The Cowboys will put on full pads and start hitting each other Monday. CeeDee Lamb is WR-1 now, and the trainers are watching him closely for signs of overwork. Lamb did not take any team snaps in Saturday’s practice. As thin and unsettled as that receiving corps is, holding Lamb to a pitch count seems smart to me.
Those “Guardian Cap” padded helmet shells are getting mixed reviews at NFL training camps. Maybe you’ve seen them. They’re soft padded overlays that fit over the top of players’ regular helmets. Their use is mandatory at training camp practices for offensive linemen, defensive linemen, linebackers and tight ends. The Guardian Caps have proven to significantly reduce impact to the head, and the hope is that they will help cut the number of annual training camp concussions. For the most part, the players have rolled with it, although J.J. Watt had done some good-natured faux griping. But Jets’ coach Robert Saleh isn’t sold. Saleh has expressed concern that the shells have emboldened players to use their helmets more than they usually would, and that players may have a difficult time re-adjusting once the shells come off the week after the second preseason game. Color me agnostic for now.
The ‘Niners are losing defensive linemen left and right. The latest casualty is DT Maurice Hurst, who suffered a torn biceps Friday and will need season ending surgery. This comes as Arik Armstead is down for at least a few weeks with a sprained knee and Hassan Ridgeway will be out for about the same amount of time with a quadriceps strain. Two years ago the ‘Niners’ season was wiped out by an epidemic of injuries. Last year, they stayed relatively healthy and got within a millimeter of the Super Bowl.
A salute to retiring defensive end Ryan Kerrigan, who was a consummate pro in eleven years, the first ten of them in Washington before a final season in Philly. Kerrigan retires as Washington’s all-time sack leader with 95.5 and was selected for the Pro Bowl four times.
The NFL player under the most pressure heading into this season? Tua. It’s time for him to don his “No Excuses” jeans.
That was a rough loss for the Astros and a rare blown save opportunity for reliever Ryan Pressley Saturday night in Houston. The Astros carried a 4-3 lead over the Mariners into the ninth inning, but Seattle pinch-hitter Abraham Toro smacked a two-out, two-run single to boost the M’s to their first win over Houston in their last six meetings. That was Pressley’s first blown save since June 23.