Starters … and controversies … start to emerge in Week 2 of the NFL preseason, which has a lot to capitalize upon after a strong opening.
Sunday school is technically back in session.
The countdown to the 2026 NFL kick off continues in full swing this weekend and it re-enters familiar territory: fans will return to their usual days of worship by the end as the league plays on Sunday for the first time this season, bookending a week of action that kicked off on Thursday.
The defending champion Seattle Seahawks head south to take on the Tennessee Titans in that Sunday game, the closer of Week 2 preseason action going down across the football-loving nation.
Most of the games this time around, however, take place on Saturday, getting in one last takeover before the college game starts to foot the bill with Week 0 arriving next week. What should fans keep an eye on?
What To Watch For During Week 2 of the NFL Preseason
2025 Bo Nix.
— Football Performances (@NFLPerformances) August 4, 2026
You’re telling me this is the 17th best QB? pic.twitter.com/oDsI9Er7LY https://t.co/R1dzWVyPk5
Nix It Up
While the concept of a preseason “dress rehearsal” has mostly gone the way of the dodo, Week 2 of the revamped preseason schedule is perhaps the closest thing we have left to a regular season sneak preview in the summer.
The Denver Broncos will engage in such a process when they let Bo Nix back on the field for the first time since an ankle injury in the AFC Divisional playoff essentially derailed their Super Bowl chances. His unofficial return will come against the Green Bay Packers as part of late Friday action. Time will tell if he takes the field with new presumed top target Jaylen Waddle but it should be a worthy experiment of exactly where his ankle stands coming into a vital tour on the Rockies’ timeline. Nix is expected to get about 14 snaps on Friday depending on Denver’s offensive fortunes.
NEW: Buccaneers EDGE Jack Pyburn and 15 others have been granted a TRO for a fifth year of College Football, @PeteNakos reports.
— On3 (@On3) August 19, 2026
Pyburn posted 2 sacks in Tampa Bay’s last preseason game. https://t.co/ig9JbrwsGC pic.twitter.com/ByK5y4W3rq
Back to School?
The roaring 20s of college sports have provided equal bits of prosperity and absurdity. One of the new twists of the latter may provide observers a rare reason to unironically tune into the final snaps of preseason games.
Less than 10 days before the 2026-27 major college season kicks off, a Louisiana state court ruling in a 33-athlete lawsuit against the NCAA, one that affords members of the high school class of 2022 a fifth-year of eligibility, has allowed the bizarre phenomenon of NFL players entering the collegiate transfer portal.
Undrafted Cleveland TE Dae’Quan Wright was the first to engage in such a move and the list also includes Tampa Bay defensive preseason hero Jack Pyburn. More will undoubtedly seek out their options as professional rosters start to whittle their way toward the magic number of 53.
The happenings will likely have observers keeping a close eye on late snap counts: if a developmental player sees his playing time lacking, only an NCAA court win is apparently stopping him from going back to school for a fifth season. Players in the portal is just the latest creature to emerge from the Pandora’s Box that is college sports in the 2020 and time will tell how, if at all, it affects the increasingly futile exercise that is the preseason.
Encore, Encore
Fortunately, the league doesn’t have to worry about certain rookies being seduced by the allure of college. The week started off with a rollercoaster outing from Fernando Mendoza, who recovered well enough from an egregious pick-six in Las Vegas’ Thursday visit to Houston.
Mendoza’s fellow rookies Drew Allar and Ty Simpson will look to prove that their early success wasn’t beginner’s luck: Allar and the Pittsburgh Steelers host the New York Jets on Friday before Simpson and the Los Angeles Rams face the New Orleans Saints in the Saturday afternoon slate.
Ty Simpson couldn’t miss in his Rams debut vs. the Chiefs Yesterday 🎯🔥
— Football Performances (@NFLPerformances) August 16, 2026
21/25, 190 PYDS, 2 PTD, 0 INT, 125.0 Rating pic.twitter.com/FtEbxTheIb
The relatively early selections of Allar and Simpson raised eyebrows at the time of their selections but benefitted from the instant gratification of exhibition excitement. Now comes the hard part: building upon it. With Allar expected to give way to Will Howard in the starting slot on Friday, equally intriguing is the continued work of Cade Klubnik, who showed enough promise in last week’s unofficial debut to grant eternally pessimistic Jets fans some semblance of hope under center.
Those rookies throwers won’t be the be the only young guns thrown into the proverbial aerial fire: the chances of professional redemption are dwindling for Anthony Richardson (Indianapolis) and Shedeur Sanders (Cleveland), while the play clock might have already expired on J.J. McCarthy (Minnesota). Sunday’s primetime game should be an interesting landmark for Cam Ward and the Tennessee offense.
BAH GAWD THAT’S BROCK RECHSTEINER’S MUSIC!#Saints and #Cowboys in another huge fight.
— NOF (@nofnetwork) August 18, 2026
Wait for the slam at 0:17: pic.twitter.com/hDt71jfnbC
Fight Club
Post-whistle get-togethers at NFL training camps provide cheap thrills but tensions boiled over at a series of joint practices this week.
Extracirriculars between the Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints yielded six figures in fines. While the world will have to wait to see if tensions carry over to the two sides’ series finale, patience won’t be required to see if there’s any love lost between the Miami Dolphins and New York Giants, who turned the latter’s practice facility into a de facto boxing ring prior to their Saturday showdown.
Unlike the gridiron’s icy counterpart, players can’t be charged five minutes for fighting, so it appears that fines will increase until morale improves. The proceeds from the Dallas-New Orleans relations set a new record for financial penalties incurred during a training camp fracas, more than doubling what the Giants and Chicago Bears incurred in August 2024. What happens in these coming sequels could be observed by the league, which could make the transfer to individual fines — ones that could come at the cost of games, if players aren’t careful — if the lack of pleasantries carry over to the game field.
De’Zhaun Stribling’s preseason start is truly unbelievable.
— Ryan Paganetti (@RyanPaganetti) August 21, 2026
He’s the first player in at least 20 years to total 11 catches within the first 20 minutes of two consecutive preseason games.
The next closest:
• Dez Bryant, 2013 Cowboys: 10
• Demaryius Thomas, 2014 Broncos: 10
•… pic.twitter.com/GKrOZVbwHr
Fantasy Land
Fantasy football has become the (slightly healthier) three-hour smoke break of the sports fan: it’s an excuse to watch games one would otherwise carry no conventional interest in, the more pure form of gridiron escapism. This preseason has offered several buried names that perhaps wouldn’t make the rounds in usual fantasy circles, namely those freshmen who found their NFL calling during the latter days of the NFL Draft.
Players are getting to the know the name of De’Zhaun Stribling, the San Francisco rookie that picked up four more receptions in the 49ers’ successful California civil war with the Los Angeles Chargers on Thursday. Aller wasn’t alone in his rookie prowess in Pittsburgh, finding big gains from Germie Bernard and Kaden Wetjen in his stellar debut. Baltimore may have found its next offensive weapon in Ja’Kobi Lane. Everyone wants the honor of seeing the band before it got big and there’s a prime opportunity to do that during Week 2 of the preseason.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags
