ALLEN PARK, Mich. — If there was any separation anxiety before, there can’t be now.

Not with this team. Not on Dan Campbell’s watch. And certainly not after what the Lions’ head coach saw last season and the “embarrassment” he says he felt when it was all over.

The reasons for his team’s precipitous fall — from the top of the ...Read more

RENTON, Wash. — Mike Macdonald’s reaction to the first episode of “Hard Knocks” should not be a surprise considering the way the Seahawks coach has asked his players to embrace the exposure.

“I thought it was great. Shout out to HBO. You realize how many people it takes to make this thing come to life. There’s people everywhere, ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — This is where it all started for Jim Harbaugh, this idyllic hilltop University of San Diego campus with its sweeping views of the city and ocean, Spanish Renaissance architecture and courtyards lined with palm trees.

Harbaugh had been an assistant coach elsewhere, learning the ropes as an offensive consultant at Western Kentucky ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers thinks pandemic czar Dr. Anthony Fauci is a coward for invoking the 5th Amendment more than 100 times before Congress last week.

Fauci's attorney thinks Rodgers has no idea what he's talking about and says the future Hall of Famer should stay in his lane.

Here's how we got to this ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — I don’t agree with Aaron Rodgers on a handful of topics surrounding public health, especially his views on vaccinations and the COVID-19 pandemic. But that’s OK.

I respect Rodgers’ right to not only have an opposing opinion but share that opinion whenever and wherever he sees fit.

That said, what took place during Monday�...Read more

LAS VEGAS — It’s a word used at every level of sport. Something teams preach as they try to either improve what is a losing standard or continue winning ways.

Culture.

You have heard it time and again. How important it is to build a successful one. How it can come to define a program. The Las Vegas Raiders are no different. And with a new ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Most likely the name Lynn Stiles is at-best vaguely familiar to Chiefs fans. That was practically by design.

“He was not a man of pretense,” former Chiefs president Carl Peterson wrote in his recent eulogy to Stiles. “He was not a man of ego. He never (sought) adulation. He deflected it.”

Low profile ...Read more

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — New Miami Dolphins quarterback Malik Willis will have question marks surrounding him as he nears his first regular season as a starter.

But he is earning the praise of his coaches a week into training camp.

“I’ve been really, really pleased with Malik,” offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik said. “Just his work ...Read more

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — Odell Beckham Jr. is finally in the mix.

The former Giants star was featured with Jaxson Dart’s first-team offense on Tuesday after seeing sparing playing time with the starters — and minimal targets overall — through the first week of camp.

Beckham caught a pass over the middle from Dart while sinking ...Read more

CHICAGO — Darnell Wright has a chance to do something only one other player has accomplished for the Chicago Bears since Brian Urlacher.

After the franchise made him the highest-paid right tackle in the NFL on Tuesday, you can believe general manager Ryan Poles is sure hopeful that Wright becomes the franchise’s second first-round pick to ...Read more

SEATTLE — There are 35 extra people at training camp with the Seahawks right now. Brian O'Connell’s hope is that the guests from NFL Films don't stand out.

“We worked really hard so that when you’re out at practice the crew blends right in,” said O’Connell, the director of broadcasting for the Seahawks and conduit between the team ...Read more

BALTIMORE — During the first round of the 2023 draft, Baltimore Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta got a few calls about trading back from the 22nd overall pick. But he liked Zay Flowers, thought there would be a run on wide receivers and former great Steve Smith Sr.’s high opinion of Flowers weeks earlier had resonated.

More than three ...Read more

CHICAGO — The Chicago Bears are signing right tackle Darnell Wright to a four-year, $116 million contract extension. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Jeremy Fowler first reported the deal.

The contract will keep Wright under team control through the 2030 season, with an option for 2031.

The $29 million average annual value will make Wright ...Read more

DENVER — By the end of a cool mid-December night in Denver, with orange backs pressed up against a wall that had become all too familiar, the only number that really mattered to the Broncos was Courtland Sutton’s. Find 14. When they needed a play, as tight end Adam Trautman marveled later that night, they always found 14. And so head coach ...Read more

MIAMI — Cam Smith and Noah Igbinoghene should have both been reliable starting cornerbacks for the Miami Dolphins if their careers hadn’t flamed out in Miami.

In an ideal world, Liam Eichenberg would be one of Miami’s top backup offensive linemen, at least, and Hunter Long would handle significant snaps at tight end for the Dolphins.

Not...Read more

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers had a brief, impromptu film session Monday morning before the team made its way to the practice field. The breakdown had nothing to do with X’s and O’s — or any other football-related activity, for that matter. It instead centered around a viral video from the weekend.

Following Saturday’s ...Read more

CHICAGO — Chicago Bears safety Coby Bryant is expected to miss eight-to-10 weeks due to a hyperextended knee, a bone bruise and a small fracture, according to a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Bryant will not need surgery on his injured knee.

Bryant, 27, injured his knee during practice Monday at Bears training camp. He went down during ...Read more

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — New England Patriots wide receiver A.J. Brown dislocated his left thumb early in Monday’s training camp practice.

Brown hurt the thumb during a 1-on-1 drill, where he worked against star cornerback Christian Gonzalez. Brown lost the rep and then left the field to get a brace for his hand. Minutes later, he rejoined the ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — This is it. This is how it’s supposed to be. How it should be.

Fernando Mendoza is chasing.

Chasing improvement. Chasing knowledge of a playbook. Chasing development.

Chasing a starting job.

When the latter might occur is anyone’s guess, but it likely won’t be when the Las Vegas Raiders open their season against Miami on ...Read more

MIAMI — It was just one of a hundred plays without pads during the first week of Miami Dolphins training, but something that was so eye-opening, so surprising it dropped jaws.

The Dolphins were running the ball effectively during a red zone focused practice on Friday, and doing it primarily behind the right side of the offensive line.

On one...Read more