Quick morning update:
Ravens – Lamar Jackson had a rough first series in team drills, then he was flawless in the second series. He’s been up and down (mostly up), but the hype around him can’t get much higher with coaches constantly talking about how revolutionary the offense could be.
Bears – Trey Burton sat out practice today, most likely just a veteran day off. Adam Shaheen was back at practice after missing the last few days. The Mitch Trubisky to Allen Robinson connection is getting better by the day. “ARob is so polished with his route running and hands.” David Montgomery impressed with his route running, hands, and vision today. He did it all.
Jaguars – Leonard Fournette ran well today. He had good explosion and shiftiness. DJ Chark had the catch of the day. Here’s a link to the video of it – https://twitter.com/Jaguars/status/1157288698372927488. Josh Oliver has a significant hamstring injury. There’s a good chance he won’t be ready for the start of the regular season. Dede Westbrook continued to stand out.
Chiefs – Mecole Hardman left practice “ill”. We are monitoring this. He was having a great day before the injury. He and Mahomes had been struggling to get on the same page before today. Tyreek Hill and Mahomes are definitely on the same wave length. Damien Williams sat out again today with the hamstring issue. “Darwin Thompson is super slipperty getting out of his breaks.” Thompson has gotten more reps with Williams out. Carlos Hyde also had some nice burst today. Check out this throw from Mahomes to Hardman – https://twitter.com/32BeatWriters/status/1157315479951855616
Dolphins – Two straight good practices for Josh Rosen. Kalen Ballage returned to practice today and was back running with the first team. Ballage vs Drake is one of the more interesting position battles so far.
Patriots – Jakobi Meyers continued to get first team reps. The RBs were heavily involved in the passing game today. Sony Michel and Damien Harris both looked good catching the ball.
Jets – Robby Anderson has run much more of the route tree in camp so far compared to last year. He had a nice 40 yard TD catch from Sam Darnold today.
Steelers – There have been conflicting reports about the Steelers WR2. Most reports state that Donte Moncrief is the clear leader, which seems to be the case. One report stated that James Washington is not only behind Moncrief, but that he’s also struggling to fend off Diontae Johnson. Then another report stated “James Washington looks much better this year than last year. He looks quicker and faster, his routes look sharper, and he seems to be more in the game. I really like what I saw.” All that said, the Steelers may have 3 WR2s. Ryan Switzer has also been very good, showing off that he is as quick and shifty as ever. He’s a mismatch out of the slot, but is still trying to fend off the rising Diontae Spencer, who has also been impressive. Good thing we have an entire preseason to sort out these receivers.
Titans – Derrick Henry and AJ Brown were out again today.
The best position battles to watch have been:
– Miami RBs
– Green Bay WRs
– Pittsburgh WRs
– New England WRs
– Washington WRs
– Arizona WRs
– Philadelphia RBs
– San Francisco WRs and RBs
– Tampa Bay RBs
There hasn’t been much clarity on any of those battles, but we have a long way to go until the first week of the regular season.