Top draft picks Mayfield, Barkley to face off tonight
Luck will be ‘a little nervous’ in return
Welcome to the NFL, Baker Mayfield.
And welcome back to the league, Andrew Luck.
While the opening preseason game for most teams carries little intrigue as players from the back end of the roster try to strut their stuff, several story lines will be worth following tonight.
Start in the New Jersey Meadowlands and in Seattle.
Top overall draft pick Mayfield will see some action against the Giants, who have their own prized rookie in second overall selection Saquon Barkley.
The Browns might not be counting on too much from Mayfield early on as veteran Tyrod Taylor is Cleveland’s starter, but New York expects a huge boost for its offense from the Penn State running back.
On the other coast, the Colts plan for their recently luckless quarterback to take some snaps against the Seahawks. Luck hurt the right shoulder in September 2015 against Tennessee, missed two games, then returned to make four more starts before sustaining a season-ending lacerated kidney. He played through shoulder pain in 2016, then had surgery that sidelined him for all of last season.
It’s been roughly 600 days between starts for the Colts star.
Elsewhere on the first full night of preseason games, it’s Carolina at Buffalo, Chicago at Cincinnati, New Orleans at Jacksonville, Tampa Bay at Miami, Pittsburgh at Philadelphia, the Los Angeles Rams at Baltimore, Washington at New England, Tennessee at Green Bay, Houston at Kansas City, and Dallas at San Francisco. Some of what to watch: BAKER AND BARKLEY: Brimming with optimism coming off a 0-16 season, Cleveland’s plan is to have Mayfield sit and learn as a rookie behind Taylor, who will start at MetLife Stadium and play one or two series before giving way to Mayfield, who is expected to play two quarters.
“When you get the energy level up, you’ve got to be able to execute, so that’s why I’m excited about Thursday as well,” Mayfield said. “You get people hyped up, you actually get some contact in and you can focus in and do your job when there are distractions around.”
New Giants coach Pat Shurmur, who led the Browns in 2011-12, hasn’t indicated how much Barkley will play.
LUCKY COLTS: Luck is expected to play most of the first quarter, likely one or two series playing in a revamped offense with an overhauled offensive line.
“I’ll be excited and a little nervous,” Luck said. “There were one or two moments where I wondered if, ‘Am I ever going to be able to do this again?’”
Seattle is also revamped. The names Sherman, Avril, Bennett and Chancellor that used to don the backs of jerseys are no longer around. It’ll be the first look at an overhauled defense where the big questions center on the secondary — star safety Earl Thomas is holding out — and what kind of pass rush can be generated.
VRABEL’S DEBUT: Mike Vrabel says he really hasn’t spent much time thinking of any pregame speech in his debut as Titans coach.
“Never really got a great motivational speech as a professional athlete,” Vrabel said. “Just had a job to do, was prepared, knew the game plan and went out and played.”
Another man with Patriots ties, cornerback Malcolm Butler, plays his first game for Tennessee. He most memorably was benched on defense for the Super Bowl in February even as New England’s secondary was torn apart by Philadelphia. FLORIDA MATCHUP: Miami’s eyes will be on Ryan Tannehill, who like Luck sat out last season when injured. He’ll make a brief appearance against Tampa Bay, which won’t have top draftee DT Vita Vea (calf injury).