NFL Training Camps 2016: Updates, Rumors & Analysis for August 3

There are obvious goals every year during training camp. In no particular order they are to throw better, tackle better, run better and just generally get better.

Then there's a goal we don't talk about as much, maybe because speaking of it is like petting a black cat named "Thirteen" while walking under a ladder. You just don't want to get hurt.

Injuries can happen any time football players step onto a football field. But ideally, you'd like to hold off on the bending and harmful twisting until September when games start to matter. Unfortunately, luck (the awful kind) doesn't know how to read a calendar.

One severe break is already about to put a coin into the league's backup quarterback carousel. Meanwhile, the presence of a walking boot in Washington may have caused a few shivers, and down in Dallas running back Ezekiel Elliott's hamstring is creating a need for caution.

And that's only where we start here on Aug. 3 with the training camp news and notes. Let's dive in.

After Kellen Moore's Injury the Cowboys Have Interest in Nick Foles

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The title of "best backup quarterback in football" is not one young aspiring passers dream about as they're chucking footballs through tires. But it's still a real title, and the Dallas Cowboys needed to have that guy on their roster long before Kellen Moore suffered an ankle injury Tuesday night.

He'll be out for three-to-four months, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, meaning his time as Tony Romo's backup is effectively over for 2016. Which is probably for the best because Moore wasn't the answer behind a 36-year-old quarterback already dealing with a stiff back, per Jon Machota of the Dallas News. He's also coming off multiple collarbone injuries over the past few seasons.

Nick Foles might not be the answer behind Romo either. But he's much, much closer, and the Cowboys should have been kicking his tires even with Moore healthy.

So their interest in Foles was inevitable once Moore went down. And as Rapoport noted, it's mutual now too.

"It really seems they're going to have to take a hard look at the veteran quarterback market, and the name to watch is Nick Foles," Rapoport said on NFL Network Wednesday. "There is legitimate interest. I'm told the Cowboys—that would be the name if they are going to bring in a backup."

"They did work on him when the Rams were trying to shop him. There's a lot of mutual interest there for the Cowboys and Nick Foles."

Later in the afternoon, Cowboys vice president Stephen Jones confirmed to ESPN.com's Todd Archer that the team has had talks with Foles' agent (via Rotoworld). There are also other trade options being pursued, but Foles remains the likely solution because he wouldn't cost Dallas a draft pick.

Here's what usually happens when a quarterback is injured for a significant chunk of the season, and when said quarterback is also considered to be among the best at his position: losing, and lots of it.

Oh sure, there are exceptions, and it's here where we insert the obligatory New England Patriots reference to either Tom Brady or Matt Cassel. But winning with a backup generally presents one of the most mountainous tasks in football if he's asked to start more than about four games.

Which is why the Cowboys offense needs someone they can trust to be that short-term replacement during potentially dire times. And anyone with plenty of starting experience (Foles has 35 starts) will make you watch games through your fingers less than if the keys were handed to raw fourth-round rookie Dak Prescott, or Moore with his two career starts.

Ezekiel Elliott out "Some Time" with a Hamstring Problem

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The Dallas Cowboys' fate in 2016 largely rests with flashing back to 2014 in two ways: Romo staying healthy, and running back Ezekiel Elliott doing his best DeMarco Murray impression while running behind a dominant offensive line.

They've already experienced a stumble with the second part of the equation, though it's more of a toe stub really.

Prized running back and fourth-overall pick Ezekiel Elliott is going to miss some of training camp with a hamstring issue that flared during practice Wednesday. Later a source told ESPN's Ed Werder that Elliott will likely miss just one week.

That rest time and Elliott's day-to-day status reflects caution much more so than concern. However, the Cowboys will be leaning on Elliott as the engine driving their offense. Something in the vicinity of 375 carries for him wouldn't be surprising at all, which was the estimate from Sports Illustrated's Peter King recently.

He'll be a central figure, and no early ding to his body can be shrugged off.

Don't Be Alarmed by Josh Doctson's Walking Boot

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The Washington Redskins saw wide receiver Josh Doctson as perhaps the final piece to a loaded offense when they selected him with their 22nd overall pick in April. And he'll likely be that guy in time, but right now the All-American is stuck on the launchpad.

Doctson suffered an Achilles' injury on the first day of voluntary practice in May. The injury isn't considered to be overly serious, and Doctson has been working out on his own off to the side early in training camp.

As Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com reported recently, the Redskins expect Doctson to be a full practice participant within a few weeks. So everything appears to be rosy here and trending in the right direction.

But whoa now, what's with that large astronaut boot on your foot, Josh?

