Best of Tuesday at NFL training camps: Cam Newton’s Patriots look; Could Alex Smith start in Washington?

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5:00 PM ET

  • ESPN staff

Quarterbacks dominated the storylines Tuesday as the NFL’s 2020 training camp rolls forward.

The New England Patriots aren’t actively promoting it, but after every player was granted access to the facility over the weekend following COVID-19 testing, there was a traditional photo shoot. That provided the first look at quarterback Cam Newton, as part of his media-guide headshot, in a Patriots uniform.

In Washington, coach Ron Rivera is pleasantly surprised with quarterback Alex Smith‘s progress; Jacksonville QB Gardner Minshew was activated off the reserve/COVID-19 list, and to the surprise of nobody — especially his teammates — Tom Brady had a crisp throwing session for Tampa Bay.

Other highlights from Tuesday’s camps include Amari Cooper and Dak Prescott building chemistry in Dallas and the first glimpse of Darius Slay in a Philadelphia Eagles uniform.

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

Jump to the best of the day:
Photos | Videos | Quotes | Notes from NFL Nation reporters

Top news of the day


Ron Rivera pleased with Alex Smith’s progress
The Washington Football Team coach Likes what he has seen from quarterback Alex Smith and can envision him becoming part of the competition at the position. But Rivera also made it clear that he has been pleased with second-year quarterback Dwayne Haskins‘ development this offseason.

Tom Brady sharp in first Bucs workout open to media

The precision and accuracy that became trademarks of Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady’s game don’t appear to have left him as he settles into his new home. Brady joined teammates for his first practice of training camp that was open to the media Tuesday and their second overall. Brady didn’t look like a quarterback with no offseason who was just starting to get acquainted with new teammates. The timing already looked strong, with the chemistry not far behind — some of that is because of the offseason workouts he organized with teammates at nearby Berkeley Preparatory School.

Big Ben says says 2019 surgery repaired 3 torn elbow tendons

Speaking for the first time since before he suffered the season-ending elbow injury in Week 2, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said he dealt with the elbow pain “for years,” but the feeling that radiated through his elbow after he threw a long pass to JuJu Smith-Schuster was different. A couple weeks later, Roethlisberger had season-ending surgery to reattach three torn flexor tendons in his right elbow.

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Quotes of the day

“They looked good. They looked real good. And as he was throwing the ball, I hear a couple of the guys whispering, like, ‘Dang, how many years do you think he’ll keep playing?’ That’s how good he looked, seriously. Me and [Rob Gronkowski] talked about it, like, his will to win, his will to go out there and still keep doing it – once you see a guy like that kinda display that attitude, you want to be part of it. It’s like, ‘Man, how much longer can I do it?'”

Bucs RB LeSean McCoy on QB Tom Brady’s slant passes

“[The virus] took one look at me and ran the other way.”

Gardner Minshew, Jaguars quarterback

What our NFL Nation reporters saw today

Buffalo Bills linebacker Tremaine Edmunds discussed a “practice” Buffalo’s defensive players put together in Virginia this offseason, which allowed the core of the team’s defenders to begin building chemistry with some of the newer additions. Edmunds said they all wanted to get together, and the official plans came to be via a group chat. He called it a “get better” period, similar to what the team’s offensive players did in Florida back in June. And don’t worry, Bills fans, Edmunds said the players practiced safe social distancing throughout the workout. — Marcel Louis-Jacques

Amari Cooper said he, and Dak Prescott, along with other receivers, tight ends and running backs, have worked out consistently together in the offseason, including some at a football field the quarterback built in his back yard.

“We’ve all been getting together pretty consistently for months now,” Cooper said. “Working on route running, working on the offense and everything like that. We’ve been getting a lot of work in, getting that timing right as if we were in minicamp or OTAs.” — Todd Archer

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Kimberley Martin and Jeff Saturday both love Cam Jordan’s comments that the Buccaneers will be “fighting for second place” behind the Saints.

Saints linebacker Demario Davis, who made his debut on the NFL Network’s Top 100 list at No. 67 after being named first-team All-Pro for the first time last year: “I’m big on always counting my blessings. … To be on the list is certainly a blessing, so I’m not gonna take that for granted. The way I view myself, though, I’m my toughest critic and I’m also my biggest cheerleader. In my mind, there’s always more to accomplish and always a feeling of not being seen accurately. So I feel like I should be higher on the list, and I use it as motivation.” — Mike Triplett

The Chiefs’ running back depth took a blow with the opt-out decision of Damien Williams. That leaves the Chiefs without a player who has ever been a regular NFL featured back. Their depth chart includes first-round draft pick Clyde Edwards-Helaire and veterans DeAndre Washington, Darrel Williams and Darwin Thompson.

“We’re going to get Clyde ready to play and he’s going to get ready to play,” coach Andy Reid said. “But we’re lucky that we have a pretty good nucleus of running backs. Listen, it would be great to have Damien. On the other hand, if you have to pick a position where you’ve got some talent, that’s a position we can work with.” — Adam Teicher

The Giants veterans finally got on the field after testing and physicals for most of the past week. It’s still just conditioning at this point though. It will be another two weeks until they get to put on the pads and the real player evaluation will begin. — Jordan Raanan

We got our first glimpse of Darius Slay in an Eagles uniform Tuesday. Sporting the No. 24 in honor of Kobe Bryant, he showed off his swagger by flexing for the camera. For the first time since taking over as defensive coordinator in 2016, Jim Schwartz has a No. 1 corner who can travel with the opponent’s top receiver.

“I had Steph Gilmore early in his career in Buffalo and Steph matched everybody last year with the Patriots, an All-Pro player,” Schwartz said. “Slay is a guy who is sort of at the same point, has done a lot of that in the past and it won’t be anything new for him. Really excited to have him and I think it’s going to add a different dimension to our secondary.” — Tim McManus

Slot receiver Randall Cobb, who signed with the Texans in March, said he’s only had “five to seven opportunities” to catch balls from quarterback Deshaun Watson. He estimated that had there been an offseason program, there would have been “about 25 to 30 opportunities to communicate, to go through routes and timing. He would be able to get a sense of the way my body moves, understanding of how I come out of routes and I would be able to get an understanding of his release, his ball placement and all those things,” Cobb said. “… We’re trying to do the best we can given the landscape, but it definitely isn’t something that’s easy.” — Sarah Barshop

Panthers coach Matt Rhule challenged wide DJ Moore before camp to take his game to the next level, saying the third-year receiver has to “go be that dominant, physical go-to receiver … that you’re going to go to and take that matchup of the [opponent’s] best corner and dominate it.”

Moore seems up to the task. He’s playing with a chip after being snubbed from the Pro Bowl last season in much the same way running back Christian McCaffrey was snubbed in his second season before making it in 2019. “Of course there’s going to be a big chip when you don’t make something you think you should make, so it makes you go harder for next year,” said Moore, who ranked ninth in receiving yards last season with 1,175 on 87 catches. “[Coach is] just challenging me to be the best player I can be on the field. Accept that challenge and run with it.” — David Newton

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