HOUSTON — Amar Johnson saw a flicker of playing time at running back for the Chargers last season.

Thursday, he made a case for a bit more.

Johnson scored two touchdowns in a preseason opener at Houston, and turned a short pass into a 55-yard gain.

It's easy to put too much stock in a preseason performance, seeing as most starters are ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — Maxx Crosby had a premium vantage point Thursday for Fernando Mendoza’s preseason debut for the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium.

Standing on their sideline.

Crosby donned the silver and black but didn’t play against the Arizona Cardinals as Mendoza quarterbacked the majority of a 27-14 loss in the preseason opener. The...Read more

LAS VEGAS — Fernando Mendoza’s second preseason drive went better than his first for the Las Vegas Raiders.

The rookie quarterback and top draft pick capped a nine-play, 79-yard drive Thursday with a 6-yard scoring pass to wideout Jack Bech against the Arizona Cardinals at Allegiant Stadium. His opening drive — after Kirk Cousins led the ...Read more

SEATTLE — The Seahawks are signing free agent cornerback Terrion Arnold, a source confirmed to The Seattle Times, after he had what coach Mike Macdonald called “a great tryout” with the team Sunday.

The NFL Network reported that it is a one-year deal.

Arnold was waived by the Detroit Lions in June after he was charged with eight felonies...Read more

CHICAGO — Two years ago, in the third episode of “Hard Knocks,” Chicago Bears brass huddled around a conference-room table inside Halas Hall, discussing suite furniture for their new stadium.

“We have a couple decisions we need to make, and this is something we just had good conversations with Lil Durk on,” said Karen Murphy, ...Read more

CHICAGO — Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams will not play in Saturday’s preseason opener against the Cleveland Browns at Soldier Field, coach Ben Johnson announced before practice Thursday.

Saturday’s game will be the only preseason game in front of the home crowd. Last year, Williams played in two of the three preseason games.

�...Read more

CHICAGO — The Chicago Bears have had “minimal” discussions with Illinois legislators since the NFL franchise voted in June to focus its stadium efforts on northwest Indiana.

Bears Chairman George McCaskey and President/CEO Kevin Warren reiterated Thursday during a news conference at Halas Hall that the team remains focused on building a ...Read more

MIAMI — Malik Willis definitely got his cardio work in on Wednesday.

While it’s doubtful any member of the Washington Commanders defenders would hit the Miami Dolphins starting quarterback during Wednesday’s joint practice, Willis was forced to showcase his scrambling ability consistently to evade the pressure he was under.

Willis used ...Read more

Yes, we know. The Rams just had another all-in offseason, with the reigning NFL MVP in Matthew Stafford, the acquisition of the best pass rusher available in Myles Garrett and the possibility that future Hall of Famer Aaron Donald will come out of retirement, making them the consensus pick to play in, and win, the Super Bowl on their home turf ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — A couple of numbers that have jumped out at me during the number-crunching portion of my annual Eagles/NFL cram sessions ...

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— When Jalen Carter was on the field, the Eagles were a top-five run defense. When he was off the field, they were a bottom-five run defense.

What makes a defensive tackle worth $40 million ...Read more

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Carolina Panthers just added an offensive weapon with a pretty great résumé.

The team will be signing former Pro Bowl tight end Darren Waller to a one-year deal, a league source confirmed to The Charlotte Observer on Wednesday.

Waller, 33, was among the most notable free agents this offseason, but he went unsigned ...Read more

CHICAGO — When Garrett Bradbury joined the New England Patriots for a season last year, he had a built-in bonding mechanism with quarterback Drake Maye — the center temporarily crashed at Maye’s place.

There has been no such living arrangement with Caleb Williams since Bradbury joined the Chicago Bears this offseason, but they’ve had at...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Kyler Murray’s on-field vision, refined through 87 NFL starts, immediately struck Max Brosmer when the quarterbacks practiced together with the Vikings this spring.

Murray, Brosmer noticed, wasn’t “forcing too many things.”

“He did a good job of, like, seeing the entire picture unfold,” Brosmer told the Minnesota ...Read more

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The San Francisco 49ers don’t do middle ground.

No, under Kyle Shanahan, they either find a way to the top of the NFC or collapse like a lawn chair in a hurricane.

That’s because more often than not, this team is walking a tightrope with its roster.

That’s what happens when you have a studs-and-duds type ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — Eli Heidenreich grew up a Pittsburgh Steelers fan and has watched many games from the seats inside Acrisure Stadium.

As a matter of fact, he was one of the 65,400 fans in attendance on Jan. 4, when the Steelers beat the Baltimore Ravens to win the AFC North division title and clinch a playoff berth.

On Thursday night, after ...Read more

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — As he stressed out waiting to get selected in the 2024 NFL draft, BYU’s Kingsley Suamataia had something of a premonition and suddenly felt like he “could start breathing again.”

“I told my mom … I think I’m about to get a call,” he said later that night. “And then two seconds later I get a call.”

As he’...Read more

DENVER — We now know the cause of the Broncos’ comical run of preseason soft-tissue injuries: Theater seating.

True story: Sunshine Sean Payton sanctioned an actual team movie night during the dog days of training camp. The Broncos loaded up the buses last Thursday and took the guys to see “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” in the multiplex. ...Read more

The sports calendar has its own collection of unofficial holidays.

Opening Day in baseball. The first Sunday of the NFL season.

That glorious first Thursday of March Madness tipping off while half the country is technically at work and spiritually sitting in a sportsbook.

And then comes fantasy football’s version of the groundhog emerging ...Read more

SEATTLE — Denzel Boston slipped into the second round.

That’s a blessing for both Boston and the Cleveland Browns.

Because we know how Boston digests doubt. Before he became the talk of NFL training camps, Boston was a supposedly unremarkable three-star recruit. At Emerald Ridge High School in Puyallup, Wash., Boston caught 36 passes for ...Read more

CHICAGO — Chicago Bears safety Coby Bryant had surgery on his injured left knee Friday and will miss four to six months, coach Ben Johnson announced Tuesday.

Initial reports indicated Bryant would avoid surgery and be out eight to 10 weeks, but Johnson had not given an official timeline before Tuesday. The prognosis is worse than initially ...Read more