You're forgiven, Redskins fans, if reports of Docston wearing a walking boot around practice Wednesday led to involuntary twitches. When a player goes from at least working out individually to having his foot strapped into a boot, that's worthy of a nightmare, right? Nope.

There was no setback for Doctson, and instead the Redskins said he wore the boot in an effort to rest the injury for a day during the rehab process, according to Master Tesfatsion of the Washington Post.

So please resume normal breathing while removing your head from the freezer. 

Kaepernick vs. Gabbert Is a Dead Heat Right Now

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Hop into your football time machine for a second and dial it back to early in the year 2013. It was a more innocent time when "Crying Jordan" was just a crying basketball legend. And San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick was making you grasp for words to describe what was happening on your living room picture box.

Kaepernick broke the single-game quarterback rushing yards record during a playoff game against the Green Bay Packers. At the time we assumed that game and playoff run would launch his NFL career into a different stratosphere. Now three years later, it feels like an accomplishment when he's in a dead heat against Blaine Gabbert during their training-camp battle for the starting job.

The 49ers have their first padded practice behind them, and as Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee noted, the two are dead even in the competition so far while they split first-term snaps.

To the surprise of no one, 49ers head coach Chip Kelly said nothing will be decided on the practice field. Instead, preseason games will determine who leads his offense in 2016.

“The thing with the quarterbacks is they’re still off limits,” Kelly told Barrows. “They’re not going to get hit in any of our training sessions and there’s no quarterback in the NFL or even college that probably gets hit in practice. So really the big determination with those guys will be the preseason games.”

Kaepernick underwent shoulder surgery and was only cleared for full activity just prior to training camp. Meanwhile, Gabbert had the entire offseason to get comfortable in Kelly's offense.

It's quite the NFL reality check when you look back on the promise Kaepernick entered the league with, and now see him having to claw for every first-team snap against one of the worst first-round quarterback busts in recent memory.

Cameron Brate Is the Starting TE in Tampa

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Speaking of draft busts, let's check in on the ongoing disappointment that is Austin Seferian-Jenkins' career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The tight end was deemed worthy of not just a second-round pick in 2014, but also a high one at 38th overall. Looked at from another depressing angle, he missed being a first-round pick by six slots, and he heard his name 23 spots ahead of Jacksonville Jaguars Pro Bowl wide receiver Allen Robinson.

Now Seferian-Jenkins has officially been bumped down the Buccaneers' tight end depth chart by Cameron Brate, who went undrafted during the same year.

Brate started to emerge late in the second half of 2015. From Week 8 onward he caught three touchdown passes and also logged four games with 45-plus receiving yards. He did all that while playing a minimal role and catching just 23 passes.

For new Bucs head coach Dirk Koetter, that playmaking ability is only half the reason why Brate appeals to him. Koetter said he's also impressed with Brate's improvement as a run blocker, via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, which is a vital skill for any tight end who wants to stay on the field.

What about Jenkins? He was sent off during OTAs when Koetter said the former Washington Husky looked lost on the field. Now he'll be fighting for a job throughout the rest of training camp.

"We're deep at tight end and Cam's at the top of the depth chart right now," Koetter told the Times' Greg Auman.

"Austin's working at it and that's all he can do right now. He's just got to work. That's all anybody that's fighting for a job can do."

Still Only Silence on the Joey Bosa Front

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Rookie training camp contract holdouts were supposed to have gone the way of the VCR, or using your phone as an actual phone. The 2011 CBA brought in the rookie wage, which made signing rookie contracts the sort of work that, in theory at least, could be done by monkeys at typewriters.

The San Diego Chargers and outside linebacker Joey Bosa are turning what should be a simple process into something excruciating.

Bosa still isn't signed, and he still isn't in training camp. The two sides haven't talked since Thursday, according to ProFootballTalk's Mike Florio, which is a problem because the Chargers opened camp on Friday.

There are so very few possible points of contention in any rookie deal because of the road map laid out by the CBA. Yet the Chargers and Bosa have found a way to arrive at the perfect-storm stalemate.

To boil it down as simply as possible, both sides are entrenched in positions that may be hard to break. The Chargers have established a team precedent that contracts for first-round picks need to include both offset language (Rapoport gave a thorough explanation of that years ago, and it almost doesn't induce a headache) and a signing-bonus deferral.

The Chargers believe if they cave here it's a slippery slope. Then every first-round pick will demand either no offset language or no deferral. And they're probably right, but that matters so very little to Bosa because every third-overall pick since 2012 has had one of the other.

Eventually sanity will prevail, and the Chargers will realize they need to treat their third-overall pick like, well, a third-overall pick. Until then a defense that recorded only 32 sacks in 2015 will sit and wait. 

