| NFC NORTH |
| DETROITA wrist injury for C CADE MAYS will keep him out into October. The center of the Detroit Lions’ offensive line overhaul hit a massive speed bump. Head coach Dan Campbell said Monday that center Cade Mays suffered a wrist injury and will be sidelined for “a significant period of time.” NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported that Mays fractured a small bone in his wrist, an injury that will keep him out roughly 8-10 weeks, according to a source. Detroit inked Mays to a three-year, $25 million contract this offseason to take over the center job. In four years with the Carolina Panthers, the former sixth-round pick started 27 games. His most extensive action came in 2025, when he started 12 games. While still raw, the 6-foot-6, 325-pounder flashed upside, and the Lions felt he could shine in their scheme under O-line coach Hank Fraley. Now those plans are on hold. The 27-year-old’s injury is a setback for an offensive line that struggled massively last season. Detroit reconstructed the unit this offseason, including shifting first-team All-Pro tackle Penei Sewell from the right side to the left and drafting Clemson offensive tackle Blake Miller in the first round. The Lions still had a question mark at left guard, though, and now they have an issue at center. They could slot Juice Scruggs — a former second-rounder who struggled in Houston before coming to Detroit in March in the David Montgomery trade — into the starting center spot. A second option is moving right guard Tate Ratledge to the pivot, which would create another opening along the interior. Detroit’s disappointing 2025 season showed that, even with all of its weaponry, the Lions offense can’t function at its height if the blocking is porous. The attempt to fix that problem has already hit a major pothole. |
| GREEN BAYWhat Albert Breer of SI.com saw in Green Bay: • One pretty clear thing is that the Packers have a whole lot of balance on offense, but need a guy or two to take a step forward as a difference-maker. The most obvious candidate would be tight end Tucker Kraft, who is coming back from a torn ACL and has been eased into camp work. He was becoming that guy when he got hurt last year, and the question is whether he can get back there. The Packers are being careful with him now to try and get him back to that level sooner rather than later (they also have some depth questions at tight end). Out of the receiver group, with Christian Watson, Jayden Reed and Matthew Golden as the top three, Golden has the best shot at breaking through, possessing elite hands and downfield speed. We’ll see if he can work his way to that level in 2026. • Jordan Love is now headed into his seventh year, so he’s at the point where he will be part of the solution when questions pop up, and there are some on offense. The good news is that with all of the progress he has made and steps he has taken developmentally in being able to run the show, the Packers feel like he’s getting there. As for the questions, there is one on the depth behind running back Josh Jacobs, with Jacobs’s legal situation still playing out. Marshawn Lloyd has always had promise and he has been healthy in camp—but questions on his ability to stay on the field remain. Then there’s having to replace the savvy, physical presence of receiver Romeo Doubs, particularly in the red zone. There’s hope that Savion Williams, a third-rounder in 2025, might be able to help. • That said, the biggest question on offense is how former first-rounder Jordan Morgan settles in at left tackle. He has played guard the past couple of years and will be replacing Rasheed Walker, who faded a bit at the end of his final season in Green Bay. Athletically, there’s a lot of promise there, but being at that position can be an adjustment, so there’s a shot he and the Packers will have to ride out some early bumps. On the flip side, the rest of the line has a shot to be solid, with the goal that the group can bring a little more edge to the Packers on offense. • Micah Parsons’s absence is pretty glaring, and replacing him for the first four (or more) weeks will be a challenge—likely done by committee and/or scheme. Barryn Sorrell, a 2025 fourth-rounder, is ascending as an edge rusher and has earned the shot to be part of the solution, and there’s optimism that Lukas Van Ness, who has fallen short of his draft position production-wise to this point, takes another step. Rookie Dani Dennis-Sutton has turned some heads, too. The team is optimistic Parsons will be back soon after he’s eligible to come off the PUP list in Week 5, as the Packers play his old friends in Dallas in Week 6. That