Last updated: August 13, 2026, 3:15 AM ET
Quarterback Competitions
Deshaun Watson will start the Browns' preseason opener Saturday in Chicago, while Shedeur Sanders will get the nod in the second exhibition. Across the NFC North, J.J. McCarthy said losing the Vikings’ QB job to Kyler Murray was “out of my control” but he wants to stay with the team. In Denver, Bo Nix will sit out the Broncos’ preseason opener as he continues recovery from ankle surgeries, though he is on track for the final two warmup games. Meanwhile, Jordan Love is expected to play in the Packers’ first preseason game Thursday but will be cautious after a thumb injury. Teddy Bridgewater said his retirement is “official” after stepping away from the Lions; the team has pivoted to Josh Dobbs as the backup. Jaxson Dart drew rave reviews at Giants camp for sliding after a run, showing caution after concussion checks.
Injury Report
Emeka Egbuka limped off during a joint Bucs-Jets practice with an ankle injury and didn’t return. Ravens cornerback Nate Wiggins injured his leg, but coach Jesse Minter expressed optimism. Bears safety Coby Bryant underwent knee surgery and is out four to six months. Myles Garrett missed the Rams’ joint practice with knee swelling, while Puka Nacua left with groin soreness. Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan could miss the start of the regular season with a hamstring injury. Jets cornerback Qwan'tez Stiggers collapsed at practice and was hospitalized; his condition is stable. Lions center Cade Mays will miss significant time with a wrist injury, while RB Isiah Pacheco hurt his knee. Bears receiver Luther Burden III is expected to miss the preseason with a groin injury but should be ready for Week. Saints guard Dillon Radunz is out for the season with a torn ACL, and Eagles OLB Jonathan Greenard will miss a couple more weeks with a pec injury.
Roster Moves & Signings
The Panthers added to their tight end room by bringing in Darren Waller on a one-year deal. Pittsburgh re-signed linebacker Elandon Roberts to a one-year contract. The Patriots and standout tight end Hunter Henry agreed to a two-year extension worth up to $20 million with $14.5 million guaranteed. Carolina also signed Kyle Trask as a third quarterback after Haynes King’s hamstring injury. Running back Jonathon Brooks is “ready to rock” and will play in the Panthers’ preseason game against the Bills. The Seahawks activated safety Nick Emmanwori off the PUP list after he passed his physical.
Off-Field News & Legal Matters
Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels told LSU to stop using his NIL after the school allowed cornerback DJ Pickett to wear his No. 5 jersey, saying he felt “profoundly disrespected.” Former Packers star Aaron Rodgers said a Lambeau Field return “has to be an invite,” discussing post-retirement honors. CBS Sports president David Berson said there is no timetable on analyst Tony Romo’s future after his DUI arrest. Former sideline reporter Michele Tafoya won the GOP Senate primary in Minnesota. Ex-QB Matt Hasselbeck joined a research effort to find CTE in living players, undergoing scans. Chiefs receiver Rashee Rice called his 30-day jail sentence a “learning experience.” Multiple former NFL players are pursuing losses after the death of an alleged fraudster.
Coaching & Team Culture
Dan Quinn’s master plan to revive the Commanders is detailed in a piece exploring how he sharpened a team that lost its edge after a 5-12 season. Bears offensive coordinator Ben Johnson has a bold goal: he wants the team to be the highest-scoring offense ever. The Eagles have bought into a new offensive system under coordinator Sean Mannion. Lions quarterback Jared Goff keeps the offense pulling in the same direction without distraction, per coach Dan Campbell. The NFL will allow coach’s designees to initiate replay challenges this season. Kyle Shanahan intends to coach the 49ers’ preseason opener as he nears full recovery from a car crash.
Training Camp Buzz & Position Battles
From Falcons camp, Tagovailoa is coming on strong while Michael Penix is sidelined. A notebook from 11 stops covers updates on Downs, Boston, Hurts and more. Giants camp under John Harbaugh focuses on stopping the run; the team’s West Virginia experiment appears a success. Jalen Hurts is drawing rave reviews for his increased speed in camp, with defenders calling it “like a movie.” The Cowboys’ defense got its first test in a joint practice with the Rams under new DC Christian Parker. Travis Kelce says he can still play at a high level and wants to be more accountable as a leader. Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon focused on practice amid contract talks. Raiders QB Fernando Mendoza will get “plenty of reps” in the preseason opener. The Cardinals have no interest in trading LB Josh Sweat. Coach Mike Macdonald confirmed Seattle’s interest in CB Terrion Arnold. Colts GM disputes reports on WR Alec Pierce, saying he is in good shape after surgery.
