Jaguars WR Brian Thomas Jr., the 23rd overall draft pick, signs a 4-year deal worth roughly $14.6M - NFL (2024)

The Canadian Press - Jun 7, 2024 / 5:49 pm | Story: 491378

ALLEN PARK, Mich. (AP) — The Detroit Lions have lost one day of organized offseason workouts after breaking rules relating to on-field contact during a practice last month.

“We take very seriously the rules set forth within the NFL’s Offseason Program and have worked to conduct our practices accordingly,” the Lions said in a statement Friday night. "We will continue to be vigilant with our practices moving forward.”

The Lions had a three-day mandatory minicamp earlier this week.

Detroit had organized team activities planned on Monday, the final session before training camp next month, but it has been forfeited.

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The Canadian Press - Jun 7, 2024 / 2:10 pm | Story: 491331

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The Canadian Press - Jun 7, 2024 / 1:26 pm | Story: 491320

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Randy Gregory is suing the NFL and the Broncos claiming discrimination over being fined $532,500 for taking medication containing THC for disabilities during his brief time in Denver.

In the complaint filed this week in Arapahoe County District Court, the 31-year-old pass rusher who now plays for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers said he was prescribed Dronabinol for social anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorders but was denied accommodations to treat those disabilities with that medicine.

The NFL and the Broncos both declined to comment on Gregory's lawsuit when reached by The Associated Press on Friday.

The NFL no longer suspends players who test positive for THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, the chemical responsible for most of marijuana’s psychological effects, but it remains among the league's banned substances subject to fines.

The Broncos are named in the lawsuit although teams don't have any role in the fining of players who violate the league's drug policies. The NFL-NFLPA substances of abuse policy is collectively bargained and administered by a jointly appointed third-party medical professional.

The complaint said Gregory was diagnosed with social anxiety disorder in 2021 and with post-traumatic stress disorder in February 2023.

The Broncos and the NFL denied Gregory's request in March 2023 to use Dronabinol during non-work hours, according to the complaint. Two months later, his agent, Peter Schaffer, requested a therapeutic use exemption for Gregory, which also was denied.

Gregory has been fined $532,500 for repeated positive THC tests since March 2023, according to the complaint. The lawsuit contends the league's and club's resistance to providing Gregory accommodations due to his disabilities is discriminatory under Colorado law.

Gregory was a second-round draft pick of the Cowboys in 2015. He played five seasons with Dallas, where he was suspended numerous times for violating the NFL's drug policies. He signed with Denver in 2022 but missed most of that season with a knee injury. He split the 2023 season between the Broncos and San Francisco 49ers, who acquired him in a trade last October.

Gregory, who has collected 22 career sacks and appeared in 72 games over seven NFL seasons, signed a one-year deal with the Buccaneers this spring.

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The Canadian Press - Jun 7, 2024 / 11:49 am | Story: 491292

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Chiefs defensive lineman B.J. Thompson remained hospitalized but was awake and responsive on Friday, one day after the second-year pro experienced a seizure during a team meeting and went into cardiac arrest at the Kansas City practice facility.

Chiefs trainer Rick Burkholder said the 25-year-old Thompson was placed on a ventilator and heavily sedated Thursday night at the University of Kansas Health System. He was brought out of sedation on Friday and his prognosis is good.

“He's alert. He's a wake. He's coming through quite well,” Burkholder said. “We don't have a diagnosis and in medicine sometimes you don't have that. But he's awake and alert and he's headed in the right direction.”

Thompson, a fifth-round draft pick out of Stephen F. Austin last year, was in the meeting room before the Chiefs were scheduled to have their final voluntary workout of the offseason. He began to have a seizure and kicker Harrison Butker immediately ran to the trainer's room and summoned assistant trainers Julie Frymyer and David Glover.

They were joined by Burkholder in helping Thompson as he went into cardiac arrest. Dr. Jean-Philippe Darche soon arrived from the Kansas Health Sports Medicine and Performance Center, which adjoins the practice facility.

