NFL Catchup: Ravens Trade For Jacoby Brissett; Myles Garrett, Micah Parsons Practice

Wednesday brought a mix of good and bad injury news around the league as teams prepared for Week 9. The Baltimore Ravens traded for Jacoby Brissett after Lamar Jackson’s likely season-ending thumb injury. The Seattle Seahawks will be without Sam Darnold, and the Philadelphia Eagles are turning to Joe Milton at quarterback. Micah Parsons and Myles Garrett each returned to practice after long absences, while the Rams lost cornerback Jaylen Watson for the year. Brandon Aiyuk also filed for reinstatement with the 49ers. Here’s the latest from around the NFL on Wednesday. The Baltimore Ravens acquired quarterback Jacoby Brissett in a trade with the Arizona Cardinals on Wednesday following a potential season-ending injury to Lamar Jackson. The move improves a depleted quarterback room with Jackson likely out for the remainder of the season. At 4-4 and with Tyler Huntley also sidelined with turf toe, head coach Jesse Minter needed more than undrafted rookie Joe Fagnano under center to stay competitive. Although Jackson is expected to undergo thumb surgery and likely miss the rest of the season, the AFC North remains within reach. Trading for Brissett signals that the Ravens have no intention of waving the white flag. The 33-year-old Brissett became available after being demoted to third-string with the Cardinals. Following a poor performance against the Dallas Cowboys, they benched Brissett for Gardner Minshew and promoted third-round rookie Carson Beck to back up. Brissett has struggled this season with 10 touchdowns, seven interceptions and a bottom-10 48.9 QBR. Despite those modest numbers, acquiring a veteran with starting experience remains Baltimore’s only option to stay competitive down the stretch. Myles Garrett is finally back on the practice field. The Rams defensive end returned to practice Wednesday after the team opened his 21-day practice window Monday, which starts the clock for Los Angeles to activate him from injured reserve. He hasn’t played since undergoing knee surgery shortly after the season opener in Australia, where he did not log a tackle. The Rams (4-4) have won two straight for the first time this season and visit Washington on Sunday. They badly need help up front after sending Jared Verse and three high draft picks to Cleveland for Garrett, a two-time Defensive Player of the Year (2023 and 2025) with 125½ career sacks, third among active players. Los Angeles has just 12 sacks through eight games, 27th in the league, and Byron Young leads the team with 4.5, with nobody else above two. Garrett also has yet to play alongside Aaron Donald, who missed the Australia trip and has 12 tackles in six games. Sam Darnold will miss Seattle’s Week 9 home game against the Cardinals, coach Mike Macdonald said Wednesday, and Drew Lock will start in his place. Darnold is dealing with a quad injury, and Macdonald said he also cracked a rib on the second play of Monday night’s 34-17 loss to the Bears. “Sam is going to be out this week and be week-to-week,” Macdonald said. “He’s not going to go on IR.” Darnold played the entire game against Chicago, completing just 17 of 34 passes. He has thrown for 1,478 yards, 10 touchdowns and nine interceptions with a 79.5 passer rating this season, down from the 99.1 rating he posted in 2025 on the way to a second straight Pro Bowl and a Super Bowl LX title. Lock has played well in limited action, completing 72.9% of his passes for 422 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions, including a 31-7 win over Arizona on Sept. 20. Macdonald noted, though, that Lock has been dealing with an elbow injury and “hasn’t thrown much.” The coach said the team could add another quarterback, with second-year player Jalen Milroe also on the roster. At 4-4 and having lost three of four, Seattle hosts the Cardinals on Sunday at 4:25 p.m. ET on FOX. Micah Parsons is back on the practice field. Packers coach Matt LaFleur said Wednesday that the All-Pro edge rusher would take part in individual drills, his first practice work since tearing the ACL in his left knee in a Dec. 14 loss at Denver. Returning to practice starts a 21-day window for Green Bay to activate him from injured reserve. “It’s been a long time coming,” LaFleur said. “He’s put a lot of effort and work into this. To get him back out there will be a big boost to our team.” Parsons had 12⅓ sacks in 13 games last season after Green Bay acquired him from Dallas just before the opener and signed him to a four-year, $188 million deal. LaFleur said the thing that impressed him most was Parsons’ “impact in the running game.” The Packers were 9-3-1 and leading Denver when Parsons went down, but they lost that game and didn’t win again all season. This year, they’ve still generated a strong rush without him, averaging 2.8 sacks per game, tied for seventh in the NFL, led by Lukas Van Ness with 4½. While the Rams are set to get a boost to their pass rush, they are also losing a key piece of their revamped secondary. Cornerback Jaylen Watson is expected to have shoulder surgery that will end his 2026 season, coach Sean McVay said Wednesday, according to NFL Network. “He’s been such a stud for us, he wanted to be able to play through it but he’s kind of understanding the totality of it all and some of the different things recommended to get that surgery and that’ll put him on IR for the year,” McVay said. Watson signed a three-year, $51 million contract with $34 million guaranteed in March, reuniting with former Chiefs’ teammate Trent McDuffie as Los Angeles rebuilt its cornerback room. He dislocated his shoulder in a Week 3 loss to the Broncos and missed the following week’s win over the Eagles. He returned in Week 5 against the Bills wearing a protective harness and came up with his first interception as a Ram. Following offensive struggles under Tanner McKee, the Philadelphia Eagles are making a change at quarterback. Head coach Nick Sirianni will start former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Joe Milton against the Giants. Making the first start of his NFL career, Milton gets his first test against the NFC East first-place Giants. A 2024 sixth-round pick out of Tennessee, Milton was drafted by the New England Patriots. He was traded to the Dallas Cowboys in the 2025 off-season, spending that season backing up veteran quarterback Dak Prescott. Milton has appeared in five career games, completing 69.8% of his passes for 424 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions. With Jalen Hurts sidelined for the season, Milton offers a similar duel-threat playstyle for an offense desperately seeking a spark. After not being seen since the 2024 NFL Season, San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk is filing paperwork for his reinstatement. With Aiyuk planning to report on Friday, the 49ers face a major decision. Head coach Kyle Shanahan must choose between activating him under his current contract, releasing him, or finding a trade partner before the Nov. 10 deadline. Aiyuk has been heavily connected to the Washington Commanders via trade if he wants out. However, a reunion with quarterback Jayden Daniels will likely be put on hold, as the Commanders are relying on Stefon Diggs and Antonio Williams to lead their new-look offense. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Shanahan made his stance clear regarding Brandon Aiyuk’s potential return this season. Despite needing help at receiver, Shanahan said he has “moved on mentally” from the possibility of Aiyuk suiting up in San Francisco again. “I have no expectations,” Shanahan said. “I’ve kinda moved on with that mentally and everything, doing kinda how I talked to you two months ago. Nothing’s really changed for me.”