HomeRugbyMonday at camp: Deebo Samuel, Jaycee Horn, KJ Hamler practice as teams pad up

Monday at camp: Deebo Samuel, Jaycee Horn, KJ Hamler practice as teams pad up

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  • ESPN staff

For most teams, Monday marked the first day players suited up in pads for 2022 NFL training camp, a sure sign that things are getting real ahead of Thursday’s Hall of Fame game kickoff between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Las Vegas Raiders at the Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio.

It’s also the first time that some players hit the field for practice. San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel made his camp debut after inking his three-year contract extension worth up to $73.5 million. Denver Broncos receiver KJ Hamler returned from his torn left ACL, and Carolina Panthers second-year cornerback Jaycee Horn was back in action after breaking his right foot during his rookie campaign. Neither of them played after Week 3 last season due to their injuries.

With the pads on, things are picking up throughout the NFL. Who made a mark Monday? Who got dinged up? Who had the most fun?

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

What our NFL Nation reporters saw today

Miami Dolphins: Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa continued to look calm and decisive as a passer. He did throw a red zone interception to cornerback Trill Williams after a miscommunication with receiver Jaylen Waddle, but he and Waddle connected for a touchdown earlier in practice with All-Pro cornerback Xavien Howard draped all over him. Tagovailoa’s accuracy has been a highlight of his camp so far, as is his willingness and ability to throw the deep ball — something he did not do much of during the 2021 season. — Marcel Louis-Jacques

New York Jets: The Zach Wilson-led offense sputtered in its first true test of training camp — a “live” 11-on-11 at the end of practice. The Jets call it a “move the ball” period, but Wilson & Co. certainly didn’t move the ball. Two possessions, two three-and-outs. “Not so hot,” offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur said. Coach Robert Saleh claimed the “defense was on fire,” which is what you’d expect a defensive-minded coach to say. It was another lackluster practice for the second-year quarterback Wilson, who couldn’t get much going after a long touchdown pass to receiver Elijah Moore at the start of practice. LaFleur said Wilson is making daily, nuanced improvement in his game. — Rich Cimini

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Atlanta Falcons: There wasn’t the big pop you usually see from the first day of padded practices with the Falcons, but it was obvious how good of a player defensive tackle Grady Jarrett is once the pads came on. Jarrett, it seemed like, was in the backfield and making massive differences against the Falcons’ offensive line throughout the first day with pads. It would have been more noticeable had the Falcons been allowed to take players to the ground — they aren’t — but Jarrett became a constant disruption to offensive consistency against left guard Elijah Wilkinson and center Drew Dalman, who were with the first team Monday as they compete with Jalen Mayfield (left guard) and Matt Hennessy (center) for starting roles. — Michael Rothstein

Washington Commanders: Receiver Curtis Samuel, who played just five games last season because of a groin and later a hamstring injury, did not practice Monday. Washington started reducing his workload in practice late last week. Coach Ron Rivera said Samuel is not dealing with any groin issues, but they want to take it slowly with him. They first wanted to see where he was physically early in camp. On the second day, he cut sharply after the catch to create extra yards. However, since then, he hasn’t done much in full-team drills. “It’s all about the plan,” Rivera said. “[After] looking at him, there was a little concern about football conditioning and shape. You can condition all you want, but to come back and do some things you want to do, you have to be smart about it.” The good news for Washington: running back Antonio Gibson did return to full-team work after being limited with a minor hamstring issue last week. — John Keim

Tennessee Titans: Rookie cornerback Roger McCreary had a really good day. McCreary broke up five passes during team and 7-on-7 periods. He also had sticky coverage during 1-on-1s, where he has consistently been matched up against first-round pick Treylon Burks. “Our main focus is to get each other better,” McCreary said after practice. “If he makes a good play, I tell him ‘good job.’ We talk back and forth.” — Turron Davenport

Kansas City Chiefs: The Chiefs got a scare when quarterback Patrick Mahomes received attention from the trainers on the sideline after being stepped on by a teammate late in practice. Mahomes left one play before the end of his scheduled time, and retreated to the medical tent to allow trainers to examine his left foot. He returned to the practice field in time to join his teammates for their usual post-practice stretching and running routine. Mahomes later said he would be fine, but the situation bears watching. — Adam Teicher

Buffalo Bills: The Bills’ defense was the overall winner of the team’s second practice in pads — in part thanks to the continued shuffling of the offensive line due to injuries and the corresponding strong play of the defensive line, including defensive tackle Ed Oliver, who has had a good camp. A fight broke out during Monday’s session, and there were some impressive moments, but linebacker Tremaine Edmunds’ interception of quarterback Josh Allen is worthy of recognition. For Edmunds to take another step forward in his fifth season and a contract year, he needs to make more splash plays, which defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier said, “will help propel us to another level.” Toward the end of practice, the middle linebacker dropped into coverage, read Allen well and came down with the pass intended for wide receiver Stefon Diggs. Not bad for a splash play. Safety Micah Hyde also returned to practice in pads after missing one day to a hip/glute injury, but he did not participate in team drills. — Alaina Getzenberg