“Our team of that group of people provided CPR for him,” Burkholder said. “He had one AED shock and came back. He was in cardiac arrest for less than a minute, a minute and a half. Our players, security staff, coaching staff — they were phenomenal in handling the crisis. We then turned him over to the Kansas City (Missouri) Fire Department.”

The NFL mandates that teams practice emergency action plans for a variety of situations, including cardiac crises like the one that Thompson experienced. The Chiefs had just completed their most recent practice session on Monday.

“I jumped in there from my office,” coach Andy Reid said. “I'm not much help; they had it under control. But that's tough. That's a tough situation. We've been through a couple of those in my time. It's never fun. Thank goodness, though, that if it had to happen, no better place than right here, where you had the support unit that knows what to do.”

The Chiefs gave players the rest of Thursday off, pushing the final organized team activity to Friday. They have their mandatory three-day minicamp next week before breaking until training camp in late July in St. Joseph, Missouri.

“I think it was good to get them out of here yesterday,” Reid said, “and we've got support people here that can help them if they needed it for what they saw. That's not a real pleasant thing to see. They came back today with good energy, but we kept them abreast all the way through, right to the end of practice there.”

Thompson played in only one game during his rookie season, the regular-season finale against the Chargers, when Kansas City already had clinched its playoff spot and the outcome was meaningless. Thompson had two tackles in that game.

“I'm just glad to see he's doing good,” said Chiefs defensive end George Karlaftis, who is close to Thompson from playing at the same position. “You never want that for anyone and it's hard, but I will say this, we're blessed to have such great teammates and trainers to help him, and were able and ready for that situation.”

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The Canadian Press - Jun 7, 2024 / 10:17 am | Story: 491269

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Former Miami Dolphins star cornerback Xavien Howard sent a male teenager a sexually explicit photograph of the young man's mother because she refused to get an abortion, a new court filing alleges.

The allegation was made Thursday in a lawsuit filed last year by a woman who is not the teenager's mother. That woman accuses Howard, 30, of secretly recording them having sex and then sharing the recordings with others. She says Howard also shared, without consent, sex tapes she had agreed to make.

Attorneys for the woman want the teenager, who is now 18, added as a plaintiff against Howard, who was released this off-season by the Dolphins in a money-saving move and is a free agent. The teenager is the son of another woman who attorneys say also had a relationship with Howard and was recorded having sex with him. That woman has not sued Howard.

“Xavien Howard operates by intimidation and force. Where he goes, destruction follows, and the lives of two individuals have been irrevocably altered because of him,” attorneys Cam Justice and Adriana Alcade wrote in their filing.

“Mr. Howard denies the claims and looks forward to prevailing in a court of law," Howard's attorney, Ted Craig, said in a short statement.

In the original lawsuit, filed under the pseudonym Jane Doe, a woman says she dated Howard for several months in 2022. A few months after they broke up, she received an Instagram message from a woman who said Howard had sent her sexually explicit videos of himself having sex with various women, including Doe.

That woman told Doe that Howard had sent her the videos because she spurned his sexual advances. In April 2023, another woman contacted Doe, saying Howard had also sent her videos because she, too, had spurned his advances.

Doe said that she consented once to Howard recording their sexual activity, but that other videos were done secretly without her consent.

In the latest filing seeking to add the teen as a plaintiff, he says that in September 2022, his mother and Howard were fighting over her refusal to have an abortion. The woman says Howard is the child's father. The attorneys say Howard texted the teenager a photograph of his mother engaging in sex “in his ongoing crusade to debase and humiliate” the woman and caused “severe emotional distress” to the teenager.

“Howard’s conduct was outrageous (and) went beyond all boundaries of decency,” Justice and Alcade wrote in their filing.

Howard played eight seasons with Dolphins, who drafted him out of Baylor in 2016. He intercepted 29 passes in 100 games and has been selected to four Pro Bowls.

Howard’s production declined the past two seasons as he dealt with injuries. He played through groin injuries in 2022 and was limited to 13 games in 2023 because of hip and foot injuries.

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The Canadian Press - Jun 7, 2024 / 10:17 am | Story: 491270

On Football analyzes the biggest topics in the NFL. For more On Football analysis, head here.

