Sunday, December 22, 2024
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Camp updates: Garoppolo faces offensive hurdles

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As the NFL celebrates the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremony, teams continue to work at practice on Saturday.

NFL depth charts remain in flux ahead of the league’s next preseason matchups, and players are hoping to end their second week of training camp on a good note.

This might be hard given the New Orleans Saints‘ collection of injuries and the Chicago Bears‘ on-field tensions on both sides of the ball.

We will have updates every day of camp to keep you informed on the latest news, coolest videos and most interesting photos.

Here’s what you need to know from camps across the league:

Top NFL news of the day

Cowboys’ Parsons eyes being ‘one of the greatest Hall of Famers’

Parsons is only 24 years old and entering just his third year with the Dallas Cowboys, but he is already thinking of one day ending up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. “When you talk about great careers, [when] you talk about the Hall of Fame, like I don’t think I just want to make the Hall of Fame. I just want to be known as one of the greatest Hall of Famers,”

Steelers’ Minkah Fitzpatrick returns after excused absences

After a week-long excused absence for a personal matter, Fitzpatrick returned to training camp Saturday. “Honestly, when you’re away from the game that you love for a while, it’s always good to get back to it, even if it’s just a few days,” Fitzpatrick said. While the star safety and Pittsburgh defensive leader didn’t elaborate on the nature of the matter that led to his absence, he thanked coach Mike Tomlin for allowing him to be with his family.

Lions uplifted by energized fan base, say it’s ‘not a burden’

For the first time in Ford Field history, season tickets are sold out, the team announced Thursday. As the hype train around the Detroit Lions‘ upcoming season has hit a fever pitch, coach Dan Campbell shared his emotions in a unique way.

He referenced Bette Midler’s Grammy-winning hit, “Wind Beneath My Wings.”

“No, I don’t feel weight. I feel wind underneath my freakin’ wings, man,” Campbell said. “That’s what I feel. Truthfully.”

Falcons expect CB Jeff Okudah (ankle) back early in season

Atlanta Falcons coach Arthur Smith said his team received “very positive news” after an MRI of cornerback Jeff Okudah‘s right ankle. Smith expects Okudah back at some point early in the regular season.

Okudah injured his right ankle during a 1-on-1 drill against receiver Frank Darby during Friday’s practice and was carted back to the locker room.

More:

What our NFL Nation reporters saw today

Arizona Cardinals: Cardinals running back James Conner had as impressive of a catch by a running back as there’s been during Saturday’s practice. With the ball spotted around the 3-yard line during red zone work, Conner came out of the backfield and when the ball didn’t come his way in the flat, he turned toward the end zone. Colt McCoy, who was 14-for-20 passing during the heavy throwing day, placed his pass perfectly and Conner outjumped Pro Bowl safety Budda Baker to grab the touchdown pass near the back right corner of the end zone. Conner later downplayed the catch, saying he bobbled it a bit and that Baker didn’t jump as high as he could’ve. Either way, it was still a highlight-reel worthy catch. — Josh Weinfuss

Dallas Cowboys: The Cowboys’ kicking competition has not gotten off to a rousing start. Saturday was a particularly rough day. Brandon Aubrey made 5 of 7 attempts in early practice, but was just 1 of 3 in end-of-game situational work, missing to the left and coming up woefully short on his first two tries. He made his final kick from 42 yards, much to the delight of a restless fan base. Tristan Vizcaino made 4-of-8 attempts, at one point missing four straight although one was the result of a poor snap. In the situational work, he had one kick hit the right upright and two more miss to the left. Unofficially in camp, Aubrey is 25 of 34, while Vizcaino is 22 of 35. — Todd Archer

Pittsburgh Steelers: Technically, the Steelers don’t have a fullback on the roster. But they may have found one in backup offensive lineman Kendrick Green. For the second practice in a row, Green lined up in the backfield for a handful of snaps during the team period — including one with the first team. He blocked on two plays and caught a pass from Mason Rudolph on another, trucking linebacker Tanner Muse afterward for a couple extra yards. He also caught a pass from Rudolph during the Friday Night Lights practice a day earlier.

