NFL Training Camps 2015: Updates, Rumors and Analysis for August 6

There are a lot of things that NFL teams try to accomplish during training camp.

Get veteran players ready for the grind that is the regular season. Get rookie players acclimated to the NFL. And most importantly, get through all of that without suffering a catastrophic injury.

The Houston Texans have already fallen prey to that last one, with tailback Arian Foster set to undergo surgery Friday to repair a torn groin muscle. At least half of Foster's 2015 campaign, and all of the Texans' chances of contending in the AFC South—gone.

Foster's injury is the most severe, but he's far from the only big name spending more time on the trainer's table than the practice field.

Here's the latest on those injuries and more, with a look around the NFL's training camps on Thursday.

Matthews out Indefinitely with Balky Knee

Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

This time of year, usually when a player gets hurt you'll hear a lot of "it's no big deal" with some "we're just being cautious" and "he'll be back in a few days" sprinkled in.

In the case of Green Bay Packers outside linebacker Clay Matthews, there's been plenty of the first two. But the lack of a timetable on that last one is starting to raise a few eyebrows.

Matthews has yet to practice this week with soreness in his knee, but according to Tadd Halslop of the Sporting News, head coach Mike McCarthy insisted that he's not concerned about the 29-year-old:

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Coach Mike McCarthy wasn't able to offer Sporting News a timetable for the 29-year-old's return — or any injured player, for that matter — but he stressed the team is "just being smart with him." Matthews' soreness began Saturday. He sat out Monday and Tuesday before the Packers' off day Wednesday.

"

Yes, it still early. And it's not like Matthews doesn't know what to do once the game starts.

But Matthews was on the sidelines again on Thursday, and it's the vague and nagging injuries that can cause players, coaches and fans alike the most sleepless nights.

Bad teams bound with optimism this time of year. Good teams freak out a little.

It's the circle of NFL life.

Bengals Hopeful on Burfict

Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

Of course, compared to Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict, Matthews has it easy.

After a breakout 2013, Burfict's 2014 was a nightmare even H.P. Lovecraft would have shuddered at. Multiple concussions, followed by a mystery injury that eventually required microfracture surgery.

The "M" word is about as bad it gets where sports injuries are concerned, but according to Geoff Hobson of the team's website, head coach Marvin Lewis remains optimistic that Burfict will be on the field for the beginning of the season:

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Lewis likes the way WILL backer Vontaze Burfict is rehabbing from his microfracture knee surgery. Defensive coordinator Paul Guenther has been talking about getting him on the practice field the week of the Aug. 29 preseason game in Chicago in the effort to get him ready for Oakland. Lewis would only say he’ll continue to challenge Burfict.

“He’s got to keep after it and stay after it,” Lewis said. “He’s got a certain time frame in mind. I see better than I hear.”

"

The Bengals have expressed that view all along, but the team also signed free agent A.J. Hawk and drafted TCU's Paul Dawson. Insurance policies are in place.

So at least their optimism isn't blinding.

Hot Mess in Hotlanta

Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

There weren't many NFL teams who struggled to run the ball more in 2014 than the Atlanta Falcons. The team ranked 24th in the league, averaging fewer than 94 yards a game.

Heading into training camp, the belief was that we'd see a spirited camp battle between second-year pro Devonta Freeman and rookie Tevin Coleman for the right to have first crack at jump-starting that lagging ground game.

Well...not so much.

With Coleman already on the shelf with a bum hamstring, Freeman apparently decided that wasn't fair. So as D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports, Freeman exited practice Thursday with a hamstring injury of his own.

Head coach Dan Quinn offered up the usual platitudes when asked about Freeman's status:

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Hopefully it is a quick turnaround for him to get back. He’s such a passionate competitor. You could see how disappointed that he was not to be able to finish today. Hopefully, we can get him back out there soon.

"

It may be nothing. Both young backs may be back on the field in a few days.

