NFC West

The San Francisco 49ers are signing quarterback Josh Johnson off the Denver Broncos' practice squad following a season-ending foot injury to Jimmy Garoppolo, per ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Garoppolo was carted to the locker room in the first quarter of Sunday's game against the Miami Dolphins with a broken foot and will undergo surgery.

Garoppolo's injury is a tough break for the 49ers, who are first in the NFC West with an 8-4 record. He had been filling in for 2021 third-overall pick Trey Lance, who suffered a season-ending ankle injury in Week 2 against the Seattle Seahawks.

With both Garoppolo and Lance now out for the year, the Niners will turn to rookie seventh-round pick Brock Purdy, who saw his most game action of the 2022 campaign on Sunday against the Dolphins.

The Iowa State product completed 25-of-37 passes for 210 yards and two touchdowns against one interception. He outdueled Miami's Tua Tagovailoa, who posted three turnovers against the Niners.

Johnson, who is entering his third stint with the 49ers, will likely back up Purdy moving forward.

The 36-year-old was selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the fifth round of the 2008 NFL draft. He has also played for the Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, New York Jets and Washington Commanders.

In 37 appearances, Johnson has completed 58.1 percent of his passes for 2,270 yards and 13 touchdowns against 16 interceptions. He has also has rushed for 422 yards and one score.

In addition to playing in the NFL, Johnson also had a stint in the Alliance of American Football and the XFL. He played college football at San Diego.

San Francisco has a tough remaining schedule, with matchups against the Buccaneers and Seattle Seahawks on tap for the next two weeks.

The San Francisco 49ers are reportedly open to re-signing quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo this offseason.

Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported both sides are keeping an open mind for the future as Garoppolo heads toward free agency.

The 49ers spent the entire offseason attempting to trade Garoppolo but could not find a taker due to his $24.2 million salary and ongoing recovery from shoulder surgery. Garoppolo instead remained in San Francisco on an incentive-laden contract that includes clause preventing the 49ers from using the franchise tag on him.

Trey Lance's season-ending leg injury reopened the door for Garoppolo to take over the reins, and he has played arguably the best football of his career.

This article will be updated soon to provide more information and analysis.

For more from Bleacher Report on this topic and from around the sports world, check out our B/R app, homepage and social feeds—including Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.

The NFL has fined Los Angeles Rams defensive lineman Aaron Donald after he committed an unnecessary roughness penalty on Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes on Sunday in L.A.'s 26-10 loss.

Ian Rapoport of NFL Network provided the details.

The play in question occurred with 9:51 remaining in the fourth quarter and the Chiefs up 20-10. On 3rd-and-goal from the 7-yard line, Donald and Michael Hoecht combined to sack Mahomes, but the former was called for a facemask penalty.

The play didn't cost the Rams. Three snaps later, Mahomes tossed an interception to safety Nick Scott.

L.A. quarterback Bryce Perkins threw his own pick two plays after that, however, and the Chiefs closed the game with two field goals.

San Francisco 49ers fans can breathe a sigh of relief because it appears running back Christian McCaffrey will take the field for Sunday's showdown against the Miami Dolphins.

"I feel great," he said Thursday when discussing the knee concerns that could have potentially limited him in the contest, per Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area.

McCaffrey sat out Wednesday's practice after the early walk-through portion.

"He just felt something in it, some irritation," head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters.

That it appears McCaffrey will play is all the more important for San Francisco considering running back Elijah Mitchell will miss six-to-eight weeks with an MCL sprain he suffered during a win over the New Orleans Saints.

Mitchell also suffered a knee injury during a Week 1 loss to the Chicago Bears and didn't return until Week 10 against the Los Angeles Chargers.

The 49ers acquired McCaffrey earlier this season in a trade with the Carolina Panthers, adding to a group of weapons that already included Deebo Samuel, George Kittle and Brandon Aiyuk. That group, along with a formidable defense, is a major reason why the team has won four games in a row and looks like a Super Bowl contender.

Yet losing McCaffrey and Mitchell from the backfield would greatly decrease the team's ceiling, especially since there may still be questions about Jimmy Garoppolo's ability to win a Lombardi Trophy as a thrower.

