Monday 17 August 2015

Monday camp preview: Monitoring the health of Richard Sherman and more

Buffalo Bills: The Cleveland Browns will arrive in Pittsford, New York, for joint practices Monday. Browns coach Mike Pettine said his team “isn’t coming up there for a pillow fight,” and linebacker Karlos Dansby anticipates “fireworks.” Coach Rex Ryan doesn’t want to see fighting but noted Sunday the Bills will “conduct business as business is being done to us.” —Mike Rodak

Miami Dolphins: The Dolphins will hold their final training camp practice Monday in South Florida. Quarterback Ryan Tannehillcontinues to work on his red zone passing leading up to joint practices and a preseason game against the Panthers later this week. — James Walker

New England Patriots: The Patriots return to work after taking Sunday off, and the primary question is if any of their injured/rehabilitating players are ready to return. Specifically, we’ll be watching for receiver Julian Edelman, tight end Scott Chandler and offensive tackles Nate Solder and Marcus Cannon. — Mike Reiss

New York Jets: The Jets are off Monday, which is probably a good thing. They need a cooling-off period after tempers flared Sunday, with two skirmishes in practice. When the Jets return Tuesday, they will start to prepare to face the Falcons on Friday night. — Rich Cimini

AFC NORTH

Baltimore Ravens: The Ravens get back to work after having Sunday off, and it’ll be interesting to see whether cornerback Lardarius Webb will practice. He tweaked his hamstring last week, didn’t play in the preseason opener and missed Saturday’s practice. This injury is another setback in what has been a disappointing training camp for Webb. — Jamison Hensley

Cincinnati Bengals:  After two days away from the practice fields, the Bengals get back to work Monday. We’ll be monitoring the practice status of several players who either were pregame scratches Friday night or were hurt in the Bengals’ 23-10 preseason-opening win over the Giants. Running backs Cedric Peerman and Rex Burkhead are likely to return, but uncertainty looms regarding a few players, including cornerback Darqueze Dennard and quarterback AJ McCarron. — Coley Harvey

Cleveland Browns: The Browns visit St. John Fisher College in Rochester, New York, for two days of joint practices with the Bills. Monday’s practice is from 10 a.m. to noon. Both coaches have said they will not tolerate the fighting that marred the joint work between Houston and Washington in Richmond, Virginia, but Browns coach Mike Pettine also said the Browns aren’t going for a “pillow fight” and he expects the work to be physical. —Pat McManamon

Pittsburgh Steelers: Let’s see if the Steelers can get the defensive sloppiness cleaned up. The Steelers didn’t tackle well in last week’s preseason loss to Jacksonville, and coach Mike Tomlin was visibly frustrated when the defensive line committed an offside on a third-and-short drill. The passing game gets whatever it wants, and though much of that is expected from Ben Roethlisberger & Co., Tomlin and the coaches wouldn’t mind seeing more playmaking from their defensive backs.. — Jeremy Fowler

AFC SOUTH

Houston Texans: After the Texans’ preseason opener against theSan Francisco 49ers, Jaelen Strong beamed for a second when asked about scoring a touchdown in his first NFL game — on a route he favored in college. “Honestly, I can’t even fathom,” he said before quickly noting he has to keep working every day, true to a Bill O’Brien player. — Tania Ganguli

Indianapolis Colts: The Colts are expected to take Monday off before returning to practice Tuesday. The coaching staff won’t be happy when they watch film Monday; the Colts hurt themselves Sunday with a lot of missed tackles that led to big plays for the Eagles. Philadelphia scored three touchdowns — a pass play, run play and punt return — off plays on which the Colts had glaring missed tackles. — Mike Wells

Jacksonville Jaguars: The Jaguars return to the practice field after a day off. Coach Gus Bradley said defensive end Chris Clemons is scheduled to come off the active/non-football injury list and safetyJames Sample is scheduled to come off the PUP list on Monday. Both will practice on a limited basis this week. Sample won’t play in Saturday’s game against the New York Giants, and it’s unlikely Clemons will, either. — Mike DiRocco

Tennessee Titans: Outside linebacker depth, already a major question, will be tested at Monday’s practice. Jonathan Massaquoididn’t make the trip to Atlanta, though his shoulder hasn’t kept him out of practices. J.R. Tavai (knee) and Yannik Cudjoe-Virgil (hamstring) both suffered injuries in Atlanta at a spot where the Titans already are lacking. — Paul Kuharsky

AFC WEST

Denver Broncos: The return game is one of many items relating to special teams that will get attention this week, starting with Monday’s practice. The Broncos’ top returner, Omar Bolden, did not play Friday in Seattle because of a sore hamstring, and what happened in his absence was pretty much migraine-inducing. The Broncos muffed one punt and fumbled away another. They finished with zero punt return yards and had one kickoff return longer than 21 yards. — Jeff Legwold

Kansas City Chiefs: The Chiefs return to the practice field for the first time since Saturday’s win over Arizona, and they suddenly have to sort through a lot of intriguing, young roster candidates at wide receiver. Fred Williams, Frankie Hammond Jr. and Da’Ron Brown each made a bid for a roster spot by catching a touchdown pass. Hammond also has the ability to return kicks, which could work in his favor. — Adam Teicher

