NFL Training Camps 2016: Updates, Rumors & Analysis for August 10
We're already speeding toward the point in training camp when one simple but uncontrollable goal casts a shadow over everything else: staying healthy or getting healthy.
Oh sure, the daily development of young players continues, as does the process of adapting to new offensive and defensive schemes. And team building is a never-ending project, too, with receivers and quarterbacks building a connection and running backs getting a feel for their offensive linemen.
But the overarching hope is that key injured pieces return, and no one else is lost when the scoreboard is meaningless in August.
That's why almost daily a combination of jubilation and dread trickles from NFL camps. Where you landed on that spectrum Wednesday depends on what color your face is painted on Sundays in the fall.
It wasn't a pleasant day if you live in upstate New York. But on the opposite side of the country the afternoon was joyous, and there was plenty of collective fist pumping in New England.
Reggie Ragland's Torn ACL Gives Bills Defense Another Significant Injury Blow
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During much happier times shortly after the draft, Buffalo Bills general manager Doug Whaley made a strong statement about his first three picks.
He expected outside linebacker Shaq Lawson, inside linebacker Reggie Ragland and defensive lineman Adolphus Washington to all start "off the bus" in head coach Rex Ryan's defense. That comment was made in May, via ESPN.com's Mike Rodak, when all three were healthy. It reflected just how critical those young players were, and how much they would be leaned on to mature quickly and become defensive pillars.
Shortly after Whaley said that, Lawson's troublesome shoulder that was flagged in the pre-draft process required surgery. He's not expected to return until October at the earliest, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter, and even then he'll likely be eased along slowly in a situational pass-rushing role.
That was a gut punch to the Bills' defense, but one they had time to prepare for after knowing about Lawson's delayed debut since May. Now the latest haymaker to their defensive front comes at a time when the days left to Week 1 are quickly counting down.
Earlier in camp Ragland crumpled to the ground after suffering the always terrifying non-contact injury. He was defending what would become a knee-tearing sweep.
Initially there was some optimism surrounding his status, with a partial ACL tear as the potential diagnosis. But optimism is often a mirage when dealing with ACL injuries. Wednesday the hammer dropped when the Bills announced Ragland has a torn ACL, and his rookie season has ended before it started.
To review then, Buffalo's primary draft focus for improving one area of need immediately—defense! (clap clap) defense!—is already up in flames and it's Aug. 10. The Bills invested a first-round pick in Lawson, and the All-American was supposed to kick a Bills pass rush that recorded only 21 sacks in 2015 (31st) in its rear. Ragland, meanwhile, was set to be a thumping run stopper and three-down presence after his 102 tackles for Alabama in 2015.
Now they'll be replaced by far lesser veterans, and some combination of IK Enemkpali, Brandon Spikes, David Hawthorne and Zach Brown.
False Alarm for Julian Edelman
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You're forgiven, New England Patriots fans, if you were walking around Tuesday afternoon with a Michael Phelps scowl.
Your quarterback Tom Brady is already set to miss four games in 2016 due to a suspension, and wide receiver Julian Edelman—the Patriots' most important pass-catcher not named Rob Gronkowski—came up gimpy in practice Tuesday. It was one of those helmet-throwing injuries, according to CSN New England's Tom Curran. The kind that makes you, the fan, instinctively take a long walk into a large body of water.
The injury sweats come on especially fast when any part of Edelman's lower body is dinged up. A slot receiver who relies on his ability to plant and be elusive in space has undergone two left-foot surgeries since November 2015. He missed seven games after breaking that foot.
And more generally the word "durable" is one that runs from Edelman. He's entering his eighth NFL season, and has appeared in all 16 games only once.
But fear not, Patriots faithful, you creative sign-makers. Edelman's early practice exit turned out to be the standard training-camp scare. He returned to practice Wednesday and looked like his typical shifty self, according to CSNNE's Michael Giardi, who reported the 30-year-old was able to plant and change direction even in wet conditions.