Jordan Mason and Tyrion Davis-Price provide depth at the running back position, but neither of them can change a game the way McCaffrey can.

The Stanford product has 634 rushing yards, 479 receiving yards and seven total touchdowns across 11 games for the Panthers and 49ers this season.

Minnesota Vikings cornerback Patrick Peterson offered some clarity Thursday regarding his previous comments about Arizona Cardinals quarterback and former teammate Kyler Murray.

While Peterson turned heads by saying "Kyler Murray don't care about nobody but Kyler Murray" on his All Things Covered podcast, he explained "I don't have any beef with Kyler Murray," per Kevin Seifert of ESPN.

Seifert shared more of the cornerback's comments:

"What I meant by my comment was when you're a franchise quarterback you have to carry yourself a certain way. So if you're having bad body language, pouting, moping on the sideline, what type of energy do you think feeds off to your teammates?

"That's what I meant about Kyler. He cares about himself because he's not putting the team first. When you make a bad throw, and you come off to the sideline, you're dropping your shoulders, how do you think the defense feels? If our starting quarterback don't have any energy, no fire, that we can win this game, how can we? That's what I meant about Kyler caring about Kyler. I didn't mean any disrespect, in any fashion or form. And I might not be his mentor, but these are the things, tips, that can help him be a better football player in the long run."

He also said he texted Murray and wants to help him even though the quarterback has not returned the message.

That Peterson reached out is notable because the Cardinals quarterback responded to the initial comments by saying the veteran could do just that instead of criticizing him in an effort to help grow a podcast:

Murray has been under the spotlight all season, dating back to when the Cardinals included and then removed an "independent study" clause requiring additional study prior to every game.

There have also been a number of exchanges with head coach Kliff Kingsbury, wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins and others that have drawn attention:

That the Cardinals are 4-8 hasn't helped quiet the noise.

While Peterson has been with the Vikings since the start of the 2021 campaign, he is a Cardinals legend and used to play alongside Murray in Arizona. The NFC West team selected the LSU product with the No. 5 pick of the 2011 draft, and he played his first 10 years there before joining the Vikings.

The potential future Hall of Famer was an eight-time Pro Bowl selection and earned three All-Pro nods during his time with the Cardinals.

Hard Knocks in-season has turned into a documentary of a season on the brink of collapse.

The Arizona Cardinals were under the HBO spotlight again Wednesday for the fourth episode of the behind-the-scenes look at their 2023 campaign, and things are not going particularly well for the NFC West squad.

They have lost four of their last five contests and are an ugly 4-8 on the season. The playoffs are not going to happen barring a drastic turnaround, but the only turnaround that happened during the game against the Los Angeles Chargers that was featured on Hard Knocks was a blown lead in the final moments.

It seemed like things were looking up for the Cardinals because Kyler Murray returned after missing two games with a hamstring injury and accounted for three touchdowns. The final one was a pass that went to James Conner in the fourth quarter and put the Cardinals ahead.

However, Justin Herbert found Austin Ekeler for a touchdown with 15 seconds remaining and then hit Gerald Everett for a two-point conversion to give the Chargers a 25-24 victory.

Much of Wednesday's episode was about the preparation for the contest against Los Angeles, which included Murray recovering from his hamstring injury and wide receiver Marquise "Hollywood" Brown returning from a foot injury for the first time since an Oct. 16 game against the Seattle Seahawks.

But it wouldn't be Hard Knocks without a bit more, and the friendship between Murray and Brown, who were college teammates at Oklahoma, was profiled. So was linebacker Isaiah Simmons' battle back from being benched and cornerback Antonio Hamilton taking responsibility in the film room for avoiding contact during a play from the previous game against the San Francisco 49ers.

The episode's most poignant moments came when players and head coach Kliff Kingsbury served meals for Thanksgiving to the community, and DeAndre Hopkins in particular was a fan favorite.

Ultimately, though, the focus was on football, and Arizona can at least take solace knowing it is heading into a bye as it looks to turn things around down the stretch starting with a Week 14 Monday Night Football game against the New England Patriots.

