It’s the second week of mandatory minicamps in the NFL, with 22 teams taking another critical step toward the start of the 2024 season. Ten teams rolled out mandatory football last week, and three of them took the practice field. earlier this week and 19 others will return to action on Wednesday.
ESPN’s NFL reporters will be at each of the locations this week, providing insight into position battles, notable appearances from new faces, compelling quotes from coaches and players, and updates on injuries and tough situations.
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Top NFL news of the day
Jimmy Graham: Will make retirement decision based on Saints
Tight end Jimmy Graham hasn’t closed the door on football. Graham, who posted a thank you to the New Orleans Saints on his Instagram account in March, said he’s “not sure yet” when asked recently if he was officially retired. “I’ll contact the Saints and find out what’s best, and then I’ll make the decision on when it’s best for me to retire,” he told ESPN.
Graham signed a one-year deal with the Saints last year after being out of football for the 2022 season and said he intended to return to the league only if he played in New Orleans.
What our NFL Nation reporters saw today
One second on the clock. Last play of the mandatory minicamp. Ball on the 5-yard line. Who has the bragging rights (offense or defense) until the team returns for the start of training camp in late July?
That was the situation the rookie QB faced. drake maye on the last day of mandatory minicamp.
Maye delivered a beautiful shoulder fade to the rookie WR Yes’Lynn Polk — with unrecruited CBs Mikey Victor in coverage, and Polk crashed to the ground near the back right corner of the end zone. Officials from Adrian Hill’s team, who were on hand for practice, huddled to determine if Polk had two feet on the field and eventually raised his arms in the air to signal the touchdown.
The offensive players celebrated. Defensive players, some yelling profanities, dropped to the ground to do push-ups.
“That’s something to come home to,” Maye said later, crediting Polk for making the play. “The first OTAs, the first minicamp, end with a catch like that from a fellow rookie, first and second rounder. It’s cool.” — Mike Reiss
The first play of the Giants’ final spring practice was a sliding screen pass to the rookie wide receiver. Malik Nabers.
This demonstrates the impression the first-round pick has made heading into training camp that the team has plays designed just for him. It’s because Nabers, the No. 6 pick earlier this year out of LSU, showed up this spring. He has caught the attention of his coaches and teammates.
“I mean, he can do everything,” the quarterback said. Daniel Jones saying. “There’s not much he can’t do from a route-running standpoint. He’s dynamic with the ball in his hands and strong, fast, explosive, catches the ball well. Yeah, he does it very well.”
That’s been evident all spring, including in the final camp workout of the offseason when he had a couple of grabs during a light practice at minicamp. –Jordan Raanan
Malik Nabers’ talent is special pic.twitter.com/q1aXrhKZWn
—Jordan Raanan (@JordanRaanan) June 12, 2024
Browns defensive end Myles Garrettthe reigning Defensive Player of the Year, still has Cleveland’s season-ending loss to the Houston Texans on his mind as he prepares for the 2024 season. Cleveland lost to Houston, 45-14, in the wild card round and the Browns defense had its worst performance of the year in the loss.
“It’s definitely always at the forefront of my mind,” Garrett said. “That’s the last football experience we’ve all had. I’m trying to make it obvious to everyone and continue to keep it as motivation for myself.”
After winning his first Defensive Player of the Year award, Garrett said a Lombardi Trophy is the only thing he’s thinking about for a repeat performance.
“God willing, I can build on the success we had last year, get everyone healthy and win a Super Bowl,” he said. “That’s where only my eyes are.” — Daniel Oyefusi
The Packers may not have an established No. 1 receiver (and they may not need one with all the young talent at that position), but if there is a more reliable one among that group, it could be a third-year pro. Romeo Doubs. If anyone had one foot out on Wednesday before the final practice of the offseason, Doubs wasn’t one of them. The highlight of his day came when he got a deep stop route up the middle, made a quick cut, and spun downfield.
“We challenged him on a couple of things that we thought he could really do a better job on, and we kept emphasizing the importance of breaking through and he embraced it,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “And I think you’ve seen it and I think he’s had a lot of great moments. In fact, I can’t think of a bad day he’s had there. He’s just definitely getting better.” -Rob Demovsky
The Saints had a quarterback Jake Haener work with the third team for the first time, allowing the rookie Spencer Rattler to take reps from the second team. Rattler was eliminated in 11-on-11 drills by the starting cornerback Marshon Lattimore while aiming at the rookie Bub means.
Haener also threw his first interception of practices open to the media this summer when he was intercepted by the rookie safety. Millard Bradford. Saints coach Dennis Allen said not to make too much of it.
“That thing is going to struggle throughout training camp. And I don’t think that position is unique. There are going to be several positions where you’re going to see some lineup changes along the way,” Allen said. –Katherine Terrell
Bengals linebacker Germaine Pratt Had another good day in 7-on-7 drills. For the second time in two days, he recorded a pass deflection from the QB. joe burrow in drills.
cornerback DJ Turner and dax hill, who are fighting for the outside cornerback position, had a good day on Wednesday. Turner and Hill each had a pair of pass deflections during 7-on-7 drills. Turner broke up a pass from the backup quarterback Jake Browning which jumped into the air and was intercepted. Hill also had a deflection on an inbound route that led Burrow to throw in the towel on him like it was a flag.
Hill got a good laugh, but also believed he made the play fairly. — I’m a baby
The idea behind bringing speed to the wide receiver in people of brown marquise and Xavier Worthy It was so the Chiefs could make more big passing plays. They got one towards the end of practice when Patrick Mahomes he overcame the blitz and threw a long touchdown pass to Brown. Worthy hasn’t practiced much since he was drafted in the first round due to hamstring soreness. He didn’t work in Wednesday’s practice, instead watching from the sidelines. But it doesn’t take much for the Chiefs to imagine what the possibilities are when Brown and Worthy are in the lineup. “Those guys are blazers,” the catcher said. Justin Watson saying. “They’re at a different level of speed and defenses are going to have to back off.” –Adam Teicher