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😄 Good morning to all but especially to …
RUSSELL WILSON
It didn’t take long for Giants coach Brian Daboll to name his starting quarterback for 2025. One day into training camp and Daboll made it clear that there won’t be a quarterback competition, declaring veteran and Super Bowl champion Russell Wilson as QB1.
“These guys will be out here competing but Russ is our starter,” Daboll said.
This means Tommy DeVito, offseason signing Jameis Winston and 2025 first-round pick Jaxson Dart will compete for the remainder of the quarterback slots on the depth chart.
- Wilson is on his third team in three years, playing for the Steelers in 2024 and the Broncos from 2022-23.
- In Pittsburgh, Wilson won six of his first seven starts, taking over for Justin Fields in Week 7, then lost his next five.
- Wilson started his career going 104-53-1 with the Seahawks, but after 10 years of success, has hit a rocky patch, going 17-24 in the last three seasons.
👍 Honorable mentions
😟 And not such a good morning for …
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NFL VETERANS WITH A LOT TO PROVE
Immediate success is hard to obtain in the NFL, but these days, it’s something many teams and fans demand. For some players, that extra added pressure can be a good thing and for others the criticisms of the modern day microscope is too much to handle and it backfires.
There are many players heading into the 2025 season with a lot to prove over have high expectations, a team putting a lot of stake in them or because they’re getting their last chance to, well, do something … anything.
Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson is the player with the most to prove. Two years removed from being selected at No. 4 overall, he doesn’t have much on his resume that impresses.
Another quarterback on this list is Vikings’ J.J. McCarthy, who missed his rookie season due to injury. Minnesota let Aaron Rodgers sign with another team in hopes that their former No. 10 overall pick, who they already named the 2025 starter, is the missing piece to playoff success.
Here’s a look at the top five players we’re watching a little more closely during training camp:
- Anthony Richardson, QB, Colts
- J.J. McCarthy, QB, Vikings
- Jaylon Moore, OT, Chiefs
- Kenny Pickett, QB, Browns
- Kaiir Elam, CB, Cowboys
👎 Not so honorable mentions
- Lionel Messi and Jordi Alba could face a suspension for missing the MLS All-Star Game.
- Browns reveal brown alternate helmet, completing head-to-toe all-brown uni. Not everyone is loving the look.
- Georgia football commit Chace Calicut is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in connection with a shooting.
- Coach Jonathan Gannon says Cardinals first-round pick Walter Nolen is “going to miss some time,” after injuring his calf.
- The Steelers playbook caught some strays, with George Pickens saying he’s excited to “run better plays” with the Cowboys.
- A decade later, Lance Stephenson regrets his infamous ear blow on LeBron James, giving a funny reason as to why.
- WNBA legend Candace Parker is doubling down on her criticisms of Sky‘s Angel Reese, calling her a C-tier player.
- Jalen Hurts’ Super Bowl ring is going to collect dust, getting no wear because the MVP has “moved on to the new year.”
- Bengals Trey Hendrickson was officially placed on the did not report list, an agent’s take on how the two sides can agree.
- NFLPA continues to make the headlines for the wrong reasons, Eagles‘ Lane Johnson says, “It’s a shit show, it’s been that way.”
- Tennessee star Boo Carter has missed “numerous” team activities and was reportedly confronted by the team over absences.
- As things escalate between Cowboys and Micah Parsons, here’s a timeline of how the two sides got here.
- USC 5-star freshman Alijah Arenas injures knee, is expected to be sidelined for 6-8 months.
🏈 How Lions can move forward after losing two coordinators
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Being a winning team is the goal in all sports, but winning also means other teams want to take your players and your coaches, which can then make it hard to win the next year. The Lions, who are just getting used to more checks in the win column than the loss column, experienced this first-hand this offseason, losing offensive coordinator Ben Johnson to the Bears and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn to the Jets.
The team, who lost to the Commanders in the divisional round last year, will have John Morton as their O.C. and Kelvin Sheppard as D.C.
In the last five decades, only five teams lost both coordinators to head-coaching jobs in the same offseason. The latest example came from the Eagles heading into 2023 and after almost winning the Super Bowl in 2022, were a mess in 2023.
But how can the Lions avoid a repeat of Philly’s recent history?
- Coach Dan Campbell doesn’t call the offense or defense, only increasing the importance of the coordinator roles and meaning the growing pains of losing both at once could be significant.
- Morton needs to find ways to continue to let QB Jared Goff thrive, not just calling the right plays, but calling them at the right time.
- With the departure of key offensive lineman Frank Ragnow (retired) and Kevin Zeitler (signed with Titans), who replaces them and how they are coached into the role will be crucial.
- The Lions had 21 players on injured reserve last December and were able to get many players healthy this offseason, including star Aidan Hutchinson, who is the defense’s biggest difference-maker.
- Detroit will look for an improvement from cornerback Terrion Arnold and adding D.J. Reed from the Jets should help their secondary.
🏈 Takeaways from Day 1 of NFL training camp
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Is Day 1 too early to start talking about who is standing out and who is off to a rough start of training camp? The answer of course is no, because it’s never too early to start breaking down what the league’s top players are looking like after some time away.
Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb turned on the jets and found the end zone after weaving through the defense at practice. Another wideout who had a stand-out day was Patriots‘ Kyle Williams, who had one of the best plays of the day. New England needs a boost to their receiving corps, so this is an optimistic start for quarterback Drake Maye’s crew.
Remember above when we said Anthony Richardson was one player with a lot to prove this year? Unfortunately for him, it’s not off to the best start, going 4 of 11 in passing drills. It wasn’t a great day overall for Colts QBs, as Daniel Jones also struggled, throwing a pick.
Standouts:
- CeeDee Lamb, WR, Cowboys
- Isaiah Simmons, LB, Packers
- Jihaad Campbell, LB, Eagles
- Kyle Williams, WR, Patriots
Off to a rough start:
- Anthony Richardson, QB, Colts
- Daniel Jones, QB, Colts
- Jaxson Dart, QB, Giants
⚾ Predicting each MLB contender’s biggest trade deadline move
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Teams have until 6 p.m. ET next Thursday to make that final postseason push by adding key players to their squad. Major moves that could end up having championship implications will be made in the next week.
With a third wild-card spot more teams are contenders than before, but this means more teams are also less eager to give up pieces.
There is no crystal ball to reveal what will happen in the next week, it’s fun to guess, so here are predictions — again, just predictions, folks — of some contender’s biggest trade deadline moves:
- Brewers: Land third baseman Eugenio Suarez from Diamondbacks
- Phillies: Land outfielder Trent Grisham from Yankees
- Astros: Land outfielder Taylor Ward from Angels
- Cubs: Land pitcher Seth Lugo from Royals
- Dodgers: Land pitcher Ryan Helsley from Cardinals
- Blue Jays: Land pitcher Pierce Johnson from Braves
📺 What we’re watching Thursday
⚾ Blue Jays at Tigers, 6:40 p.m. on MLB Network
🏀 Aces at Fever, 7 p.m. on Prime Video
⚾ Athletics at Astros, 8:10 p.m. on MLB Network
