The Giants begin the preseason on Thursday night against the Lions, and if it were up to quarterback Daniel Jones, he’d be on the field.
Jones, who is recovering from a torn ACL, says he wants to play, although head coach Brian Daboll has not yet decided which players will be on the field Thursday.
“Yeah, I’d like to play,” Jones said, via the New York Post. “At the end of the day, that’s coach’s decision and I’ll do whatever Dabes’ thinks.”
Last year Jones played one possession in the preseason. Starting quarterbacks typically either don’t play at all in the preseason or get only very limited action, and Jones said that if he doesn’t play he’ll still be ready for Week One.
“I think we try to make practice as game-like as possible and get real game-speed reps in practice to make sure you’re ready to go,” Jones said. “Regardless of what Dabes decides this coming game, I’ll be ready to go when given the chance.”
Regardless of anything he does in the preseason, when the regular season starts, the Giants need Jones to be both healthy and a lot better than he was last year.
Brandon Aiyuk could have a new home in the coming days.
The 49ers have negotiated the frameworks for deals with the Browns and Patriots for the disgruntled wide receiver, Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.
It’s now in Aiyuk’s hands to see if he can work out a long-term contract with one of the two teams.
The 49ers have given the Browns, Patriots, Commanders and Steelers permission to negotiate with Aiyuk’s agent, Maiocco reports. The Commanders removed themselves from trade talks, and the Steelers declined to meet the 49ers’ trade demands, per Maiocco.
The Browns and Patriots have presented an offer to Aiyuk, who is holding in and not practicing at 49ers’ training camp.
He skipped the offseason program, and the slow progress of contract talks prompted him to ask for a trade.
Aiyuk is scheduled to make $14.124 million on a fifth-year option but wants a market value deal with 21 receivers now with an annual average at least $20 million.
Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com notes that the Browns could afford Aiyuk under their cap if Amari Cooper was part of the trade.
Longtime college football coach Steve Kragthorpe, who spent two seasons with the Bills, died Sunday night after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease, the Louisville Courier-Journal reports. Kragthorpe was 59.
Kragthorpe, who played quarterback at Eastern New Mexico and West Texas, began his coaching career at Northern Arizona in 1990. He then coached at North Texas, Boston College and Texas A&M.
In 2001, Kragthorpe joined the Bills to coach the quarterbacks under Gregg Williams. Drew Bledsoe had his fourth and final Pro Bowl season in 2002 with Kragthorpe, throwing for 4,359 yards with 24 touchdowns and 15 interceptions.
Kragthorpe left the Bills after two seasons to take his first head coaching job, replacing Keith Burns at the University of Tulsa.
The Golden Hurricanes went to three bowl games in four years with Kragthorpe after not having had a winning season since 1991. Kragthorpe went into the Tulsa Hall of Fame earlier this year.
He spent three seasons as head coach at Louisville and finished his head coaching career with a 44-43 record.
Kragthorpe went to LSU as offensive coordinator in 2011 but stepped down after his Parkinson’s diagnosis. He instead spent two years in Baton Rouge in an off-field role.
Raiders rookie receiver Jeff Foreman was carted off the field during Monday’s practice. Foreman injured a knee, Adam Hill of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.
Foreman, undrafted out of Arkansas State, was in a team drill in the red zone near the end of practice. He went down as he tried to plant his foot.
Hill reports that Foreman was in obvious pain as the team’s medical staff placed him a blue sleeve and loaded him on a cart.
The extent of Foreman’s injury is unknown, though he surely will undergo an MRI.
The Raiders again practiced without star receiver Davante Adams on Monday as he is awaiting the birth of his third child.
Five years later, Matt Breida is going back to where his NFL career started.
Via Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com, Breida is signing with the 49ers.
He spent three seasons in San Francisco, from 2017 to 2019. He was traded to the Dolphins in 2020. He spent 2021 with the Bills and 2022 and 2023 with the Giants.
Per a source with knowledge of the situation, Breida tried out for the 49ers on Monday, along with running backs Anthony McFarland and Ke’Shawn Vaughn.
In seven NFL seasons, the 29-year-old Breida has 2,652 regular-season rushing yards, 935 receiving yards, and 15 touchdowns.
The 49ers currently have six other running backs on the roster, led by 2023 NFL offensive player of the year Christian McCaffrey.
During the break between the end of the offseason program and the start of training camp, Saints rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler returned home to work on his game.
He was in Arizona for six weeks with his personal quarterback coach.
“Just cleaning up fundamentals and working on little things that we noticed in spring ball and OTAs,” Rattler said Monday, via John DeShazier of the team website. “And really improved in some of those areas and came back and got right back to work.
“Just very small things, footwork-wise — false steps, little punch steps on your drop, not getting too much depth, maintaining that circle in the pocket, not hitching too much. Little, minute things that can add up to negative plays. You’ve got to control that and avoid that.”
Rattler, drafted in the fifth round, is competing with Jake Haener for the No. 2 job behind Derek Carr. Haener missed Monday’s practice for a skin cancer procedure, giving Rattler additional reps.
