NFL Training Camps 2015: Updates, Rumors and Analysis for August 3

S'mores. Fishing. Lightning bugs. Such are the joys of camping.

Well, unless it's the NFL. Then it's more like two-a-days, gassers and having strength and conditioning coaches scream at you while you attempt to dead lift a Buick.

That first set sounds like a bit more fun.

Of course, for NFL players training camp isn't supposed to be fun. It's preparation for the grind of the regular season to come, a regular season that will hopefully end with even more football to be played in the postseason.

So, with camps now open from Buffalo to Seattle and all points in between, here's a look around the league at Monday's latest scuttlebutt.

The Latest on Dontari Poe

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The Kansas City Chiefs were a playoff team two years ago, but after a litany of injuries laid waste to their defense last season, the Chiefs were unable to make it back-to-back playoff trips.

Well, apparently fumigation for the injury bug didn't work because training camp no sooner got underway than it was announced that nose tackle Dontari Poe would be sidelined indefinitely after undergoing surgery to repair a herniated disk in his back.

At the time of the injury, head coach Andy Reid said, per the Kansas City Star's Terez A. Paylor, that he remained hopeful Poe could still make it onto the field early in the regular season.

"

I think he stands a reasonable chance to (return) the early part of the season there, whether it’s the beginning or somewhere early in the season. You just have to see how he recovers there, but it’s a positive thing, and it’s something he needed to get done, as opposed to having that (injury) antagonize him through the season.

"

However, after consulting with a couple of outside physicians, Paylor speculated Monday that it's more likely than not Poe opens the season on the PUP list, which would cost the fourth-year beefeater at least six games.

And that's bad news for a Chiefs defense that ranked 28th in the NFL against the run in 2014.

Star Lotulelei Goes Down

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The Chiefs aren't the only team with problems in the trenches.

As ESPN.com's David Newton and the Associated Press reported (via ESPN.com), the Carolina Panthers are in a similar boat (or boot, as the case may be) with defensive tackle Star Lotulelei, who was carted from the field during Monday's practice session with soreness in his surgically repaired right foot.

Head coach Ron Rivera did his best to downplay the injury. "His foot got sore, and the best thing is Dr. Anderson happened to be in town, so we just gotta get him up and take a look at him," Rivera said. "We might be being overly protective about it."

Jonathan Jones of the Charlotte Observer, on the other hand, tweeted that "Lotulelei had a stress reaction in his surgically repaired right foot and will be re-evaluated 'in a few weeks.'"

When asked about the injury and when he might return, Lotulelei, who tallied 27 stops and two sacks a year ago, said simply, "I don't know," per the ESPN.com report.

The news at least gets a bit better where batterymate Kawann Short is concerned. The third-year pro has been sidelined to this point in camp by back spasms, but Rivera told ESPN.com that Short should be back at practice any day now.

The Jason Pierre-Paul Saga Rolls On

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We'll stick with the injuries and along the defensive line with a look at the latest on the most bizarre NFL injury to come along in a while.

That would be the fireworks accident that reportedly cost New York Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul a finger, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter, and potentially tens of millions of dollars heading into a contract year.

As the Associated Press reported (via USA Today), Pierre-Paul finally spoke to the team about his injury. General manager Jerry Reese said in a radio interview that "it was a personal conversation, and I want to keep it private between him and I," but Reese also indicated that he's pulling for the 26-year-old:

"I wish Jason nothing but the best," he said. "It's a traumatic situation. It was an accident. My heart goes out to him. For a young man to have a traumatic event like that, it's life-changing for him. And I hope and pray for the best for him."

However, there was also some indication that the lack of communication between the two parties may well have been a matter of Pierre-Paul attempting to salvage some of that money that went flying out the window over Fourth of July weekend:

"

Reese said on WFAN in New York that he also has spoken to Pierre-Paul's agent. Pierre-Paul has yet to sign his franchise tag tender, worth $14.8 million for 2015. Should he wind up on the non-football injury list once he signs it, the Giants would not be liable to pay him as long as he is on that list.

"

Well, at least the two sides are talking. That's something, right?

Travaris Cadet Turning Heads

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And now for some news concerning the New England Patriots that doesn't involve air pressure.

You're welcome.

With both Stevan Ridley and Shane Vereen departing the team in free agency, the Patriots are left with holes galore to fill in the ground game. The Pats have LeGarrette Blount to handle the between-the-tackles bruising, but the Patriots need someone to step up and claim Vereen's role as the passing-down back.

