Best of Wednesday at NFL training camps: QBs at the podiums include Herbert, Rodgers, Hurts and more

Quarterbacks generally don’t have trouble stealing headlines, but hey, we’re just days into 2021 NFL training camps.

Plus, there is big quarterback news across the league, not limited to the Green Bay Packers’ Aaron Rodgers addressing the media Wednesday. Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson has tested positive for COVID-19. Carolina Panthers quarterback Sam Darnold is on his way to being fully vaccinated. And San Francisco 49ers rookie signal-caller Trey Lance signed his deal, leaving the New York Jets’ Zach Wilson as the lone unsigned first-round draft pick.

And if you want something enticing that is off the menu, check out Tennessee Titans wide receiver Julio Jones’ cleats.

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

Top NFL news of the day

Aaron Rodgers says he mulled retiring, wants more say with Packers’ decisions

The Green Bay quarterback admitted Wednesday he considered retirement, detailed his offseason-long standoff with the Packers and still isn’t sure what — if anything — will change. But he’s back for a 17th season and there was plenty to parse from his 32-minute news conference following Wednesday’s first training camp practice.

Deshaun Watson ‘very professional’ at Texans training camp

As Houston took the field Wednesday, all eyes were on its quarterback, who reported to training camp this past Sunday after requesting a trade from the Texans in January. Less than two months later, the first of 23 lawsuits was filed accusing Watson of sexual assault and inappropriate behavior. He currently faces 22 active lawsuits. General manager Nick Caserio and coach David Culley addressed the media and both said Watson’s presence at training camp has not been a distraction.

More:

  • Source: Colts extend right tackle Braden Smith with $72.4M deal

  • Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes autographed card sells for $4.3 million

  • 49ers QB Trey Lance signs deal; Jets’ Zach Wilson last unsigned top pick

  • Source: Tight end Kelvin Benjamin cut by Giants

News on how COVID-19 is impacting the league

Ravens QB Lamar Jackson tests positive for COVID-19

The Baltimore quarterback has tested positive for COVID-19 and missed the team’s first practice of training camp Wednesday. Ravens coach John Harbaugh said the team received Jackson’s positive test result Tuesday after he tested negative multiple times in the preceding days. Harbaugh also confirmed running back Gus Edwards has tested positive for COVID-19 and will miss the start of camp.

Panthers QB Sam Darnold to be fully vaccinated on Friday

The Carolina quarterback will be considered fully vaccinated for COVID-19 as of Friday, a league source told ESPN.com. Darnold created somewhat of a social media uproar in early June when he told reporters on a Zoom call that he wasn’t vaccinated. Some questioned his leadership, particularly because of the restrictions non-vaccinated players are under.

Raiders QB Derek Carr: Been getting shots since I was a kid

A day after Las Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden said the team was completely vaccinated, “with the exception of four or five” players, quarterback Derek Carr hinted he had taken the vaccine and said the choice to be vaxxed or unvaxxed remained up to the individual players themselves.

“I’ve been getting shots since I was a little kid,” an unmasked Carr said after practice Wednesday. “I’ve had my mom take me out of school, ‘Hey, we’ve got to go get this shot.’ I remember that as a kid. My kids, too. This one, it’s a little different because it’s new, right? The other ones — with measles, mumps, Hepatitis B, all that kind of stuff — this one is new. So people and families have certain opinions. And if someone wants to ask me my opinion, absolutely, I’m sharing my opinion. Absolutely. But if they don’t want my opinion, I don’t think it’s my right to go tell them what to do, as a man. Especially in America.”— Paul Gutierrez

More:

  • Bills’ Cole Beasley says NFL vaccine gripe is over differing standards

  • Titans’ Ryan Tannehill: NFL ‘trying to force our hands’ on vaccines

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NFL quotes of the day



What our NFL Nation reporters saw today

The Falcons open training camp Thursday and among the things to watch will be how much work wide receiver Calvin Ridley does after having minor foot surgery in the offseason. Ridley is Atlanta’s top receiver after the team traded Julio Jones to Tennessee. How Ridley fits into coach Arthur Smith’s offense is one of the keys to success for the Falcons in 2021. — Michael Rothstein

Dan Campbell says he “didn’t sleep at all” entering his first training camp as the Lions’ coach. Campbell issued four team rules: 1. Don’t be late. 2. Keep your weight in check. 3. Don’t disrespect your teammates, and 4. Don’t disrespect this game. Rookie wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown certainly took those rules to heart as one of the last players to leave the field, catching 202 additional passes on the Jugs machine. St. Brown told ESPN he got the concept to catch more than 200 passes per day from his father, John — a two-time Mr. Universe, who received that advice from another football player. John suggested his son add two more as a challenge, so Amon-Ra now catches 202 passes. — Eric Woodyard

Rookie quarterback Mac Jones was the third player to take the field for a rainy practice, and the crowd of several thousand cheered his arrival. Jones took No. 2 reps behind Cam Newton, and capped off his day completing less than 50% of his passes in 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills while finishing strong with back-to-back TD passes. — Mike Reiss

Titans wide receiver A.J. Brown was back on the field for the start of training camp after missing OTAs and minicamp. Brown had a knee procedure during the offseason, but was on the field without a band or knee brace. Brown took part in every phase of practice and connected with quarterback Ryan Tannehill for three catches in the end zone during team and 7-on-7 periods.— Turron Davenport

All eyes were on Carson Wentz in his first training camp practice as the Colts’ starting quarterback. Wentz acknowledged it felt like the first day of school Wednesday. But it wasn’t what Wentz did on the practice field that was eye-popping, it was what he said after. The quarterback’s final season in Philly ended with him being benched and reportedly having a rocky relationship with teammates. Wentz has already noticed a difference in Indianapolis. “I’ve always been wired that way to have high expectations and coming in here, I could feel it in the spring right after the trade, the culture was different,” he said. “It’s a family. It truly feels like a family.” — Mike Wells

Team rules mandate players stay 10 feet away from reporters and fans. But there he was, quarterback Justin Herbert, so caught up in the excitement, high-fiving fans lined along the fence, posing for photos and thoroughly enjoying himself. “I wasn’t aware [of the 10-foot rule]. I just wanted to thank them for coming out. I’ll make sure to wash my hands and keep my distance, so I apologize.” It’s somewhat understandable because Herbert didn’t have fans last season. He didn’t have training camp, and he didn’t even have a practice game. (For the record, Chargers fans did have to be vaccinated to to attend training camp.) — Shelley Smith

Broncos quarterback Drew Lock recounted Wednesday just how “intense and scary” it was earlier this month, when on his way back to Denver from Kansas City a large lug nut off a car that lost a tire on Interstate 70 got stuck in his front windshield. At the time, Lock was heading back to Denver from his parents’ home in suburban Kansas City to hold workouts with some of the team’s wide receivers.

“That was insane, I was extremely scared, I took a moment there for like 30 minutes to kind of like realize what happened, how severe it could have been … it was pretty scary,” Lock said after the Broncos’ first training camp practice. “[I] went back home to Kansas City for a couple more days … have a few more dinners with the family because … that was really intense.”

Lock said he was traveling west on I-70 when “I saw [the tire] come off their car… it went into the grass and popped up out of the grass on to our [side of] the highway … slammed on the brakes, dodged the tire, right when the tire by me I turned around and the bolt hit the windshield.” — Jeff Legwold

Best of the rest from across the league

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