one, Doug Pederson, has won a Super Bowl.

Based on Lawrence’s comments after a blowout loss to the Buccaneers, Pederson’s future suddenly seems far shakier than it should.

“It just looks like we don’t even practice,” Lawrence told reporters, via ESPN.com. “We look lost. No sense of urgency. The list goes on and on. I feel like we have good weeks of preparation and I feel like we’re prepared going into games and then something happens on game day the last month where it just all falls apart.

“This is our season. We’ve worked hard to be in this position and we’re close to pissing it away so we’ve got to figure it out.”

Although Lawrence surely didn’t intend his comments to be an indictment of coaching, that’s what they kind of are. It’s the coach’s job to create the impression that the team has practiced. That the team doesn’t look lost. That the team has a sense of urgency. That things don’t fall apart on game day. That they don’t piss away a promising season.

The Jaguars still have two chances to turn it around, with a visit from the Panthers and a trip to the Titans. If they can turn it around and make the playoffs, fine. If they don’t, ownership might have some tough questions to ask regarding whether the team is reaching its potential, if not why not, and what can be done to get there.

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Brock Purdy says he’s fine after leaving game with stinger

After exiting during the fourth quarter of the 49ers’ Christmas night loss to the Ravens with a stinger, quarterback Brock Purdy said he could have returned and will be fine going forward.

Purdy said the stinger was painful and it’s the second straight game in which he suffered one, but he gave no indication that there will be any problem on a short work week for the 49ers’ Sunday game against the Commanders.

“Just the way I got tackled on that play, it lit up again just like last week,” Purdy said.

Purdy said he thought he could have returned to the game against the Ravens but that head coach Kyle Shanahan told him to take the night off because at the time of Purdy’s injury, they were trailing by 21 points in the fourth quarter. With the 49ers still the favorites to earn the No. 1 seed in the NFC, Purdy can shake off the worst game of his career and get to work on getting San Francisco to the Super Bowl.

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Jalen Hurts vs the Giants broke away from a tie with Cam Newton for the most rushing TD's by a QB in a season (15 with 2 to play).

 

Quarterback Trevor Siemian will be behind center for the Jets when they play the Browns on Thursday night.

Head coach Robert Saleh ruled quarterback Zach Wilson out for Week 17 as he has not cleared concussion protocol. That means Siemian will make his second start for New York.

In Sunday’s win over the Commanders, Siemian completed 27-of-49 passes for 217 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

Via Antwan V. Staley of the New York Daily News, Saleh said, “We will see” if Wilson will be available for the season finale against the Patriots.

Wilson has completed 60.1 percent of his throws for 2,271 yards with eight touchdowns and seven interceptions this season.

Saleh also mentioned that tight end Jeremy Ruckert has been ruled out for Thursday. And kicker Greg Zuerlein is dealing with quad soreness. That could make him questionable for the contest.

New York’s game statuses will be released with its final injury report of the week on Wednesday.

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Kenny Pickett: I feel like I’m on track, but it’s up to trainers and coaches

Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett has missed the last three games with an ankle injury, but he returned to practice with the team last week and updated his status on Wednesday.

Pickett said that he feels like he’s made progress in his return to action and is “trying to come back as soon as possible,” but that the ultimate decision about whether he or Mason Rudolph will start against the Seahawks this weekend is going to be made by others.

“It feels good,” Pickett said, via the team’s website. “I am going to take it a day at a time, see what the coaches are saying, what the trainers are saying. They have a plan for me, I am just going about what they are telling me. It feels like I am on track with what I need to do. It’s not how I feel, it’s what they see me doing and how they feel like I am looking moving around.”

The Steelers scored a season-high 34 points with Rudolph at the helm of the offense last Saturday and it would make sense that they’d see if he can continue to keep things rolling rather than go back to Pickett when Pickett might not be 100 percent healthy, but we’ll have to wait to find out what the ultimate decision will be in Pittsburgh.

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When asked if he learned anything from the sideline he answered No

 

He learned that the Steelers have an offense that can score with a different QB(but not one named Mitch).

 

If Pickett is 100%, they probably should roll with him, but by halftime, if he's the same ol' same ol', they'd be wise to install Mason. Its just a common sense thing with me.

 

Disagree, they can ride out the health thing this week. Start Mason, make KP the emergency #3 this week. Mason Rudolph had the offense looking like something that resembled an NFL offense. May have been against a bad defense but they’ve played bad defenses before and performed worse on offense. For the Steelers the best outcome probably is an ugly win. Then they can re-insert Pickett with as little drama as possible, if that’s the route they want to take. Point is after last game, Mason should get the job this week and likely gives the team the best chance to win. If he does well, then it creates a bit of a bigger question for the following week.

 

Thankfully, the Seahawks have a bad defense too.

 

They held the Eagles to 17 a couple weeks ago…they have a much better offense than the Steelers have shown most of the year. Also the Bengals inexplicably went man heavy, and the few glimpses I’ve seen of the Seahawks they’ve run more zone. Haven’t watched a lot of Seahawk snaps so might be wrong about that. Might be a bit more challenging to make his reads. So far he’s been the only QB to consistently work his progressions, so hopefully that plays to his strengths.

 

Mason Rudolph will be back at quarterback for the Steelers this weekend.

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said earlier this week that Rudolph was “scheduled” to be the starter against the Seahawks in Week 17 and he confirmed that he will be running the offenseon Friday. Kenny Pickett practiced this week and said he felt “on track” to return from his ankle injury, but he will miss his fourth straight game.

Rudolph guided the Steelers to a season-high 34 points in last Saturday’s win over the Bengals. He was 17-of-27 for 290 yards and he threw two long touchdowns to wide receiver George Pickens.

The Steelers will be hoping for more of the same as they try to run Tomlin’s run of seasons with out a losing record to 17 in a row while keeping the playoff fires burning in Pittsburgh.

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C.J. Stroud will start, but Texans rule out Jonathan Greenard

Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud will return after a two-game absence while recovering from a concussion. He has no injury designation after full participation in practice Thursday and Friday.

Stroud cleared concussion protocol earlier this week.

The Texans also will have receiver Nico Collins (calf), receiver Noah Brown (knee), left tackle Laremy Tunsil (knee) and offensive guard Shaq Mason (calf). All four, like Stroud, exited the report Friday.

But defensive end Jonathan Greenard (ankle) will not play after missing practice all week. He has 12.5 sacks and 22 quarterback hits this season.

Defensive end Will Anderson (ankle), defensive tackle Maliek Collins (hip), cornerback Steven Nelson (foot/hamstring/hand), fullback Andrew Beck (calf) and defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins (ankle) are questionable. Collins and Nelson did not practice all week, while Anderson and Rankins returned to limited work Friday.

Beck was a new addition to the injury report Friday.

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