NFL NEWS
RATTLER RALLIES SAINTS TO 17-ALL PRESEASON TIE WITH JAGUARS AS COMPETITION WITH SHOUGH CONTINUES
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Spencer Rattler now has some late-game highlights on his preseason resume as he competes with rookie Tyler Shough to become the New Orleans Saints’ starting quarterback.
Rattler connected with Dante Pettis for a 20-yard touchdown with 21 seconds left and scrambled for a 2-point conversion to help the Saints salvage a 17-17 tie with the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.
“Just the way we finished was exciting,” Rattler said. “Got-to-have-it type moments and to bring it to life out there on the field, especially in the (Superdome), was fun.”
Rattler finished 18 of 24 for 199 yards, one TD and one interception.
Shough, who started for the first time and played the whole first half, went 9 for 12 for 66 yards without a turnover. He led one scoring drive that concluded with Blake Grupe’s 51-yard field goal after Chris Olave dropped a third-down pass that could have extended the series.
“I felt really comfortable,” Shough said. “We had some balls that didn’t bounce our way sometimes, but that’s part of it.
“It’s new for all of us — a new offense, new system, new guys we’re throwing to,” Shough added. “So, there’s going to be growth moments.”
The system was brought in by rookie coach Kellen Moore, who has one more preseason game to figure out who’ll be his Week 1 starter.
“Sooner always is better, but these guys are competing and they’re giving everything that we can ask,” Moore said. “So, we’ll continue to evaluate.”
Rattler was intercepted by Keni-H Lovely at the Jacksonville 7 in the fourth quarter. But rather than remove the second-year pro in favor of Jake Haener, Moore gave Rattler another chance.
“It was important just from an evaluation standpoint on Spence,” Moore said. “Those are critical moments. You have a tough situation; you’ve got to respond.”
With no overtime in the preseason, the Jaguars crossed midfield in the final seconds — one week after Cam Little made a 70-yard field goal.
But Seth Henigan’s pass over the middle bounced off of Chandler Brayboy’s hands and right to Saints safety Jonas Sanker, whose 40-yard return ended when he was pushed out of bounds at the Jacksonville 24 as time expired.
“We played well enough to win, but in this game, especially in preseason, you see some crazy stuff,” Jaguars coach Liam Coen said. “I’d like to be able to finish the game the right way.”
Had Sanker run out of bounds earlier, New Orleans (0-1-1) could have set up for a game-winning kick.
Sanker said he “probably could have played it a little safer and got out a little earlier.”
Saints receiver Mason Tipton, a second-year pro out of Yale, caught six passes for 100 yards, one week after his 54-yard touchdown catch from Shough against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Parker Washington caught a 7-yard touchdown pass from Trevor Lawrence and Bayshul Tuten rushed for a 3-yard touchdown for Jacksonville (0-1-1).
Lawrence played for two drives and had little trouble moving the offense while going 8 of 10 for 76 yards and a TD.
However, his first drive ended with a turnover on the New Orleans 12 when Lawrence tripped as he turned to hand off to Tank Bigsby. The ball squirted loose and defensive lineman Vernon Broughton recovered.
“Besides that play, to be honest, it was a pretty clean day,” Lawrence said. “We moved the ball, stayed on schedule and we were pretty efficient.”
Little converted from 53 yards as the first half ended to make it 17-3 — and making him 5 for 5 in the preseason, all on kicks longer than 39 yards.
Rattler began his day by leading New Orleans to the first of Irishman Charlie Smyth’s two second-half field goals — with the help of Christian Braswell’s pass-interference penalty on a deep pass intended for Tipton.
The second kick, which made it 17-9, came after Rattler’s 45-yard connection with Tipton.
Jacksonville QB Nick Mullens, who took over for Lawrence in the second quarter, passed for 112 yards and led the Jags to 10 points, but also was intercepted by Jaylan Ford at the Saints 15.
Injuries
Jaguars: Heisman Trophy winner and No. 2 overall draft choice Travis Hunter was scratched before the game with what the team has called an upper-body injury.
Saints: Center Cesar Ruiz was examined in the injury tent in the second quarter after going down awkwardly as the pocket collapsed on Shough, who was sacked by Ventrell Miller and Jack Kiser. Moore said he thought Ruiz would be “fine.”
Up next
Jaguars: Visit the Miami Dolphins on Saturday.
Saints: Host the Denver Broncos on Saturday.
CALEB WILLIAMS LOOKS SHARP IN BEN JOHNSON’S OFFENSE AS BEARS ROUT BILLS 38-0 IN PRESEASON
CHICAGO (AP) — Caleb Williams’ rocky training camp now seems to be on the upswing.
Williams took advantage of his first preseason playing time, connecting with Olamide Zaccheaus for a 36-yard touchdown on the opening drive as the Chicago Bears cruised to 38-0 preseason victory over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday night.
“I think it sets the tone for how we expect ourselves to go out there and play, and go out there and perform,” Williams said. “It was extremely important.”
After sitting out a 24-24 tie with Miami last week, Williams came out firing against Buffalo (0-2) in his first chance to operate coach Ben Johnson’s offense during a game.