“I think he’s improving every day,” coach Dennis Allen said of Rattler. “There’s still some things that he’s doing: Just understanding how to play within the scheme of the offense, how to get through your progressions, knowing how to listen to your feet, when to take your chances down the field, when it’s time to check the ball down — all those things are pretty good learning experiences.
“I wanted to put him in a situation [Monday in practice], fourth-and-five, we’re in a move-the-ball situation see if he could execute and make a play. And he did. He made a hell of a throw on the out route to get the first down in that situation. So I see some of that confidence, which I think is good at the quarterback position, and yet there’s some times where I think we’ve got to pull the reins back just a little bit.”
Haener is expected to return to practice Wednesday, and the backup quarterback competition will continue into the preseason. Allen said the Saints will let the preseason games play out before making a decision.
“We’re trying to determine if we have a backup quarterback on our roster right now. I’ve seen some signs that I like,” Allen said. “Yet, I want to get them into real live situations, under the lights, and see how both of these guys operate in that environment. I’m encouraged by what I’ve seen out of both Spencer and Jake, and yet, we haven’t made any decisions there. I want to see what they operate like under the lights.
“I would say, I’m going to give these young guys every opportunity to prove that they’re deserving of that role. And that comes through what you do out here on the practice field, and what they’re going to do when they get into the preseason games.”
The various fights during Monday’s joint practice between the Lions and Giants included New York quarterback Daniel Jones getting involved in the kerfuffle.
After practice, he discussed the situation.
“I mean, situations happens like that, you try to stand up for your guys but I thought it was a good competitive practice all day today,” Jones said, via NFL.com. “We made some plays and did some good things, there’s some things we need to [shore] up for sure. But good intensity and competitive spirit there.”
It’s the kind of spirit that, when it comes from the quarterback, can get the attention of the rest of the rest.
“Daniel got jiggy with it?” Giants edge rusher Brian Burns said. “Daniel was out there with it? Yeah! I’m [going to] need him to back up. I’m [going to] need him to back up, let his O-line handle that. But . . . Daniel, he’s a competitor man, he’s a fighter. I don’t expect nothing less from him, but I don’t need him in that, I don’t need him to get hit, keep him healthy.”
Burns is right. As long as Jones avoided injury, however, it’s the kind of thing that can build natural, organic, authentic camaraderie.
Yes, intentions can change.
When receiver Brandon Aiyuk formally requested a trade three weeks ago, the 49ers reportedly has “no intention” to trade him. Now, the 49ers reportedly are talking to multiple teams about a potential deal.
Via Matt Barrows of TheAthletic.com, “multiple teams” have contacted the 49ers about a potential trade. No deal has been done, yet.
Earlier today, in response to one report of a deal in place with the Steelers, a source with knowledge of the situation told PFT that “no decisions have been made.” Which possibly implies that a decision could be made, in time.
Before the draft, when Aiyuk was trying to get a multi-year deal from the 49ers, it was decided that he’d see whether another team would pay Aiyuk what he wants. And, we’re told, five teams were willing to do it. But the 49ers accepted none of their trade offers.
Possible destinations include the Steelers, Commanders, Browns, and Patriots. The challenge will be striking a deal that gives the 49ers value in 2024, and not just one or more draft picks for 2025.
Aiyuk is under contract through 2024, at a base salary of $14.1 million. He has been holding in — present but not practicing — since training camp opened last month.
Browns coach Kevin Stefanski announced at the start of training camp that he would remain the team’s offensive play caller this season despite the hiring of Ken Dorsey as offensive coordinator.
Dorsey, who called plays for the Bills for 27 games the past two seasons, was unfazed.
“At the end of the day, from day one in this process of interviewing and all that, Kevin was very upfront and honest about everything, and you don’t always get that in the league,” Dorsey said, via Chris Easterling of the Akron Beacon Journal. “And he was very upfront. And so I knew it going in that there was going to be a process to go through, and at the end of the day, I want to win football games and Kevin’s a fantastic play caller, and I feel good about where we’re at.”
Stefanski has called the plays with the Browns since they hired him in 2020, with the lone exception being the wild-card win over the Steelers in the 2020 season when he was out with COVID. Alex Van Pelt called the plays in that game.
The Browns fired Van Pelt after last season and hired Dorsey.
“I think that was, and again, Kevin could kind of attest where his decision thought process was and where his state of mind was in terms of making that decision,” Dorsey said. “You know, I just know there was very open communication with me from him throughout the entire process, from the interview process to today.”
Offensive lineman Pat Elflein didn’t last long in 49ers camp.
Signed by the team on Friday, Elflein landed on injured reserve Monday, the team announced. Elflein injured a calf.
Elflein, 30, most recently appeared in a game in 2022 when he started six contests for the Panthers. He signed with the Cardinals in July 2023 but was placed on injured reserve in late August.
A third-round pick of Minnesota in 2017, Elflein has started 65 career games for the Vikings, Jets and Panthers.
The 49ers filled the roster spot by signing offensive lineman Lewis Kidd to a one-year deal.
Kidd entered the NFL by signing with the Saints as an undrafted free agent in 2022. He has appeared in 13 games with one start with the Saints.
Kidd most recently was with the Colts, who waived him on July 31.