This has largely been a quiet training camp around the NFL, but don't tell that to the Chargers.
The Chargers learned Wednesday evening that wide receiver Stevie Johnson will miss the rest of the season after undergoing surgery on his torn meniscus. This is a worst-case scenario for San Diego. We knew about the injury over a week ago, but it was unclear how long Johnson would be out.
San Diego still has solid depth at the skill positions with Keenan Allen, Travis Benjamin, Danny Woodhead, Antonio Gates, and rookie tight end Hunter Henry all giving Philip Rivers intriguing options to throw to. The battle for the No. 3 receiver job figures to come down to veteran James Jones against youngsters Tyrell Williams and Dontrelle Inman.
Gates was in the news Wednesday while giving advice to holdout first-round pick Joey Bosa.
"My advice to any player that's going through any kind of contract situation is that, at one point, you've got to be a man and you've got to understand that you've got to get ready to play," Gates said.
Gates went through his own contract standoff back in the day, but this sort of pressure from a veteran player is rare. Perhaps it speaks to the hard-to-understand impasse which has caused the Chargers and Bosa to come off poorly.
Here are the eight other things we learned on a quiet Wednesday as teams prepared for an intriguing preseason on tap:
- Lions wide receiver Marvin Jones is lighting up practice, causing one beat writer to put him well ahead of Golden Tate as the team's true No. 1. While Jones has a prototype skill set, we would want to see this play out in the regular season before dismissing Tate's chances for a monster year of his own. If Detroit can get a decent year out of Anquan Boldin, this will be a fun group to watch.
- The slow injury recoveries for Chiefs outside linebacker Tamba Hali (knee) and running back Jamaal Charles (knee) have stayed under the radar. General manager John Dorsey insists that both will be ready for Week 1. As great as Charles is, Hali's presence may be more important. Kansas City is thin at the position because of Justin Houston's injury. Houston's return timetable remains unclear, but he's expected to miss a big chunk of the regular season. Dorsey is also "confident" that safety Eric Berry will end his holdout before the year starts.
- So much for that Julian Edelman injury scare. He was already back at practice after a minor foot issue on Tuesday.
- Browns receiver Corey Coleman's hamstring injury has gone from no concern to a mild concern. He hasn't practiced since Friday and won't play in Cleveland's first preseason game. That's not a huge deal, but Coleman had a history of soft tissue issues and it is a reminder he could struggle with the problem in the season. This whole spiel is just an excuse to link to Marc Sessler's excellent Coleman bomb dropped Wednesday, anyhow.
- Jimmy Graham returned to practice on Wednesday. It is a positive sign coming off his torn patellar tendon, although the history of players coming off the injury is grim. Victor Cruz is a cautionary tale, at least thus far. It is looking less likely that Cruz will play in this week's Giants preseason game as he recovers from a groin injury.
- Jimmy Garappolo fans will enjoy the Patriots' plan to sitTom Brady in the team's preseason opener, according to NFL Media's Mike Garafolo. Brady's inevitable destruction of third-team cornerbacks in the fourth week of the preseason is one reason why they are a highly watchable team this offseason.
- The Bills needed someone to step up at wide receiver this month. It is a very thin depth chart after Sammy Watkins and Robert Woods. For now, the surprise No. 3 is speedster Marquise Goodwin, a former Olympic hopeful that has struggled to convert offseason hype into on-field production.
- Buffalo's worst fears were confirmed Wednesday when they announced that linebacker Reggie Ragland is expected to miss the season. The Bills have had rough injury luck and their best hope now at inside linebacker would be for Brandon Spikes to find his early-career form.