“That’s dangerous,” safety Minkah Fitzpatrick said with a laugh. “Somebody going to get hurt. He’s a big boy. It was funny, he caught a little pass in the flat today, and I was like, I definitely don’t want to be tackling him. But hey, the more he can do.”

Tomlin said the team discovered Green’s versatility last season during preparation for the Baltimore Ravens when Green acted as the scout team’s Patrick Ricard, the Ravens’ stout fullback. “That guy’s a unique guy, and so we asked KG to provide a quality look for us, and he really did,” Tomlin said. “And so we just kind of put that in our hip pocket in an environment like this man, we want to see what guys are capable of doing, adding to their cause and ours, and he’s shown some flexibility there.” — Brooke Pryor

Baltimore Ravens: It was one of the roughest training camp practices in recent memory for the Ravens quarterbacks, who threw nine interceptions in team drills. Lamar Jackson was picked off four times. The Ravens offense was put in a challenging situation because many of the play situations were third-and-long. “The script was for the defense to win, and we won,” cornerback Marlon Humphrey said. Safety Marcus Williams picked off Jackson twice. Besides Jackson, Josh Johnson threw three interceptions and Tyler Huntley was picked off two times. “You can say the defense won,” tight end Isaiah Likely said. “But, in my mind, we didn’t really lose. We learn.” — Jamison Hensley

San Francisco 49ers: After a long practice Friday, the 49ers looked a bit sluggish Saturday, something that could be seen but also heard in the lack of chatter on the field. Suffice to say, this is a team that’s ready to see someone else, and they will next week with joint practices against the Las Vegas Raiders. But the Niners did get a lift from veteran WR Willie Snead IV on Saturday. Snead set an early tone by catching a well-thrown deep ball from QB Brandon Allen for a would-be touchdown. Then Snead closed practice with the catch of camp, reaching behind CB Samuel Womack with one hand and hauling in a 25-yard touchdown from QB Trey Lance. The Niners might keep only five receivers, but Snead has been around and was useful off the practice squad last year. Days like Saturday will only help keep him in the mix. — Nick Wagoner

Denver Broncos: Broncos coach Sean Payton is still irritated about his offense’s penalties in practice, especially in the two-minute drill. The Broncos’ starters first drive in the two-minute drill Saturday started with penalties on Lloyd Cushenberry III (holding) and Garett Bolles (false start). The starters rallied a bit, finishing one drive with a field goal and the last play of the drill as well as the last play of practice was a 50-yard completion from Russell Wilson to Jerry Jeudy for a touchdown. “It was more encouraging than the way to two minute started, we had penalty, penalty,” Payton said. “We’re working through some of that.” — Jeff Legwold

New Orleans Saints: Saints coach Dennis Allen said it’s getting to the point in camp where injuries are starting to pile up, and that was clear on Saturday afternoon. Running back Eno Benjamin was carted off with a ruptured Achilles, wide receivers Tre’Quan Smith and Rashid Shaheed left with groin injuries. Linebacker Demario Davis did not practice because he’s getting imaging on his calf, and rookie defensive tackle Bryan Bresee also had a calf issue. Running back Kendre Miller also took a hard hit and sat out briefly with a jaw issue but came back to practice.