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Justin Jefferson reset the market for wide receivers when he became the NFL’s highest-paid non-quarterback.

That distinction shouldn’t last too long.

CeeDee Lamb is about to get paid. So is Ja’Marr Chase. Tyreek Hill wants a new deal after Jefferson, A.J. Brown and Amon-Ra St. Brown surpassed him in annual average value during an offseason that saw eight receivers sign contracts worth more than $20 million per season.

The skyrocketing salaries will continue increasing as the league’s salary cap escalates. The cap went up $30 million to $255.4 million this season.

NFL agent Henry Organ of Disruptive Sports anticipates the cap will surpass $300 million by 2026.

“Jefferson’s deal is on par with the expectation level,” said Organ, who negotiated a three-year, $19.5 million deal for Patriots wideout Kendrick Bourne early in free agency.

Organ pointed out that top receivers will continue to make a similar percentage of the team’s payroll so their contract numbers will rise commensurate to the cap increases. Jefferson now accounts for 13.3% of Minnesota’s cap number. The five quarterbacks making $50-plus million per season take up about 20% of their team’s cap.

“With the increase in quarterback contracts, it is only natural that receivers would also grow in value,” agent Drew Rosenhaus told The Associated Press.

The Vikings gave Jefferson a four-year, $140 million contract extension that included $110 million in guaranteed money with $88.7 million due at signing.

Brown signed a three-year, $96 million contract with the Eagles that included $84 million guaranteed and a $19.8 million signing bonus.

St. Brown briefly was the highest-paid receiver when the Lions gave him a four-year contract extension worth slightly more than $120 million with $77 million in guarantees.

Hill previously was the top-paid receiver after the Dolphins gave him a $120 million, four-year deal in 2022.

The five-time All-Pro has outperformed high expectations in Miami and he has noticed that he’s dropped to No. 4 on the salary chart.

"I feel like at the end of the day, if you feel like you’re top five at something — that’s like if you worked at Amazon — if you are one of the best Amazon delivery drivers, you’re going to feel some type of way,” said Hill, who is represented by Rosenhaus. “You’re going to go to your boss and say, ‘Hey bro, I’m doing 100 routes, and this person only doing 65 routes. I’m supposed to be the top-paid person.’ You feel me? So if you feel like you deserve something, go get it.”

Hill’s teammate, Jaylen Waddle, recently signed a three-year contract extension worth $84.75 million, including $76 million guaranteed. Brown’s teammate, DeVonta Smith, got a three-year, $75 million deal with $51 million guaranteed in April. Smith doesn’t regret not waiting for the market to burst.

“You can’t be counting the pockets of others. I’m where I want to be,” Smith said. “This is where I wanted to be. At the end of the day, it’s life-changing for me.”

Lamb skipped mandatory minicamp while seeking a new deal from the Cowboys. Dallas, which already has salary cap issues, has QB Dak Prescott entering the final season of a four-year, $160 million contract and star edge rusher Micah Parsons on the verge of a gigantic raise this year or next.

Parsons has a case to become the league’s highest-paid non-QB, an honor held by San Francisco’s Nick Bosa until Jefferson took over.

Chase, like Parsons, is under contract through 2025 but is eligible for a contract extension. Tee Higgins, his teammate on the Bengals, hasn’t yet signed his $21.8 million franchise tag for this season so Cincinnati is going to have two wide receivers making a ton of money if they keep both.

“Quarterback has always been the top paid and that market has exploded. Left tackle, edge rushers, and shutdown defensive backs all had massive bargaining power and exponentially higher compensation,” said agent Leigh Steinberg, who represents the Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes. “Wide receiver was not that favored of a position until last year there was an explosion in the wide receiver market. ... Once that dam burst, wide receiver became the favored position with big bargaining power. The market for elite wide receivers will continue to expand.”

Players are not only making more money but the guaranteed totals are rising. Jefferson’s new deal set a record for most guaranteed money for a non-QB and agents are going to keep pushing for more. MLB and NBA salaries are mostly fully guaranteed. NFL players, who play the more violent sport, are still catching up.