Oakland Raiders: The Raiders are working on finding the right combination at cornerback. The top cornerbacks have been TJ Carrie,D.J. Hayden and Keith McGill. All are inexperienced and have had moments of inconsistency in camp, especially Hayden and McGill. JourneymanNeiko Thorpe got some work with the first unit this weekend. It is clear the position is still very much a work in progress. — Bill Williamson

San Diego Chargers: After taking a rest day Sunday, players will take the field for an afternoon practice session Monday at Chargers Park. It will be the first time Philip Rivers has a chance to talk with reporters since he agreed to a four-year, $83.25 million contract extension Saturday. Rivers said he wanted to get something done on a contract before the meat of the season arrived or wait until after the season. Mission accomplished. — Eric D. Williams

NFC EAST

Dallas Cowboys: The anticipated matchup between the Cowboys’ offensive line and Rams’ defensive line might not be as magical as hoped when these teams practice against each other Monday and Tuesday. Cowboys left tackle Tyron Smith is battling a biceps strain that has limited him in recent practices, and right tackle Doug Free is working through a sore foot that has kept him out of team drills for more than a week. — Todd Archer

New York Giants: The Giants will practice in the evening again Monday, after the heat of the day. After right tackle Marshall Newhouse left Sunday’s practice because he was “overheated,” Geoff Schwartz moved out to right tackle with the first team. Projected as a guard, Schwartz could get a longer look at tackle, the position at which he played two games for the Giants in 2014. On Sunday, he said he’s fine with either. The Giants likely will do some more offensive line shuffling in the coming weeks as they attempt to find the best possible starting configuration by Week 1. — Dan Graziano

Philadelphia Eagles: The Eagles have Monday off after opening the preseason Sunday with a 26-10 win over the Indianapolis Colts. They return to the practice field Tuesday, then spend Wednesday through Friday practicing with the Baltimore Ravens. — Phil Sheridan

Washington Redskins:  The Redskins close out the Richmond portion of training camp Monday, and they exit feeling good about their offensive and defensive lines. The right side of the offensive line is new, with guard Brandon Scherff and tackle Morgan Moses, and though still having issues, their power impressed the coaches. Along the defensive side, the energy and versatility up front give them reasons for optimism. — John Keim

NFC NORTH

Chicago Bears: Head coach John Fox put the team through a physical practice Sunday in advance of Monday’s off-day. The players need to rest before flying to Indianapolis midweek for two days of joint practices with the Colts prior to their preseason game at Lucas Oil Stadium. A key player to monitor is rookie safety Adrian Amos, who spent the final two practices in Bourbonnais working alongside Antrel Rolle at first-team safety. —Jeff Dickerson

Detroit Lions: As the Lions enter their final week of training camp mode, one area to look at will be the cornerbacks behind Rashean Mathis and Darius Slay. The team has a lot of nickel depth but not much on the outside corner beyond the starters. — Michael Rothstein

Green Bay Packers: With a rare Sunday afternoon preseason game at Pittsburgh, coach Mike McCarthy is treating this like a regular-season week. That means that after a practice Monday, the players will get their normal day off Tuesday and then start preparing for the Steelers on Wednesday. Although it’s still technically training camp, McCarthy said, “we felt that it’s important to get to the in-season schedule immediately.” — Rob Demovsky

Minnesota Vikings: After a day off Sunday, the Vikings return to their practice facility for the first time since June and pick up in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, after breaking training camp in Mankato on Thursday. Offensive coordinator Norv Turner is expected to run practice with coach Mike Zimmer away for his father’s funeral.. — Ben Goessling

NFC SOUTH

Atlanta Falcons: As the Falcons return to practice Monday morning, keep an eye on cornerback Desmond Trufant and his shoulder strain. Trufant didn’t play in the first exhibition against Tennessee, and the last thing the Falcons need is to be without one of their best players. Trufant fell on one of his shoulders during minicamp, but it’s unclear if that’s the injury bothering him now. — Vaughn McClure

Carolina Panthers: Players returned to Wofford College on Sunday night. When they return to the practice field Monday afternoon, first-round draft pick Shaq Thompson (hamstring) will be ready to step up his learning curve. Thompson was held out of the preseason opener in Buffalo, but the plan is for him to be full-go for Wednesday and Thursday practices against Miami and Saturday’s preseason game against the Dolphins. — David Newton

New Orleans Saints: The Saints tweaked their practice schedule, so they’ll be off Monday and back to work Tuesday, followed by the Patriots’ coming to West Virginia for joint practices Wednesday and Thursday. Both of the Saints’ lines will want to have a stronger showing this week in that competitive atmosphere after a lackluster start in Thursday’s preseason opener at Baltimore. Veteran guard Jahri Evans and young nose tackle John Jenkins, in particular, will look to get more push up front. — Mike Triplett

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: The Bucs return to practice Monday after taking Sunday off. One area of focus will be the outside pass rush. The Bucs didn’t generate any pressure from outside in Saturday’s preseason loss to Minnesota. Defensive ends Jacquies Smith and George Johnson have to be more productive for this defense to succeed. — Pat Yasinskas

NFC WEST

Arizona Cardinals: The Cardinals return to practice after a day off gave them a chance to digest game film. They came out of Saturday’s loss relatively healthy, and Monday will be another chance to evaluateD.J. Humphries’ dislocated finger and Josh Mauro’s back. There were quite a few bright spots, especially Arizona’s young inside linebackers. The Cards will see how RB Andre Ellington recovers from running full speed about two weeks after an injury. — Josh Weinfuss

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