NFL Player News

Williams (6'2/218) made 33 starts for the Tar Heels, succeeding Bryn Renner under center and completing 61.3% of his career throws with a 7.82 YPA, 61:25 TD-to-INT ratio, and 35 rushing scores. He earned second-team All-ACC as a senior. A dual threat in college, Williams turned in a disappointing Pro Day, running 4.81 with a 32 1/2-inch vertical. Williams offers toughness and plus arm strength, but his ball location was consistently poor in the ACC and Williams isn’t athletic enough for a position switch. Williams likely lacks an NFL future, but we could envision him lighting up the Arena League.

Minshew is still dealing with a knee injury, but the veteran quarterback avoided the worst in Sunday’s loss. Minshew threw for just 15 yards on eight pass attempts against the Titans and will miss Sunday’s game against the Broncos. The Chiefs have already signed QB Shane Buechele off the Bills’ practice squad. He will presumably serve as the team’s QB2 behind Chris Oladokun on Thursday.

Williams exited Sunday’s game against the Falcons with a non-contact Achilles injury and had to be carted from the field. The third-year vet will undergo an MRI to confirm, but the injury had the look of a season-ender long before this report. Williams has started 21 of the 26 games he’s appeared in over the last two seasons for the Cardinals and has tallied five pass breakups and one interception this year.

Cosmi’s season will come to an end following this move. The veteran right guard appeared in nine games for the Commanders this season after rehabbing from a torn ACL he suffered in last year’s NFC Divisional Round. One of the better guards in the league since being drafted in 2021, Cosmi earned a PFF grade of 76.3 this season while playing on 545 offensive snaps. He is expected to be replaced by Andrew Wylie for the final two weeks of the season.

Quinn said the team is still evaluating the injuries to Mariota’s throwing hand and quad. While that may be the case, we also can’t overlook the fact that the Commanders signed QB Jeff Driskel off the Cardinals’ practice squad earlier today, a move that suggests they are preparing to be a man down at QB this week. We’ll see where things go from here, but with a short week to prep for Thursday’s game against the Cowboys, it wouldn’t be surprising if Josh Johnson made the start while Driskel served as his backup.

Hall was suspended following Week 16’s game against the Rams, in which he could be seen blatantly stepping on RG Kevin Dotson’s leg, which resulted in Dotson being carted from the field. Hall will miss Week 17’s game against the Panthers.

As a procedural move to activate Buckner, the Colts also waived QB Brett Rypien. It was reported before the weekend that Buckner was expected to play in Week 16’s game, but the Colts made it official on Monday with his activation. Buckner has been sidelined with a neck injury since Week 9 and should provide an immediate boost to a defense that ranks 22nd in total yards allowed but has been a top-10 run-stopping unit.

Commanders beat writer Ben Standig was the first to report the move. The move to sign Driskel to the 53-man roster suggests Marcus Mariota (hand) is unlikely to play in Week 17 against the Cowboys. Driskel spent all of last season with the Commanders and should have plenty of familiarity with Kliff Kingsbury’s playbook. That said, Josh Johnson is still considered the favorite to start after taking over for Mariota in Week 16’s loss to the Eagles.

The Jets continue to evaluate their quarterback position ahead of the offseason. Cook took a whopping eight sacks in Week 16’s loss to the Saints and will have a chance to take eight more in next week’s game against the Patriots. Cook can be avoided in all fantasy formats.

X-rays on McCarthy’s hand reportedly came back negative for a broken bone. McCarthy will undergo an MRI to determine the exact nature of the injury that knocked him out of Week 16’s game against the Giants, but if the MRI doesn’t reveal anything severe, we would expect him to have a chance to suit up in Week 17 against the Lions. If McCarthy is unable to go, Max Brosmer would make his second career start.

Love suffered a head injury in the second quarter of the Packers’ Week 16 loss to the Bears. He took a hard helmet-to-helmet shot on the play and was visibly shaken up afterward. He was ruled out shortly after leaving the field. Love will have to clear concussion protocol if he hopes to play in Saturday’s game against the Ravens. If he is unable to go, Malik Willis (shoulder) would be next in line to draw the start, with Clayton Tune being the third man up if both players are sidelined.