NFL Training Camps 2016: Updates, Rumors and Analysis for August 18

We're in the thick of it now: the tall weeds of the NFL preseason.

The second week of exhibition games begins Thursday evening. Some clubs have already broken camp for the year, and many others will be soon. Teams are starting to get a feel for who's staying and who will soon be visiting with The Turk.

And at least one veteran player for the Los Angeles Rams is busily trying to warn the world that the mermaids are among us.

With all the action that is taking place in camps around the NFL, there's no shortage of player updates, speculation and rumors to discuss.

So let's make with the discussing.

Siemian to Start for Broncos Versus 49ers

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There wasn't a lot of separation in the Denver Broncos' first preseason game where the battle to start at quarterback is concerned. Both veteran Mark Sanchez and second-year pro Trevor Siemian played relatively well in a shutout win over the Chicago Bears.

The team is going to flip the script a bit in an effort to get a different perspective on the competition. As Mike Klis of 9News tweeted, head coach Gary Kubiak indicated that Siemian will draw the start against the San Francisco 49ers this weekend.

Per Cameron Wolfe of the Denver Post, Sanchez looked good in a joint practice session Wednesday. "Maybe it was facing the 49ers defenders instead of his own," Wolfe wrote, "but he looked more accurate and confident in his command of the offense Wednesday. It showed in his production."

However, Siemian also shined. "He split first-team repetitions with Sanchez and took a majority of them early in practice," Wolfe wrote. "Siemian threw a deep pass on a rope to Emmanuel Sanders for a touchdown during team drills."

Siemian told Eric Goodman and Les Shapiro of Afternoon Drive that while both players want to start under center, the competition has been friendly:

"

Mark's been awesome the whole way through. One thing I probably haven't said enough is I've learned a ton from Mark. He's played quite some time in this league and it's a good opportunity for me to pick up some things on him and he's been great. Paxton as well, so we've got a good group and we have a lot of fun together.

"

Saturday's performances will carry quite a bit of weight for both signal-callers, and Denver fans will no doubt await the announcement of the starter for the third "dress rehearsal" preseason game.

The smart money is on Sanchez. He was slightly better against the Bears, and love him or hate him he has started 78 more NFL games than Siemian—including two AFC title tilts.

Ladarius Green Headed to IR?

Associated Press

The Pittsburgh Steelers signed tight end Ladarius Green in free agency in the hopes the fifth-year pro could more than replace the retired Heath Miller.

Now it's starting to look like the Steelers are going to need a replacement for Green.

He still has yet to take the field for the Steelers in camp. Originally, it was believed his absence was the result of offseason ankle surgery. But that's given way to reports that recurring headaches have sidelined Green, per Aditi Kinkhabwala of NFL.com—the result of concussions suffered while he was with the San Diego Chargers.

Green told reporters in March that the concussions were misdiagnosed by the San Diego medical staff, in that they weren't really concussions at all, per Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Green told Kaboly the pair of concussions he was diagnosed with in 2015 were "sinus issues." When Kaboly asked Green just how many concussions he had in 2015, Green replied: "It was the same thing. The sinuses. They didn't know about it. It's fine now. It wasn't anything that held me back or anything."

It might not have held Green back last season, but something is keeping him off the field now. In fact, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com went so far as to say "don't be surprised if he starts the season on injured reserve."

With tailback Le'Veon Bell suspended for the first four games of the 2016 season, this is exactly the sort of preseason drama on offense the Steelers don't need.

Potentially Serious Knee Injury for Kyle Fuller

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It's deja vu all over again for the Chicago Bears. Last year, the team spent much of the preseason waiting for rookie wide receiver Kevin White to get past a reportedly minor leg injury. That injury turned out to be a stress fracture that cost White his entire rookie season.

In 2016, it's third-year cornerback Kyle Fuller who just can't get onto the field, this time thanks to a knee injury that's dogged him since the spring. And just like with White, the Bears are coming around to the idea that it may be quite a while before he does.

At least, that's what general manager Ryan Pace told WGN Radio: 

"

He’s kind of had this nagging injury that we thought maybe he could play with, but as time went on, you could tell it was affecting his movement skills. So for us, last week, it was like, all right guys, let’s press pause, let’s take another look at this, and make sure we’re exploring all our options."

