The Lamar Jackson situation has become the obvious (and, for the Ravens, unfortunate) headline. Week 8, however, had several incidents with uncertainty regarding starting quarterbacks.
Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr., who was and is day-to-day with a bone bruise, insisted throughout the week that he’d play against the Dolphins. He was listed officially as questionable. On Saturday, reports emerged that Kirk Cousins will start.
Jets quarterback Justin Fields was, by all appearances, destined to be benched for Tyrod Taylor. Taylor was limited in practice on Wednesday and Thursday before being ruled out on Friday. Fields plays.
Panthers quarterback Bryce Young was characterized as day-to-day with an ankle injury. On Friday, Young was listed as doubtful. Now, Andy Dalton will play.
And it wasn’t clear whether 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy would return until Friday, when he was ruled out again for Mac Jones
But for the Ravens’ incorrect characterization of Jackson as being a full participant in practice on Friday, all teams seemingly complied with the injury report. Still, there likely was very real inside information within all buildings as to the ultimate plan.
How was that handled? Who told someone on the outside about it? What happened with that information?
These are questions that become critical for the NFL to ask moving forward. It’s also critical for the league to re-examine its injury-reporting rules to consider whether more transparency is needed in order to neutralize the inside information.
The easy answer to that one is absolutely. The harder question is how to come up with a better way to prevent any loose ends from being loose lips from becoming non-losing betting slips?
A report on Saturday indicated that Falcons quarterback Michael Penix would miss Sunday’s game against the Dolphins because of a knee injury and the Falcons made it official 90 minutes ahead of kickoff in Atlanta.
Penix is inactive for the game and Kirk Cousins will make the start for the Falcons. It will be Cousins’ first start since he was benched in favor of Penix after Week 15 of the 2024 season. Easton Stick is active as the No. 2 quarterback.
The Falcons are also going to be without wide receiver Drake London. London had no injury designation on Friday, but was downgraded to questionable with a hip injury on Saturday.
Dolphins at Falcons
Dolphins: QB Quinn Ewers, DB Elijah Campbell, CB Juju Brents, S Jordan Colbert, WR Tahj Washington, DT Zeek Biggers, TE Julian Hill
Falcons: QB Michael Penix, WR Drake London, EDGE Jalon Walker, CB Billy Bowman, DT Zach Harrison, OL Michael Jerrell, DL LaCale London
Bears at Ravens
Bears: TE Cole Kmet, CB Tyrique Stevenson, RB Roschon Johnson, QB Case Keenum, DT Chris Williams, LB Ruben Hyppolite
Ravens: QB Lamar Jackson, WR Devontez Walker, T Carson Vinson, OL Emery Jones, DT Aeneas Peebles, CB Jaire Alexander, S Sanoussi Kane
Bills at Panthers
Bills: WR Joshua Palmer, CB Brandon Codrington, LB Matt Milano, OL Chase Lundt, DT DaQuan Jones, DE Landon Jackson
Panthers: QB Bryce Young, WR Hunter Renfrow, RB DeeJay Dallas, OL Nick Samac, TE James Mitchell, DT Cam Jackson, DT Jaden Crumedy
Jets at Bengals
Jets: QB Tyrod Taylor, WR Garrett Wilson, KR Kene Nwangwu, TE Stone Smartt, DL Jay Tufele, LB Kobe King, CB Sauce Gardner
Bengals: CB Marco Wilson, OL Matt Lee, WR Jermaine Burton, TE Cam Grandy, DT McKinnley Jackson, DE Cam Sample
49ers at Texans
49ers: QB Brock Purdy, RB Jordan James, WR Ricky Pearsall, C Jake Brendel, DE Bryce Huff, DE Yetur Gross-Matos, DT CJ West
Texans: WR Nico Collins, T Trent Brown, WR Christian Kirk, QB Graham Mertz, DL Darrell Taylor, OL Jarrett Kingston
Browns at Patriots
Browns: QB Shedeur Sanders, CB Jarrick Bernard-Converse, S Damontae Kazee, RB Raheim Sanders, G Zak Zinter, T Cornelius Lucas, DT Adin Huntington
Patriots: WR Efton Chism, QB Tommy DeVito, S Kyle Dugger, DL Eric Gregory, LB Caleb Murphy, OL Caedan Wallace, DL Keion White
Giants at Eagles
Giants: S Jevon Holland, WR Jalin Hyatt, CB Paulson Adebo, T James Hudson, DL Chauncey Golston, G Evan Neal, QB Jameis Winston
Eagles: EDGE Azeez Ojulari, CB Adoree’ Jackson, C Cam Jurgens, WR A.J. Brown, QB Sam Howell
The Bills activated rookie cornerback Maxwell Hairston from injured reserve on Saturday, the team announced.
Hairston has yet to see any action this season as Buffalo placed him on injured reserve on Aug. 26 with a knee injury.
The Bills designated him to return from IR on Monday, and he was limited in all three practices before receiving a questionable injury designation on Friday.
The rookie was Buffalo’s first pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. They drafted the Kentucky product with the 30th overall pick.
The Bills also elevated safety Jordan Poyer and defensive tackle Jordan Phillips from the practice squad for Week 8. Poyer has played in one game this season, while Phillips has appeared in two.
Last year, when Andy Dalton stepped in for Bryce Young as the Panthers’ starting quarterback, it was a necessary step after Young had played poorly and Carolina had suffered blowout losses in the first two games of the season. This year, as Dalton prepares to start in place of the injured Young on Sunday, it’s a different situation.
Young is playing much better, the Panthers have become competitive, and Dalton said on Friday that he’s just trying to keep the team going in the same direction Young has them going in.
“I think the talent that we have is a lot better,” Dalton said. “I think we’re comfortable with what we’re doing. I think we’ve experienced a lot so far and we can build off the momentum of where we’re at right now. At this point I’m just trying to keep this thing going. We’ve just got to keep playing like we can play.”
Officially, the Panthers are listing Young as doubtful for Sunday against the Bills with an ankle injury. Even if Young is cleared, a team spokesman told Carolina beat writers, Dalton will start on Sunday. The Panthers plan to elevate practice squad quarterback Hendon Hooker to the active roster to back Dalton up.
No coach gets his team ready to play after a bye like Bills head coach Sean McDermott.
The Bills are 8-0 after bye weeks with McDermott as head coach. No head coach in NFL history has that many wins after byes without a loss.
That’s bad news for the Panthers, who host the Bills on Sunday after the Bills were off last week. McDermott says the bye week gives him more time to step away from preparing for the next opponent, and spend time analyzing his own team.
“Here’s what we’re doing well. Here’s who’s doing it well . . . then it’s into where do we need to adjust,” McDermott said, via the Bills’ website. “There’s course corrections through every season. So those that can make those adjustments play better, perform better and you go from there.”
The Bills are expected to keep their winning streak after byes going on Sunday, as they’re 7.5-point favorites at Carolina.
