One day after the Denver Broncos and Atlanta Falcons kicked off the preseason schedule in the Hall of Fame game, the hot topic taking the league by storm is … Mahomes Magic Crunch.
While most of the teams were preparing for their preseason openers, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was answering questions about his new cereal that began selling this week at a Kansas City-area grocery chain.
Elsewhere, Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson said he doesn’t expect to carry the ball as much as he did during his rookie season, contradicting a statement by coach John Harbaugh, and the Philadelphia Eagles kept busy on their off day, agreeing to terms with veteran safety Johnathan Cyprien.
Here’s what you need to know from camps across the league:
Jump to the best of Friday: Photos | Videos | Quotes
Top news of the day
Lamar Jackson says he expects to run less this season
Harbaugh recently said Jackson will run just as much this fall as he did in 2018. Jackson, who set the NFL single-season record for rushing attempts by a quarterback with 147, said on “The Rich Eisen Show” that he’s added weight but expects this season to be “totally different.”
In May, owner Steve Bisciotti told Ravens season-ticket holders that he expects Jackson to run less, saying, “I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised that Lamar is not going to be running 20 times a game.”
Eagles sign veteran safety Johnathan Cyprien
Cyprien is coming off an ACL injury suffered almost exactly one year ago. He is being viewed as a low-risk depth addition who has the ability to play dime linebacker in defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz’s scheme, if he makes the team.
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Best videos
Odell with the circus grab
Long snapper Zach Wood has the lowest overall rating in Madden.
Here’s how he feels about that: (via @Saints)pic.twitter.com/Ol83d8TrOq
— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) August 2, 2019
ALL IN. ALL. IN. https://t.co/T8kcqi8MWP
— Matthew Berry (@MatthewBerryTMR) August 2, 2019
Always working. It’s special teams period but Logan Ryan, Kenny Vaccaro, and Malcolm Butler focusing on some details of coverage with DB coach Kerry Coombs.
Best photos
Willis McGahee retired as a Raven today. McGahee ran for 8,474 yards while playing for Bills, Ravens, Broncos and Browns. “I chose this place to be my home because it was family-like with the players and the coaches,” McGahee said.
Walkthrough in the bubble for Dolphins today. Just shells setting up for tomorrow’s scrimmage that Brian Flores says will be similar to a game with additional situational periods. Kalen Ballage is back out here participating in drills. pic.twitter.com/kekcY3i7oa
— Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) August 2, 2019
Early morning Jaguars practice in TIAA Bank Field. CB A.J. Bouye, RB Thomas Rawls among those not practicing.
Football guys.#BrownsCamp pic.twitter.com/Ay9P9PP2Ay
— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) August 2, 2019
Quotes of the day
“That’s the general. … He yelling at us to get back to the ball, you get back to the ball. … When you’ve got a guy like Baker and the way that he is, you just wanna work for him.”
Odell Beckham, on Browns QB Baker Mayfield yelling at the WRs
Upset about the number of pre-snap penalties, Ravens coach John Harbaugh sent Cyrus Jones to the sideline after the cornerback jumped offside, saying, “We don’t need dumb.” When Jones said something back, Harbaugh kicked him out of practice.
Harbaugh then heard Marlon Humphrey talking on the sideline and asked him to repeat it or leave. Humphrey chose to jog off the field.
“For a second, I thought it was a baseball game after seeing guys get ejected,” defensive coordinator Wink Martindale said.
“Somebody told me the other day, they said, ‘You lost some L-Bs, huh?’ and I said, ‘We didn’t lose any linebackers, did we?'”
Rams DC Wade Phillips, who has trimmed down for training camp.
Best of the rest from across the league
New C Ryan Kalil won’t practice tomorrow and it may be a few days before he’s on the field. Adam Gase said they will bring him along slowly. Conditioning will be a big issue for Kalil, 34, who came out of retirement. Gase said he’s “fired up” to have Kalil. Sam Darnold (pictured) echoed that sentiment, saying he has heard “great things” about Kalil from friends who reached out. They both attended USC, 11 years apart. Darnold said Kalil will be a big help in the film room and on the field. “There’s so many things such a vet center can do,” he said.
The most significant news for the Patriots on Friday was LT Isaiah Wynn (Achilles) upping his level of participation, and then answering questions from reporters after. “It felt great,” Wynn said, adding that he hasn’t had any setbacks.