“I also believe that NFL contracts are on a trajectory to become fully guaranteed for many of the top players in the NFL,” Rosenhaus said. “It’s trending in that direction, which is a great thing. It’s time that NFL contracts are treated the same as the other major sports that have fully guaranteed contracts.”

Steinberg notes that first-round draft picks receive fully or partially guaranteed contracts and “signing bonuses need to be factored into the discussion.”

“It is only in football that large signing bonuses, which are guaranteed, are paid at the inception of contracts,” Steinberg said. “The trend toward guaranteed contracts will continue to grow. But if all the money in an NFL contract is guaranteed, we may see the gradual diminishment of the signing bonus portion.”

However they get it and whenever it’s coming, the best players are going to keep making astronomical amounts of money.

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The Canadian Press - Jun 6, 2024 / 2:18 pm | Story: 491170

LAKE FOREST, IL (AP) — Chicago Bears rookie quarterback Caleb Williams emerged from his first exposure to veteran NFL players at organized team activities and minicamp with a greater appreciation for what he’s up against.

Williams, the first pick in the NFL draft, found he has plenty to learn, and the defense he’ll face every day in training camp will be a formidable one with designs on being a top-five unit.

“I didn’t come in necessarily with the expectation to be and seem like a 13-year vet,” Williams said Thursday after a three-day mandatory minicamp ended. “I came in to work, to work my tail off, show the guys that I’m here, I’m working my tail off, I’m progressing and trying not to make the same mistake again.

“That’s the biggest thing, day in and day out, is trying not to make the same mistake over and over and learn from them. That’s been my biggest thing for me.”

It was anything but easy for the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner.

On the first day of camp, Williams threw late over the middle and had it picked off by new Bears safety Kevin Byard. On the second day, Williams did the same thing but it was linebacker Tremaine Edmunds making the interception. In red-zone work Thursday, Williams put on a good display of accuracy with a better command of the offense while working against the first-team defense.

“So with all the reps that we’ve been able to get and obtain, it’s been huge,” Williams said. “So just like today I feel like progression-wise, being able to throw a little bit more anticipation was a little small step for me.”

Coach Matt Eberflus plans to keep Williams working against the starting defense throughout training camp.

“I think that Caleb is a talent, a very good talent,” Eberflus said. “His game will go to where it needs to be. I want him to see that in front of him, the windows closing, the variation of what we do on defense, and I want him to see that day-in and day-out so that when he gets to play somebody else it will look (to him like), ‘OK, I’ve been there, done that.’

“That’s how we’re going to keep it.”

Aside from the practice competition, Williams found the Bears' cadence on signal calls to be a challenge, one that led to false starts.

“It’s just finding the balance between it all, not being too loud on certain plays and things like that, not being voice too low, so just working practice-wise, just working through it,” Williams said. “Obviously in college a lot of teams are clap cadence, so it’s been four years since I’ve been verbal. So it’s just getting back to the verbal cadence is really what it is.”

Williams called the developmental process steady and painstaking.

“First, I ask questions,” Williams said. “I ask questions to Coach. I ask about my progression, I ask where he wants me to be, where I should be, and then obviously I have my own goal set for myself and that’s to be perfect.

“Obviously you strive for something like that and you don’t ever reach it, but you keep striving for it.”

Williams has also gotten a taste of his new role off the field, during excursions to White Sox, Cubs and Sky games.

“I obviously said in a bunch of interviews that I’m going to be a part of the community, be out there, let everybody see that I’m just another human, just being out there, enjoying being myself and being part of the community and supporting them,” Williams said.

At some point before training camp, Williams needs to sign a contract.

“I’m not handling that,” Williams said. “I’ve been focused on these past three days of minicamp, the OTAs before that and rookie camp before that. I haven’t been focused on that.

”(GM Ryan) Poles and my team have been focused on that. I have lawyers and attorneys to handle things like that so I can be free-minded on the field, enjoying coming into work every day and working my tail off.”