And that’s what we’ve done. So he’s been getting evaluated over the last couple of days and I’m optimistic that’s something we can get a hold of to make him a better player.

"

Fuller was something of a revelation as a ball-hawking rookie in 2014, but his played tailed off a year ago—leading to increased pressure in 2016 to show a coaching staff and front office that didn't draft him that he should be a part of the team's long-term plans.

That's hard to do from the trainer's table, and it's looking more and more like a Bears secondary that is already lacking for depth could be starting the season short-handed.

Charles in Charge in Kansas City

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It's not all depressing news where injuries are concerned. In fact, in Kansas City, it's quite the opposite.

When the Kansas City Chiefs activated running back Jamaal Charles off the PUP list, running backs coach Eric Bieniemy told Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star that the team wasn't going to rush the 29-year-old back into action.

“He’s doing good—I’m not asking him to come out here and run for 300 yards today,” running backs coach Eric Bieniemy said. “It’s a process, and we just want to gradually get him back going.”

However, it appears that things in that regard are going better than expected. On Thursday, Matt Derrick of the Topeka Citizen-Journal tweeted that Charles' workload in drills appears to be increasing. "Charles expanding the workload, out there for nine-on-seven drills," Derrick wrote. "Seem to be giving him work faster than expected."

The Chiefs are no doubt pleased with Charles' progress, but the team isn't going to push its luck too much. Per Adam Teicher of ESPN.com, Charles won't play Saturday when the Chiefs face the Los Angeles Rams.

Kansas City can only hope that Charles' rehab goes as well in 2016 as it did back in 2012. That season, he returned from a torn ACL to rush for a career-best 1,509 yards, gaining a robust 5.3 yards per carry.

Cameron Looking Brate in Tampa

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Over his first two seasons in the NFL, Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Cameron Brate could best be described as an afterthought. He spent most of his rookie season on the practice squad. That's where he opened the 2015 campaign as well, before being released, signed by New Orleans and then reacquired by Tampa.

Brate won't be leaving again anytime soon. In fact, it looks like he might just be the starter when Tampa opens the 2016 season in Atlanta.

That's the opinion of Jenna Laine of ESPN.com, who wrote that Brate and quarterback Jameis Winston have developed a rapport: 

"

Brate has shown great chemistry with Winston and been one of the most consistent pass-catchers in training camp, receivers included. He's not going to get much yardage after contact, but he's still shown he can consistently catch passes in traffic and in the end zone, along the sideline (he's done a great job keeping his feet in bounds) and is terrific on back-shoulder fades.

"

Head coach Dirk Koetter talked up Brate while speaking to the Associated Press (h/t WFLA.com). “He’s 6’5", he can run, he’s smart, he’s coachable, he’s consistent, (and) he knows where to be and when to be there. That’s important. Guys that don’t make mistakes. And then when you get a chance to make plays, you’ve got to make them, and he does.”

Is Brate as athletic as Austin Seferian-Jenkins? Hardly. But he's a big target with soft hands who knows his role.

And unlike Seferian-Jenkins, Brate has stayed on the field.

I hear that's important.

"Wait and See" on Josh Doctson

Associated Press

OK, back to the depressing news. And if there's one place you can count on depressing news in 2016, it's the nation's capital.

In the first round of the 2016 NFL draft, the Washington Redskins looked to bolster the passing-game options for quarterback Kirk Cousins with the addition of speedy TCU wideout Josh Doctson.

Or at least he'd be speedy if the Redskins could get him on the field.

OK, so that's not entirely accurate. Doctson has been doing some side work as he rehabs a foot injury. But head coach Jay Gruden told Master Tesfatsion of the Washington Post (via Conor Orr of NFL.com) he isn't sure when Doctson might be activated from the PUP list.

"I don't have any expectations for him whatsoever," Gruden said. "I'm just trying to listen to what the trainers are telling me and how he's feeling. I don't know. We'll just have to wait and see. He's going to progress slowly, and we'll take our time with him. When he feels right and the time is right, we'll push him hard and let him practice."

On one hand, with DeSean Jackson, Jamison Crowder and Pierre Garcon ostensibly ahead of Doctson on the depth chart, there's no real reason to rush him. And missing almost all of camp and the preseason (not to mention the first month of the 2014 season) didn't so much bother Odell Beckham Jr.

