NFL Training Camp Report: Watson Booed, Sanders Shines + Fantasy Football Training Camp News for Every Team

Updated: August 23, 2026

This NFL training camp report refreshes every morning throughout training camp with the previous day's biggest fantasy football training camp news for all 32 NFL teams, collected around the clock from the nearly 300 beat writers and insiders we track across every camp in the league. Bookmark this page — the URL never changes, and we publish a new edition here before your first coffee every day of camp.

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Yesterday's Five Biggest Stories

1. Deshaun Watson Got Booed at Home, and Then He Took the Microphone

Saturday gave the Cleveland Browns the clearest quarterback answer they have had all summer, and it did not arrive on a stat sheet. Shedeur Sanders started against Buffalo and finished 9-of-11 for 74 yards with a touchdown and an interception for an 87.1 passer rating (@DanielOyefusi, @PFF). Daniel Oyefusi's game story for ESPN adds the shape of it: an opening 11-play, 65-yard touchdown drive, and eight straight completions before the interception. Deshaun Watson followed with 13 dropbacks that produced 5-of-12 passing for 35 yards, an interception and a 14.6 passer rating (@DanielOyefusi). The home crowd booed after his second straight three-and-out (@DanielOyefusi).

Then Watson was asked about it. He said the reaction had "nothing to do about the performance," called it "a disrespectful thing," and brought up the fans who cheered when he tore his Achilles on that same field in October 2024 (@DanielOyefusi, @AkronJackson, @UnderdogNFL). Per that same ESPN report, Todd Monken told the Browns' radio network before kickoff that he expected to announce a starter early next week; Mike Garafolo carried the same timeline (@MikeGarafolo).

Tony Grossi went further. His postgame column at The Land On Demand argues that Watson made Monken's decision easier by unloading on the fans, and that had he left the bad half where it was, he could have recovered from it (@TonyGrossi). Ashley Bastock of cleveland.com said she had never heard a postgame interview with a player like it (@AshleyBastock42).

Sanders, for what it is worth, defended the man he is competing with, saying of the booing that it is "a respect that I feel should be there" (@UnderdogNFL, @AshleyBastock42). Safety Grant Delpit said both quarterbacks are handling the competition well (@AshleyBastock42).

Why it matters: a named starter is the single largest unlock in a fantasy room. Cleveland's pass catchers and backs are being drafted right now against a thrower nobody can name, and the two candidates threw the ball very differently on the same field on the same night. Our projections hold that entire offense in a wide band until Monken says a name out loud, and both ESPN and Mike Garafolo have that decision landing early next week.

2. Patrick Mahomes Says the Knee Will Not Cost Him Week 1

Patrick Mahomes, dealing with a knee issue, told reporters he is "extremely confident" he can play in Week 1 (@UnderdogNFL). That is the most consequential sentence any quarterback said Saturday, and it is worth reading precisely: it is a player's own confidence, not a medical clearance and not a coach's designation. Kansas City has not put a practice restriction or a game plan on the record around it.

The rest of the Chiefs' night belonged to the kicker. Harrison Butker hit a 69-yard field goal to end the half, a make Adam Schefter and the team both circulated within minutes (@AdamSchefter, @Chiefs). Rookie Emmett Johnson scored his first professional touchdown in the same game (@Chiefs).

What we are watching: whether Kansas City puts Mahomes through a full practice week without a limit. A player saying he is confident and a staff giving him every rep are two different pieces of evidence, and only the second one changes a projection.

A 69-yard field goal is the kind of clip that wins the night on engagement and moves nothing in a draft room. Mahomes' own read on his knee is the opposite: quiet, one sentence, and the difference between a first-round quarterback and a contingency plan for anyone who spent an early pick on the Kansas City passing game.

3. Ja'Quinden Jackson Was Taken to a Hospital for Evaluation

The Philadelphia Eagles announced during Saturday's game against New England that running back Ja'Quinden Jackson had strength and movement in all extremities and was being taken to a local hospital for further evaluation (@Eagles). That is the entirety of what the team put on the record, and it is the entirety of what we will report.

Everything else about Philadelphia's night was ordinary preseason football. Carson Steele scored late to put the Eagles ahead (@Eagles), Will Shipley bulled in for a score (@Eagles), and defensive tackle Ty Robinson pushed his line to two sacks, two tackles for loss and three quarterback hits through roughly a game and a half of preseason work (@BrandonGowton).

