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Despite previous injuries to his ACL, wrist, and calf, Burrow wants to play more than ever this preseason. He finally got coach Zac Taylor to relent.

“Coaches know how I’ve felt about that, and how I’ve always thought that that would benefit me,” Burrow said. “I think other positions, you have to be a little careful, because how physical that those positions are, but for me, those reps are valuable.”

The Bengals could be a top contender in the AFC if they can just survive September at .500 or better.

▪ Colts QBs Daniel Jones and Anthony Richardson: One of two quarterback competitions this training camp pits Richardson, the No. 4 overall pick from 2023, against Jones, the reclamation project from the Giants. Though Richardson is the incumbent, Jones makes more than three times as much money this year ($14 million to $3.8 million), and was able to practice all spring, while Richardson sat with a shoulder injury.

Richardson also has completed just 50.6 percent of passes in 15 career games, and lost his job temporarily last season after tapping out of a game. The Colts are saying Richardson still has time to develop and claim the job, but it feels as is Jones will be the quarterback for most of the season, if not Week 1.

▪ All four Browns quarterbacks: The other competition is an open derby in Cleveland among Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, Dillon Gabriel, and Shedeur Sanders. The Browns are keeping their options open but know they can’t get significant reps to four quarterbacks every practice. The Browns had one quarterback sit out each of the first four days, with Flacco sitting first.

But the Browns are going to regroup on their offday on Sunday to figure out if they can move forward with four QBs. Gabriel and Sanders, third- and fifth-round picks, are locks to make the team, putting Flacco or Pickett in jeopardy.

“You know, it’s tough to have expectations,” Flacco said. “I guess I know a little bit what to expect, at least for the next week. But you can’t ask me. It’s hard for me to tell what it’s going to look like, you know, two, three weeks from now.”

▪ Cowboys QB Joe Milton: Freed from New England, Bazooka Joe brings his impressive talents to Dallas, where he will be Dak Prescott’s backup. Although Milton didn’t shine in the first few practices, he still tantalized the crowd and his teammates with his effortless deep throws.

Milton, who opened a lot of eyes with his performance in the Patriots’ Week 18 win over the Bills last season, should get a lot of work this preseason. And if you think the Cowboys are immune to quarterback controversies because Prescott is a 10-year veteran and makes $60 million per year, then you don’t know Cowboys fans, or Jerry Jones.

▪ Jaguars WR/CB Travis Hunter: The Shohei Ohtani of the NFL will be on both sides of the ball in training camp. Jaguars coach Liam Coen said the team learned in the spring that Hunter needs to be engaged on both sides every day, so Hunter will practice a couple of days on offense, a couple on defense, and participate in meetings on the opposite sides of the ball.

“I like that we’re starting off slow, getting me adjusted, making sure I know where I need to be on one side of the ball each day, and then it [will] all come together,” Hunter said.

▪ Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy: He was handed the keys to the Porsche — a team that went 14-3 last season and once again has designs of winning the NFC North. But not only has McCarthy never played in an NFL game, he’s practically going through his first training camp, since he injured his knee in the Vikings’ preseason opener a year ago.

The Vikings are trying to pump him up, but it doesn’t sound as if McCarthy has been overly impressive. The next five weeks will be big for McCarthy to establish and prove himself.

“He’s pretty much a rookie,” Justin Jefferson said. “You’re not really expecting him to have the same mind-set as a veteran. You can’t really have that expectation from him.”

▪ Bears QB Caleb Williams: Last year’s No. 1 pick also was the worst of the four rookie QBs, as Williams went 5-12 and struggled with accuracy and decision-making. Now the Bears have hired Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson as coach to help rein him in. Williams set lofty goals of 4,000 yards and 70 percent completions in 2025, neither which have been done in Bears history. Williams could use a solid preseason to get his career on track.

▪Giants QB Jaxson Dart: Coach Brian Daboll said this past week that Russell Wilson is the team’s starter. And if there’s a veteran QB in trouble, it’s most likely Jameis Winston, who won’t be needed if Dart has a good training camp.

But if Dart, the 25th pick, has an excellent camp and shows he’s ready, Wilson actually could be the odd man out. Wilson only costs the Giants $2 million more this season (they already paid him $8 million), and Winston might have a better temperament as a backup than Wilson, who has never played that role.