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Philadelphia Eagles: Rookie defensive tackle Jordan Davis opened some eyes during Monday’s session. His combination of size (6-foot-6, 340 pounds), speed and athleticism was too much for most of the lineman who went against him during one-on-one drills. Davis got work with the first team during team drills and was effective eating up double teams and generating pressure up the gut. Expect Davis, the first-round pick out of Georgia, to be an immediate contributor. — Tim McManus

New York Giants: The full pads came on Monday for the first time at Giants practice. It still didn’t seem to change much for the passing game, which continues to struggle. Quarterback Daniel Jones was 5-of-13 passing during live periods, during which wide receiver Kenny Golladay caught one short pass. They had one explosive pass — the first time they put the ball in the air — on a completion over the middle to rookie Wan’Dale Robinson. Still, the Giants are insistent there isn’t a need to panic. It’s early, and they are making progress. “I feel like there is good competition on both sides of the ball,” said Golladay. “I definitely like what we’re doing. [Monday] was the first day of pads, and it was good to see the running game going a little bit. Give the ball to Saquon [Barkley]. It was exciting.” — Jordan Raanan

Jacksonville Jaguars: Running back James Robinson (Achilles) hasn’t yet been cleared to practice fully, so that has meant a lot of work for rookie running back Snoop Conner. The fifth-round pick out of Ole Miss had his best practice on Monday. He had two long runs, including one down the sideline, and scored on an inside run from inside the 10-yard line. The knock on Conner was his lack of speed (he ran the 40 in 4.59 seconds at the combine), but he has looked quicker than anticipated at camp. Conner caught only 32 passes in three seasons at Ole Miss, but he has shown in camp that he can be a reliable pass-catcher. Even when Robinson returns (the Jaguars are hoping for mid-August), it’s unrealistic to expect him to resume his normal workload for a while, and early in camp it, looks like Conner may be involved more in the offense than just as a goal-line back. — Michael DiRocco

Las Vegas Raiders: Lester Cotton Sr. has been the feel-good story of camp. Cut four times by the Raiders and having spent 2020 out of football, Cotton has been on the ascent since signing with the practice squad last season and is in line to start at right guard. “When I got released in 2020, my second year, it was a big wake-up call,” Cotton said Monday. “I was out 10 months. I had to really, like, look at myself in the mirror and say, ‘If this is what I’m going to do, I have to lock in and be 100%.’ That’s what I’ve been doing every day.” Raiders quarterback Derek Carr recalled Cotton asking him as a rookie, in 2019, what he had to do to be a starting guard. “I said, ‘Man, keep working your butt off,'” Carr recalled. “At the time, you [could] see who we had there and it was going to be hard for him. But I told Lester when we were walking to our cars yesterday, ‘Lester, I’m so proud of you. Because through the cuts, through the re-signs, through this and that, new schemes, you have done nothing but put your head down.'” — Paul Gutierrez

Green Bay Packers: All you have to do to know it’s the special teams portion of training camp is listen. It’ll be the loudest period of practice. It’s safe to say new special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia doesn’t stand for players who cut corners or don’t pay attention to details. On Monday, he didn’t like the way the punt team broke the huddle, so he immediately blew his whistle and ran from 30 yards down the field to make sure the group knew it. He told them — no, screamed at them — to get back in the huddle and come out faster to lineup. It’s far too soon to say whether the Packers’ special teams will be any better than last season — not that they could be much worse — but it won’t be for a lack of vociferous coaching. “I don’t know if you guys can feel it,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said, “but there certainly is a purpose, an intensity when we go to those periods.” — Rob Demovsky — Rob Demovsky

Carolina Panthers: Baker Mayfield perhaps showed the first sign of creating separation between him and Sam Darnold in competition for the starting quarterback job during red zone drills in the first padded practice. The former Browns starter, working with the second-team offense, threw three touchdown passes against the second-team defense. Darnold scrambled for a touchdown but didn’t throw one — although he was close once. Darnold also put the ball on the ground with a bad pitch that he owned up to by doing pushups without being told to. “I was a little ticked off after it,” Darnold said. “I didn’t know what to do, so I started doing pushups.” The two quarterbacks will switch roles again on Tuesday, with Mayfield working with the 1s. And as coach Matt Rhule again reminded, the competition is far from over. “We’re not looking at any one day for this,” he said. — David Newton

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