NOTES: Eberflus said the Bears will have a joint practice on Aug. 15 with the Cincinnati Bengals at Halas Hall. The teams play a preseason game two days later. ... WR Tyler Scott, CB Kyler Gordon, T Braxton Jones, TE Cole Kmet and G Nate Davis were held out of Thursday's practice. The team doesn’t usually reveal less serious injuries in the offseason, but Eberflus said Gordon’s injury was lower back stiffness.

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The Canadian Press - Jun 6, 2024 / 12:49 pm | Story: 491151

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — The New York Giants are waiting patiently for veteran tight end Darren Waller to decide whether he wants to play this season.

Coach Brian Daboll said Thursday he has communicated with the 31-year-old Waller throughout the offseason, mostly by text messages. He added the team is not pushing Waller for a decision.

“When he makes his decision, he makes his decision,” Daboll said.

Waller, who was acquired in an offseason trade with Las Vegas before last year, is due to make $10.5 million in 2024 and he would count $14.1 million against the salary cap. If he retired or was cut, the Giants would save $11.6 million in cap money and take a $2.5 million hit in dead money.

Much was expected of Waller last season but he did not deliver for a team that went 6-11 and missed the playoffs a year after Daboll led them to their first postseason berth since 2016.

The oft-injured Waller was limited to 12 games and had 52 catches for 552 yards and a touchdown. His longest play was 29 yards. The injury that cost him five games was a hamstring, an issue that also reduced his play in 2021 and '22.

New York drafted Penn State tight end Theo Johnson in the fourth round in the recent draft in case Waller did not come back. Daniel Bellinger and Lawrence Cager return from last season. New York also signed veteran Chris Manhertz in free agency.

Waller has not attended the Giants offseason workouts.

On the field Thursday, wide receiver and first-round draft pick Malik Nabers put on a show in the workout, making about five very good catches.

If the LSU product plays like that in the regular season, opponents are going to have to double the No. 6 overall pick.

“It makes everything easy,” second-year receiver Jalin Hyatt said. “Who are you going to double, you know what I mean? You got Leek (Malik) on one side, you got me on the other, you’ve got Wan’Dale (Robinson), you’ve got Slay (Darius Slayton). That’s how we’re looking at it. We’re ready to go.”

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The Canadian Press - Jun 6, 2024 / 12:18 pm | Story: 491139

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The amount of talent on the San Francisco 49ers' offense can be staggering at times.

The Niners have five skilled position players who have been first- or second-team All-Pros the past three seasons, an MVP finalist in quarterback Brock Purdy and the best left tackle in football in All-Pro Trent Williams.

It's the other four spots on the offensive line that have the biggest questions, leading to speculation that San Francisco might have invested heavily in free agency or the draft to upgrade another spot on the line.

That didn't end up happening, with the Niners' biggest additions in free agency coming on the defensive line and their first-round pick being used on another wide receiver in Ricky Pearsall to team with stars Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel.

Perhaps surprisingly, one person leading the charge to advocate for that approach is the man responsible for coaching the offensive line: Chris Foerster.

“This is my personal opinion, if they ask me, invest in guys that touch the ball, guys that can touch the ball and score touchdowns," Foerster said. “And then there’s a range of guys, second, third, fourth round, fifth round even, that we will find starting offensive linemen in. ... That guy that touches the ball, it makes a huge difference in the game. The right guard makes a difference, but that’s where we’re able to find fourth- and fifth-round draft picks.”

In the last six offseasons, the Niners have made a big investment in only one offensive lineman. They traded two mid-round picks to acquire Williams in 2020 and then rewarded him with a top-of-the-market contract worth about $138 million the following offseason.

The rest of the line is mostly filled with later picks and low-priced free agents, allowing the Niners to dedicate more resources to pass rushers on defense and playmakers on offense.

“Could you put five first-rounders across the front? I don’t know that we have to, to have success,” Foerster said. “It hasn’t been that case as far as running the football and protecting the quarterback. We don’t have five first-rounders, so there’s always going to be that. But, the fact that you can throw a short pass to Deebo, even though the right tackle’s getting beat, it ends up being a 60-yard touchdown. So yeah, the right tackle blocks somebody, but if the guy gets tackled at 5 yards, you don’t have the 60-yard touchdown. ‘Boy that right tackle did a great job.’ What’s it matter if the guy touching the ball can’t take it to the house?”