The Patriots were undefeated when Edelman went down in Week 10 of 2015. Then they went 3-4 the rest of the season without him. He's a cornerstone of the offense and has been targeted an average of 124.3 times per season over the past three years.
Jimmy Graham Completes His Remarkable Recovery
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A torn patellar tendon is a football dream crusher. Basically, it threatens to take your career, chuck it in the trash can, and then light said trash receptacle on fire.
Which is why it's more than remarkable that Seattle Seahawks tight end Jimmy Graham returned to practice Wednesday, just a little over eight months removed from his devastating patellar tendon tear. Graham's warp-speed recovery and return goes against most historical precedents for the injury, a list filled with derailed careers.
Graham wasn't just leisurely jogging or working out on his own after being activated off the PUP list. He was sprinting, cutting and running routes, as ESPN.com's Sheil Kapadia showed through video evidence.
His recovery isn't over yet, and there's still the matter of taking and responding to contact. That's the next significant hurdle, particularly for a looming, large-bodied tight end who uses physicality as the foundation for his success.
But just being on the field in any capacity this early in August is already a major accomplishment while traveling a recovery road that usually has many twists, turns and even cliffs. Just ask New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz. He sat out all of 2015 due to lingering injuries tied to his patellar tear, and still isn't quite his old self now.
If Graham can regain even, say, 75 percent of his old form, that would be a massive red-zone addition to the Seahawks' offense, especially with running back Marshawn Lynch retired and his replacement Thomas Rawls recovering from his own severe injury.
I don't need to remind you of this, but I will anyway: Graham is an oversized football magnet, and trails only Gronkowski in receiving yards and touchdowns among tight ends since he entered the league in 2010.
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Marvin Jones Is Emerging as the Lions' Top Receiver
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The Detroit Lions are beginning the post-Calvin Johnson phase of their existence. Which is the kind of thought that can make every coach, front office member and quarterback Matthew Stafford stare at the ceiling all night, hoping their season doesn't resemble a splashdown by the Filipino diving team.
But fear not, all of Detroit, because Marvin Jones is here.
Jones was the shining gem in a wide receiver free agency class filled mostly with cereal-box jewelry. With their obvious need at the position the Lions were aggressive, and landed him by offering a five-year contract worth $40 million. Of that total value $20 million is guaranteed, according to Spotrac.
There was still some uncertainty over who would play the most prominent role in the effort to replace Johnson's targets and production. The Lions also signed veteran possession receiver Anquan Boldin late in the offseason.
They've been leaning on Golden Tate as a target hog, too, and someone who can be inserted into space and then asked to thrash for extra yards. Tate has been targeted 272 times since joining the Lions in 2014, which ranks 10th among all wide receivers during that period.
It's been Jones, however, who has emerged early in camp, with the targets and workload to reflect his paycheck. As Kyle Meinke of MLive.com observed, the competition for Detroit's top receiver job "hasn't been all that close" recently.
Meinke also heaped praise on Jones' suction-cup hands, saying he's "sucking up practically everything in his orbit" during camp. The Lions held their first joint practice against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Tuesday, and of Stafford's 14 throws Jones was the target seven times. He caught six of those passes, while no other pass-catcher finished with more than two receptions.
The Lions need much, much more of the same from Jones during the regular season as he becomes their vertical threat, allowing Tate to keep working the intermediate routes inside. That's the best remedy for replacing the 88 receptions and 1,214 yards Johnson posted last year, a "down" season by his astronomical standards.
Blaine Gabbert Is an "Enormous Favorite" to Start at QB for the 49ers
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And now it's time for the almost daily update on who will be the San Francisco 49ers' mediocre quarterback in 2016.
It should be strange that we're approaching mid-August and Blaine Gabbert—the notorious draft bust from 2012 who flamed out for the Jacksonville Jaguars—still has a stranglehold on the 49ers' starting quarterback gig.
Yes, the mostly meaningless initial depth chart lists Gabbert and Colin Kaepernick as "co-starters," even though the rules of football state only one of them can actually start Sunday's preseason opener. When the team is being publicly silent we turn to the longtime beat writers who are heavily dialed in, hearing every August whisper.
