Catch up on all the key news, notes and quotes from the last week around the AFC with training camp 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.
One of the best running backs in the game, Jahmyr Gibbs, is staging a “hold-in” for new contract while claiming it’s not about a new contract.
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!
As we’ll do each week throughout the preseason, here is a recap of the biggest storyline of last week for each AFC team.
Baltimore Ravens
Third-round draft pick Ja’Kobi Lane, the lanky 6-foot-4 wide receiver out of USC, is generating daily buzz so far in training camp as he competes for the Ravens’ No. 3 WR role.
On Thursday, Lane leapt over safety Malaki Starks and cornerback Marlon Humphrey for a 30-yard reception from QB Lamar Jackson that had fans and teammates alike talking.
Lane to the Ravens was one of our favorite picks of the entire draft. Maturity issues held him back at times at USC, but when he flashed he really flashed, catching 12 touchdowns as a sophomore and then finishing last season with 49 catches for 745 yards and 4 TDs while sharing targets with Biletnikoff Award winner and Eagles first-round draft pick Makai Lemon.
The truth is Lane never reached his true ceiling in college, but he could prove to be an immediate impact rookie for a Ravens team with a questionable WR depth chart beyond WR1 Zay Flowers.
Buffalo Bills
The Bills got good news on an early injury scare with safety CJ Gardner-Johnson, a key free agent pickup this offseason to shore up the secondary, who went down during Saturday’s practice.
The injury looked worse in the moment, though for the well-traveled eight-year pro as the team is calling it a lower-calf strain.
Otherwise, the biggest drama in camp for the Bills has been the backlash to their new alternate all-gray “Nickel City” uniforms.
It’s a bold look, that’s for sure.
Quarterback Josh Allen threw his support behind the uniforms, saying “Stop hating on the jerseys, guys.”
Cincinnati Bengals
The story of camp and this season for the Bengals (aside from keeping QB Joe Burrow healthy) is whether they did enough to improve their abysmal defense to be contenders again after missing the playoffs the last three seasons.
We’ve made our thoughts on that clear, but the media covering the team daily is sure hyping up the unit and its new additions with former Seahawks edge rusher Boye Mafe and big defensive tackles Dexter Lawrence and Jonathan Allen.
Time will tell.
One of the units that has the most questions to answer, along with linebacker, is the edge rushers.
After losing one of the better ones in the league in Trey Henderickson as well as productive veteran Joseph Ossai in free agency, Cincinnati is hoping Mafe lives up to his 3-year, $60-million free agent contract after being a rotational reserve for the Seahawks last year. The Bengals were also hoping 2025 first-round pick Shemar Stewart would breakout after having 1 sack in eight games as a rookie.
Stewart hyperextended his knee in camp last week and is going to be sidelined for multiple weeks.
Cleveland Browns
Well, the Deshaun Watson rejuvenation hype train seems to have derailed in the opening week of training camp.
Watson, battling second-year QB Shedeur Sanders for the starting job, threw 3 interceptions in practice Saturday, bringing his total to 6 already through the team’s first four practices, per ESPN.
It’s going to be another long season in Cleveland …
Denver Broncos
Bo Nix is back for the start of camp, after undergoing two surgeries to repair the fractured right ankle he sustained at the end of the Broncos’ divisional round playoff win over the Bills.
But will he be as willing to take off the ball this year after rushing for 356 yards and 5 TDs last season?
“I’m going to roll [out]. I’m going to be as athletic as I can be,” he said. “… It’s a strength of ours, and so we’ve got to use our strengths. For me, that’s when I feel at my best, that’s when I feel free. When I’m playing like that, when I’m moving around, it’s a good thing.”
Houston Texans
Everything for the Texans hinges on how quarterback C.J. Stroud responds to his humbling postseason struggles, but that isn’t going to be determined in training camp.
Stroud will get plenty of valuable work against the NFL’s best defense in practices the next month, though.
As for the first week of camp, the biggest story for Houston was the signing of veteran edge rusher Jadeveon Clowney.
The No. 1 overall pick by the Texans way back in the 2014 NFL Draft, Clowney returns to his original team eight years after being traded out of town. He signed a one-year, $5.5-million contract to return to Houston for his 13th NFL season after posting 8.5 sacks and 41 tackles in 13 games for the Cowboys last year.
Clowney, who has 66.5 career sacks and made three Pro Bowls in his first stint with the Texans, returns as a rotational edge rusher behind two of the best in the game in Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter.