4. Michael Penix Jr. Is Cleared for 11-on-11

Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski told reporters that quarterback Michael Penix Jr. has been cleared to return to 11-on-11 work and will practice Monday (@AdamSchefter, @RapSheet, @marcraimondi).

Full-team work is the clearance that counts. Individual drills and seven-on-seven tell a staff whether a quarterback can throw; 11-on-11 is where they find out whether he can operate against a rush with a play clock running. The Falcoholic's read was that the quarterback competition just got a lot more interesting (@FalcoholicKevin) — which is the honest framing, because a return to practice is not a return to the job.

Atlanta also beat Indianapolis by its largest preseason margin since at least 2012 (@tori_mcelhaney). We would not draft off that, but Monday's practice script is worth watching: who takes the first snap of team period is the first real data point this competition has produced in weeks. If you are still sorting the top of your board, our fantasy QB1 model verdict has the tiers this decision feeds into.

5. J.J. McCarthy Left Banged Up, and Minnesota's Backup Job Got Louder

Kevin O'Connell said J.J. McCarthy left Saturday's game against Baltimore banged up, and addressed his inaccurate throws again afterward (@SeifertESPN). Will Ragatz charted every McCarthy dropback: 5-of-10 for 81 yards, one sack, and a 19-yard completion wiped out by a holding penalty (@WillRagatz).

Alec Lewis wrote it up for The Athletic and put the emphasis where it belongs — the performance more than the injury is what spotlights the Vikings' backup quarterback role behind Kyler Murray (@alec_lewis). Ragatz framed the same question in four characters: QB2 or QB3?

Why it matters: this is a roster story before it is a fantasy story, and roster stories in the last week of August are how backup quarterbacks end up on other teams. Nobody is drafting a Minnesota backup. Plenty of people are about to draft Kyler Murray, and the value of that pick is partly a function of what stands behind him.

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Team-by-Team Camp Notes

Arizona Cardinals

• Edge depth is still the argument in Arizona. Analyst Johnny Venerable pushed the Cardinals to sign Joey Bosa or Haason Reddick, writing that there is no pass-rush production on the roster outside Josh Sweat (@JohnnyVenerable). That is an opinion, not a report, and no Arizona beat writer carried a signing.
• Arizona hosted Dallas on Saturday night. Clarence Hill Jr. framed the visit as the end of camp for the Cowboys (@clarencehilljr).

Atlanta Falcons

• Michael Penix Jr. is cleared for 11-on-11 and will practice Monday, Kevin Stefanski told reporters (@AdamSchefter, @RapSheet, @marcraimondi).
• The Falcoholic's take on the clearance: the quarterback competition just got a lot more interesting (@FalcoholicKevin).
• Atlanta beat Indianapolis by its largest preseason margin of victory since at least 2012 (@tori_mcelhaney).

Baltimore Ravens

• Jeff Zrebiec laid out the week that decides the roster: practices Monday and Tuesday, a joint practice with Washington on Wednesday, a Thursday walkthrough, the preseason finale against Washington on Friday, and the cut to 53 on Sunday (@jeffzrebiec).
• Baltimore took the ball away again on the way to another preseason win, and the team account highlighted Mike Green's practice work carrying into the game (@Ravens, @Ravens).

Buffalo Bills

• Damar Hamlin intercepted Shedeur Sanders and then praised him, saying he was impressed by the poise of a second-year quarterback (@DanielOyefusi, @UnderdogNFL).
• Buffalo beat Cleveland 31-7 at Huntington Bank Field, with Shane Buechele hitting Ja'Mori Maclin for a 71-yard touchdown (@BuffaloBills).

Carolina Panthers

Quiet day in Panthers camp — nothing notable to report.

Chicago Bears

• Brad Biggs expected the Bears to play a good chunk of their starters at Cincinnati, reasoning that the next practice was not until Tuesday (@BradBiggs).
• Sean Hammond's out-of-uniform list: Luther Burden, Joe Thuney, Ozzy Trapilo, Luke Newman, T.J. Edwards, Grady Jarrett and Austin Booker (@sean_hammond).
• Biggs' first-quarter notes had Dayo Odeyingbo landing a big hit on the quarterback, Dontae Manning making plays at corner, a Cairo Santos field goal, and no injuries among the starters (@BradBiggs).
• Jahdae Walker made the catch of the night, which Jacob Infante called one of the best preseason grabs he has seen (@jacobinfante24).