So whatcha got, Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News?
"Blaine Gabbert is an enormous favorite to be the 49ers' Week 1 starter," Kawakami tweeted. "It's what Jed and Trent want."
He's referring, of course, to 49ers CEO Jed York and general manager Trent Baalke, the two figureheads of a front office with an unquenchable thirst for control.
It's still entirely possible that Gabbert goes about the business of being himself this preseason, and Kaepernick eventually gets the job by default. But it's also quite possible that York and Baalke continue in their obsessive, iron-fisted ways and leave greasy fingerprints on this team, restricting new head coach Chip Kelly.
When that inevitably happens the dysfunction in San Francisco will continue, and so will the losing.
Marquise Goodwin Surging Ahead in Bills WR Battle
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In early July Buffalo Bills wide receiver Marquise Goodwin reminded us that even if you're the best in the world at any athletic endeavor, staying atop a high perch is a mighty challenge.
Goodwin is a world-class long jumper who went to the 2012 Olympics in London. He was away from the Bills throughout the offseason while training to qualify for the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro. During that time he posted two world-leading distances in 2016, and set a personal best of 8.45 meters at a meet in Guadeloupe.
He seemed poised to become a gold-medal favorite in Rio, and was surely a lock to qualify and become one of the three American men's long jumpers. Then suddenly his second shot at Olympic glory ended long before he hopped onto a plane to Brazil. Goodwin failed to qualify and jumped only 8.25 meters during the U.S. Olympic Trials, finishing seventh.
But cosmic forces may have been working in his favor.
Had Goodwin qualified he was taking a risk. He would have missed a chunk of training camp, and as a fringe player already his roster spot wasn't guaranteed.
But since Goodwin oozes with unfair athletic talent, he was able to transition back to football quickly. Now instead of cheering him on from afar, Bills offensive coordinator Greg Roman gets to be in awe of the speed merchant's skill in practice.
"What a weapon he is, huh," Roman said, via NFL.com's Kevin Patra. "World-class speed. The guy has got a different attitude about him and a different look in his eye this year and I like it. He's showing up every single day. He's somebody who is on a mission."
Goodwin has shined so far in his bid to hold onto a roster spot. He's currently on the first-team offense on the outside and opposite Sammy Watkins, with Robert Woods in the slot, per Sal Capaccio of WGR550.
Speed clearly isn't a concern for Goodwin, and neither is his ability to create and finish home-run plays. Instead, the injury-prone tag is his nemesis. Goodwin has recorded just 20 receptions for 349 yards over three seasons, largely because of missed time due to various injuries.
We Might Have to Wait a Little Longer for the Preseason Return of Victor Cruz
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Consider New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz to be the anti-Jimmy Graham. Or rather, the more realistic example of what it looks like when you attempt to recover and keep playing after a torn patellar tendon.
He has gone through the standard timetable of a minimum one-year recovery. He blazed far past that, too, and Cruz has also struggled through other injuries as his body adjusts and tries to compensate for a core tendon that isn't as strong as it once was.
At 6'7" and 260 pounds, Graham may have faced a slightly easier road because his game is rooted in size, and not necessarily speed or quick horizontal movement. The same can't be said about the 6'0", 204-pound Cruz, who was a premier slot receiver prior to the injury and recorded back-to-back 1,000-plus yard seasons (2011 and 2012).
Now he's been practicing, but there's an unspoken reality: Anything the Giants get from Cruz in 2016 is welcomed gravy on top of the offensive meal.
They were reminded of that fact Tuesday when Cruz left practice early due to groin tightness. He wasn't on the field Wednesday either, and the 29-year-old offered only a brief update to the media. Cruz flashed a thumbs up and said he feels "better," according to Paul Schwartz of the New York Post.
"Better" for Cruz at this point always still comes with a lingering sense of uncertainty. In the short term he almost definitely won't play in the Giants preseason opener, with Schwartz calling that a "foregone conclusion" even if nothing is official yet.
And in the long term Cruz may never truly be himself again, and restore his 2011 form.
