It’s the third week of training camp and things are getting heated as teams share the turf in joint practices. We’ve also seen a few injury updates — some good, some bad — and updated quarterback competitions as clubs continue to gear up for the 2023 season.
Here’s a roundup of news and notes from around the league.
Tensions run high as teams tackle joint practices
Wednesday saw emotions run high as the New York Jets hosted the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a day that seemed to feature as many brawls as it did drills — including a big midfield mess that broke out between members of Tampa’s offence and New York’s defence.
Bucs wide receiver Mike Evans, describing the day, said it was the most fights he’d ever seen in a joint practice.
One brawl resulted in Jets cornerbacks coach Tony Oden being taken to hospital after being on the receiving end of “some friendly fire,” per head coach Robert Saleh, who said “everything’s fine” and stated Oden was just taken in for precautionary reasons.
Elsewhere in the NFL, Los Angeles Rams running back Cam Akers got into it with Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby during their joint practice Wednesday in California.
(To save you a pair of Google searches, Akers stands under six feet and weighs in at 212 lbs compared to the XXL-sized Crosby at six-foot-five and 255 lbs. Yikes.)
Apparently, Akers took exception to Crosby punching the ball out of his hands post-play. He later took exception to Crosby’s description of the events, too:
Akers was sent to his room the locker room post-scuffle, while Crosby served his time out on the sideline and watched the rest of practice from there.
Thursday brought a few more heated meetings in L.A.
One Raider who wasn’t in the fray? Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo:
(Can’t blame him, either!)
Things boiled over in Green Bay, too, when a bunch of Packers clashed with several Patriots in a scrum that saw a helmet soar.
The Jets and Buccaneers, Rams and Raiders, and Packers and Patriots all face one another Saturday. Could be some fireworks there in all three markets.
Jets welcome back Hall
Second-year running back Breece Hall, who was on pace for a really strong rookie year before suffering a season-ending injury last season, returned to Jets practice on Thursday. And he looked fast.
He joins an RB group that now includes veteran and former Viking Dalvin Cook, who signed with the club this week.
Ravens lose star cornerback to start season
The Baltimore Ravens have fallen prey to the injury bug more than most these past few seasons, so Wednesday’s news that star cornerback Marlon Humphrey will miss the rest of training camp following foot surgery feels familiar in the worst way.
The good news is, it doesn’t look like he’s in for a long absence ahead. Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said the ailment Humphrey has been dealing with — one that hasn’t even held him out of practices so far at camp — isn’t new, but rather a lingering issue that both the team and player determined should be addressed before the season got going.
The bad news is, while Humphrey’s exact rehab timeline isn’t known right now, all signs point to him being sidelined for Baltimore’s first big divisional battle of the season: A Week 2 matchup against Ja'Marr Chase and the Cincinnati Bengals. (Baltimore kicks off the season against Houston in Week 1.)
The pressure will be on fellow defensive star Roquan Smith and the rest of the unit. Smith told reporters on Wednesday he and his teammates will try to pick up the slack while Humphrey is out, but the team may also be turning to the free agency market to address the roster void:
Dolphins suffer big scare as Armstead goes down
You can exhale now, Miami Dolphins fans.
Thursday brought a frightening sight as star offensive tackle Terron Armstead was carted off the field with what appeared to be a right leg injury.
Following the session, Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill told reporters with a laugh that when he checked on Armstead, the tackle reassured him, “I’m straight, man. I’m just old.” Armstead also tweeted out a short video of himself walking around shortly after, and texted NFL Network reporter Cameron Wolfe an update, too.
Phew. You really can’t understate the importance of Armstead to this Dolphins lineup. As the great Mina Kimes pointed out, no other non-QB has as big an impact on Miami’s performance than him.
Clock ticking in Tampa Bay for Buccaneers to name starter
Three weeks into camp, the Buccaneers’ ongoing quarterback battle has yet to yield a clear No. 1.
While sure, a silver-lining viewpoint could read this situation between Baker Mayfield and Kyle Trask as a healthy competition that can only drive up each player’s will to win the job, it’s worth wondering if the coaching staff is doing its squad a disservice by waiting so long to name their guy.
It can’t be easy, after all, to take over for the GOAT. Whoever starts Week 1 will need all the first-team reps he can get — and so will his weapons.
Bucs lose Gage for season, setting stage for rookie Palmer to step up
A lot of Buccaneers content in today’s roundup, but it’s been an eventful week for the Tampa Bay team — and not necessarily for good reason.
The team confirmed on Thursday that it will be without wide receiver Russell Gage for the entire 2023 season after he suffered a non-contact knee injury during Wednesday’s practice. He was emotional as he was carted off the field, with plenty of speculation right away suggesting he wouldn’t be back any time soon.
The next man up for the Bucs could be rookie Trey Palmer, a sixth-round pick out of LSU and Nebraska. He was in fine form Thursday against none other than reigning defensive rookie of the year Sauce Gardner in the clubs’ joint practice with the Jets:
(And yes, that was Trask throwing him the ball.)
Stroud to start pre-season game vs. Dolphins
While the Buccaneers may be the last team still holding a conventional QB competition between veteran candidates, the Houston Texans still haven’t named their No. 1 as they’re still determining whether second-overall pick C.J. Stroud is ready for the big gig.
We’ll get closer to an answer on Saturday when Stroud starts for the Texans in pre-season action against the Miami Dolphins. It won’t be his first time taking NFL snaps — he saw very limited action in Houston’s first pre-season outing last Thursday against New England, and struggled. He completed two of four pass attempts for 13 yards and gave up an interception. Davis Mills saw more action that game — a 20-9 Houston victory to open its pre-season — and registered nine passes on 12 attempts for 99 yards and one touchdown while Case Keenum threw 14 passes and completed nine for 79 yards and one TD.
Lions lose WR Williams to injury
The Detroit Lions lost another wide receiver on Thursday, with head coach Dan Campbell announcing the team is expected to be without Jameson Williams for the remainder of training camp. They’re already without Amon-Ra St. Brown due to an ankle issue.
Lucky for the Lions, St. Brown is expected to rejoin the club at practice next week. It won’t be such a quick turnaround for Williams, however. The second-year WR is already facing a six-game suspension for violating the league’s gambling policy, which means the next time we see him on the football field will be Week 7.
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