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

DENVER — The Denver Broncos’ new headquarters are so palatial, employees receive points when they exit the building.

J.K. Dobbins has promised to be healthy, and if not, there is an MRI machine on sight. Evan Engram’s key card permits him to leave witness protection on Sundays. Ben Powers’ foot is surgically repaired. Brandon Jones has ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Rams knew the resume. Saw the highlights. Gathered all the intel required.

But they were not aware of Myles Garrett's aura.

How could they?

It's not tangible, nor easily defined.

It's just there.

"You just feel him," coach Sean McVay said Friday.

McVay felt and said that before. About Aaron Donald. About ...Read more

DENVER — If it means saving Bo Nix’s ankle, we would absolutely die on that Hill.

Taysom Hill, a Sean Payton favorite when the two were in New Orleans together, announced this past Wednesday that he was leaving the Saints. The longtime quarterback-tight-end-special-teams-gadget-dude said he’s considering his options.

The football wonks ...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — You could never really count on an explosive offense.

You could not count on double-digit victories, reaching the playoffs or winning a division title.

As a Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan, there were a lot of seasons when you could not count on much of anything.

Except for this:

Future immortality.

It’s true, Tampa Bay still has...Read more

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — In most ways, really, the Kansas City Chiefs’ plummet back to Earth was absurdly overdue.

Following a half-century of postseason despair, after all, they suddenly had appeared in five Super Bowls in six seasons against all gravity in a league dedicated to creating parity.

So last year’s 6-11 dud was a long time coming, ...Read more

DENVER — The Broncos still believe they can open a new retractable-roof stadium at Burnham Yard in time for the 2031 NFL season, but team president Damani Leech made it clear Saturday that Denver’s NFL franchise needs acceleration in several community-related processes to avoid delaying the project.

Leech, speaking with reporters at the ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — The day after Landon Dickerson underwent meniscus surgery during training camp last year, he walked out to the field in street clothes following a joint practice with the Cleveland Browns with a cooler in tow.

Dickerson proceeded to distribute cans of Miller Lite to his buddies on the offensive line from both teams. But forget ...Read more

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Ricky Pearsall’s knee didn’t just give out on the second day of San Francisco 49ers training camp; it also showed how fragile the the 49ers’ bridge to the future is.

On Saturday, John Lynch announced Pearsall is heading for season-ending PCL surgery, putting the former first-round pick on ice until 2027.

His ...Read more

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs’ injury list grew Saturday, with two additions.

Wide receiver Xavier Worthy suffered a shoulder injury. Rookie wide receiver Cyrus Allen suffered a bone bruise, a source told The Kansas City Star.

Worthy appeared to hurt his right shoulder as he made a diving catch near the goal line on a pass from ...Read more

RENTON, Wash. — Sam Darnold no longer must deal with the one big question that hovered ominously this time a year ago — could he really lead an NFL team to the promised land?

The Seahawks' convincing run to a Super Bowl title and Darnold’s role in two thrilling, comeback wins over the Rams that proved pivotal along the way provided an ...Read more

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — The most prominent on-field development of this Chiefs training camp stepped to a microphone before he actually stepped onto the field. The next 12 minutes could be summed up in two words.

He’s back.

The fact that Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes received medical clearance two days before the team convened in St. Joseph...Read more

SEATTLE — Oops, they’ve done it again.

It seems that winning the Super Bowl isn’t enough to make it into the top-10 overall rankings of “Madden NFL 27.” And before you try to say that the Seahawks are in the No. 10 spot, you are mistaken.

That would the “Seattle Seawhawks.”

It’s not the first time that the team has been ...Read more

OXNARD, Calif. — At this time last year, the Dallas Cowboys’ training camp in Southern California wasn’t about football.

Sure, there was a first-year head coach implementing his style of football over the course of a dozen-plus practices and there was a lot happening there, but it was completely overshadowed by the contractual hold-in of ...Read more

DENVER — For 20 full minutes Thursday, Sean Payton lost himself in the sands of time.

It is common, on summer and fall afternoons in Dove Valley, for the Broncos’ head coach to walk to a podium and dip into the past to discuss the present. The 62-year-old Payton’s mind rarely works linearly, his thoughts akin to a script from a ...Read more