Author: nfltalk

Only one quarterback battle remains.

The Indianapolis Colts announced Daniel Jones as their starter Tuesday. The Cleveland Browns named Joe Flacco their starter Monday.

That leaves the New Orleans Saints, who are still deciding between second-year pro Spencer Rattler and rookie Tyler Shough.

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Saints head coach Kellen Moore addressed the competition Tuesday. He sounds no closer to making a decision than he was at the start of training camp.

“It’s close,” Moore told reporters. “We look at every aspect of this quarterback situation. It’s really, really close. Numbers, experience reps, everything. It’s going all the way back to the start of training camp. Everything is very, very close between this group.”

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Moore is fielding questions about the Saints’ QB1 situation not only from media. He says he gets them at home from his kids as well. Moore gives his children the same answers he gives reporters.

“There’s a lot of people who like to ask about the quarterbacks, my kids included,” Moore said. “It’s a fun conversation.

“They’ve got advice about everything. Every bad decision, every throw, every play-call. They’ve got it all.”

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Who will win the job?

So who’s got the edge? That remains a mystery with one preseason game remaining.

Rattler is more of a known commodity. The 2024 fifth-round pick started six games as a rookie last year, completing 57% of his passes for 188.1 yards per game with four touchdowns and five interceptions — not exactly inspiring starter stuff.

The Saints selected Shough in the second round of April’s draft as the third quarterback off the board amid the then-uncertain future of Derek Carr. Both are now competing for the starting job following Carr’s unexpected retirement due to a lingering shoulder injury.

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Neither has done enough to win the job while splitting starts in New Orleans’ first two preseason games.

How they’e looked

Rattler…

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Joe Flacco beat out a group of young quarterbacks to win the Cleveland Browns’ starting job for Week 1, and the most experienced option in the room is set to join a minuscule group of NFL players to extend their careers into their 40s. Flacco will be the second-oldest starting quarterback in the league this season, behind only Aaron Rodgers. The first-year Brown, who joined the franchise this offseason on a one-year, $4 million deal, said it is “special” to get the nod at his age.

Flacco emerged victorious in the position battle over contenders Kenny Pickett, Dillon Gabriel, Shedeur Sanders and Tyler Huntley. None of the other quarterbacks in Cleveland are older than 27, while Flacco celebrated his 40th birthday in January.

“I don’t know if I was very emotional about it,” Flacco said of winning the job. “But, listen, you don’t take for granted opportunities in this league. Especially to get one at this point in my career is definitely special. But like I said, it’s pretty much business as usual and just kind of trying to get better.”

While he has not played a full season since 2017, his penultimate campaign with the Baltimore Ravens, Flacco made starts with each of his five previous teams and is fresh off a campaign in which he took over for the Indianapolis Colts with six starts.

“You gotta give a lot of credit to obviously Tom (Brady) for anybody even thinking about doing it,” Flacco said of playing into his 40s. “Obviously there was guys before. You have Warren Moon. I talked about it a couple weeks ago. Vinny Testaverde and other guys that have done it. But, I mean, he pushed the boundaries like he did in absolutely everything. No surprise that he did it in that way, as well.

“But I don’t think it’s necessarily something I actively think about until people remind me with texts and things like that and you guys ask me about it. I don’t think it’s a huge deal right now, but I’m sure…

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The Commanders’ starting offense didn’t play long in Monday night’s preseason game, and didn’t throw a single pass. But they still got some action from quarterback Jayden Daniels and wide receiver Deebo Samuel.

Washington’s sole possession for its first-string offense started with Samuel running for 19 yards and ended with Daniels scrambling up the middle for a 14-yard touchdown. Washington coach Dan Quinn said after the game that he was glad to see Samuel’s running ability on display, but less enthused about Daniels taking off and running in a preseason game.

“I was excited to see Deebo run,” Quinn said. “I’ve been on the other side of that and know what that movie looks like, so that was cool to see.”

But Quinn was asked after the game if he would tell Daniels that running the ball in the preseason isn’t necessary, and Quinn indicated he had already done so.

“You think those conversations haven’t already been told?” Quinn said with a laugh. “It is part of who he is, but it is one of the things we’ve worked on, to say when do you take your shots and when do you go. There will be more of that, at times I’ll say less of that.”

It was an impressive run from Daniels for the touchdown, but one that saw him take contact from a defender before scoring. In the regular season, that’s part of what makes Daniels special. In the preseason, Quinn probably would have preferred to see Daniels slide around the 5-yard line.

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The second week of the NFL preseason will be coming to a close in Washington, where the Commanders will be hosting the Cincinnati Bengals in what will be the NFL’s first and only Monday night game of the preseason. 

It’s almost fitting that these two teams are facing each other, because they have a lot in common. For one, they’re both dealing with a high profile hold-in. For the Commanders, Terry McLaurin still hasn’t practiced since requesting a trade at the beginning of training camp. McLaurin, who’s been dealing with an ankle injury, was activated off the physically unable to perform list over the weekend, which could be a sign that he’ll possibly be returning to practice soon. 

On the Bengals’ end, Trey Hendrickson hasn’t practiced since reporting to training camp on July 30. The drama between the two sides shot up to another level on Sunday with a report that the Bengals are listening to offers for Hendrickson. 

Basically, don’t be surprised if you hear both of these names quite a few times on Monday night. 

With that in mind, here’s how you can watch the game, and after that, we’ll give you four reasons why you should definitely tune in. 

Time: 8 p.m. ET, Monday, Aug. 18TV: ESPNLocation: Northwest Stadium in Landover, Md.Streaming: Fubo (Start watching, save $20!)

Here are four reasons why you’ll definitely want to watch

Bengals: The STARTERS are playing again. For the second straight week, the Bengals will be playing their starters. Joe Burrow and the offense are expected to play at least one quarter. Burrow was nearly perfect in his first preseason appearance, finishing 9 of 10 for 123 yards and two touchdowns during the Bengals’ 34-27 loss to the Eagles last week. One position…..

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Bears head coach Ben Johnson was happy with his quarterback after Sunday night’s preseason game against the Bills.

Williams completed 6 of 10 passes for 107 yards with a touchdown, no turnovers and no sacks,, and Johnson said after the game that Williams looked the way the Bears wanted him to look in live game action.

“Caleb made a couple big-time throws, in my opinion, to keep that drive going, and some explosive plays there, so it was good — it was good to see,” Johnson said.

Johnson said Williams has had some bad days in training camp but that last week’s practices and Sunday night’s game were as good as he’s been.

“I thought the three days of practice we had this week and this game were the most he’s stacked up good days in a row,” Johnson said. “The challenge is going to be to keep pushing in that direction.”

The Bears beat the Bills 38-0 and Johnson said that was all about the players’ execution.

“It really had nothing to do with scheme. It was all about our guys and how they wanted to play the game,” Johnson said.

Now Johnson will hope that promising performance can carry over to the regular season.

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