“I thought really the three days of practice we had this week, and the game, were the most he’s stacked up good days in a row right now,” Johnson said. “The challenge is to keep it headed in that direction.”
The first pick in the 2024 draft completed throws of 18 yards to rookie first-round pick Colston Loveland and 29 yards to tight end Cole Kmet on a game-opening 92-yard march that concluded when Zaccheaus snagged a throw in the middle of the field on third-and-6, hurdled a tackler and went the distance.
Williams has been spotty throughout training camp but he was sharp from the start in this game. He hit on six of his first seven throws, then left after the second possession. He finished 6 of 10 for 102 yards.
“I think had a couple of those (poor) practices throughout camp,” Williams said. “I felt like I took two steps forward, small things that I felt like I got over. Then I took a step back, probably.
“It’s just being able to keep that mindset, the growth mindset, keep growing, keep getting after it.”
Tyson Bagent came on to lead three second-quarter touchdown drives as the Bears (1-0-1) took a 28-0 halftime lead.
Bagent finished a 61-yard drive by rifling a 10-yard strike in the corner of the end zone to Tyler Scott. Before halftime, newly acquired Bears running back Brittain Brown finished an 86-yard drive with a 1-yard TD plunge, and Ian Wheeler’s 1-yard TD run completed an 84-yard drive.
Bills coach Sean McDermott held reigning MVP Josh Allen and all of his other starters out of the game. Buffalo’s backups struggled throughout the first half on both sides of the ball.
“The quarterback cannot go in the first drive of the game unaffected and he was in a rhythm right away and now you’re dealing with it,” McDermott said. “The quarterback ratings at the end of the game says it all.”
Three Bears passers had a 112.0 passer rating, including 130.0 by Williams. The Bills’ Mitchell Trubisky, Mike White and Shane Buechele collectively were at 55.7.
“I was looking forward to seeing some guys with the opportunity tonight step up, and I didn’t sense that as much as I hoped,” McDermott said.
After Wheeler’s TD plunge, the Bears had outgained the Bills 343 yards to 22 and owned an 18-1 advantage in first downs.
Bagent played until midway through the third quarter and went 13 of 22 for 197 yards, while Wheeler rushed 19 times for 80 yards and Brown 16 times for 73 yards.
Trubisky, the former Bears quarterback, relieved Bills starter Mike White and completed 7 of 13 passes for 56 yards. White went 4 of 11 for 54 yards.
Waiting it out
Allen hasn’t played in either of Buffalo’s preseason games. He has thrown at least three passes in every preseason since he came into the league in 2018.
Also held out was running back James Cook, who had been staging a hold-in before getting a contract extension. Cook returned to practice this week.
McDermott did get a brief look at 2024 draft picks Cole Bishop playing safety. He has been dealing with a quad injury and had a 12-play limit
“He needs more experience, he needs more reps,” McDermott said. “That’s where you work out some of these things and that’s how you build the callousness and it comes from experience.”
Injuries
Bills: DB Jordan Hancock left in the third quarter with a shoulder injury.
Bears: Second-year DE Austin Booker injured a knee covering a kick return and did not return. Booker was off to a fast start with 4 1/2 preseason sacks, including 1 1/2 in the first half against the Bills. … Rookie RB Deion Hankins suffered a knee injury on the second possession and did not return. The Bears were already without RBs Roschon Johnson and Travis Homer. … CB Terell Smith suffered a knee injury while making a tackle just before halftime and left the field on a cart. … DE Dominique Robinson left in the second half with an ankle injury. … Rookie WR J.P. Richardson (ankle) left in the fourth quarter.
Up next
Bills: Wrap up the preseason at Tampa Bay on Saturday.
Bears: Finish the preseason Friday at Kansas City.
BEARS DB TERELL SMITH CARTED OFF WITH KNEE INJURY
Chicago Bears cornerback Terell Smith was carted off the field with a non-contact knee injury in the second quarter of the team’s preseason game against the visiting Buffalo Bills on Sunday.
With 1:32 left in the first half and Chicago leading 28-0, Smith was covering Buffalo wide receiver Kristian Wilkerson when he collapsed to the ground after attempting to cut.
Smith immediately grabbed his left knee as Wilkerson completed a 25-yard reception from Mike White. The third-year cornerback was carted off the field as the Bears quickly ruled him out for the remainder of the game, in which Smith totaled two tackles.
A fifth-round pick of the Bears out of Minnesota in 2023, Smith appeared in 26 games with six starts in his first two seasons. His lone interception came last year, and he has accumulated 68 tackles, 10 passes defended, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.
REPORTS: SAINTS TRADE DT KHALEN SAUNDERS TO JAGS FOR OL LUKE FORTNER
The Jacksonville Jaguars are acquiring veteran defensive tackle Khalen Saunders in a trade that sends offensive lineman Luke Fortner to the New Orleans Saints, according to multiple reports on Sunday night.
The teams played to a 17-17 tie in a preseason game Sunday in New Orleans, with reports of the trade coming later.