Foerster, who began coaching offensive line in the NFL in 1992, said he really came to adopt this stance on building an offensive line in the mid 2000s when he saw what the Patriots did with mostly average blockers and dynamic playmakers around Tom Brady.

Foerster said it's easier to scheme around blocking with chips, slides, double teams or quick releases than it is to scheme around receivers who can't get open.

But there are some limitations and he believes the group of linemen he has next to Williams is good enough, as evidenced by the success San Francisco has had on offense in recent years.

"There’s a line below that with offensive line play that if you just drop a little bit below it, it’s a gaping hole,” Foerster said. “All of a sudden, you’re like, ‘He can’t block anybody.’ And now we got a major problem. But as long as they’re at that line and just above it, you can survive it.”

Play on the line did prove costly in the Super Bowl loss in February against the Chiefs. San Francisco failed to pick up a third-down blitz late in regulation that allowed the Chiefs enough time to drive for a game-tying score and then had a blown assignment in the red zone in overtime that led to a field goal instead of a TD, contributing to the 25-22 loss.

San Francisco's biggest investment in the line this offseason came with a potential new starter at right guard when the 49ers drafted Dominick Puni in the third round after passing on potential tackles in rounds one and two.

“We looked at numerous guys throughout the process. I think when you’re drafting 31st, it’s oftentimes hard to find a tackle that you really love,” general manager John Lynch said after the draft. “And we like our tackles as they stand right now.”

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The Canadian Press - Jun 6, 2024 / 12:07 pm | Story: 491140

METAIRIE, La. (AP) — The New Orleans Saints' experimental usage of Taysom Hill at virtually every offensive skill position — and even on special teams — has been so unconventional that he wondered whether his ubiquity might be reined in under a new offensive coordinator.

Klint Kubiak — whose hiring this offseason represented a definitive break from the Sean Payton offense that remained in place for two years after Payton left New Orleans — wasn't about to let Hill's incertitude fester.

The new coordinator traveled to Utah to visit Hill and to lay out his vision for the former BYU quarterback.

The pair had “a great, frank conversation,” during which Kubiak “mapped out how he envisioned me being used,” Hill said. “It was him seeing value in what I do and what I can do in this offense and he wanted to be clear about that. It was all really positive.”

Those talks helped motivate the 33-year-old Hill to attend all the voluntary offseason practices that were held during the past three weeks and ended Thursday. By showing up, Hill received opportunities to get comfortable with the various ways he could get the ball — or sometimes serve as a blocker — in advance of next week's mandatory minicamp.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” Hill said. “It’s weird to say after seven years of doing what I’ve been doing that I’m being asked to do things I’ve never done before.

“I haven't been challenged this way mentally for a long time,” Hill said. "That is exciting to me ... and I love to be challenged like that.”

Kubiak arrived in New Orleans after serving as a top offensive assistant last season under San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan. The 49ers advanced to the Super Bowl before falling 25-22 in overtime to Kansas City.

Elements of that 49ers offense — known for outside zone runs and pass plays set up by play-action fakes — are now being installed in New Orleans. So far, Hill has mostly lined up at fullback or tight end. He has gotten the ball on numerous running and passing plays, including a reception out of the backfield after lining up as a fullback — a play reminiscent of those the Niners run with fullback Kyle Juszczyk.

“There's some things that Kyle Juszczyk does that we feel like Taysom can do and do well," Saints coach Dennis Allen said. “I wouldn't say that that role is entirely the same.”

Hill also has lined up sporadically as an outside and slot receiver.

“He’s a really intelligent guy,” Kubiak said. "We’re looking forward to giving him a lot of volume early. And then we’ll start narrowing it down as we get closer to the season.”

So far, Hill has not been taking snaps at quarterback during practices open to media. But that doesn't mean the Saints will dial back on the designed QB runs that have accounted for much of Hill's career production.

“We're going to utilize him in that role, absolutely,” Allen said.