▪ Steelers QB Aaron Rodgers: Couldn’t complete this list without Mr. Rodgers. Will he pick up the new offense quickly after missing most of the spring? Will he fit in with the Steelers’ no-nonsense culture? Does he have anything left? Rodgers and the Steelers are must-see TV all season long.

Can former No. 1 pick Caleb Williams rebound from a 5-12 season in which he struggled with accuracy and decision-making?Michael Reaves/Getty

35 million reasons

Wilkins, Raiders in nasty fight

Commanders receiver Terry McLaurin and Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson have had the most public squabbles with their teams over a new contract. But the nastiest fight was taking place quietly in Las Vegas, where the Raiders’ new leadership released defensive tackle Christian Wilkins on Thursday and set up a fight over $35 million.

The Raiders’ statement upon Wilkins’s release was vague but ruthless.

“This franchise has a commitment of excellence on and off the field. With no clear path or plan for future return to play from Christian, this transaction is necessary for the entire organization to move forward and prepare for a new season,” the team said.

Left unsaid is that Wilkins, a Framingham and Springfield native entering his seventh NFL season, is still recovering from a broken bone in his foot suffered last October. The Raiders believe the bone should have healed by now had Wilkins followed his rehab assignment and gotten surgery.

The Raiders believe Wilkins violated paragraph 8 of the player contract — failure to keep and maintain excellent physical condition — and voided the final $35.25 million in full guarantees ($8 million this year, $27.25 million in 2026). The Raiders already paid Wilkins $49 million for one season plus one offseason.

Wilkins and the NFL Players Association filed a grievance Thursday over the voided money. But it will be up to the Raiders to prove that Wilkins violated his contract.

The Raiders released defensive tackle Christian Wilkins on Thursday and set up a fight over $35 million.Charlie Neibergall/Associated Press

Fixing relationships

Hill, Dolphins have a ways to go

More drama is taking place in Miami. Tyreek Hill, entering his fourth season with the Dolphins, hasn’t been fully accepted back by his teammates yet.

The Dolphins kept Hill despite his Week 18 tirade in which he pulled himself from the Jets game and told reporters he wanted out. Hill also omitted teammate Tua Tagovailoa when listing his top five quarterbacks on a podcast in May.

“So when you say something like that, you don’t just come back from that with, ‘Hey, my bad.’ You’ve got to work that relationship up, you’ve got to build everything up again,” Tagovailoa said. “It’s still a work in progress, not just for me but for everybody. But like I said, he’s working on himself, he’s working on the things he says he wants to get better with and do better on.”

Tua Tagovailoa says Tyreek Hill rebuilding relationship with him & team is a “work in progress” after Tyreek WK18 ‘I’m out’ comment.

Tua: “When you say something like that you don’t just come back with ‘My bad.’ You gotta work that relationship up. He is working on himself.” pic.twitter.com/acv6Fq2Eps

— Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) July 23, 2025

The Dolphins also had a rough start to training camp. Wednesday, second-year offensive lineman Bayron Matos was airlifted to a hospital, where he was in stable condition, but details were murky. Thursday, the Dolphins lost cornerback Artie Burns to a torn ACL, thinning one of their weakest positions. The Dolphins recently traded Jalen Ramsey, and don’t have much proven talent at cornerback outside of fourth-year pro Kader Kohou.

Star on and off the field

Mathieu an inspirational story

One of the more remarkable NFL careers ended this past week when safety Tyrann Mathieu announced his retirement after 12 seasons with the Cardinals, Texans, Chiefs, and Saints.

A versatile defensive back, Mathieu probably should find himself wearing a gold jacket in the future. He was a four-time All-Pro, a member of the NFL’s 2010s All-Decade team, won a Super Bowl with the Chiefs, missed only two games over his final eight seasons, and is one of five players with at least 35 career interceptions and 45 tackles for loss, joining Brian Dawkins, Charles Woodson, Ronde Barber, and Harrison Smith. Mathieu was a menace against the Patriots, collecting three interceptions (two for touchdowns) and a fumble recovery in five career games.