Indianapolis Colts
We didn’t like the monstrous Alec Pierce extension (four years, $114 million) for Indianapolis in the moment for a few reasons.
Yes, Pierce was coveted as a free agent and would have gotten that money somewhere after leading the NFL in yards per reception each of the last two seasons (22.3 and 21.3 yards/catch). But the Colts weren’t flush with cap space, and to accommodate Pierce they basically gave their former WR1 Michael Pittman Jr. away to the Pittsburgh Steelers for almost nothing (a late-round pick swap). That also meant they couldn’t truly replace Pittman.
So now the Colts need Pierce to be a true star WR1 even though he’s never even had 50 catches in a season and set his career-high at 1,003 yards in 15 games last year. Pierce is ideally exactly what he was — a field-stretching No. 2 WR.
But that contract carries even more concern given that Pierce had offseason ankle surgery, which landed him on the physically unable to perform list to start training camp with the team unable to provide any clear timeline for when he might return.
So, a player whose primary asset is speed is coming off ankle surgery for a nagging injury, and now a month before the season there’s still no clarity as to when his rehab will end … and he’s being counted on to greatly outperform any season to this point of his career.
Josh Downs (198 catches for 2,140 yards and 11 TDs in three seasons) is a fine WR2 for the team with still untapped potential, but he’s the only other receiver of any intrigue on that depth chart while second-year tight end Tyler Warren will be in for a lot of targets again this year.
Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jaguars have a lot invested in Travis Hunter‘s success after trading the 2025 No. 5 overall pick, a 2026 first-round pick and 2025 second- and fourth-round selections just to move up three spots and select the two-way Heisman Trophy winner from Colorado last year.
Needless to say, they didn’t get a full return on their investment in Hunter’s rookie season as he made just 28 catches for 298 yards and a TD and had 15 tackles and 3 passes defended on defense.
The big question entering 2026 has been whether Hunter would be a full two-way player or lean heavily into one side or the other.
So far in camp, he’s been doing both WR and CB fairly evenly. The reason for continued optimism came Sunday when he hauled in a deep pass from Trevor Lawrence and made an interception on backup Nick Mullens.
It looks like the Jaguars remain committed to getting the full value out of what they expected when they drafted Hunter — an impact player on both sides of the ball.
Kansas City Chiefs
The biggest takeaway, of course, is that quarterback Patrick Mahomes is active and looking pretty much like his old self as he returns from knee surgery.
“He’s doing a great job. He’s really doing everything that he normally does and doing it well, so we’re happy with that,” coach Andy Reid said. “We know he’s still progressing through it, but he sure looks sharp out here.”
Reid said the plan remains to have Mahomes ready for Week 1: “As long as he’s safe, that’s what we’re looking at.”
Meanwhile, Mahomes may be finding a new weapon in the passing game. Fifth-round rookie Cyrus Allen, out of Cincinnati, has been turning heads early in camp.
Allen is competing for the Chiefs’ WR4 job with Nikko Remigio and Jalen Royals (behind Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy and Tyquan Thornton), but given how unreliable Rice and Worthy have been there could well be bigger opportunities if Allen continues to assert himself.
Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders are committed to their plan of having veteran Kirk Cousins open the season as the starting quarterback to take pressure off No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza in his rookie season.
Coach Klint Kubiak formally named Cousins the team’s starter at the start of camp.
But all eyes will nonetheless be on Mendoza’s development this camp. So far, the results have been up and down, but that should be expected from a rookie QB going through his first full training camp.
“There will never be a perfect game or practice,” Kubiak said, per ESPN. “I think he is doing a good job. I don’t expect him to be perfect right now.”
Los Angeles Chargers
The Chargers are another team dealing with a high-profile “hold-in” in fourth-year edge rusher Tuli Tuipulotu, as he seeks a new contract.
Coach Jim Harbaugh wouldn’t acknowledge the reason for Tuipulotu being inactive, though, saying only that it is being “handled internally.”
After losing Odafe Oweh in free agency to the Commanders, Tuipulotu is as valuable as ever to the Chargers coming off a career-high 13 sacks last season.
He leads the depth chart at EDGE with veteran Khalil Mack and rookie Akheem Mesidor, the No. 22 overall pick out of Miami who is turning heads early in camp.
Miami Dolphins
This is Year 1 of a total rebuild for the Dolphins, as new general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan and head coach Jeff Hafley purged the roster of a lot of expensive veterans in the offseason.
But not all.
Running back De’Von Achane signed a four-year, $64-million contract extension in May and will be the focal point for the offense.