Saunders, who turned 29 on Aug. 9, started 27 of the 30 games he played for the Saints the past two seasons, including 10 starts in 13 games last season when he had 43 tackles, two sacks and five quarterback hits.
His only career interception came in 2024 in a loss to former teammate Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs.
In his six-year career, Saunders has logged 181 tackles, 6.5 sacks, 17 QB hits and one interception in 68 regular-season games (32 starts) for the Chiefs (2019-22) and Saints. He was on two Super Bowl championship teams in 2019 and 2022 with Kansas City, which selected him in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft out of Western Illinois.
Fortner, 27, was a third-round pick of the Jaguars in 2022 out of Kentucky. He has played in 51 regular-season games, starting his first 34 but serving as a reserve in 17 games in 2024. He was the team’s starting center in 2022, when he also started both playoff games.
PANTHERS SIGNING QB BRYCE PERKINS AFTER ANDY DALTON INJURY
In need of depth at quarterback, the Carolina Panthers intend to sign Bryce Perkins, according to reports.
The 2025 United Football League MVP will join the Panthers after backup QB Andy Dalton exited Saturday’s preseason game with a right elbow sprain. That left Jack Plummer as the only quarterback option behind starter Bryce Young.
The 6-foot-3, 214-pound Perkins was named the UFL MVP and Offensive Player of the Year this past season, passing for 1,342 yards and nine touchdowns (two interceptions) while leading the Michigan Panthers to the league championship. In the title game, he threw for 338 yards and four touchdowns.
Undrafted out of Virginia in 2020, Perkins spent three seasons with the Los Angeles Rams. His only game time came in 2022, when he appeared in five games and went 19-for-34 for 161 yards and a touchdown against two interceptions. He also rushed for 90 yards.
Carolina (0-2) wraps up its preseason schedule on Thursday when the Panthers host the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Dalton, who enters his third year with Carolina and 15th year in the league, was expected to undergo further testing on Sunday to determine the severity of the injury. In his first two seasons with the Panthers, Dalton appeared in nine games, passing for 1,350 yards and nine touchdowns as the backup QB.
EAGLES GET RECEIVER JOHN METCHIE III FROM TEXANS FOR TIGHT END HARRISON BRYANT, AP SOURCE SAYS
The Philadelphia Eagles have acquired wide receiver John Metchie III from the Houston Texans for veteran tight end Harrison Bryant on Sunday, a person with knowledge of the trade told The Associated Press.
The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the teams haven’t announced the deal.
Metchie had 24 receptions for 254 yards and one touchdown last season. A second-round pick in 2022, Metchie missed his rookie season while being treated for leukemia.
Bryant had nine catches for 86 yards last season in Las Vegas. He spent his first four seasons in Cleveland. He averaged 22 receptions and 198 yards receiving per season with the Browns.
Metchie joins a deep receiving group on the reigning Super Bowl champions led by A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith.
STEFANSKI LIKELY TO REVEAL BROWNS’ STARTING QB FOR OPENER THIS WEEK
CLEVELAND (AP) — Coach Kevin Stefanski is expected to announce this week the Cleveland Browns starting quarterback for the Sept. 7 opener against the Cincinnati Bengals.
“I want to get through the next couple days. But certainly that’s something that we’re going to do here sooner than later,” Stefanski said on Sunday about announcing his starter. “I need to get the football team in here, talk to the players, those type of things.”
The Browns were off on Sunday after their 22-13 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. They return to work on Monday with practices leading up to Saturday’s preseason finale over the Los Angeles Rams mostly being geared like a normal game week.
“We’ll give the guys a normal game plan as you would get ready for the game,” Stefanski said. “We will do more competitive periods than we would say in the regular season, so we’ll do plenty of Browns versus Browns in practice, as well as introducing carded periods where we’ll be simulating the Rams offense and defense.”
Joe Flacco has not played in either preseason game, but has seen most of the first-team snaps throughout camp as well as getting plenty of work in joint practices against Carolina and Philadelphia. The 40-year old Flacco is the only one of Cleveland’s quarterbacks in the four-way competition that has not been sidelined because of an injury during training camp.
Kenny Pickett has been mostly limited the past couple of weeks after suffering a hamstring injury on July 26. Shedeur Sanders missed the second day of joint practices against the Eagles and did not play in the game after suffering an oblique injury last Wednesday.
Stefanski was optimistic that Pickett or Sanders could possibly return to practice sometime this week. Sanders got the start against Carolina and completed 14 of 23 passes for 138 yards and two TD passes.
Dillon Gabriel, who did not play in the preseason opener at Carolina on Aug. 8 because of a hamstring strain, played the first half against the Eagles. In five series, he completed 13 of 18 passes for 143 yards. Three of the drives resulted in points while the other two ended with turnovers, including a 75-yard, pick-6 by Eagles safety Andrew Mukuba.
What pleased Stefanski the most about Dillon was that he completed all six of his passes on third down. The Browns were 6 of 8 on third down in the first half.
“Protection was good. We were able to find completions. But those third down conversions were huge,” Stefanski said.