But for Mathieu to even have made it in the NFL is a terrific story in and of itself. Mathieu came from a broken home in New Orleans, with a father in prison for murder and an absentee mother. He found himself in constant trouble at LSU, and was kicked off the team before the 2012 season a year after winning SEC Defensive Player of the Year. But in his time off Mathieu went to rehab, straightened himself out, got drafted in 2013 in the third round by Arizona, and became a model citizen in the NFL.

In addition to his on-field achievements, Mathieu twice was his team’s nominee for the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, earning it with the Chiefs in 2021 and Saints in 2023. Mathieu and his foundation did countless good deeds, providing back-to-school supplies, Thanksgiving dinners, Christmas dinners, and shopping sprees in each of his NFL cities.

He came into the NFL with character concerns, and 12 years later retires as the model NFL player and everything the league wants to embody.

“From my first snap in college to my final play in the NFL, this journey has been nothing short of a blessing,” Mathieu said on social media. “Football gave me purpose, discipline, and memories that will stay with me forever. But more than anything, it gave me a community.”

Tyrann Mathieu announced his retirement this past week after 12 seasons with the Cardinals, Texans, Chiefs, and Saints.Reed Hoffmann/Associated Press

Caserio on rookie precedent

The right thing for us to do

Texans GM Nick Caserio apparently doesn’t like the idea that he created a contractual precedent that helps the players. In May, Caserio and the Texans became the first team to give a four-year, fully guaranteed rookie contract to a second-round pick, receiver Jayden Higgins. Last year’s 34th pick got 91 percent of his contract guaranteed.

For two months, 30 of the 32 second-round picks sat unsigned because no other team wanted to cross that fully guaranteed threshold. But on July 17, 49ers defensive tackle Alfred Collins (43rd overall) broke the dam by agreeing to an 88 percent guaranteed contract, and the other players quickly fell into place. Picks 33-40 got four full years guaranteed (except Browns running back Quinshon Judkins, who hasn’t signed yet because of a legal issue). Picks 41-52 got three years, and 53-64 got two years.

“Eventually probably going to get [to 100 percent] anyway, so we just felt like that was the right thing for us to do,” Caserio said. “When you’re reading about this in the Wall Street Journal you know everybody has too much time on their hands.”

The Browns appear close to getting approval for a new domed stadium in the suburbs. And the Commanders’ return to the site of old RFK Stadium is reportedly nearing the goal line. Per the Associated Press, the D.C. Council reached an agreement with the team to receive more tax revenue from the project, which promises a new stadium, retail and housing. D.C. would contribute $1 billion, and the team would pledge approximately $2.7 billion. A vote is reportedly coming Aug. 1. The biggest asset for the Commanders: Everyone likes Josh Harris a lot more than Dan Snyder … Undrafted rookie defensive tackle Desmond Watson became the heaviest player to sign an NFL contract, at 464 pounds. But the Buccaneers placed him on the non-football injury list so he can lose weight. “It’s just about trying to get him better, to be a healthier player and get him on the field more,” coach Todd Bowles said … Two surprise moves came on the eve of training camp. First, the Seahawks released tight end Noah Fant after he caught 48 passes for 500 yards last season. The Seahawks probably were trying to get him to take a pay cut, but couldn’t they have released Fant earlier in the offseason, so he could have time to find a new job? And Titans QB Will Levis opted to undergo shoulder surgery, knocking him out for the season. With the Titans drafting Cam Ward and adding veterans Brandon Allen and Tim Boyle, Levis probably took the hint he wasn’t in the Titans’ plans … Not good: Matthew Stafford is already dealing with back soreness and is sitting out early practices … Deion Sanders was in Tampa this past week to watch his son in training camp. No, not Shedeur Sanders, but his twin brother, Shilo Sanders, an undrafted rookie safety for the Buccaneers … Philip Rivers hasn’t thrown a pass since 2020, but he officially retired this past week after 17 NFL seasons. But let’s see what happens when Kyle Shanahan needs an emergency quarterback for the Super Bowl … The Packers released their yearly financial statements this past week, detailing a record $432 million in national revenue (TV money), which comes out to $13.8 billion for the entire league. Since national revenue represents about 60 percent of total revenue, the NFL generated a ballpark figure of $23 billion for the 2024 season.

Ben Volin can be reached at ben.volin@globe.com.