Catch up on all the key news, notes and quotes from the last week around NFL training camp, which is in full swing.
The first full week of NFL training camp is complete, and with it came a fresh wave of headlines and some degree of hype, hope or headaches for teams around the league.
Quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes and Daniel Jones are back in action and right on schedule for the season while star wide receiver Alec Pierce is not.
Two of the best running backs in the game, Jahmyr Gibbs and Bijan Robinson, are staging “hold-ins” for new contracts.
The San Francisco 49ers continue to face the worst injury luck but have reunited with a notable former fan favorite.
And the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a soap opera.
All that, and it’s still early August!
Top Storylines From Around NFL Training Camp
As we’ll do each week throughout the preseason, here is a recap of the biggest storyline of last week for each NFC team.
Arizona Cardinals
It’s the first week of camp and we’re already talking about Marvin Harrison Jr.’s drops — that’s not ideal, though at least he bounced back the next day.
Harrison was the No. 4 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft after a stellar college career at Ohio State. He was supposed to be a can’t-miss prospect — not a receiver with can’t-trust hands.
Harrison has yet to deliver on expectations, catching just 62 of 116 targets for 885 yards and 8 TDs as a rookie and 41 of 73 targets for 608 yards and 4 TDs last season while limited to 12 games by a variety of maladies.
Meanwhile, 2023 third-rounder Michael Wilson has been a revelation, breaking out with 78 catches for 1,006 yards and 7 TDs last year and looking more like the team’s WR1.
To his credit, Wilson has been outspoken in changing the narrative around his teammate, saying last week, “He’s probably the best player I’ve ever played with from a receiver standpoint. … When Marv’s healthy and he’s playing well and playing fast, he’s an All-Pro caliber player.”
Atlanta Falcons
Training camp has not gotten off to an ideal start for the Falcons, to say the least.
What is supposed to be one of the most competitive quarterback battles in the league has yet to even fully materialize.
High-profile free agent addition Tua Tagovailoa has been hindered by a sore back and didn’t get into any 11-on-11 practice periods until Monday while limited to just two series. Meanwhile, third-year QB Michael Penix Jr. hasn’t been cleared for 11-on-11 work yet coming off his 2025 season-ending knee surgery and remains limited to 7-on-7 periods.
Neither situation seems overly concerning but enough so that the Falcons felt the need to bring in veteran QB Cooper Rush.
The bigger concern is that Atlanta is installing a new offense under new head coach Kevin Stefanski and offensive coordinator Tommy Rees, while trying to figure out which quarterback is going to run it and these practices are valuable time lost while undrafted QB Jack Strand out of Minnesota State Moorhead has taken the bulk of 11-on-11 reps early in camp.
All the while, the team’s best player overall isn’t practicing at all despite being totally healthy.
Fourth-year star running back Bijan Robinson is staging a “hold-in” while being present for training camp but not taking part in drills or team activities while his representation and the team hammer out a new contract that is expected to reset the RB market.
Carolina Panthers
Unfortunately, the story of camp for the Panthers so far has been injuries.
Rookie wide receiver Chris Brazzell, the team’s third-round draft pick out of Tennessee who was expected to make an immediate impact, is set for season-ending surgery to repair a torn LCL in his left knee sustained on a non-contact play in a 7-on-7 drill.
And second-year outside linebacker Nic Scourton, who made eight starts and had 5 sacks as a rookie, tore his ACL on the first day of camp and will also have season-ending knee surgery.
It’s just the latest bad news on the injury front for Carolina, which is also expected to be without both starting offensive tackles in Taylor Moton (blood clot) and Ickey Ekwonu (knee) to start the season.
Chicago Bears
The story of camp for the Bears so far is also a frustrating one, in the way of secondary setbacks.
Nickel Kyler Gordon, who was limited to 3 games last season while twice being put on injured reserve with a groin injury, opened camp on the physically unable to perform list with a lingering calf injury.
Gordon signed a 3-year, $40-million extension with the Bears prior to last season.
Then the news got even worse Monday as the Bears’ big free agent addition, former Seahawks safety Coby Bryant (3 years, $40 million) injured his left knee and is expected to miss 8-10 weeks.
Bryant had been one of the defense’s top performers early in camp. His injury leaves the Bears’ secondary razor thin, with Cam Lewis expected to move over from filling in for Gordon at nickel to now fill in for Bryant at safety opposite first-round rookie Dillon Thieneman.
Dallas Cowboys
There is no drama in Dallas Cowboys camp at the moment — no, really.
Optimism seems to be as high as it’s been in years after the Cowboys used the draft, free agency and the trade market to upgrade their lagging defense while returning all the playmakers from an offense that ranked second in the NFL in yards (391.9 YPG) and seventh in scoring (27.7 PPG) last season.
Expectations are understandably high for the unit, and quarterback Dak Prescott isn’t shying away from them. Quite the opposite.