he’ll be eligible to practice after Week 2 was a factor in the decision to keep him on the PUP list because it’ll allow the team to ramp him up early. Elsewhere in the front seven, veteran DT Javon Hargrave has been a nice pickup, and linebacker Edgerrin Cooper should be one of the league’s best at his position. There could be a few guys over the course of the year playing next to him, and one dark horse would be Ty’Ron Hopper, a former third-rounder who took a massive jump this offseason. • Finally, with new defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon bringing a more exotic scheme to Green Bay, having guys who can hold up on the back end is important. The staff believes it may have the league’s best safety tandem in Xavier McKinney and Evan Williams. And it looks like the cornerback situation might be better than most folks think, with rookie Brandon Cisse and veteran pickup Benjamin St-Juste flashing and challenging Keisean Nixon and Carrington Valentine for snaps. |
| MINNESOTANo real surprise, but the Vikings have made it official – QB KYLER MURRAY is their number one. Myles Simmons of ProFootballTalk.com: The Vikings’ quarterback competition is over. Minnesota has named Kyler Murray its starting quarterback, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Murray, the No. 1 pick of the 2019 draft, signed a one-year deal with Minnesota in the offseason with the thought of earning the starting role over J.J. McCarthy. That has now happened before the first preseason game, setting up Murray to take all of the starters’ reps over the next month in preparation for the regular season. Murray started five games for Arizona last year, completing 68.3 percent of his passes for 962 yards with six touchdowns and three interceptions. In 2024, he started all 17 games, recording 3,851 passing yards with 21 touchdowns and 11 interceptions with a 68.8 percent completion rate. Notably, Murray has a no-tag clause in his contract, which means he is set to become a free agent next March. McCarthy, the No. 10 overall pick of the 2024 draft, will now go into his third season as a backup after dealing with injuries and poor performance in his first two years. He started 10 games for Minnesota last year, completing 57.6 percent of his passes for 1,632 yards with 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He also took 27 sacks, which worked out to a high 10.0 percent sack rate. His passer rating was just 72.6. Minnesota’s first preseason game is set for Saturday at 1 p.m. ET against the Giants.. |
| NFC EAST |
| DALLASDT QUINNEN WILLIAMS is headed to the bank. Bobby Kownack of NFL.com: Dallas has locked down the middle of its defensive line. The Cowboys and defensive tackle Quinnen Williams have agreed to terms on a three-year, $105.9 million contract extension, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported on Monday. Williams’ extension has since been announced by Dallas. Williams has been a priority for the club to get under contract long term, and he has now inked one of the largest deals in the NFL for an interior defensive lineman. His annual average salary on the new deal is $35.3 million, marginally above Titans DT Jeffery Simmons’ $35.27 yearly average and below only Eagles DT Jalen Carter, who signed his own megadeal last month to set the market at $38 million per year. Williams has racked up 41.5 career sacks with 343 tackles, 110 QB hits, eight forced fumbles and an impressive pair of picks for a big man. He’s riding a four-year streak of Pro Bowls heading into his age-29 season, having earned the distinction most recently while splitting the 2025 campaign between the Jets and Cowboys. In three of the previous four years, Williams has graded out as one of PFF’s top-five interior defensive lineman: 90.1 (fourth) in 2022, 90.6 (third) in 2023 and 88.8 (second) in 2025. While his trade to Dallas at the deadline last season couldn’t salvage a unit already circling the drain — the Cowboys still finished with the most points allowed — Williams nonetheless proved himself a transformative presence. The Cowboys gave up 143 rushing yards per game in nine contests before making a move for Williams. Afterward? Dallas shrunk that number to 105.8 per game over its final eight outings, three times holding teams to under 80 yards on the ground after failing to do so previously. Williams was relentless in the pass rush, as well. His 30 pressures as a Cowboy from Weeks 11-18 ranked second among DTs during that span. It was dark days for Dallas in the time between trading away Micah Parsons and using some of the capital it got in the blockbuster to entice Gang Green to part with Williams. The