“For me, it’s trying to get the rushing title,” Achane said of the bar he’s setting for himself entering his fourth season and coming off a career-high 1,350 rushing yards and 8 TDs while catching 67 passes for 488 yards and 4 TDs.
Given the state of the Dolphins wide receiver corps — arguably the worst in the league with a collection of WR3s and rookies — Achane should have a very real shot at that goal if he stays healthy.
New England Patriots
The Patriots’ big offseason acquisition, wide receiver A.J. Brown, has been the talk of camp, naturally.
But on Monday it was for an unexpected reason.
Brown revealed to NFL Network that he dislocated his thumb during the practice but declined to miss any reps.
“It was tough. I tried to get back into that flow-state zone really quickly because obviously you’re going through some pain,” Brown said. “The game is what it is, you’re going to get bumps and bruises, and you have to keep going. I know it’s practice, but I’m not coming out of practice. Thumb out of place? You keep going.”
The Patriots acquired Brown from the Eagles in June for a 2028 first-round pick and 2027 second-round pick, giving MVP runner-up Drake Maye a true star No. 1 WR for the first time in his young career. Brown has six 1,000-yard seasons in seven years in the NFL, including a two season with more than 1,400 yards during his Eagles tenure.
After spending most of 2025 frustrated with the Eagles offense (he wasn’t alone) and his usage while still catching 78 passes for 1,003 yards and 7 TDs in 15 games, Brown carries fresh motivation into New England.
New York Jets
Yes, the Jets are in a rebuild, but they didn’t approach this offseason as if they were playing for 2027.
Bringing in veteran quarterback Geno Smith, trading for multi-time Pro Bowl safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, signing productive veterans likes linebacker Demario Davis and edge rusher Joseph Ossai shows that New York expects to be better immediately in 2026.
Part of that hope was a loaded draft class including three first-round selections with Texas Tech EDGE David Bailey at No. 2 overall, Oregon TE Kenyon Sadiq at No. 16 and Indiana WR Omar Cooper Jr. at No. 30.
So those three will command a lot of the interest this training camp, especially Bailey.
The rookie had 3 “sacks” in non-contact team drills with the players still in shorts (not full pads) Thursday before having a more humbling practice Saturday. But that’s to be expected for any rookie.
“It’s been a pain,” Jets offensive tackle Armond Membou said of going against Bailey. “… He’s quick. He’s just got a natural ability to rush the passer.”
“He’s everything that we expect him to be,” head coach Aaron Glenn said.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers reiterated again that this is absolutely his final NFL season, as he begins his 22nd year in the league ahead of his 43rd birthday in December.
“Zero debate. Zero,” Rodgers said.
“I thought last year might be it, and then Mike [McCarthy] got hired and I talked to the wife and she said, ‘You can do one more year,'” Rodgers said.
Reunited with his former Packers head coach McCarthy, with whom he won his only Super Bowl title, with the Steelers expected to have a more aggressive passing attack in replacing run-first offensive coordinator Arthur Smith with former Vikings passing game coordinator Brian Angelichio, Rodgers could be in for a better season than any he’s had since leaving Green Bay.
The Steelers also added a much-needed legitimate No. 2 WR in Michael Pittman Jr., acquired via trade with the Colts to pair with D.K. Metcalf.
Meanwhile, one of the pleasant surprises early in camp for the Steelers has been Roman Wilson, a third-round pick out of Michigan back in 2024 who was limited by injuries as a rookie and then had just 12 catches for 166 yards and 2 TDs last season.
Tennessee Titans
There’s no question quarterback Cam Ward was put in a difficult spot last season as the No. 1 overall draft pick, coming into a team that would fire its head coach mid-season while struggling to protect its prized young QB as he tied for the unenviable league lead with 55 sacks taken.
The Titans brought in former Jets head coach and 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh to reshape the identity of the team and former Giants head coach Brian Daboll as offensive coordinator to develop Ward.
Tennessee also gave its young QB a major upgrade to his wide receiver corps in signing free agent slot weapon Wan’Dale Robinson and drafting Ohio State star Carnell Tate with the No. 4 overall pick.
So while Saleh’s greatest impact will come in improving a defense that gave up the fifth-most points in the league (28.1 per game) last season, the development of Ward and that offense as a whole is perhaps even more intriguing this preseason.
Based on camp reports out of Tennessee, Ward has had his share of miscues, interceptions and learning lessons so far while also mixing in the flash plays that stoke optimism for Titans fans.
