Best of Friday at NFL training camps: Mac Jones, Jalen Hurts, young QBs getting valuable practice work

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4:00 PM ET

  • ESPN staff

With 2022 NFL training camps getting ready to hit high gear, young starting quarterbacks around the league are getting valuable reps.

At the New England Patriots camp on Friday, onlookers anticipated that quarterback Mac Jones would raise his level of performance after the offense was almost shut out completely, scoring just one touchdown on 11 repetitions in a red zone drill at the end of Thursday’s practice.

Jones didn’t disappoint, showing that his connection with tight end Jonnu Smith is in a better place than it was for most of 2021. On one play, Jones lofted about a 20-yard pass to Smith in the back of the end zone, with safety Kyle Dugger in coverage, and Smith leaped high to snare the pass for a touchdown. Smith, who later caught another touchdown from Jones, then followed with an emphatic spike.

While he was mostly sharp, Jones did throw his first interception of camp — right into the chest of cornerback Jalen Mills.

In Philadelphia, quarterback Jalen Hurts and the offense had a rocky outing Friday following a strong showing in the opening practice. In Tennessee and Washington, it was young receivers who made their mark.

Here’s what you need to know from camps across the league:

What our NFL Nation reporters saw today

Washington Commanders: Second-year receiver Dyami Brown needs to be a bigger threat for Washington in his second season. A third-round pick in 2021, he caught just eight passes. But his speed still excites Washington, and Friday he made a terrific catch. On the play, quarterback Carson Wentz threw deep down the left side to Brown. Corner Kendall Fuller was in perfect position to intercept the ball with Brown pinned to his side. But as Fuller extended for the ball, Brown jumped and reached over the veteran and snagged the ball as they fell to the ground.— John Keim

Philadelphia Eagles: Quarterback Jalen Hurts and the offense struggled following a strong showing in the opening practice.

“It didn’t look good,” center Jason Kelce said.

Corner Avonte Maddox provided one of the defensive highlights, elevating to intercept a floating Hurts pass intended for tight end Dallas Goedert.

“It’s Day 2 of camp. We’ll get it right,” Goedert said.— Tim McManus

Tennessee Titans: Rookie wide receiver Treylon Burks turned in another outstanding day of work. He used his size to create separation and win reps in one-on-one period. The momentum rolled over to group periods of practice when he caught a couple of passes from Ryan Tannehill in traffic across the middle.— Turron Davenport

Green Bay Packers: Given his injury history, it would’ve been easy to say “Same old Sammy Watkins” when he began camp on the non-football injury (NFI) list. But the veteran receiver the Packers signed in the offseason was relieved after he was able to start practicing on Day 3 of camp. He said he felt what he called “a tweak” in one of his hamstrings following a pre-camp workout.

“The next day I went out and ran routes and ran around and felt great, and I think I was kind of in my own head [thinking], ‘Man, this happened again,'” Watkins said. “But it was really nothing.” His return to practice on Friday came on a day when the Packers conducted only a short, half-speed practice. Still, Watkins was able to catch a few passes from Aaron Rodgers as he eased his way back.— Rob Demovsky

Kansas City Chiefs: Newly signed defensive end Carlos Dunlap was not at practice. Dunlap told the Chiefs he needed a few days to get some things in order at home and won’t return to camp until the middle of next week. — Adam Teicher

New England Patriots: Rookie guard Cole Strange, the team’s first-round pick, ended practice with an exclamation point as coach Bill Belichick summoned him as part of a punt-catching competition. The 6-foot-5, 305-pound Strange hauled in one punt, and then when undrafted rookie defensive lineman DaMarcus Mitchell (Purdue) missed his attempt, Strange followed by catching another with a football already in his grasp. That set off a wild celebration by the offense, which didn’t necessarily win anything other than bragging rights. — Mike Reiss

New York Jets: Newly-signed linebacker Kwon Alexander will be brought along slowly as he gets into football shape. The Jets’ plan is to have him work on his own for a couple of days before getting on the practice field next week for limited work. He was unsigned since the end of last season, so he had no offseason program. He will be used in the ‘Sam’ and ‘Will’ linebacker spots, starting off as a backup.

“No expectations,” said coach Robert Saleh, who coached him in San Francisco. “(He) just has to do what he always does, which is to bring a lot of juice, a lot of energy.” — Rich Cimini

Top NFL news of the day

Commanders’ Chase Young to miss at least season opener

Washington defensive end Chase Young will miss at least the season opener — and possibly more — because of a knee injury he suffered late last year. One team source had told ESPN this month that Young would return mid-September at the earliest.

Cardinals’ J.J. Watt not a fan of ‘bobblehead’ Guardian Cap

Arizona’s Watt is not a fan of wearing the Guardian Cap during training camp and wasn’t shy in sharing his thoughts on Friday.

“You feel like a bobblehead,” Watt deadpanned. “Like you’re gonna fall over. I’ll probably get fined for this. This is great. … There’s 15 grand gone.”

The Guardian Cap is required for all offensive linemen, defensive linemen, tight ends and linebackers during training camp practices until the second preseason game.

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This article was originally published by Espn.com. Read the original article here.
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