affable defensive lineman sparked some hope, though, and will now serve as the newly-extended cog of a rebuilt Cowboys defense. Williams is entering his first full year with the Cowboys playing alongside a host of prominent new faces: Rashan Gary, Otito Ogbonnia, Dee Winters, Jalen Thompson and a pair of first-rounders, Caleb Downs and Malachi Lawrence. It’s evident from the money involved, but the Cowboys have full faith in him to lead them to greatness. And QB DAK PRESCOTT believes the Cowboys are headed to the Super Bowl. Jori Epstein of YahooSports.com: Maybe it’s how quickly the Dallas Cowboys flipped their Micah Parsons trade capital into securing defensive linemen Quinnen Williams, Kenny Clark and Rashan Gary. Maybe it’s the release of Netflix’s Jerry Jones documentary that evokes memories of a riskier time in the team owner and general manager’s leadership. Or maybe it’s just the recognition that a Cowboys offense coming off a high-flying year managed to keep their core intact while a Cowboys defense coming off a cellar-dwelling year received reinforcements at the player, coach and system level? Whatever the primary reason, quarterback Dak Prescott has noticed a shift from his team owner. Consider Prescott’s Super Bowl and “greatest offense there is” talk less a reflection of newfound confidence from Prescott and more of newfound belief that the confidence the quarterback has long held is now shared. “This is as urgent as I’ve ever felt Jerry,” Prescott told Yahoo Sports during a sitdown interview on Monday. “Sure, there’s times he’s said it, and then we’ve looked up and he hadn’t done much in free agency. Or this, this and that. But starting from free agency, they started doing things they hadn’t done. And it’s kudos to [head coach Brian Schottenheimer] and [vice president of player personnel] Will [McClay] and the whole team, but it’s also Jerry making that decision of being aggressive and trying to go out and get what he wants. “It definitely feels different.” So Prescott showed up to Cowboys training camp in a Super Bowl XXX shirt, one step in the manifestation process. He challenged his teammates to become what he’s called “GOTI,” or the greatest there is, not because he believes they’ve already accomplished it but because he believes vocalizing that goal on repeat can help the team accomplish it. And for those critical, or suspicious, that the Cowboys’ ego is just at it once again and the product on the field won’t match their talk? Absolutely, Dallas needs to prove it. But players want that pressure. “I’m happy that he said that to the media because then I expect that puts more pressure on us as an offense to go out there and not let him look crazy,” receiver CeeDee Lamb told Yahoo Sports on Sunday. “He said that to the media, oh we’re this? Let’s go do it.” Citing a philosophy that was a favorite of former Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy, Prescott said he’s not worried about the Cowboys handling adversity. He believes handling success is a taller task — and talking about what that success might look like helps manufacture that need to handle it early. “It’s like, put the biggest distractions on us now or the things that are going to distract us, and allow us, if we’re that type of team, if we’re that type of brotherhood, allow us to mesh … with that already there,” Prescott said. “Let’s use that as part of why we’re going to be so tight at handling success and adversity together.” Quinnen Williams: ‘If you’re not about that, get the f*** out of the huddle’Part of speaking goals into existence is creating a contagion in which others speak them, too. Prescott’s words have had that effect. Defensive tackle Quinnen Williams — with whom the Cowboys agreed to a three-year, $105.9 million extension on Monday — has begun wrapping up practices with similar mantras. “I don’t think Q’s broken down the team or spoke to the team without saying words of that, whether it be ‘Super Bowl’ or whether it be ‘championship,'” Prescott said. “He said the other day: ‘If you’re not about that, get the f*** out of the huddle.’ “When you got guys saying it in their rooms away from you, meaning it and believing it, hell yeah, you want to say it. Why not?” What exactly would a 2026 Cowboys Super Bowl season look like? Setting aside the expectations of 30 years outside of the conference championship, let’s consider the strategic vision. On offense, the Cowboys believe Prescott is playing his best ball as Year 11 gives him a deep mental bank of defensive diagnoses on which to draw and broad familiarity with his weapons, knowing how his skill players run their routes and how to motivate them if they hit a dry spell. Prescott completed 67.3% of his passes last season for 4,552 yards, 30 touchdowns and 10 interceptions as he anchored the league’s second-ranked offense. Alongside running back Javonte Williams’ 12 touchdowns, Prescott aired it out to star receivers in Lamb and George Pickens while also finding receiver Ryan Flournoy and tight end Jake Ferguson as complements. Dallas seeks a balanced offense. But the Cowboys value first and foremost another year with two No. 1-caliber receivers. “Year 2 is just truly learning [that] when you’ve got two ones and truly two ones, it’s putting them in their best place to make more out of what they’ve got,” Prescott said. “So I know their route, but it’s like, ‘OK, that guy’s on him and that route, yeah, this is what he does best.’ And so it’s knowing which one is just maybe a little bit craftier than the other one in a certain route versus the press or versus off [coverage] and being able to decipher that. But it’s a blessing. “I tell you, they’re both f***ing amazing.” Prescott demonstrated a slice of that discernment in Monday’s practice, as he and Lamb rebounded from a shakier camp start to connect on multiple plays, including two deep balls down the right sideline. And the play they most notably didn’t complete? Rookie safety Caleb Downs’ end-zone pass breakup gives the Cowboys a different source of confidence. Cowboys’ defensive upgrade includes area where they struggled ‘for years’No one is sugarcoating the Cowboys’ 2025 defensive season. No defense allowed more points than the Cowboys’ 30.1. Only two allowed more yards than the Cowboys’ 377 per game. Out went defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus, the recent history of Dallas’ 4-3 defensive front and several key players. (In fairness to Eberflus, trading edge rusher Micah Parsons one week before the season opener didn’t help the plan nor execution.) In came 34-year-old defensive coordinator Christian Parker, with his 3-4 defense that the Cowboys believe will allow them to stop the run better than they have in years. “We hadn’t been stopping the run for years,” Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones told Yahoo Sports. “We’d make plays on the ball with Dan [Quinn], we’d do a lot of things. But we never, ever, ever, even when Dan was here, stopped the run well. “And certainly in the playoffs, that’s a big deal.” The defensive front of Williams, Gary and Clark will start that run stopping, also aiding coverage the Cowboys invested in by drafting Downs in the first round and signing free agent defensive backs including Jalen Thompson, Cobie Durant and P.J. Locke. Even former San Francisco 49ers linebacker Dee Winters comes up in staff praise to reporters, unprompted. But yes, it’s fair to say all of this means nothing until the unit proves it. “The last time there were this many changes of any team that I’ve been involved in, where we changed the system, changed out all the players, and plus changed out the coaches was the first year with Jimmy Johnson, and we won one football game,” Jerry Jones told reporters at his opening news conference of training camp. “So we know that changing out and starting new can obviously create quite a challenge. But I like what we’ve got to work with.” The Cowboys like that a unit struggling to communicate last season is bordering on overcommunication this year, emphasizing that communication is a fundamental, like tackling, and thus one that must be trained. The Cowboys are running a split-safety system that focuses on pattern-matching, and staff members praise Parker for how he’s tied the rush and coverage together rather than focus only on the secondary background from which he comes. A stouter defensive line, anchored first by the newly paid Williams, will take pressure off the secondary, the Cowboys believe. “He helps us because he can get to the quarterback at a high rate and he can stop the run at a high rate,” defensive backs coach/passing game coordinator Derrick Ansley told Yahoo Sports. “That allows us to play pass on second and 8-plus. Third down, it allows us to pin our ears back and play man-to-man because we know we don’t have to cover very long because you have direct pressure at the quarterback.” Take that end-zone try from Prescott to Lamb that Downs broke up on Monday? Pressure up front helped Downs play the ball aggressively. And Downs’ talent allowed him to recover from a pick he wasn’t expecting, staying upright to still make a play denying Lamb the ball. The acquisition of Downs was another example of Jones’ recent sense of urgency. Dallas traded up from No. 12 to 11 to select the Ohio State product, continuing the aggressive tone the Cowboys set when they dealt a 2027 first-round pick, 2026 second and defensive tackle Mazi Smith to the Jets to acquire Williams. At each of these moments, Prescott saw Jones sending messages with his actions rather than his words. Perhaps that’s why Jones took so much issue with reporters describing the Cowboys’ offseason as quiet — because while Dallas was quiet in its public messaging and drama, it was active in its seemingly steady team-building and talent acquisition. Jones also said at the start of training camp that he would “invest something substantive to get the right kind of deal to improve us opening day.” He added: “I feel that good about this team.” So his quarterback does too, the 33-year-old Prescott well aware that his now second-decade career won’t last forever. Williams’ time with the Jets taught him that playoff berths are hard to earn and harder to capitalize on, so consider the urgency at a premium from him. Ansley tells his players: This a year-to-year deal. There is no next year. And on, across the staff and roster, it goes. Beginning with Jones. And continuing with his quarterback. “You feel like he’s more guns blazing than I’ve ever seen in my obviously 10 years, but even a little bit before that being a Cowboys fan,” Prescott said of Jones. “He’s urgent. It can be age, it can be whatever it is, or it can be ‘I’ve got these parts on my team already, let me add [these] other core parts.’ And it could be having the offense we had last year and the defense being that way that [Jones] is like, ‘F*** that, I’m not doing it again.’ “I just feel like the urgency and the goal and the message is felt throughout.” |
| NFC SOUTH |
| NEW ORLEANSVeteran DE CAM JORDAN may not be ready for the start of the season. Katherine Terrell of ESPN.com: – New Orleans Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan could potentially miss the start of the season with a hamstring injury, according to Saints coach Kellen Moore. Moore said Jordan’s injury occurred during Thursday’s practice, and he has missed the past three practice sessions. (He was not at Saturday’s practice because he attended Drew Brees’ Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement.) Moore said “he’s going to miss a little bit of time,” but the injury will be reevaluated every few days. Moore didn’t initially specify a timeline, but when asked to clarify about the severity, said it could go past the preseason. “It could possibly get into the season, but you never know,” Moore said. “[You need] to have some patience with it, let it take its course and we’ll collect more information as we go.” Jordan, 37, has missed only one game due to injury in his career. He missed a Week 11 game during the 2022 season due to an orbital fracture but returned the following week. He also missed one game in 2021 due to COVID-19. “Let’s get to work,” Jordan wrote on X on Monday. The Saints have veterans Chase Young and Carl Granderson on the defensive line and acquired Tyree Wilson via a trade with the Raiders during the draft. They also signed former Patriots defensive end Anfernee Jennings in April. “We certainly feel good about our depth in that position. We got some really talented players on the edge. We view it as a strength of our football team,” Moore said. “We’re going to need multiple guys to play throughout the season no matter what. … So we’ll take time to kind of evaluate while Cam’s out and see where it looks here through training camp and then these other guys will be ready to go.” Another injury is even more serious, per Terrell: New Orleans Saints guard Dillon Radunz is out for the season with a torn ACL, according to coach Kellen Moore. Radunz limped off the field after one-on-one offensive and defensive line drills toward the beginning of Saturday’s practice and did not return. Radunz, who signed with the Saints last year, has been a key reserve who started 10 games last season. |
| AFC WEST |
| DENVERSean Payton is declaring war on his team’s training camp injuries. Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com: Broncos coach Sean Payton wants to see what he can do to keep his team healthier. Payton said at training camp on Monday that he’s concerned about the number of soft-tissue injuries his team has suffered so far in camp. “We’ve got to get a handle on some of the soft-tissues,” Payton said, via the Denver Post. “We’ve had a couple either strains, hamstring or groins. We continue to fight through that.” Payton said he doesn’t want to blame the heat but does want to look at how the team can make sure the players are adequately taken care of, and taking care of themselves, before and during practice. “You always try to look at your pre-practice routine,” Payton said. “Your hydration, obviously. And it’s incumbent on the player. It’s hard for anyone to know your soft tissue. I’m always looking at maybe what we did leading up to the period when a guy had a strain.” The players who have had to miss time in training camp because of soft-tissue injuries include three of the Broncos’ most important offensive playmakers, running back J.K. Dobbins and wide receivers Jaylen Waddle and Marvin Mims Jr. |