But right now they aren't. And it's awfully hard to settle a camp battle without combatants.

Antone Smith, anyone?

Concussion for Broncos' Derek Wolfe

Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

It hasn't been a good few months for Denver Broncos defensive end Derek Wolfe.

First, Wolfe got a four-game league-mandated time out after violating the NFL's performance-enhancing drugs policy. And now on top of that he's hurt.

Wolfe was carted off the practice field Thursday, and as Troy Renck of the Denver Post reports, it's been revealed that the fourth-year veteran will enter the league's concussion protocol after taking a hit to the head.

Usually, a training camp concussion isn't a big deal. It's unfortunate, to be sure, but there's usually plenty of time for a player to gain clearance well in advance of the regular season.

That is, unless that player has a history of such injuries. Or seizures.

You know, like Wolfe does.

Oakland Raiders linebacker Nick Roach had a history of head injuries when he suffered a concussion in the preseason a year ago.

Roach hasn't played football since.

Bad News for the Bad News Bears

Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

Man, the Chicago Bears just can't catch a break.

Only a few days after USA Today predicted that the Bears will have the worst record in the NFL in 2015, news broke that the team's first-round draft pick this year may be out a lot longer than anyone thought.

That was the latest from Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, who reported Thursday (via colleague Gregg Rosenthal) that wide receiver Kevin White is a candidate to open his first NFL season on the PUP list thanks to shin splints.

However, head coach John Fox indicated on the Jim Rome Show on CBS Radio (via Rich Campbell of the Chicago Tribune) that the Bears have a plan in place for the former West Virginia standout:

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He's mad at me right now because I won't let him practice. But we're going to be smart. He is going to be a viable part of our football team.

He had a shin injury — whether you can call it shin splints or his shin just flared up — it was probably due to overtraining for the combine, a lot of the things you do.

You can call it splints, call it whatever you want. You see him out here. It's not like we're covering up some awful injury where he's in a cast, a boot and crutches. We've got a plan for him.

"

Beleaguered Bears fans are just hoping that plan doesn't involve the team's shiny new toy being laid up until October.

DeSean Done DeSeparated His DeShoulder

Patrick Smith/Getty Images

Given that it's training camp, where optimism borders on delusion, Thursday was a day more befitting of Eeyore than Tigger around the NFL.

And DeSean Jackson of the Washington Redskins isn't going to be doing any bouncing around any time soon.

As ESPN's Dianna Marie Russini reports, the veteran wide receiver is expected to be sidelined "a few weeks" after suffering a Grade 2 separation of his shoulder.

The culprit that felled Washington's top pass-catcher?

A tackling sled, per Russini's colleague John Keim:

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Jackson injured his right shoulder at the end of a one-on-one drill; he had caught a pass and hit the ground and then slid into a sled. He lay on the ground for a couple of minutes before walking off on his own power, grimacing. But he remained on the sideline with his right shoulder wrapped.

"

Jackson's Week 1 availability isn't believed to be in question, but still...

As sled slide?

That's the luck of the Redskins in a nutshell.

Trouble in Paradise?

Rob Carr/Getty Images

It was bound to happen sometime.

For the past few years, the Seattle Seahawks have reaped the rewards of having a number of key young contributors on team friendly new-CBA rookie deals.

But the time has come to pay the piper. Earl Thomas. Richard Sherman. Kam Chancellor. Russell Wilson. All have been re-upped to lucrative extensions. Middle linebacker Bobby Wagner is next.

However, there are some players on the Seahawks who aren't pleased with their current deals—Chancellor included.

The Pro Bowl strong safety has been a no-show to this point in camp, and according to ESPN's Josina Anderson, the impasse between player and team isn't close to a resolution.

Anderson tweeted Thursday that "Chancellor's holdout could potentially go into the regular season if both sides can't reach middle ground," per a source.