Cincinnati Bengals

• The Bengals hosted a Bears team expected to play a good chunk of its starters (@BradBiggs).
• Noah Thomas found the end zone at Paycor Stadium (@Bengals).

Cleveland Browns

• Todd Monken is set to decide his starting quarterback early next week (@MikeGarafolo).
• Shedeur Sanders: 13 dropbacks, 9-of-11 for 74 yards, one touchdown, one interception, an 87.1 passer rating and one sack taken across four first-half drives, per Daniel Oyefusi (@DanielOyefusi).
• Deshaun Watson: 13 dropbacks, 5-of-12 for 35 yards, 13 rushing yards, one interception, a 14.6 passer rating over four drives (@DanielOyefusi).
• Watson called the home booing personal and disrespectful and referenced fans cheering when he tore his Achilles on that field (@AkronJackson).
• Sanders said the booing was not something he liked or respected, and safety Grant Delpit said both quarterbacks are handling the competition well (@AshleyBastock42, @AshleyBastock42).

Dallas Cowboys

• Rookie linebacker Jaishawn Barham was set to wear the green dot and call the defense against Arizona (@jonmachota), and then made plays all over the field (@jonmachota).
• Jonathan Mingo caught a 53-yard touchdown from Joe Milton and has put himself in the mix for a receiver spot, Todd Archer wrote, noting Mingo was a pregame captain (@toddarcher, @AdamSchefter).
• Camden Brown is up to four catches for 132 yards and two touchdowns this preseason (@UnderdogNFL).
• Von Miller posted photos of himself in a Cowboys uniform on his Instagram story (@rjochoa).

Denver Broncos

• Bo Nix returned to game action and led scoring drives on both of his possessions, completing 6-of-9 for 76 yards with a touchdown and a 129.9 passer rating, per the team's game story on his return (@Broncos).

Detroit Lions

• Dave Birkett's postgame injury round-up: Cedrick Wilson Jr.'s could be serious, Sione Vaki's does not sound bad, and Michael Niese was on crutches afterward (@davebirkett).
• Detroit beat Washington, with the Lions defense taking the ball away (@john_keim).

Green Bay Packers

• Bill Huber rounded up the Packers' injury updates from their game, running from Brandon Cisse to Savion Williams (@BillHuberNFL).

Houston Texans

Quiet day in Texans camp — nothing notable to report.

Indianapolis Colts

• Indianapolis lost to Atlanta by the Falcons' largest preseason margin since at least 2012 (@tori_mcelhaney).

Jacksonville Jaguars

Quiet day in Jaguars camp — nothing notable to report.

Kansas City Chiefs

• Patrick Mahomes, dealing with a knee issue, said he is extremely confident he can play in Week 1 (@UnderdogNFL).
• Harrison Butker made a 69-yard field goal to end the half (@AdamSchefter, @Chiefs).
• Rookie Emmett Johnson scored his first touchdown (@Chiefs).

Las Vegas Raiders

Quiet day in Raiders camp — nothing notable to report.

Los Angeles Chargers

Quiet day in Chargers camp — nothing notable to report.

Los Angeles Rams

• Jarquez Hunter carried 12 times for 68 yards and a touchdown (@UnderdogNFL, @RamsNFL).
• The Rams shut out New Orleans 34-0, holding the Saints to 13 first downs and no points (@camdasilva).
• Stu Jackson's five takeaways from the win covered quarterback usage and outside linebacker Wesley Bailey (@StuJRams).

Miami Dolphins

• Alain Poupart wrote that Trey Moore's injury could put a kink in Miami's defensive plans (@PoupartNFL).
• The Giants left Miami with a 26-3 win (@art_stapleton).

Minnesota Vikings

• J.J. McCarthy left the Baltimore game banged up, Kevin O'Connell said, and O'Connell addressed the inaccurate throws again (@SeifertESPN).
• Will Ragatz charted the dropbacks: 5-of-10 for 81 yards, one sack, one 19-yard completion negated by holding (@WillRagatz).
• Alec Lewis wrote for The Athletic that the performance more than the injury spotlights the backup quarterback job behind Kyler Murray (@alec_lewis).

