NFL Notes: Eagles, Packers, Texans, Vikings

Eagles

Despite some recent speculation that veteran RB LeGarrette Blount could be on the roster bubble in the coming weeks, Eagles HC Doug Pederson told reporters Tuesday that he expects Blount to be “a big part of our offense.”

“LeGarrette Blount is a beast of a runner,” Pederson said, per Les Bowen. “I’m excited he’s here and he’s going to be a big part of our offense.”

Packers

• Ryan Wood of PackersNews.com writes that Packers backup QB Brett Hundley is cementing his status as a potential trade chip for Green Bay and an “imminent NFL starter.“
• The Packers were reportedly close to trading Hundley during this year’s draft, but elected to hang onto him.
• This preseason, Hundley has completed 17-for-25 passes (68 percent) for 197 yards, two touchdowns, one interception and a 101.6 rating.

Texans

Texans HC Bill O’Brien made it clear that Tom Savage is the team’s starting quarterback over rookie Deshaun Watson.

“Tom’s [Savage] the starter. Tom’s playing well this camp. Tom has really had a good camp. He’s only thrown three incompletions in two games,” O’Brien said, via NFL.com. “He’s really got good command of our offense, and like I’ve said, Deshaun [Watson] is a very, very good, young player who has a great future in this league.

“I mean, let’s put the cards on the table. That’s what it is. But Tom has been here for four years. The way that we want to play, the style that we need to play relative to getting guys lined up, relative to cadence, relative to protection points and route reads and putting guys in the right spot, Tom’s ahead of Deshaun on that.”

Vikings

Vikings HC Mike Zimmer said he would prefer to keep three quarterbacks on their active roster this season, given that it can be really tough to a find quarterback help midseason if it ends up being a need.

“You look around the league, and when quarterbacks go down, then you start scrambling and finding guys on the street and things like that,” Zimmer said, via the Associated Press.

The Vikings currently have Sam Bradford in place as their starter with Teddy Bridgewater working his way back from a serious knee injury. Beyond that, Minnesota also has Case Keenum, Taylor Heinicke and recently signed Mitch Leidner.

“I think it’s extremely important that you’re always developing quarterbacks,” Vikings OC Pat Shurmur said. “You just never know how it’s all going to play out. You just want to keep developing the quarterback position throughout the season and especially during training camp, so that if for some reason you need a guy, you have a guy ready to go.”