NFL Notes: Deshaun Watson, Daniel Jones Likely Out Sunday, Another TNF Stinker, More

Happy Friday! We’ve made it through another week. Unfortunately for the Cleveland Browns and New York Giants, they will both likely be without their starting quarterbacks this weekend. Deshaun Watson (shoulder) and Daniel Wilson (neck) are both doubtful to play on Sunday in Week 6.

  • Watson missed the Browns’ Week 4 game against the Ravens and then had the bye week to rest his shoulder injury. Watson is currently dealing with bruising around his rotator cuff and hasn’t practiced at all this week. NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport says that Watson will be ruled out officially later this afternoon. So, Cleveland will go with veteran backup P.J. Walker this weekend against the San Francisco 49ers. The Browns went with rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson in Watson’s place in Week 4, but DTR has since been demoted to QB3 duties after a three-interception performance against Baltimore.
  • As for Daniel Jones, he is dealing with a neck injury and also has not practiced all week for the Giants, putting his status for Sunday’s contest with the Buffalo Bills very much in doubt. Jones and the Giants offense has been highly ineffective this season. Matching up with the Bills was already going to be a daunting task for the 1-4 Giants. Now it seems as though they’ll have to do so with Tyrod Taylor as their starting quarterback.
  • Mid-week reports had the Giants ramping up Saquon Barkley in preparation for a Sunday return from an ankle injury that has cost him three games this season. However, Barkley was limited in practice on the injury report on Thursday. His status is still up in the air. However, Barkley knows how important it is that he gets into the lineup for the Giants. “I think it’s important for me to get back out there, especially where we are in the season, and I feel like I can make an impact, and hopefully, I can show that,” Barkley said. “It sucks because, as a competitor, you want to be out there,” he said Thursday, watching the offense struggle without him. “It’s not like more of the mindset of I want to be out there; it’s going to change something. It’s more of the mindset of just seeing your guys fight, and you can do nothing about it.”
  • If Barkley can’t go this weekend, the Giants will likely be 1-5 come Monday morning, putting them in a backs-against-the-wall situation the rest of the way.
  • Daniel Jones Saquon Barkley Giants
    (Photo: Getty Images)

  • The Detroit Lions will be without running back Zonovan Knight for the rest of the season. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on Thursday that Knight played his final game of the season for the Lions, he will miss the remainder of the year with a season-ending shoulder injury.
  • I hear there were some pretty good playoff baseball games last night. I wouldn’t know because I was watching the Thursday Night Football game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Denver Broncos. Almost every Friday, I have that same thought: I love the idea of having a game on Thursday, just because it’s an extra primetime game and day of the week with football. But it feels like no matter who is playing, these games just stink.
  • Even the Kansas City Chiefs couldn’t change that for me last night as they played with their food for much of the evening against the Broncos. Kansas City won their 16th straight against the blundering Broncos, but the reigning champs have some things to iron out. Travis Kelce was the star of the show for the Chiefs on offense, and Russell Wilson was held to under 100 yards passing in a boring 19-8 Chiefs victory. I’ll have more thoughts on the Chiefs later in today’s TMA column.
  • As for the Broncos, last night’s loss puts them one game closer to a potential trade deadline fire sale. I wrote on Thursday that veteran pass rusher Frank Clark will likely be traded or released (and that will probably happen while the Broncos are now on the 10-day mini-bye after the TNF game). More players will likely follow him in exiting Denver via trade before the deadline later this month. Wide receivers Courtland Sutton and Jerry Jeudy are two players on whom the Broncos are taking calls.
  • The Minnesota Vikings might be close behind the Broncos, especially if they lose to the Bears this weekend. Quarterback Kirk Cousins doesn’t think trade discussions are worth his attention right now, but that doesn’t mean they will stop. At this point, it’s fair to wonder what the 1-4 Vikings plan to do in the future and whether or not those plans include Kirk Cousins.
  • Jaylon Johnson is trending in the right direction for the Bears ahead of their matchup with the Minnesota Vikings this weekend.
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    Patrick grew up in Chicago's Bridgeport and Garfield Ridge neighborhoods before moving to the Western Suburbs of Chicago before eventually relocating to the Las Vegas area with his family in 2023. He started with Bleacher Nation in 2021 and has spent time as a Staff Writer and on the Chicago Blackhawks beat. He is currently a writer and editor at Bleacher Nation covering the Chicago Bears and the NFL at large and the author of the Bleacher Nation Newsletter. Patrick is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA).

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