It's a sticky situation for the Seahawks, but former NFL agent Joel Corry told Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times that a couple potential solutions could be in play:

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One option, Corry said, would be for the Seahawks to take some of Chancellor’s base salaries of 2016 ($5.1 million) and 2017 ($6.8 million) and guarantee some of them on the first day of the new league year “so that he is safer sooner rather than later.” That, Corry says, would help appease some of what may be at play here — Chancellor’s concern that the team might just release him before one of those seasons when his cap number begins to increase markedly ($6.1 million in 2016 and $8.1 million in 2017).

Another would be for the Seahawks to restructure Chancellor’s contract similarly to what the Vikings just did for Adrian Peterson in which they increased the am0unt of guaranteed money while decreasing the base salaries and cap hit, allowing each side to proclaim a victory of some sort. That method, however, poses some risk for the player in the future but does guarantee more money in the present.

"

Of course, Corry then said that were he the Seahawks, he'd do nothing.

It's far from time to panic, and holdouts stretching into the regular season are rare in today's NFL.

It isn't completely unheard of though, and that's what has fans of the two-time NFC champions uneasy right now.

Mingo a No-Go

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To say that the Cleveland Browns haven't exactly struck gold in the first round of recent NFL drafts would be an understatement. Last year's two first-rounders (cornerback Justin Gilbert and quarterback Johnny Manziel) were disasters as rookies.

Actually, that's also an understatement.

Now, it looks like the team's first pick in the 2013 NFL draft won't be able to disappoint the Browns any more, at least for a while.

Outside linebacker Barkevious Mingo, who has managed only seven sacks over his first two NFL seasons, underwent arthroscopic knee surgery Thursday to repair a torn meniscus, per ESPN's Pat McManamon.

Head coach Mike Pettine expressed sympathy for the young pass-rusher, who suffered a bruised lung as a rookie and a torn labrum a season ago:

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Especially a guy that works that hard, that is that quality a character, an individual that it's important to him and he puts the time in. Unfortunately, you have some guys that get some unfortunate injuries, but you root for guys like that to come back and come back and play well.

"

Now if we could just get some sympathy for Browns fans.

Because who knows how long it will be before they have something to root for?

There's always the 2016 draft, I guess.

"Jones-ing for (Cardale) Jones!"

Marqise Lee's Struggles Continue

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While Allen Robinson of the Jacksonville Jaguars shined as a rookie before getting injured, fellow first-year Jaguars wideout Marqise Lee had no such luck.

At least with the good part. And now Lee is once again on the shelf for a Jaguars team badly in need of help at the position.

As ESPN's Adam Schefter tweeted, "Lee strained his hamstring and will be out the next two weeks."

Two weeks may not put Lee's Week 1 status in jeopardy—until that is you consider that Lee hasn't been able to stay on the field in the NFL. And that he was already behind Allen Hurns on the team's depth chart.

The odds that changes anytime soon aren't looking good.

Ivory Making Big Impression in New York

Ronald C. Modra/Sports Imagery/Getty Images

Heading into training camp, the New York Jets appeared to have one of the more murky backfield situations in the NFL. Chris Ivory. Stevan Ridley. Zac Stacy. Bilal Powell.

Four backs. One ball.

However, according to Kieran Darcy of ESPN it appears Ivory, who led the Jets in rushing a year ago, would just as soon keep his role as the team's No. 1 tailback.

And that hasn't been lost on new head coach Todd Bowles:

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He’s as advertised. We knew he was tough and he could pound it up in there. But he cuts well, he’s got good vision [too].

He’s going to have to become a better receiver. He has decent hands. He just needs to concentrate a little more.

"

Now with Ridley still rehabbing from a torn ACL and Stacy looking like a longshot to even make the team, Ivory's biggest competition for the lead back role may well be the nagging injuries that have dogged the 27-year-old throughout his NFL career.

If Ivory can avoid those, he appears to have quite literally taken the ball and ran with it in the Big Apple.