He’s coined the moniker “GOTI” — standing for “Greatest Offense There Is” — to describe the unit that features perhaps the best WR duo in the league in CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens, a high-volume tight end in Jake Ferguson (career-high 82 catches last season for 600 yards and 8 TDs) and a returning 1,200-yard rusher in Javonte Williams.
“We were close to some historic things last year. And when you have the guys [we have], why can’t we be? And just yet, let’s be the greatest offense there is,” Prescott said. “You’ve heard, ‘The Greatest Show on Turf,’ and all the other different nicknames. … Each and every one of them loved it or taken pride in it. And that’s as cool as anything, is to watch them take pride in and watch them talk about it and say it to each other. It’s the way that we’ve been practicing. We’re just going to keep pushing each other.”
Detroit Lions
Just like Robinson in Atlanta, Detroit’s star running back Jahmyr Gibbs is also not practicing by his own choice. After not being spotted at the Lions’ first three practices, Gibbs has at least been a spectator for the last two practices.
The fourth-year running back made some interesting comments to media on his way off the field, though, saying that “only time will tell” when he returns to practicing that his hold-in “is not about” a new contract.
That last part is curious as it’s hard to surmise any other reason he’d be sitting out of practices while healthy.
Gibbs was one of the best players in the league last year while rushing for 1,223 yards and 13 TDs and catching 77 passes for 616 yards and 5 scores. With the Lions trading away his backfield mate David Montgomery to the Texans, it was expected Gibbs would have an even larger role in the offense this year.
Green Bay Packers
There’s a reason NFL teams move on from proven, veteran kickers — to save money. And there’s a reason other teams pay a little extra for the peace of mind that comes from a having an experienced specialist.
The Packers moved on from Brandon McManus one year into a three-year, $15.5-million contract not just for the money but because McManus was a pedestrian 24 of 32 on field goals last season — including missing two field goals and an extra point in the team’s 31-27 playoff loss to the rival Bears.
So Green Bay instead went all in on rookie kicker Trey Smack, a sixth-round draft pick out of Florida who is the only kicker on the team’s roster presently. That might not be the case much longer.
Smack is off to a rough start in his first training camp. Sunday and Monday were the first two days the Packers kicked field goals in live team sessions, and the rookie is 8 for 13 through those practices.
Los Angeles Rams
The Super Bowl favorites are just going about their business with a relatively status-quo start to camp.
All signs point to Stetson Bennett earning the backup quarterback job behind reigning MVP Matthew Stafford and ahead of Ty Simpson, the No. 13 overall pick in the draft a few months ago. (Don’t get us started on that pick …)
Meanwhile, Aaron Donald Watch continues as the Rams wait to see if the three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year and future Hall of Fame defensive tackle chooses to come out of retirement and rejoin the team.
Minnesota Vikings
Look, if the Vikings want to act like there’s a wide-open quarterback competition between high-profile free agent addition Kyler Murray and J.J. McCarthy, that’s all well and good. If fans and media want to buy into that and act like there’s some unsettled decision here, go for it.
But not here.
While the two quarterbacks have mostly split reps evenly through the start of camp, it’s the start the camp. Don’t read too much into that.
There’s simply no scenario in which a healthy Murray sits behind McCarthy to open the season. The entire reason Murray is with the Vikings (and fired former general manage Kwesi Adofo-Mensah is not) is because of how clear it was to anyone inside or outside the team last season that Minnesota could not under any circumstance go into 2026 with McCarthy as its starting QB.
Plain and simple.
The most notable takeaway from camp so far, meanwhile, is the health of veteran left tackle Christian Darrisaw.
Limited to 17 games the last two seasons due to multiple ligament tears in his left knee sustained midway through the 2024 season and having lingering effects into 2025, Darrishaw proclaimed: “Feel the best I’ve felt in two years. … It’s just like night and day from how I came into the season and how I’m feeling now.”
New Orleans Saints
It took all of one practice into camp for the Saints to lose a key cog on their defense as defensive tackle Bryan Bresee, the team’s 2023 first-round pick, sustained a season-ending torn ACL in his knee.
Vernon Broughton, a 2025 third-round pick out of Texas who played just one game as a rookie before a season-ending hip injury, is the most likely next man up to fill Bresee’s void. That’s a big ask for the untested second-year player.
New York Giants
Optimism is growing for the Giants’ passing attack.
Star wide receiver Malik Nabers has been active in at least individual drills so far in camp, assuaging some concerns about his injured knee that required two surgeries to repair a torn ACL and damaged meniscus.
Still, he’s not cleared for full team activities and there remains no timeline as to when he might back onto the field this season.
“When I’m ready, I’m ready,” he told reporters.
“We’ve got a really good plan for him,” Giants general manager Joe Schoen said, per ESPN. “The medical staff has a really good plan for him, and we’re going to always say listen to the patients. So, we’re going to see how he reacts. We got a good plan in place, so as long as everything goes as planned, we’ll listen to Malik and his body. And, again, hopefully he’ll be ready and we’ll see how it plays out. But no predictions right now, just because we have a long way to go. Still a lot of camp.”