| KANSAS CITYOC Eric Bieniemy has returned to the team. The AP: Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy returned to the team Monday for his first practice since his wife was shot at their Virginia home and the couple’s 27-year-old son was arrested in the shooting. Bieniemy was greeted by a handful of fans as he walked down the long hill to the training fields at Missouri Western State University, where the Chiefs hold camp. Then he jumped right into his first practice since Mia Bieniemy was shot the evening of July 26. “It was good to have EB back, back in full. I don’t think he missed a snap he was out there,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “Listen, I was talking to him several times a day. I knew when he was coming back. The primary thing is that Mia is stable, that she’s doing well.” Elijah Bieniemy has been charged with malicious wounding, the use of a firearm in commission of a felony and discharge of a firearm inside a dwelling. His court appearances have been delayed pending a mental health evaluation. Eric Bieniemy, who returned to the Chiefs earlier this year, had been staying in touch with coach Andy Reid and the rest of the staff, and had been watching streams of some practices. In one case, he called Chiefs manager Brett Veach — who was sitting next to Reid — and asked him to hand over the phone, then proceeded to tell the head coach a point of instruction for a running back. “It was great to have him back out there. Everybody was glad to see him,” Reid said. “I think once you start going, then you’re going. It is like a game. Once you’re in the game, you’re in the game. But he always brings the energy.” Bieniemy was part of coaching staffs that helped Kansas City reach three Super Bowls and win two of them. But because Reid is the primary play-caller, Bieniemy left to serve as the offensive coordinator with the Washington Commanders, where he would be able to call his own plays and perhaps better position himself for a head coaching job in the NFL. The Commanders struggled in his lone season there, though, and Bieniemy and the rest of the staff were let go. He spent a season with UCLA and last season coaching the running backs with the Chicago Bears before returning to Kansas City as the offensive coordinator. He replaced Matt Nagy, who was hired as the offensive coordinator of the New York Giants. |
| AFC NORTH |
| BALTIMOREA scary injury in Ravens camp. Josh Alper of ProFootballtalk.com: The Ravens are hoping for the best for cornerback Nate Wiggins. Wiggins had to be carted off the field at Thursday’s practice. Reports from the practice field say Wiggins couldn’t put weight on his left leg after his feet got tangled with wide receiver Ja’Kobi Lane during a drill. After practice, head coach Jesse Minter said there is optimism that Wiggins avoided a major injury but that things are still being evaluated. “Don’t have a ton of information on that yet. We’ll kinda get it looked at, see where it’s at,” Minter said. Wiggins started every game for the Ravens last season and finished the year with 76 tackles, three interceptions and 14 passes defensed. |
| PITTSBURGHIf QB WILL HOWARD does okay in training camp, the Steelers are expected to have four QBs on the roster. Kevin Patra of NFL.com: It’s sounding more feasible by the day that the Pittsburgh Steelers could keep four quarterbacks when they set their initial 53-man roster later this month. Following the selection of Drew Allar in the third round of the 2026 draft and the return of Aaron Rodgers for one last hurrah, the Steelers boasted a crowded QB room that included veteran backup Mason Rudolph and 2025 sixth-round pick Will Howard. The question all offseason has been whether the club would keep all four — an unusual move, but not unheard of. Given recent glowing comments from Mike McCarthy about Rudolph, the belief that the quartet could all make the squad is growing. “I can’t tell you how pleased I am with him,” McCarthy said of Rudolph last week, via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “The experience that he’s gained, I think, is incredibly valuable to us. But the footwork