New England Patriots

• Mike Vrabel rested his starters for a second straight week and explained it bluntly: he does not think the Patriots are a very deep team (@ezlazar, @DougKyed).
• Doug Kyed's pregame absence list: Christian Gonzalez, Harold Landry (PUP), Craig Woodson, Channing Canada, Kevin Byard III, TreVeyon Henderson, Brenden Schooler (NFI), Reggie Gilliam, Xavier Holmes, Ben Brown and Eli Raridon (@DougKyed).
• Lan Larison and Jam Miller both had good moments in the battle for the third running back job (@DougKyed).
• Andrew Callahan's column on the Patriots' depth has backup tackle Marcus Bryant hurting an ankle and being ruled out, and makes the case that injuries are piling up faster than they did across all of last season (@_AndrewCallahan, @_AndrewCallahan).
• Mike Reiss's 24-21 recap: starters rested, Tommy DeVito hit a 69-yard touchdown, Andres Borregales answered with a 41-yard field goal, and Kyle Williams showed release and speed (@MikeReiss).

New Orleans Saints

• Kellen Moore went into the game with a plan to evaluate the backup quarterback battle and got nothing usable out of it, Matthew Paras wrote in his column on the 34-0 loss, (@Matthew_Paras).
• Ross Jackson called it a day to forget and flagged another group of injuries on top of the penalties and turnovers (@RossJacksonNOLA).

New York Giants

• Rookie J.C. Davis played every snap at left tackle in the first half, which Art Stapleton read as a lock for the 53-man roster (@art_stapleton).
• Dan Duggan's list of healthy starting-caliber Giants he did not spot in the first half: Jaxson Dart, Cam Skattebo, Darnell Mooney, Braxton Berrios, Pat Ricard, Isaiah Likely, Andrew Thomas, Jermaine Eluemunor and DJ Reader (@DDuggan21).
• Odell Beckham Jr. finished the first half with two catches for 17 yards on four targets, drew a pass interference, and let a touchdown slip through his hands; Jordan Raanan noted Darius Slayton playing at all was notable with Malachi Fields, Darnell Mooney and Braxton Berrios all given the day off (@JordanRaanan, @UnderdogNFL).
• New York won 26-3 in Miami (@Giants).

New York Jets

Quiet day in Jets camp — nothing notable to report.

Philadelphia Eagles

• The Eagles announced that running back Ja'Quinden Jackson had strength and movement in all extremities and was taken to a local hospital for further evaluation (@Eagles).
• Brandon Gowton on the backup quarterback race: neither Andy Dalton nor Tanner McKee is inspiring much confidence, and the answer may be behind door number three (@BrandonGowton).
• Ty Robinson is at two sacks, two tackles for loss and three quarterback hits through roughly a game and a half (@BrandonGowton).
• Jimmy Kempski handed out 10 awards from the Eagles-Patriots game (@JimmyKempski).

Pittsburgh Steelers

Quiet day in Steelers camp — nothing notable to report.

San Francisco 49ers

• San Francisco re-signed tight end Khalil Dinkins to a three-year deal and waived defensive lineman Xavier Thomas with an injury designation (@49ers).

Seattle Seahawks

Quiet day in Seahawks camp — nothing notable to report.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

• Jalon Daniels finished 9-of-14 for 71 yards with a touchdown pass and added seven carries for 19 yards, leading three straight scoring drives in a 16-15 comeback win (@gregauman).

Tennessee Titans

Quiet day in Titans camp — nothing notable to report.

Washington Commanders

• John Keim's wrap of the loss to Detroit led with offensive line concerns and Jayden Daniels' three plays, and credited the defense for taking the ball away (@john_keim, @NickiJhabvala).
• Washington's week includes a Wednesday joint practice with Baltimore and Friday's preseason finale against the Ravens (@jeffzrebiec).

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Camp Battles Tracker

Where the NFL camp battles stand this morning, with the receipts.

Cleveland Browns Quarterback Battle: How to Read the Reps

Most camp quarterback competitions end quietly, with a coach naming the guy who was always going to be the guy. This one ended loudly, and it is worth being precise about which part actually did the work.