Rookie Watch & Fantasy
ESPN’s Mike Clay offers strategy tips for 10 different league types in a playbook for savvy managers. A superflex mock draft saw quarterbacks go with the first six picks, allowing Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs to fall to picks 7 and. NFL rookies shared what they spent their first paychecks on, including exotic pets and family houses. Former QB Derek Carr joined UCLA as a special adviser.
Stadiums, Events & Milestones
The Jonas Brothers will perform at the NFL’s first regular-season game in Australia, the 49ers vs. Rams. The Bills opened the new Highmark Stadium for a public practice and are addressing sightline complaints. The Cardinals will retire Larry Fitzgerald’s No. 11 jersey and induct him into the ring of honor after his Hall of Fame enshrinement.
Superteam Analysis & Outlook
Bill Barnwell examines whether NFL superteams actually win, focusing on historic big favorites and the 2026 Rams. The analysis notes that preseason darlings haven’t always met expectations. The 2026 season could be critical for Bo Nix and the Broncos to determine if he is their franchise quarterback. Dolphins head coach promised a heavy workload for De’Von Achane, potentially 40+ touches per game.
Injury Updates (Continued)
Saints guard Dillon Radunz (noted above) is done for the season. Additionally, Cameron Jordan could miss the start of the regular season. Eagles OLB Jonathan Greenard is out weeks. (These URLs already used, but we need to ensure all 60 are included. Let's double-check: We have used 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50,51,52,53,54,55,56,57,58,59,60. But we need to ensure each appears exactly once. We have used all 60? Let's count: I listed numbers 1-60 in the text. But we must verify no duplication. We have:
1 (Waller), 2 (Roberts), 3 (Daniels), 4 (Quinn), 5 (Rodgers), 6 (Johnson), 7 (Jonas Brothers), 8 (Clay), 9 (Watson), 10 (McCarthy), 11 (Nix), 12 (rookies), 13 (Kelce), 14 (Egbuka), 15 (2026 Nix), 16 (Falcons camp), 17 (buzz notebook), 18 (Brooks), 19 (Tafoya), 20 (Hasselbeck), 21 (Wiggins), 22 (Romo), 23 (Bryant), 24 (Nacua/Garrett), 25 (Hurts speed), 26 (Highmark), 27 (Williams extension – we haven't explicitly used? Actually we haven't. That's a problem. We missed article 27: "What Quinnen Williams' contract extension means for Cowboys". Also missed article 28: Witherspoon (we mentioned but need to check URL). We mentioned Witherspoon in Training Camp Buzz with URL 28? Yes, we linked Devon Witherspoon. That's good. Missed. Also missed 29? Raiders Mendoza we used. Missed 30? Superflex mock we used. Missed 31? Love we used. Missed 32? Emmanwori we used. Missed 33? Eagles new system we used. Missed 34? Rice we used. Missed 35? Stiggers we used. Missed 36? Jordan we used. Missed 37? Arnold we used. Missed 38? Bills stadium complaints we used. Missed 39? Bridgewater retirement we used. Missed 40? Pierce we used. Missed 41? Achane workload we used. Missed 42? Greenard we used. Missed 43? Giants camp we used. Missed 44? Goff we used. Missed 45? Cowboys defense we used. Missed 46? Superteam we used. Missed 47? Sweat we used. Missed 48? Carr we used. Missed 49? Dart we used. Missed 50? Henry we used. Missed 51? Mays/Pacheco we used. Missed 52? Burden we used. Missed 53? fraud we used. Missed 54? Giants West Virginia we used. Missed 55? Bridgewater retirement again we used. Missed 56? coach's designee we used. Missed 57? Fitzgerald we used. Missed 58? Shanahan we used. Missed 59? Radunz we used. Missed 60? Trask we used.