is different. [The] throws are better than I knew. Just like anything in the quarterback room, you really don’t know until you stand next to them or you’re out there on the field, really how each guy throws the ball.” Couple McCarthy’s comments with general manager Omar Khan backing the possibility of keeping four, and it doesn’t sound like Rudolph is going anywhere. Veteran Steelers beat reporter Mark Kaboly took things a step further, writing over the weekend that “Rudolph isn’t getting released, cut, traded, or put on the practice squad. Full stop.” Alrighty then. While Rudolph could net a draft pick in a trade with a club looking for a veteran backup, that would leave the Steelers with two QBs behind a 42-year-old who have never taken an NFL snap. Pittsburgh doesn’t want to risk its season spiraling if Rodgers has to miss time. Rudolph might not be an every-week starter, but he’s shown he can hold his own in spot action. So, if Rudolph isn’t moved and Allar, the No. 76 overall pick back in April, isn’t going anywhere, then it comes down to whether Howard can show enough during the preseason to win a roster spot. The club showered Howard with praise early in the offseason, but that didn’t stop the Steelers from drafting Allar. The 24-year-old missed all of last season with a hand injury, including preseason action, but he likely wouldn’t make it through waivers if he flashes during the next three weeks. Preseason action, starting with Thursday’s tilt against the Green Bay Packers, will go a long way in determining how the QB room is sorted out. The need to see the youngsters take reps is why it’s interesting that McCarthy is considering giving Rodgers significant reps in the first two preseason games. |
| AFC SOUTH |
| INDIANAPOLISGM Chris Ballard refutes a report that WR ALEC PIERCE is not responding well after ankle surgery. Stephen Holder of ESPN.com: Alec Pierce remains sidelined after offseason surgery on his left ankle, and the Indianapolis Colts still are not placing a firm timeline on the wide receiver’s return, general manager Chris Ballard said Tuesday. Ballard’s update came after multiple reports on Monday, including from ESPN, cited sources that indicated Pierce had a recent platelet rich plasma injection, which is intended to speed up healing. But Ballard said the reports are not accurate, specifying that Pierce underwent PRP treatment only in January, as previously disclosed. Ballard had previously indicated two weeks ago that Pierce might need another week to two weeks, which does not appear to be panning out. But there is no cause for alarm, according to Ballard. “It’s been like any rehab,” Ballard said. “There’s ups and downs. There’s a new normal that they have to get used to. But there’s no setback. He’s in good shape. He’s making great progress. Every player comes back differently, and we feel good about where he’s at.” The Colts re-signed Pierce in March to a four-year, $114 million extension to be their featured receiver after the offseason trade of Michael Pittman Jr. But ankle and heel issues have blunted excitement for Pierce’s 2026 season. After the original PRP treatment did not have the desired effect, Pierce and the Colts collectively decided surgery was the best option to prevent him from playing through the consistent soreness he experienced last season. “I was kind of struggling [last season],” Pierce said in June. Asked whether Pierce would return in time for the regular season, Ballard said: “That’s the expectation. It’s kind of day-to-day.” Elsewhere, Ballard said starting cornerback Charvarius Ward remained in Indianapolis during the team’s joint practice and preseason game this week with the New England Patriots because of back soreness. |
| AFC EAST |
| BUFFALOBuffalo’s new stadium has drawn some critiques. First, the video boards are not up to 2026 standards. Anna Lazarus Caplan of AOL.com: The new, $2.2 billion Highmark Stadium is not getting high marks from some Buffalo Bills fans. On Saturday, Aug. 8, the team played a scrimmage and welcomed 51, 807 fans for the first time to the new digs — and the reception was tentative at best. As fans watched the Bills practice, they took in the new, 61,108-seat stadium, which has a natural grass field, an under-field heating system for brutal Buffalo winters and the ability for additional standing-room-only seats. The stadium also sports two video screens at each end zone, whose relatively small size prompted social media critics to bring on the jokes. On X, one fan compared the screens to Michael Scott of The Office’s infamous plasma TV. In addition, more seats than one might think have obstructed views. Ian Miller of