Start with the reps, because the reps came first. Shedeur Sanders got the start and four first-half drives. Deshaun Watson got the second half and four drives of his own. That is a genuinely even distribution — Cleveland handed both men a real script and let the tape decide. What the tape produced was 13 dropbacks each and two very different results: Sanders completed his first eight throws and finished 9-of-11 for 74 yards with a touchdown, an interception and an 87.1 rating; Watson finished 5-of-12 for 35 yards with an interception and a 14.6 rating (@DanielOyefusi, @DanielOyefusi).

One bad half does not settle a quarterback competition, and it is worth saying plainly that it should not. Preseason samples are small, the protection is not real, and the receivers on the field for a second-half series are not the receivers who will be there in September. On the numbers alone, Watson had a bad night in a stretch of nights that will not count.

The reason this feels settled anyway is what happened after. Watson told reporters the booing had "nothing to do about the performance" and called it "a disrespectful thing" (@DanielOyefusi). Tony Grossi's read is that the bad half was recoverable and the press conference was not, because a quarterback publicly questioning whether he can win in his own building hands his coach a reason that has nothing to do with completions (@TonyGrossi). Ashley Bastock, who was in the room, said she had never heard a postgame interview like it (@AshleyBastock42).

What we are watching: who takes the first snap of team period in this week's practices. Monken said before Saturday's game that he expected to name a starter early next week, so the practice script and the announcement should arrive within days of each other. The rep count is the tell either way — a staff that has decided stops splitting the ones.

We hold every Cleveland skill player in a wide band until that name exists, because a target share behind an unnamed quarterback is not a projection. It is a guess with decimal places. Once the name lands, the receiver and running back tiers behind it can actually be sorted, and our fantasy WR1 model verdict is where we keep that sorting current.

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Injury Watch

• Ja'Quinden Jackson, RB, Eagles: Taken to a local hospital for further evaluation during Saturday's game; the team said he had strength and movement in all extremities (@Eagles).
• Patrick Mahomes, QB, Chiefs (knee): Said he is extremely confident he can play in Week 1 (@UnderdogNFL).
• J.J. McCarthy, QB, Vikings: Left the Baltimore game banged up, per Kevin O'Connell (@SeifertESPN).
• Cedrick Wilson Jr., WR, Lions: Dave Birkett reported the injury could be serious (@davebirkett).
• Sione Vaki, Lions: Does not sound bad, per Birkett (@davebirkett).
• Michael Niese, Lions: On crutches after the game (@davebirkett).
• Marcus Bryant, OT, Patriots (ankle): Hurt an ankle, went to the locker room and was ruled out (@_AndrewCallahan).
• Christian Gonzalez, CB, Harold Landry, OLB (PUP), TreVeyon Henderson, RB, Kevin Byard III, S, and Craig Woodson, S, Patriots: All among the players Doug Kyed did not see before Saturday's game (@DougKyed).
• Trey Moore, Dolphins: Alain Poupart wrote the injury could complicate Miami's defensive plans (@PoupartNFL).
• Brandon Cisse, CB, and Savion Williams, WR, Packers: Both covered in Bill Huber's postgame injury round-up (@BillHuberNFL).
• Xavier Thomas, DL, 49ers: Waived with an injury designation as San Francisco re-signed tight end Khalil Dinkins (@49ers).
• Deshaun Watson, QB, Browns: Played his first home game since tearing his right Achilles in October 2024 (@AdamSchefter).
• New Orleans Saints: Ross Jackson reported the Saints took on another group of injuries in the shutout loss (@RossJacksonNOLA).

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Keep Building Your 2026 Draft Board

Saturday's wire pointed at one thing: the last unnamed starting jobs are about to get named. Cleveland has a decision coming within days, Atlanta just got its competing quarterback back into full-team work, Minnesota's backup room got noisier, and three teams spent the night finding out how thin they are. Those are the tiers these moves feed into.

• Fantasy QB1 2026: What the Models Say
• Fantasy RB1 2026: What the Models Say
• Fantasy WR1 2026: What the Models Say
• NFL DFS Strategy Guide
• NFL Training Camp Betting Guide (OddsShopper)

Sourced from 294 NFL beat writers and insiders — our pipeline reads roughly 2,200 camp posts per day — refreshed every morning.