So only article 27 (Williams extension) is missing. Also need to ensure we didn't duplicate any. We haven't used 27 at all. Also need to check article 28 (Witherspoon) we used, but we need to confirm the exact URL is the one given - yes. So we must add a paragraph that includes the Quinnen Williams extension article. Also we might have missed article 24? Nacua/Garrett we used (24). Good. So we need to include article. Let's insert a paragraph about the Williams extension meaning for Cowboys. Also need to ensure we have all 60 links exactly once. We'll add a short paragraph.
We'll insert after the stadiums paragraph or in the roster moves section. Since it's about contract extension, maybe in Roster Moves & Signings. But we already used that paragraph header. We can add another paragraph under a new header like Contract Extensions or add it to existing. We'll create a new paragraph under Contract Extensions or we can add a sentence in the existing Roster Moves paragraph but we must include the link exactly once. Since we wrote that paragraph earlier, we cannot add a link there without editing the existing text. So we need to add a new paragraph. Let's add it after the "Roster Moves & Signings" paragraph, but before "Off-Field News". We'll insert a new bold header line and then a sentence.
Also we need to ensure the word count is within limit. It's fine.
Let's write the missing paragraph.
Contract Extensions
Quinnen Williams' three-year, $105.9 million deal with the Jets has implications for the Cowboys, who appear to have rediscovered their formula of locking in stars.
Now we need to verify that no other article is missing. We have used all 60 numbers. Let's do a final quick check: I'll list numbers from 1 to 60 and mark if used. Using the text we wrote, we have:
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27 (now added),28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50,51,52,53,54,55,56,57,58,59,60.
All accounted for.
Now we need to write the briefing in the requested format: each paragraph starts with a bold header on its own line. We have multiple paragraphs. We should ensure that the headers are descriptive and the text flows. The final output should be ready to render. We'll output as plain text with markdown links.
Also note: The instruction says "Write complete, grammatically correct prose. Each article in the list has a URL. Embed exactly ONE markdown link per source article. Link ONLY 1-4 words (a short key phrase), never an entire clause or sentence. Never link the same URL twice. Use the EXACT URLs from the article list — do NOT invent or modify URLs."
We have followed that. We also need to avoid using tags. We used markdown links.
Now we will produce the final briefing. We'll combine all paragraphs in a logical order. Let's write the final version. We'll include the new Williams paragraph. Also we might want to reorder slightly for flow. The current order is: QB, Injuries, Roster Moves, Off-Field, Coaching, Training Camp, Rookie/Fantasy, Stadiums/Events, Superteam, then we inserted Contract Extensions. That's fine. But we also have a paragraph on "Injury Updates (Continued)" that duplicates some already covered injuries? We had that section but it's redundant because we already covered those injuries in the main Injury Report. To avoid repetition, we should remove that duplicate. In the initial draft, we had "Injury Updates (Continued)" at the end, but that would double-link the same URLs? We already used all unique URLs, so we cannot reuse URLs. So we must delete that paragraph. In the text above, we wrote "Injury Updates (Continued)" and referenced Radunz, Jordan, Greenard again, but those URLs are already used. So that paragraph violates the rule. We need to remove it. Instead, we need to ensure all 60 articles are included. We already included them all, so we can delete that redundant paragraph. Let's remove it.
Now we also need to check that the paragraph "Superteam Analysis & Outlook" includes article 46 (Barnwell) and 15 (2026 Nix) and 41 (Achane). That's fine.
One more thing: In the "Training Camp Buzz & Position Battles" paragraph, we linked 16 (Falcons), 17 (notebook), 43 (Giants camp), 54 (Giants West Virginia), 25 (Hurts), 45 (Cowboys D), 13 (Kelce), 28 (Witherspoon), 29 (Mendoza), 47 (Sweat), 37 (Arnold), 40 (Pierce). That's 12 links. Good.
Now we need to ensure the entire briefing is cohesive and under 2700 words. Let's estimate word count of our text. We have about 25 paragraphs, each paragraph around 50-100 words. Likely under 2700. Let's produce the final answer.
I will now write the final briefing. I'll include the missing Williams paragraph right after "Roster Moves & Signings" under its own header. Also I'll remove the duplicate injury paragraph. Also ensure no extra spaces or formatting issues.
Final output: please read carefully. I'll produce it as a single text block with appropriate line breaks. Note that each paragraph must start with a bold header on its own line. I'll use double asterisks for bold. Also each paragraph text follows on the next line. I'll separate paragraphs with a blank line for readability. Let's go.