Patrick Peterson is not a fan of Kyler Murray.

The Minnesota Vikings cornerback and former Arizona Cardinal ripped Murray on his All Things Covered podcast Wednesday:

Murray responded to those comments later on Wednesday:

Both Peterson and his co-host, former NFL defensive back Bryant McFadden, agreed that they feel head coach Kliff Kingsbury will be the scapegoat for Arizona's struggles amid a 4-8 start to the season.

That part of the discussion was, in part, a response to Murray's recent comments after a 4th-and-1 interception in the second quarter. He said that "schematically" the team was "kinda f--ked" on the play.

That quote was interpreted by some to be a dig at Kingsbury, though a closer examination of the play suggests that the Los Angeles Chargers actually defended the play pretty perfectly, which may have been what Murray meant with his comments.

Kingsbury also further elaborated on the play:

Murray also downplayed any potential issues between himself and the head coach.

"I think the whole thing from this whole season has just been kinda not the way anyone's wanted it or envisioned it go, but between me and him, no, we're good," he told reporters when asked if there was tension between himself and Kingsbury.

That jibed with a recent report from NFL Network's Ian Rapoport:

Nonetheless, questions about Murray's leadership—or lack thereof—have surfaced in the past:

Peterson's comments that Murray only cares about himself would suggest he didn't think much of Murray as a leader while the two were teammates in the 2019 and 2020 seasons.

It's also possible that Murray has matured in the last two years, though it's hard to ignore the pattern of people close to the NFL game questioning his leadership.

The San Francisco 49ers will be without running back Elijah Mitchell once again, as he reportedly suffered a similar injury that caused him to miss eight weeks earlier this season.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan said Mitchell will miss the next six to eight weeks due to an MCL sprain that forced him to exit Sunday's game against the New Orleans Saints in the third quarter. Mitchell suffered an MCL sprain in his right knee in Week 1, but this time the injury was to his left knee.

The first injury forced Mitchell to be sidelined until Week 10, when he returned and registered season highs of 18 carries and 89 yards in a win over the Los Angeles Chargers. In four appearances this season, the 24-year-old has recorded 224 yards on 40 carries with no touchdowns.

With Mitchell out, Christian McCaffrey will get the lion's share of the carries for San Francisco going forward. However, head coach Kyle Shanahan said after Sunday's 13-0 win over New Orleans that McCaffrey was slowed by "knee irritation" after he finished with 11 rushes for 32 yards.

Rookie running back Jordan Mason saw more action on Sunday after Mitchell exited the game, posting 25 yards on five carries. He will likely have an increased role along with fellow rookie Tyrion Davis-Price, who was a healthy scratch against the Saints. The two of them can be expected to split the backup duties behind McCaffrey.

The 49ers (7-4) have won four straight games to move into first place in the NFC West. San Francisco has used its stonewall defense to stifle opponents, giving up under 20 points in each one of its last four wins.

In Week 13, the 49ers will try to keep their streak alive when the Miami Dolphins (8-3) visit the Bay Area on Sunday afternoon.

Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay told reporters defensive tackle Aaron Donald suffered an ankle sprain during Sunday's loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Donald is undergoing testing to determine the severity of the setback.

The 31-year-old rarely misses any time because of injury, appearing in 127 of 129 possible regular-season games over his first eight years in the NFL. He made 65 straight regular-season starts from 2018 to '21.

Donald has also been a key contributor in the playoffs, tallying 3.5 sacks across four postseason games last year while helping the Rams win the Super Bowl.

The championship added to a resume of someone who was already one of the top defensive players of his era. The Pittsburgh product earned a Pro Bowl selection in each of his first eight years in the league and was named first-team All-Pro for the seventh straight time in 2021.

Donald has been named Defensive Player of the Year three times and was a top contender for the award again in 2021 after totaling 12.5 sacks and a career-high 84 tackles.

This is shaping up to be a lost season for the 3-8 Rams, and missing Donald for the upcoming contest against the Seattle Seahawks would be yet another obstacle to overcome.