We'll Also Be Waiting on the First Arian Foster Preseason Sighting
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Arian Foster could emerge as a free agency steal if he ends up leading the Miami Dolphins backfield. But for now new head coach Adam Gase is doing something wise: saving a veteran with many dents on his body for a time when snaps actually matter.
Foster is trying to win a starting job, and Gase would surely like to gauge his movement in a game situation with more intense contact. That will likely come later in the preseason. But for now caution wins the day, and Foster will sit when the Dolphins open their preseason schedule Friday night.
“That’s strictly my decision,” Gase told reporters Wednesday, via Tom D'Angelo of the Palm Beach Post. “I have a certain way I treat running backs that haven’t played for a while. I don’t like them taking any unnecessary hits in games where it might only be a couple of snaps for him.”
That sounds like a perfectly reasonable way to handle a soon-to-be 30-year-old running back who just recovered from a torn Achilles tendon, and has missed 23 games over the past three seasons.
Foster is battling with Jay Ajayi for snaps and the starting role. Ajayi will now have an early opportunity to jump ahead and lead the first-team offense. But Foster has four seasons with 1,200-plus rushing yards to fall back on, most recently in 2014.
The Rams Are (still) Trying to Utilize Tavon Austin's Skill Set
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The Los Angeles Rams thought so highly of wide receiver Tavon Austin that they jumped up to grab him in the 2013 draft, trading three picks to the Buffalo Bills.
He was supposed to be a dynamic threat, and a game-changing weapon who operated with a joystick in the open field. More importantly, he was supposed to grow into the Rams' offensive centerpiece.
Austin is now entering his fourth season, and the Rams are still waiting.
A routine of sorts has developed around Austin every offseason, and every August around this time. There's constant buzz because of his speed that resulted in a blazing time of 4.34 seconds in the 40-yard dash during Austin's combine appearance. Then there's also chatter about Austin becoming the focal point of the offense, and touches being orchestrated for him.
It's all part of the much-needed effort to make the Rams' offensive speedometer climb. And ESPN.com's Steve Dilbeck says this offseason isn't breaking the usual routine so far.
"The Rams are trying to open up the offense even more this summer to utilize his unique skills, and Austin is naturally very receptive," Dilbeck wrote.
Austin averaged 9.1 yards per reception in 2015. But his 53 receptions led the team, and his 473 total receiving yards put him only narrowly behind tight end Jared Cook (the team leader with 481 yards).
There's a mutual need here between player and team. The Rams desperately need Austin to thrive so they have a more diverse offense that can support rookie quarterback Jared Goff. And just as importantly, needing to give second-year running back Todd Gurley 873 carries (slight exaggeration?) isn't ideal.
Austin needs the Rams, too. He needs them to somehow show the NFL he's not a gimmick before his rookie contract expires.
Ladarius Green Will Be Back...sometime?
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Let's end with another dose of depressing injury news. Because really, it can't be a day of training camp if many tales of bone and muscle dread don't dance around under the August sun, threatening to keep key players out into September.
For the grand finale we turn to Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Ladarius Green, who has barely been spotted in his new colors yet. The Steelers signed the young and gifted pass-catcher with drool-inducing athletic ability to replace Heath Miller, who retired this past offseason. Green finished 2015 on the injured reserve due to an ankle issue that eventually required surgery and two inserted plates.
That doesn't sound all that comfortable, but Green wouldn't be the first player to perform at a high level with metal in his body. The problem, though, is that procedure occurred eight months ago now, and he still isn't able to plant and cut hard.
That update came from ESPN.com's Jeremy Fowler at the beginning of training camp. Now nearly two weeks later head coach Mike Tomlin isn't providing any further update or optimism. At the end of Wednesday's practice he said only that Green is "still on PUP" according to Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
There's still plenty of time for Green's plate-filled ankle to recover. But it's deeply troubling that he's not at least making noticeable progress yet. Especially for a team set to play its season without wide receiver Martavis Bryant, and running back Le'Veon Bell will also likely be out for several games pending the appeal of his suspension.
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