That running back depth will be particularly important now that a three-game suspension has been confirmed for Alvin Kamara. Saints coach Dennis Allen said “Anytime you’re going to lose one of your better players for any period of time, it’s disappointing. But I think a three-game suspension is a pretty good outcome for us. We’ll adjust accordingly and kind of move forward.” — Katherine Terrell

Jacksonville Jaguars: CB Tyson Campbell suffered a concussion during Saturday’s practice on a collision with WR Christian Kirk. There were multiple receivers in the area and Campbell came off his man and collided with Kirk, who made the catch. The team said Campbell is in concussion protocol. Also on Saturday, head coach Doug Pederson said veteran OL Tyler Shatley suffered an atrial fibrillation event on Wednesday but has recovered and will be fine. Shatley, who is entering his 10th season and is the longest-tenured Jaguars player, participated in Saturday’s practice on a limited basis. — Mike DiRocco

Las Vegas Raiders: Either the Raiders defense is suddenly the second coming of the 1985 Bears or Las Vegas’ offense in general, new QB Jimmy Garoppolo in particular, is struggling. Garoppolo was picked off three times in Saturday’s padded practice — by cornerbacks Amik Robertson and Marcus Peters and safety Tre’von Moehrig — and had at least two others dropped by DBs. This comes a day after Garoppolo threw four interceptions in an indoor non-padded practice. Garoppolo missed the entire on-field portion of the offseason program and is still getting used to his receivers but after nine training camp practices, the defense is riding high and the offense, supposedly the team strength, is still trying to find itself. — Paul Gutierrez

Minnesota Vikings: The Vikings have received some good news about a valuable but oft-injured player. Cornerback Andrew Booth Jr., who left practice last week Tuesday because of an undisclosed injury, was back on the field Saturday during the team’s walk-through practice. Speaking briefly with reporters, Booth said the injury was “nothing serious” and indicated he’ll participate in the team’s full practice Sunday. Booth has been working almost exclusively with the second-team defense since the start of training camp, but the Vikings continue to have high hopes for him as the No. 42 overall pick of the 2022 draft. The Vikings parted ways with five of their top cornerbacks from last season, and there continues to be a scramble for playing time between Akayleb Evans, Joejuan Williams, Mekhi Blackmon and Booth for playing time alongside veteran newcomer Byron Murphy Jr. — Kevin Seifert

Chicago Bears: Two separate skirmishes broke out on the ninth practice of camp where the offense and defense had to be separated. After Chase Claypool caught a pass and ran a shallow route over the middle of the field, safety Eddie Jackson delivered a huge hit on the wide receiver that sparked the first real fight of training camp. Claypool and Jackson continued to chirp at each other after the team period ended which led GM Ryan Poles to approach the two. Jackson spoke the other day of wanting to “keep poking the bear until the bear attacks” to bring the fire and competitiveness out of Chicago’s offense, which coaches have supported doing as long as it doesn’t cross a line. “I don’t like the pushing and shoving after the whistle,” defensive coordinator Alan Williams said. “When they let us do that in the ball game, we’ll be all over it in practice … I love the chippiness. That says that we’re establishing an identity. But the after-the-whistle stuff, yeah, I’m not for that part.” — Courtney Cronin

Carolina Panthers: For the first time in training camp, the defense clearly won the day. There have been a few times when it’s been close, but on Saturday the offense at times self-destructed with at least five pre-snap penalties overall, three dropped passes from starting quarterback Bryce Young and one interception in the end zone on an attempt by backup quarterback Andy Dalton. “Too many pre-snap penalties today. I thought we started out decent on offense, but the defense had a really good day,” coach Frank Reich said afterwards. “Today was not our best day offensively.” Reich reminded it was only the sixth day of install, and there was no game planning for specific coverages in the red zone. “But that’s not an excuse for not having a good day at all,” he said. — David Newton

Denver Broncos: Most of the Broncos starters, including most notably quarterback Russell Wilson, played no snaps in the preseason a year ago. Sean Payton will have none of that this time around. Payton has repeatedly said he believes the starters need to play at least some in the preseason and he emphasized it again after Saturday’s practice.

“They’re going to play, we haven’t figured out how many snaps … I don’t have a pitch count,” Payton said. “But we can expect to see our guys play a little bit.”

Asked if that would include Wilson, Payton said: “Yeah, that would include — he’s a player.” — Jeff Legwold

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