According to Mike Reiss of ESPN.com, fourth-year pro Travaris Cadet may be doing just that: "Still an unknown in the all-important area of pass protection, the former Saints running back catches the ball well (e.g. Friday TD in back left-hand corner of end zone) and could have a significant role on special teams."

It's still early, and even should Cadet win the job, he'll be on a short leash (this is Bill Belichick we're talking about after all). But it's still a positive bit of news for fans in Beantown.

It puts some air back in their sails, so to speak.

Kevin White Still in Limbo

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With Brandon Marshall now gone, the Chicago Bears drafted West Virginia's Kevin White in the first round of the 2015 NFL draft, hopeful that White and Alshon Jeffery could become the same sort of dynamic pass-catching duo that Jeffery and Marshall were.

Well, so far that plan has been put on indefinite hold.

As Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune reported, Bears head coach John Fox indicated on Monday that White "is making progress" in his recovery from a shin injury, but Fox failed to offer any timetable for the rookie's return to action.

Missing these camp reps doesn't mean the sky is falling. After all, Odell Beckham Jr. missed training camp and the preseason last year with a bum hamstring, and once he hit the field, that didn't appear to matter much.

Still, that fact that there's no return date set for an injury Fox stated has already cost White about six weeks also doesn't exactly inspire cartwheels.

Geno Smith Is PERFECT

Julie Jacobson/Associated Press

OK, so that might be pushing it.

But still, according to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.com, one of the storylines early in training camp for the New York Jets has been the passes that quarterback Geno Smith hasn't been completing...

...to defenders: "So far, Smith has had some nice moments in camp practices. Fitzpatrick, who was acquired in a trade during the offseason, has shown some of the veteran qualities that have allowed the seventh-round pick in 2005 to remain in the NFL for 11 seasons."

Those "nice moments" have included the majority of the first-team reps and a grand total of zero interceptions over the first four days of Jets' camp.

There's a big difference between not making bad throws in practice and keeping your composure when pass-rushers are in your face, but for a Jets team with a giant green question mark hanging over football's most important position this is welcome news indeed.

Bustin Gilbert

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If you asked 100 NFL pundits who the biggest bust of the first round of the 2014 NFL draft is to date, the leading vote-getter would probably be Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel.

And it's a testament to the personnel savvy on display at the Mistake By the Lake that the No. 2 vote-getter would likely be the Browns' other first-round pick last year.

That would be Oklahoma State cornerback Justin Gilbert, who played so, um, well as a rookie that the Browns overpaid veteran free agent Tramon Williams to start next to Joe Haden.

Now, not only is Gilbert out of the starting lineup, but he may be out of the nickel too.

That's the latest from Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon-Journal, who reported that Gilbert has been running behind fellow second-year pro (and fourth-round pick) Pierre Desir.

And secondary coach Jeff Hafley indicated that the move is much more than just a motivational ploy:

"

Why was Pierre out there first today? Because he earned it, and that’s how we’re going to be in the room. Whoever earns it is going to be who goes out [there first] whether it’s with the twos, if Tramon takes a day off, it’s with the ones. That could change tomorrow. It could’ve changed halfway through practice. But when you create competition, you got to be fair, and whoever earns it is going to be the next guy in. And Pierre earned it today, so today he got the nod.

"

Maybe the Browns should let Kevin Costner run the draft room in 2016.

Just a thought.

Stop the Presses

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Darren McFadden is hurt!

I know—it's quite the revelation.

Still, despite the fact that McFadden being injured is like water being wet (pretty much always), Dallas Cowboys team owner Jerry Jones told Charean Williams of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that the eighth-year veteran's perpetually pulled hamstrings don't have the team concerned:

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I am disappointed, but I understand. I would rather him be working through that problem now than three or four weeks from now. With that group, we’ve got to keep the Giants in mind.

That’s natural that it could cause an inordinate concern, because that has plagued him. But I’m not worried. Because it has happened, I’m thankful it’s happening right now. The plan for these guys is to be out there against the Giants. We know they have to get ready. There’s no trying to circumvent that. But everything I see, he should be ready.

"

It's still too early to panic (OK, it's Darren McFadden—go ahead and panic) about a Dallas ground game that was among the league's best last year, especially since it's Joseph Randle who appears to be tightening his grip on the starting job at tailback.

However, when all those pundits and fans rolled their eyes when Jones said to reporters all those times in recent months that the Cowboys run game would be fine with Randle and McFadden as opposed to DeMarco Murray?

Yeah. This is why.