Football is back! We've got you covered from July 24 through August 5 with NFL Network's "Inside Training Camp Live"Â providing 12 hours of live coverage each day beginning at 10 a.m. ET. Every day we'll feature highlights from the show and our reporters in the field. Here's today's batch:
» There can only be one ... Browns starting quarterback. In debating whether rookie Johnny Manziel could benefit from a redshirt year, both Sage Rosenfels and Curtis Conway agreed.
Rosenfels: "I think it would be helpful for Manziel to sit for year, but I guess we'll have to see."
Conway: "I would say you have to play your best quarterback, and if Johnny is not the right quarterback to play to give yourself a chance to win, you don't play him. And I'm a firm believer in sitting a quarterback for a year."
NFL Media's Aditi Kinkhabwala reports that Manziel has yet to receive any first-team snaps despite head coach Mike Pettine saying that the rookie would. Stay tuned to training camp's most intriguing quarterback battle, and let us know if Johnny Football would do well with a year being Johnny Clipboard.
» Kinkhabwala probably had the most fun of any reporter on Friday, zip lining with the Browns mascot and fans. Well done, Aditi!
» NFL Media's Daniel Jeremiah reported from Jaguars training camp in Jacksonville, where the heat and humidity had the former NFL scout pining for an office job.
The Jags suffered more concerns over their thin receiving corps with the news that second-round pick Allen Robinson injured his hamstring and will miss at least two weeks. The Jags are already without Cecil Shorts (hamstring) and Ace Sanders (four-game suspension).
» Jeremiah also said on ITC Live that the Jags are quarterback Chad Henne's football team, saying, "It was pretty obvious Henne was the guy."
Rookie Blake Bortles' improved footwork impressed Jeremiah. While his arm strength will never be Jay Cutler-esque, Jeremiah praised Bortles' "moxie," noting he looked better in full 11-on-11 sessions opposed to seven-on-sevens.
» In other news, as of this writing, it's 95 degrees in Jacksonville. Jeremiah wanted to take a dip in the Jaguars' new pool in their stadium, posing a question on Twitter.
The team dared him. And he went for it. Awesome.
» We started Friday morning at New York Jets camp, where NFL Media's Kimberly Jones provided an update on injured rookie safetyCalvin Pryor, and weighed in on the still-developing relationship between general manager John Idzik and head coach Rex Ryan, now entering their second season together.
Idzik and Ryan "definitely had a feeling-out period. They said all the right things," Jones said. "I was told relatively recently that the relationship is better, that it has improved, that Rex Ryan absolutely knows he has to win, and if he wins, that relationship has a lot of possibilities in terms of continued improvement, and frankly continuing on.
"But this was a situation where I think Rex had to feel out what his general manager wanted from him, especially in terms of a public persona, and I think the comfort level that Rex now has with the general manager is why you're now seeing Rex be Rex again. And frankly we're all grateful for that."
» During his press conference Friday, Ryan revealed that while new wide receiver Eric Decker has a "little bit of a hamstring" ailment, he'll play in Saturday's team scrimmage. Safety Calvin Pryor, who, earlier this week, suffered a concussion, will likely not participate.
» What's that? You want to see New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and PatriotsHall of Fame inductee Ty Law dance in bedazzled Nikes? You've come to the right place!
» Saints QB Drew Brees' former backup Chase Daniel had a response to New Orleans' skeet shooting video with one of his own, along with Alex Smith and fellow Kansas City Chiefs quarterbacks. Impressive.
» Old hand Charley Casserly seemed more at ease in the Miami sunshine, where he gave a progress report on the Dolphins' fledgling attempts to speed up the offense, and on the continued development of quarterback Ryan Tannehill.
"The theme here is they want him to take the next step," Casserly said. "It really centers on three things: One is decision-making ... quicker and more accurate decisions. That's not uncommon for a third-year quarterback, that will help him cut down on his 17 interceptions. Improve his accuracy in general, which went up from Year One to Year Two, and on the deep ball. Now, focusing on those three things this morning when I was watching him at practice, I would say it was not a good morning in those three areas. But again, you have to be careful when you're teaching a new system and you're working through things, it's going to be a learning experience."
» NFL Media's Steve Wyche caught up with Mike McCarthy in Green Bay. The Packers coach had glowing reviews for Jarrett Boykin and Julius Peppers.
Of Boykin, McCarthy said the third-year wide receiver was ready to become the team's next breakout offensive star:
"...We have excellent veteran leadership in Jordy (Nelson), and Randall (Cobb) in there, and Jarrett is just, he's kind of the next guy. He's done everything you've ever asked. He came in here as a free agent, a little hungry after his first opportunity, and just continued to grow with each and every opportunity. It's the most competitive receiver group I think we've had in my time here."
As for Peppers?
"He's very natural with what we're asking him to do. He's an outside linebacker. His ability to play in space is exceptional obviously for man his size, and we're well aware of his great athletic traits, but the thing I've been most impressed with is what a pro he is. He's a quiet man, but he does a great job with his teammates and really has a great understanding of the game."
Of course, having this guy on your team tends to encourage a general optimism:
» Warren Sapp checked into *ITC Live* from Canton, Ohio, where his former teammate Derrick Brooks will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this weekend. When asked what insight into the Enshrinees' Gold Jacket Dinner he would give Brooks, he said, "I am not telling him a thing! I am leaving him in the dark," just like Deion Sanders, Marshall Faulk and Michael Irvin did to him. "I'll see his face afterward and just look at him and smile."
As for whose induction speech he's looking forward to besides Brooks'? Sapp quickly noted Michael Strahan's.
» Steve Mariucci chimed in from the Oakland Raiders training camp in Napa, California, before their practice. When asked about rookie linebacker Khalil Mack, he had nothing but good things to relay from defensive coordinator Jason Tarver.
Tarver told Mariucci, "He's a very, very smart guy. He's made four mental mistakes so far in training camp. That's it." That's something Peyton Manning, Philip Rivers and Alex Smith would have preferred not hearing.
» Mariucci also made a comment about stepping into the Raiders' training room to do some curls. The team will not let it be a flippant, empty promise.
» During an ITC Live discussion, Jamie Dukes and Michael Robinson gave their picks for which team had the best odds to jump from last to first place in their respective divisions.
Dukes picked the Washington Redskins, saying, "I'm excited to see what they can do," noting the new DeSean Jackson/Robert Griffin III connection.
Robinson's pick of the Houston Texans bewildered Dukes and Andrew Siciliano. The former Seahawk defended himself by knocking the AFC South's overall strength. "I don't think that the Indianapolis Colts are that far ahead of everybody else," Robinson asserted.