Brandon Spikes Works out for Dolphins

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In 2015, Brandon Spikes' only accomplishment (as I use that word so, so loosely) was serving a four-game suspension while not actually able to miss real game time. That's because he wasn't signed and spent the year floating around in veteran free agent purgatory.

But his past mistakes have now been forgotten, which happens every year in early August if you meet this simple criteria:

No. 1. You're established and there's a past history of being productive.

No. 2. You're healthy and don't present a significant injury risk.

No. 3. You offer any meaningful contribution at all while playing in a specific role.

Spikes checks off the first two boxes, and he may also put an "X" by the third for the Miami Dolphins. That's why a depth-starved defense reportedly brought him in for a workout Wednesday, according to Rapoport.

The Dolphins are set to start Kiko Alonso at middle linebacker, but his left knee is currently being held together by duct tape. Alonso has appeared in only 11 games over the past two years.

Behind him is Zach Vigil, an undrafted free agent in 2015 who's currently on the non-football injury list. So they could use a run-down specialist who has recorded 206 career tackles. Or they could just use a somewhat reliable warm body on the depth chart. Either one would work.

Dan Quinn Isn't Concerned About Matt Ryan's Interceptions

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It's important to remember something throughout training camp as stats from practice bounce across the various screens in your life: Those numbers are mostly meaningless.

No one is ever crowned the practice leader in touchdowns, and no August ends with raving about the league's practice leader in rushing yards.

But there are still numbers that make you either raise an eyebrow or feel the beginnings of a cold sweat. Memories of 2015 may have made Atlanta Falcons fans do the latter while hearing about their quarterback's repeated interceptions.

Matt Ryan has thrown at least five interceptions so far over five training-camp practices, according to ESPN.com's Vaughn McClure. That's an alarming rate, even during a time filled with practice tinkering and tweaking.

Head coach Dan Quinn isn't concerned.

"No I’m not, to answer your question," he told McClure. "I know this is the time to try everything, whether it's a different route or a different look. It’s also an important part for the defense, too, like how they can get after the ball. So, no, for us this is what this time is all about in terms of getting timing down, getting the routes right. Some of that happens in training camp practices."

Fair enough, but Quinn surely understands the concern that's already surfacing.

Ryan struggled mightily with turnovers in 2015, and his status as a franchise quarterback could be slowly eroding. He threw 16 interceptions, the second-highest single-season total of his eight-year career. Worse, four of those picks were of the crushing variety and came in the red zone.

He has to resurrect both the Falcons offense and his career in 2016.

Rams Getting Worried About Tre Mason's Well Being

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As we begin to obsess over roster battles, scheme installations and the general minutiae of training camp, it's important sometimes to be reminded that football is, well, still just a game.

And nothing does that better than this headline: "Rams worried as months have gone by without word from Tre Mason".

That's the headline used by ESPN's Dan Graziano and Adam Caplan as they relay the latest on Los Angeles Rams running back Tre Mason. He's spent the offseson dealing with mental health issues and was arrested in March on charges of reckless driving, marijuana possession and resisting arrest.

Mason is currently on the reserve/did not report list. The team has no idea when he'll appear at training camp, and there's growing concern after efforts to get in touch with him have failed.

"Right now, we're more concerned with Tre Mason's well-being than we are his football career," Rams head coach Jeff Fisher told reporters, via Graziano and Caplan. "We're going to continue to try to reach him to see where he's at."

Rex Ryan Wants to Use Reggie Bush "Like a Ferrari"

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Buffalo Bills head coach Rex Ryan will forever be the offseason and training camp quote king. And you know he's not about to pass up on a chance to compare newly signed running back Reggie Bush to a luxury sports car.

But it was a surprisingly reasoned and restrained comparison.

"With Reggie Bush, he's such a talent, but we want him to be almost like that Ferrari that we unleash and let people be like 'Oh man, he's out there!'," Ryan told NFL Network's LaDainian Tomlinson. "But I also don't want to run him into the ground."

Ryan is essentially saying that in a specific and largely pass-catching role, Bush can still be explosive despite his advancing age and battered body (Bush is 31 and has played only two full 16-game seasons over a 10-year career). He might not wrong.

Bush appeared in only five games for the San Francisco 49ers in 2015 during an injury-shortened season. But prior to that, he posted 40-plus receptions in two straight years. He's also not far removed 506 receiving yards at a career single-season high of 9.4 yards per catch in 2013 with the Detroit Lions.

So sure, there might be some lightning left in Bush's legs. It's diminishing quickly, though, and at this point in his career the former college megastar is more Buick than Ferrari.