PHILADELPHIA — The Eagles added a receiver to training camp just nine days before roster cut down day.

A league source confirmed the Eagles acquired John Metchie III from Houston. According to ESPN, the Eagles sent the Texans tight end Harrison Bryant and a fifth-round pick while Houston paired Metchie with a sixth-rounder. The draft picks ...Read more

DENVER — For Bo Nix to graduate from small screens to more big swings, Sean Payton cannot run it back with last year’s offense.

He has to run the ball more. His biggest challenge this season — beyond which pair of Jordans to wear on game day — will be committing to the ground game.

Will he trust his running backs when it matters most? ...Read more

SEATTLE — As Andy Reid ambled off Lumen Field through the rain late Friday night after his Chiefs had been clobbered, 33-16, by Seattle in a preseason game, a rare and striking scene unfolded:

Following his terrific performance against his hometown team, Seahawks quarterback Drew Lock had hurried to intercept Reid before he could exit — a ...Read more

Mike McDaniel had a decision to make Saturday. He knows by now you can’t talk a team’s desired identity or reformed culture into existence. It has to be created with work, not words.

That’s why he practiced two days and played Saturday’s exhibition against the Detroit Lions. How better to move your identity from finesse to physical than...Read more

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The Chargers gave up a last-gasp touchdown drive and were nipped at the wire by the Rams, 23-22, in a preseason showdown at SoFi Stadium.

Rams quarterback Stetson Bennett threw for 324 yards — including a 40-yard fourth-down connection with 5-foot-8 Brennan Presley, who outleaped a cluster of Chargers defenders — in a ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — Mike Tomlin talked about turnovers, self-inflicted wounds and penalties being a factor in defeat. But it’s the preseason, which makes most of his concerns secondary to what was most encouraging for the Steelers.

They saw a couple of their recent third-round draft choices make the types of plays they envisioned when they ...Read more

HOUSTON — The Carolina Panthers could be without rookie outside linebacker Nic Scourton for quite a while after the second-round pick was diagnosed with a collapsed lung before the team’s 20-3 preseason loss to the Houston Texans on Saturday.

Scourton, 20, left Thursday’s joint practice with what were called heat-related symptoms at the ...Read more

NEW YORK — Jaxson Dart took another step Saturday night toward grabbing the Giants’ starting quarterback job if Russell Wilson falters early this regular season.

Dart, 22, took first-team snaps in a game for the first time as a Giant — then led the second-string offense on two consecutive touchdown drives — in a primetime preseason 31-...Read more

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The Rams defeated the Chargers, 23-22, in a preseason game on Saturday at SoFi Stadium.

Here are five takeaways from the game and the day:

Rams won’t comment on Matthew Stafford situation

Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford was scheduled to work out on Saturday, a chance for the 17th-year pro to test his injured back.

...Read more

NEW YORK — It was all good just a week ago for the Jets and Justin Fields.

Gang Green won their preseason opener against Green Bay last weekend, with quarterback Justin Fields and the offense having a successful outing.

However, it was a much different story for Fields and the Jets’ first-team offense during their game against the Giants. ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — Jake Moody made a 59-yard field goal as time expired to send the San Francisco 49ers home with a 22-19 preseason win Saturday over the host Las Vegas Raiders

But they’re going home with more injuries, none of which are season-enders.

Right guard Dominick Puni sustained a knee injury while blocking on an opening-drive field goal...Read more

SEATTLE — Note to readers: Every few paragraphs, scroll back up and read the following line:

It was a preseason game in which the Chiefs sat five defensive starters along with Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce.

That’s italicized, but it might as well be bolded and underlined, too. There isn’t much one can glean from a football contest in ...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — As mea culpas go, this one doesn’t require a new inscription on the Lombardi Trophy.

In case you missed it this week, Jason Licht basically acknowledged that a critical first-round draft pick by the Buccaneers was a mistake.

The Tampa Bay general manager told a reporter from The Athletic that he never would have drafted Devin...Read more

I understand why Miami Dolphins fans are frustrated after two sessions of joint practices against the Detroit Lions — their team once again seems destined for mediocrity, which is the neighborhood they’ve resided the last 25 years.

You see the frustration on social media. You see it via email. You hear about it talking to fans. You hear ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — High-stakes fantasy football players had great expectations for Raiders rookie running back Ashton Jeanty.

But all it took was one preseason game, and -1 rushing yards for Jeanty (on three carries) in a 23-23 tie with the Seahawks on Aug. 7, to alter their outlook.

“Jeanty had been consistently going in the middle of the first ...Read more

DENVER — Surrounded by faces he didn’t know but faces that felt familiar, Calais Campbell asked the Park Hill Pirates a question.

Do you know the pledge?

Campbell still does. He has been a Pro Bowler in Arizona, Jacksonville and Baltimore, and manned front lines from Atlanta to Miami and back to Arizona again. He is one of the NFL’s ...Read more