THE DROP-BACK: Tuesday August 31 - The return of Josh Rosen

falcons

The GOAT himself, Josh Rosen, got a chance to audition for his new team, the Atlanta Falcons, on Sunday (how ironic) and did about as good as one can do with only three days of practice. After the game, Rosen was highly transparent in how his career has been up to this point with bouncing around on different teams and about how he knows he doesn't have many chances left and needs to make the most of it while he still can. "You just get an opportunity, you got to seize the moment, and it was kind of, it was a little bit refreshing, to kind of get out on the field and kind of half know the offense and just kind of let go and play football and have fun with it like you did back in Pop Warner. At times I felt a little bit like a chicken with my head cut off running around, but I thought it was fun. Could have cleaned up a lot of stuff but overall thought it was a productive night."

49ers

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan is straight-up fucking with everyone again by rotating both starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and rookie Trey Lance in and out of their last preseason game on Sunday. While it seems to most people that doing that during the regular season, Shanahan is still leaving room for other teams to think they'll be doing just that. "We've got two guys who can play, and we've been doing it in practice a little bit, wanted to do it out there in the game, and it's always going to be an option."

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Speaking of Lance, it was announced late on Monday evening that he will miss about seven days (or a week, whichever timeframe you're into) after he jammed his finger on someone's helmet during Sunday's game. Lance has a "small chip," but he's not highly concerned about it. "I'll see how it feels [Monday] for sure. I think we'll be able to tell a little bit more. But yeah, not too worried about it at all."

Lions

Detroit Lions backup quarterback Tim Boyle may have taken himself out of the backup competition for 2021. Boyle suffered a thumb injury on Friday that will require surgery. David Blough is the other backup option for Detroit. As for when Boyle will be back, they're not sure. 

Campbell doesn’t know yet timeframe for how long Boyle will be out. Doesn’t think it’ll be season ending, but can’t rule that out.

— Tim Twentyman (@ttwentyman) August 30, 2021

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Goff, meanwhile, has high hopes for his new team this season. "I don't know what the stat is, but every year there's new teams in the playoffs. Every year there are teams that were in the playoffs last year that aren't. Why not us?" Well, I can think of a few reasons, but I like the high hopes.

Browns

Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield played well in Sunday's exhibition game, but he's ready to move onto the real stuff. "I know our guys are ready. They're itching to go. We can feel that how close it is. Just all that preparation you put in throughout the offseason, and ever since you lost to the Chiefs in January, we've been working to this point right now, and I think our guys are ready to go."

patriots

The starting quarterback position is still up in the air for the New England Patriots, and while it's assumed that Cam Newton will be out there Week One, the team has also rallied around rookie Mac Jones. "Not many rookie quarterbacks have ever gotten the reps and the opportunity that he has, and he has embraced it full-on, head-on," Brian Hoyer said. "He goes out there every day and does the best that he can and has earned the respect of his teammates, which I think is huge, especially being a young guy with a team with a lot of veteran guys who have played here."

- other notes -

• Justin Fields will run the Bears' scout team once the regular season begins.
• Colts put Carson Wentz on the COVID-19 reserve list as a close contact. 
• Broncos cut Brett Rypien​.