Camping Updates

By: Josh Frey-Sam

Everyone was on the field for the first time on Wednesday.

Rookies, veterans — unless they were injured, their season had officially begun.

With that, there was a lot to parse through news-wise. Unfortunately, there were already a ton of injuries on both sides of the ball, but there was also a lot of good stuff to get excited about.

• SF WR Ricky Pearsall did not practice due to swelling in his knee that is related to the PCL injury he dealt with last season. A terrible sign for Pearsall, who could miss significant time or even the whole season if he decides to undergo surgery. With Christian Kirk also dealing with an injury, the Niners rotated several bodies in with the first team, including rookie second-rounder De’Zauhn Stribling. Stribling has looked the part in the early days of camp, and Brocky Purdy has raved about him. With Mike Evans’ lengthy injury history also taken into consideration, could we see a stretch in which Stribling is the WR1 in San Fran this season?

• SF RB Jordan James reportedly fractured a rib on Tuesday and will miss some time. That paves the way for a monster opportunity for rookie third-round RB Kaelon Black, who is battling with James for the RB2 role behind CMC. I wouldn’t count James out to win the backup job, but not being on the field for any amount at this time of year can be detrimental to a player’s chances.

• NYG WR Malik Nabers practised at full speed. He was running, cutting and moving well on his surgically repaired knee. This came as a shock to everyone, including myself, because it was a month ago that we saw a video of Nabers at a dodgeball game where he clearly wasn’t moving well. It was the second piece of good news this month on Nabers, who was expected to start camp on the PUP but avoided it, and now all those talks of him playing in Week 1 suddenly look a little more legit. He’s a steal for where he’s going right now in drafts.

• CIN TE Erick All Jr. got some run with the first-team offence. All Jr., a fourth-round pick last year, is coming off a rookie season that was hampered by injuries. There’s been a steady drumbeat for him all off-season, and while I haven’t fully bought into it yet, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t starting to grow more optimistic about his season. This would be especially exciting if the Bengals ran more 2TE sets this season to get All Jr. and Mike Gesicki on the field at the same time, which is plausible considering the Bengals have question marks at WR3.

• CAR rookie WR Chris Brazzell II suffered an LCL tear and will miss around two months. Could start on the PUP. A tough break for the rookie, and potentially a tough break for Tet McMillan, who was reported to be getting more snaps in the slot to get him more in space with favourable matchups. With Brazzell out, McMillan might have to go back outside.

• KC rookie WR Cyrus Allen had a strong first day of camp and got some run with the first-team offence. Head coach Andy Reid said on Allen: “I think Pat’s (Patrick Mahomes') got some trust there.” This wouldn’t normally be that notable, except that Allen is a fifth-round pick who I’ve grown super bullish on this off-season. I would argue he is already the best man-beater the Chiefs have, and he fills a talent void that the club had.

• DEN QB Bo Nix practised and had a “normal workload.” Not that surprising of news, but still good to hear that Nix should enjoy a normal training camp.

• ARI WR Marvin Harrison Jr. has dropped a lot of passes early in camp. Hopefully, it’s just a blip and not a carryover of the yips he had last season. I’m really trying not to overreact to the videos that are coming out of Cards’ camp, but to see Marv struggling with basic catches while Michael Wilson has looked great does not sit well with me.

• CHI WR Luther Burden got a lot of work during team period. Was easily Caleb Williams’ most targeted WR. As if I needed any more good news around one of MY GUYS this season. Check out what Bears GM Ryan Poles said about Burden ahead of camp, too: "If there’s a guy that I’m really excited about, it’s Luther Burden, just because of how much he’s grown from the day he walked in this building. I mean, I heard he was just texting and calling these quarterbacks just looking for an arm to throw to him every day of the week. The guy loves football, he’s passionate about it. He wants to helps this team win, and he wants to be the absolute best receiver he can possibly be. You can feel the fire inside of him, and I’m excited to see that show up.”

• Tua Tagovailoa is sidelined with a “flare-up” of an undisclosed injury. One report says he is dealing with a tight back. The good news is Kevin Stefanski said he believes Tua will be back sooner rather than later. Believe me when I say: if you’re a Bijan Robinson, Drake London or Kyle Pitts owner, you want to see Tua healthy and win this job. For now, we will watch Michael Penix. Jr.

Thanks for reading and, as always, have a great day.

Josh