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ESPN staff
Following a full slate of preseason games over the past few days, NFL teams began to get back on the practice field to put in the work.
Here’s what you need to know from camps across the league:
What our NFL Nation reporters saw today
New York Jets: With Zach Wilson heading to arthroscopic knee surgery Tuesday in Los Angeles, Joe Flacco took the reins on offense and delivered a strong practice. Unofficially, he completed 16 of 20 passes in 11-on-11 periods, including a perfect third-down period. That is exactly what you want out of your QB2 — a savvy vet who doesn’t disrupt the flow on offense. There’s a chance Flacco will have to start the season opener against his former team, the Ravens. Wilson is expected to miss 2-4 weeks, pending his scope. The players feel comfortable with Flacco, center Connor McGovern said. “He’s a Super Bowl MVP. You can’t not have confidence in a guy like that.” — Rich Cimini
Baltimore Ravens: Lamar Jackson had a solid day throwing the ball Sunday, but he misconnected on a couple of deep throws to his wide receivers. Rashod Bateman had Jackson’s 40-yard pass bounce off his extended hands after getting behind the defense, and Devin Duvernay couldn’t get to an overthrown Jackson pass. Throwing the ball deep has been a point of emphasis in this camp for Jackson, who ranked 25th with a 32.1% completion rate (17-of-53) on passes that traveled at least 20 yards in the air last season. Jackson’s favorite deep-ball target was Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, who was traded to Arizona this offseason. Bateman and Duvernay have to step up in this area. — Jamison Hensley
Green Bay Packers: Christian Watson initially thought that even though he started training camp on the physically unable to perform list following summer knee surgery, he could still work on his hands by catching balls off the JUGS machine. He found out on the first day of training camp that he was wrong.
“I got yelled at from across the entire field, telling me to get off the JUGS,” Watson recalled on Sunday. So Watson then asked if he could resume the activity if he put on a helmet. “And they were like, ‘Yeah.’ But then my helmet was gone,” he said.
PUP rules prevent players from doing any football activity (including wearing a helmet) and the Packers prevent players from catching off the JUGS machine without a helmet. The rookie receiver got his helmet back on Sunday, when he was activated off PUP, and caught some passes from Aaron Rodgers during individual drills. He has not been cleared for 11-on-11 yet, but now he can finally work on getting his hands in catching shape. The second-round pick came in with a reputation for the occasional dropped pass.
“I mean, it’s really just catching as many balls as I can,” Watson said. “To get back on the JUGS is really big for me.” — Rob Demovsky
Cleveland Browns: Jacoby Brissett, for the first time, got the bulk of the reps with the first team in practice, as Deshaun Watson is facing a suspension of at least the first six games. Brissett was sharp in his first foray with the starters. During a 7-on-7 red zone session from the 12-yard line, he connected on TD passes to a diving Anthony Schwartz, Daylen Baldwin and tight end David Njoku, who turned around and tossed the football to the fans. Watson still got a few reps with the starters, and tossed a laser to Njoku for a touchdown. Coach Kevin Stefanski said Brissett would get the most of the work with the first team moving forward, including in the joint practices with the Philadelphia Eagles later this week. — Jake Trotter
San Francisco 49ers: The Niners had their shortest and lightest practice of camp less than 48 hours removed from the preseason opener. After playing just 11 snaps Friday, QB Trey Lance took every rep during team drills Sunday. The results were again a mixed bag but with no pads on, it’s hard to take much from it. Lance had a couple of touchdown throws (one to George Kittle and another to Brandon Aiyuk) and had a pass deflected for a Fred Warner interception in red zone work. The Niners have one more session Monday before heading to Minnesota this week for joint practices with the Vikings. — Kevin Seifert
Atlanta Falcons: Drake London, who injured his right knee in Friday night’s preseason win over Detroit, was not at practice Sunday and is not expected to be available this week when the team has joint practices against the Jets, head coach Arthur Smith said. It was the biggest news in an otherwise light day for the Falcons, which saw defensive tackle Grady Jarrett get a half-day of rest and a number of other Falcons also get a break. The team is expected to have two padded practices this week before heading to New Jersey for joint practices. — Michael Rothstein
Philadelphia Eagles: Receiver DeVonta Smith returned from a groin injury and had his most productive practice of training camp. The highlight was a leaping catch along the left sideline over a pair of defenders on a ball from Jalen Hurts. Smith had been sidelined since Aug. 4 because of a groin injury. During that time, it was mostly the Hurts-to-A.J. Brown show. But it was Smith who got the heavy workload Sunday, a reminder that Hurts has plenty of good options at his disposal. — Tim McManus
New York Giants: Really rough day for the Giants’ offense. Completing passes in itself was a struggle. Quarterback Daniel Jones went 6-of-20 passing with two interceptions, including one in the end zone. It’s really hard when you can’t get easy completions to a No. 1 receiver. Kadarius Toney is likely out this week because of a right leg injury. Where was Kenny Golladay? He played plenty but didn’t catch a pass on two targets. While the concern with Golladay continues to grow, the Giants have his back. “I’ve been pleased with how he’s handled himself,” coach Brian Daboll said before practice. “He’s been a pro, and he’s competing everyday with those guys.” — Jordan Raanan
Happy birthday @CoachVrabel50! #TitanUp pic.twitter.com/J8PhBRFMzb
— Ashley Farrell (@ashleynfarrell) August 14, 2022
Tennessee Titans: The Titans had a relatively light day today, mostly jog-through periods other than special teams. Both Amani Hooker and Elijah Molden were back after missing multiple days. Their return could qualify as a birthday present for coach Mike Vrabel. Vrabel turned 47 today. Titans center Ben Jones didn’t let the day go unrecognized. The veteran snuck up on Vrabel and doused him with baby powder while he was signing autographs for fans after practice. — Turron Davenport
Top NFL news of the day
Joe Burrow makes training camp debut
Nearly three weeks after he had his appendix removed, Burrow donned his orange No. 9 jersey and participated in several drills throughout Sunday’s practice.
All of his work in team drills came in a 7-on-7 period that was more strenuous than coach Zac Taylor anticipated.
“We talked about doing two reps in 7-on-7,” Taylor said after practice. “And then he took 10. That’s how it goes sometimes.”
Jets ‘not out of the woods’ until outcome of Wilson’s knee scope
The New York Jets were noncommittal on a timetable for injured quarterback Zach Wilson, saying it depends on the outcome of arthroscopic knee surgery Tuesday in Los Angeles. “We’re optimistic, but he’s not out of the woods until they get in there and make the decision [on how to handle the meniscus],” coach Robert Saleh said.
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