But as I mentioned earlier, Kevin White offers the flip side of this scenario, and it's hard to deny that Doctson's early development is suffering a setback.

Kaepernick to Sit Again This Week

Associated Press

Speaking of depressing, I wonder what's going on with the San Francisco 49ers?

What? Oh, they've won five Super Bowls. Boo-hoo.

Anyway, the big story in training camp for the 49ers this summer has been the competition at quarterback between Colin Kaepernick and Blaine Gabbert.

But it's getting hard to call it a competition, since only one of the quarterbacks is actually competing.

As Matt Maiocco of CSN Bay Area reported, Kaepernick will sit out Saturday's game against the Denver Broncos. It's the second straight week he'll be on the sideline.

The absence is being attributed to a "dead arm," and while Kaepernick was limited to some light throwing on the side Thursday, head coach Chip Kelly insisted all is well with the former Super Bowl starter, per Maiocco:

"

We have a plan for him going forward. They’re easing him back into throwing right now. In talking to him, he said he feels really good about it. But we don’t want to throw him back out there and have a setback right now.

As we said before, from what we understand, it’s not a long-term thing. He’ll throw a little more today and see how he feels and continue to progress him and hopefully we can get him back full next week.

"

Kaepernick hasn't practiced in more than a week, and given that he was already considered the underdog in this contest after being benched for Gabbert last year, it's a safe bet that the latter will start the all-important "dress rehearsal" game next week.

Remind me again why the 49ers are paying Kaepernick nearly $12 million in base salary this year?

He must be really good at holding a clipboard.

Pats to Go Big in 2016?

Associated Press

Back in 2011, the New England Patriots made it all the way to Super Bowl XLVI in large part because of their two-pronged tight end attack of Rob Gronkowski and someone whose name isn't worth writing.

It looks like the Patriots may be taking a page from that playbook in 2016.

While breaking down the fantasy football prospects of Gronkowski and Martellus Bennett, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com made a startling observation: "It wouldn't be a surprise if the Patriots run more than 80 percent of their offensive snaps with both tight ends on the field."

That estimate might be hyperbolic. But Reiss' statement underscores that the Patriots do intend to make Bennett a big part of the offense.

While speaking with Zack Cox of NESN, head coach Bill Belichick talked up his latest offensive weapon.

“He’s a big player, he’s talented, blocks well, runs well, he has got skills in the passing game and the running game,” Belichick said. “I’d say there’s really not a whole lot that it looks like he can’t do. It looks like he can do pretty much everything you want a tight end to do. He’s smart, very smart."

Hey, for Belichick that's practically gushing.

It's not hard to see why he's excited. The New England wideouts are many things. "Big" isn't one of them. But with Bennett and Gronkowski on the field at the same time, Tom Brady will have a pair of big, athletic targets over the middle of the field—targets who will draw the safety help away from the wide receivers.

When Brady gets back in Week 5, the rest of the AFC East (and the AFC as a whole) is gonna get it.

He's going to be mad, and Bennett and Gronkowski give him excellent outlets to harness that anger.

Beware the Mermaids!

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This year's participant in the HBO series Hard Knocks is the Los Angeles Rams. La-La Land has a bit of a reputation for being "out there." But at least one newcomer to town was both excited and concerned about a move west...

Because of the mermaids.

As Alysha Tsuji of USA Today reported, veteran Rams defensive end William Hayes is a firm believer that mermaids are, how shall I say this, real.

In a preview teaser for this week's episode of Hard Knocks, Rams head coach Jeff fisher broke down Hayes' breakdown.

“Will Hayes absolutely believes and is totally convinced that there are mermaids and they do exist, OK," Fisher said. "As a matter of fact, I remember him getting really excited about the potential for moving out here because he knew he would be closer to mermaids here on the West Coast.”

But wait. This gets even better.

As former teammate Chris Long told ESPN.com's Nick Wagoner last year, while Hayes is all about mermaids, he isn't about to fall for all that nonsense about dinosaurs.

"He thinks archaeologists place bones underground like a parent would place Easter eggs," Long said. "They just planted them. It's some large conspiracy. He does not believe that dinosaurs ever existed and he thinks that mermaids are real. I love dinosaurs, so we have a big point of contention."

Those crafty archaeologists.

So, to sum it all up. Dinosaurs are totally fake. Mermaids are totally real.

And I totally could not think of a better way to end this article.