FoxNews.com: The old Highmark Stadium, home of the Buffalo Bills’, was not especially popular towards the end of its lifespan. It was cold, dreary and outdated, and overdue to be replaced. It seemed like good news, then, when the Bills started construction on the replacement, their sparkling new $2.2 billion facility just across from the old building. They were adamant that the new construction would be a showpiece for the region, a key part of securing a record-setting taxpayer contribution from New York state. And sure enough, Highmark is loaded with new technology and supposedly thoughtful design touches. Instead of a roof, the Bills new home retains the outdoor element that’s an integral part of the NFL experience. But to protect against the elements, roughly 65% of the seats are still covered by the stadium’s awning. There are infrared heaters under the seating areas to keep fans comfortable in the frigid Buffalo winters. The natural grass field is also heated, and the canopy incorporates a snow-melt system. All sounds great, right? Stadium designers and the team clearly thought through the details of a modern NFL stadium in the Buffalo area. Retain the outdoor character and intimate seating, but update the technology and concourses for a better fan experience. The Bills held their return of the Red and Blue practice at Highmark on Saturday, and posts on social media started flooding in, racking up millions of views and engagements, showing the frankly inexcusable views from some seats at the new stadium. Some have a pane of glass blurring views, including at the 50-yard-line. Some in the upper deck legitimately block most of the red zone on the far side of the field, specifically the end zone. Expensive seats, in the lower level about 30-40 rows up at the 12-13-yard line have their view of the other side of the field blocked by a standing platform. Another post showed off how the view of a field from a higher level seat is almost completely through glass with staircase railings. Other fans said they felt misled by Bills personnel after being assured that the railings wouldn’t impede their view of the game. That’s not great! Bills quarterback Josh Allen takes part in the Return of the Blue and Red practice at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park on Aug. 8, 2026. (USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect) Some obstructed views in a modern stadium are unavoidable, and staircases always present an issue for designers trying to incorporate fan movement and pack in as many seats as possible. And at least some of those obstructed views are through mostly glass. But then again, for the cost of these seats, the “personal seat licenses,” and so on, it’s not unreasonable to expect better. Still, if Josh Allen and new head coach Joe Brady can lead the Bills to a Super Bowl, no one will be complaining that their seats weren’t good enough. The DB would agree that the old stadium (like the entire Buffalo area) was cold and we won’t quibble with “outdated and overdue to be replaced.” But, we never really found it to be “dreary”. It was kind of bright actually. Ramshackle might be a better word for the old stadium. Cleveland Municipal Stadium was dreary. Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta was dreary. The Kingdome in Seattle? |
| THIS AND THAT |
| GRUDEN vs NFLA Nevada judge says that Jon Gruden and his lawyers have not produced documents as requested/demanded by the NFL in the discovery process. Mike Florio ofProFootballTalk.com: Former Raiders coach Jon Gruden wanted his claims against the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell to be resolved in court. Gruden won. And now he has to fully comply with the court’s rules. The presiding judge suggested on Monday that Gruden has not done so sufficiently. “I remain concerned with Gruden’s, Gruden’s side’s delays and lack of cooperation, lack of compliance with the rules,” district judge Joe Hardy said, via Noble Brigham of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The NFL had complained that Gruden was dragging his feet in the discovery process associated with his lawsuit alleging that the NFL deliberately leaked otherwise confidential emails in an effort to force him out as the Raiders’ head coach in October 2021. “No explanation was proffered by Gruden’s side that would address the court’s concern about the delays, particularly in light of months ago, when I said, in Gruden’s favor and against the NFL’s position, we’re going forward,” Judge Hardy said. “Gruden understandably at least represented to me that their side wanted to proceed expeditiously and has done the opposite of that.” |