Nabers had 109 catches for 1,204 yards and 7 TDs as a rookie two years ago, and the Giants thin WR depth chart badly needs him to re-emerge as a star playmaker.
And then there’s Odell Beckham Jr., making his return to the Giants after a season away from the NFL and eight years after New York traded the 2024 NFL Offensive Player of the Year to Cleveland.
It’s hard to project how useful Beckham could be to the Giants considering he caught just 9 passes for 55 yards in nine games for the Dolphins in 2024, his last season in the league, or that he hasn’t had more than 565 yards in a season since 2019.
But 33-year-old (34 in November) receiver is giving fans a shot of nostalgia so far in camp.
Philadelphia Eagles
After a forgettable season for the Eagles offense, Jalen Hurts and Co. are turning the page with new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion bringing in his scheme and restocked receiving corps looking to make up for the departure of former WR1 A.J. Brown to the Patriots.
One early standout has been Dontayvion Wicks, whom the Eagles acquired in a trade with the Packers.
The fourth-year receiver was a complementary weapon for the Packers, catching 30 passes for 332 yards and 2 TDs in 14 game last season, but he could have a larger role for the Eagles as the rest of the unit behind DeVonta Smith comes into focus.
On the other side of the ball, the Eagles locked up one of their defensive stars in giving DT Jalen Carter a 4-year, $152-million contract extension last week that makes him the highest-paid defensive tackle in NFL history.
San Francisco 49ers
Significant injuries just always seem to be part of the narrative for the 49ers, and that’s the case again to start camp.
First, head coach Kyle Shanahan showed up with significant and still-visible injuries sustained in a head-on car crash in mid-July. He has been limited in his involvement in practice to start camp.
Then came the revelation that third-year wide receiver Ricky Pearsall, who had been limited to 20 games in two seasons since being drafted 31st overall in 2024, is now set to miss this season entirely as he undergoes knee surgery for a nagging PCL injury that dates back to last season after recent flare-ups and swelling raised heightened concerns.
Pearsall, who has flashed at times when healthy, ideally would have been the 49ers’ No. 2 WR behind free agent addition Mike Evans.
With his latest injury setback, San Francisco brought back a familiar face in free agent Deebo Samuel.
Samuel played his first six seasons for the 49ers before spending last year in Washington, catching 72 passes for 727 yards and 5 TDs.
Meanwhile, star tight end George Kittle looks to be recovering at an extraordinary pace from the torn Achilles tendon he injured in the playoffs last January.
Seattle Seahawks
A major emphasis of training camp for the reigning Super Bowl champions is installing and learning new offensive coordinator Brian Fleury‘s scheme.
With former OC Klint Kubiak now the head coach of the Raiders, Seattle replaced him with Fleury, who had been with Shanahan and the 49ers since 2019 in various roles, including as run game coordinator last season.
The early feedback has been to expect a lot of pre-snap motion with versatile alignments and a likelihood that the Seahawks will lean heavily on the run, despite losing Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III in free agency, replacing him with rookie Jadarian Price and the uncertain timeline for return of fellow RB Zach Charbonnet from the torn ACL he sustained in the divisional round of the playoffs.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles is in a tough situation entering what would seem like a make-or-break year after four middling seasons in the role and missing the playoffs in 2025.
He already topped our preseason Hot Seat Rankings, and that was before stalwart Pro Bowl nose tackle Vita Vea demanded a trade out of town over frustrations with his contract at the start of camp.
Quarterback Baker Mayfield is also miffed about his contract situation and he heads into the final year of his initial three-year, $100-million deal with the team. He reportedly was offered only a two-year, $100-million extension that he felt “disrespected” him.
The Bucs, in turn, are reportedly frustrated with Mayfield speaking out about the situation as he did.
None of this suggests any positive momentum for a team that looks worse on paper than last season after losing star receiver Mike Evans in free agency and having longtime defensive leader and linebacker anchor Lavonte David retire.
Washington Commanders
Washington fans are just praying that they get to see a full season out of third-year quarterback Jayden Daniels in 2026.
When he was fully healthy in 2024, Daniels won NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and led the Commanders on a stunning run to the NFC championship game. When he was repeatedly hurt and sidelined several separate times last year, most notably for the gruesome dislocated left non-throwing elbow that he later reinjured late in the season, the team dropped to 5-12 and out of the playoffs.
So the sight of a healthy Daniels leading the offense in training camp is the best news for this team and its fans.
The Commanders’ collapse last year wasn’t all about Daniels, though. The defense also went off a cliff, giving up the most yards in the NFL (384.0 per game) and the sixth-most points (26.5 per game), which was especially frustrating for defensive-minded head coach Dan Quinn.
So Washington was aggressive in free agency in the draft in getting younger and faster on defense, including taking Ohio State linebacker Sonny Styles 7th overall in the draft.
The early returns on Styles have also given Commanders’ fans reason to believe in a big bounce-back in 2026.
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