Last season, when Payton protege Pete Carmichael Jr. was calling the offense, Hill gained a career-high 692 yards from scrimmage. While much of Hill’s production came on quarterback runs, he also caught 33 passes for 291 yards and two touchdowns.

Meanwhile, Hill said there has been “no discussion” about dialing back his special teams work. He's served as the upback on the punt team, giving the Saints the option of running or passing out of that formation if they decided on a fake.

He also rushes opponent punts and has gotten his hands on a couple.

He said he might even get a look as a kickoff returner this season because of the new kickoff rules.

"Taysom Hill can flourish in any role he embraces,” Allen said. “With a new staff in here and a new scheme, we're going to look at what can Taysom do and where can we utilize him in this scheme where he can help us win football games.”

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The Canadian Press - Jun 6, 2024 / 10:09 am | Story: 491112

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Anthony Richardson jogged onto the field for Thursday's final minicamp practice.

Then he started throwing — left-handed. The scene created a brief scare for Indianapolis Colts fans.

Thirty-five minutes later, Richardson and coach Shane Steichen tried to ease those concerns by acknowledging the second-year quarterback was held out of practice as a precautionary measure because his surgically repaired right shoulder was sore.

“Rest assured, if we played Sunday, he'd be starting,” Steichen said. “He just had some soreness. He experienced some soreness during practice (Wednesday), so we just held him out. It's just part of the deal."

Richardson's health has fueled many discussions since he had surgery last fall.

Yes, he showed promise in the four games he played as a rookie last season. But his continual injuries — one which caused him to miss a game and three others that forced him to depart games early — had many Colts fans asking what could be done to keep Richardson healthy this season.

The good news: Richardson continues to say his recovery is ahead of schedule and he's pushed himself to get back on the field as quickly as possible.

The bad news: It sounds all too familiar in Indianapolis.

Many expected Peyton Manning to return in 2011 despite a lingering neck injury. He never did. A similar scenario played out twice with his successor, Andrew Luck, first when he missed all of 2017 with a shoulder injury and again in 2019, when ankle and calf injuries eventually led to his abrupt August retirement.

So when the Colts starting quarterback sits out, even even during a three-day minicamp in June, consternation follows.

“I'm good, just a little soreness,” Richardson said. “I've been dealing with soreness since I started throwing, you know, but it's hard to listen to the trainers who tell you to sit out for a day. I don't want to sit out, but it's part of the health journey so I'm just resting and listening to them.”

He didn't skip everything Thursday. He did some light work in position drills and he made a few light, left-handed tosses. But he left the heavy lifting to backups Joe Flacco, Sam Ehlinger and undrafted rookie Kedon Clovis.

And now, he'll have six more weeks to rest, recover and heal up before players report for training camp in Westfield, Indiana, a northwestern suburb of Indianapolis.

Richardson can't wait to get started.

“We're actually surprised there's only been one day like this,” he said. “Everything's been smooth sailing so far, and, luckily, it was the last day so we're not too worried about it."

Indy also announced Thursday that it would hold joint workouts with the Arizona Cardinals on Aug. 14 and 15. That means rookie receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. will be working out in front of Colts fans, just like his father did during his Hall of Fame career.

Indy also will visit Cincinnati for joint workouts on Aug. 20 and 22.

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The Canadian Press - Jun 6, 2024 / 9:55 am | Story: 491107

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City Chiefs backup B.J. Thompson was taken to a hospital in stable condition Thursday after the defensive lineman experienced a cardiac event during a team meeting, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press.

The person, speaking to the AP on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the event, said team trainers and medical staff were able to react quickly and treat Thompson until paramedics arrived.

The Chiefs planned to wrap up their voluntary offseason workouts on Thursday, but a team spokesman said the practice would be pushed to Friday. That is when Chiefs coach Andy Reid and other players will speak to reporters.

The 27-year-old Thompson was a fifth-round pick of the Chiefs out of Stephen F. Austin in last year's draft. The only game Thompson appeared in was their regular-season finale against the Los Angeles Chargers, when Kansas City already had clinched its playoff spot and the game's outcome was meaningless. Thompson had two tackles in that game.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

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