Brown again misses practice
For the second straight day, Oakland Raiders wide receiver Antonio Brown was nowhere to be seen Saturday during the seventh practice of training camp.
The Raiders have not specified an injury, with a source indicating as camp opened Brown would be out “probably a week” after starting on the non-football injury list, the San Jose Mercury News reported. Brown was removed from the NFI last Sunday. He participated in a walkthrough, and two days later, ran some pass routes against defenders in drills before calling it a day.
The only clue about what ails Brown was a since-deleted Instagram post that showed two badly blistered feet. Considering Brown wasn’t with his teammates on the field, it’s conceivable he was getting checked out by a specialist.
Quarterback Derek Carr, who said he hadn’t seen the post, has no choice but to wait.
“We wish the healing process of whatever is going on will be fast,” Carr said. “We want it to be fast, but at the same time you can’t rush things for training camp when you know you have a season and hopefully a playoff run to think about, right?”
The Raiders practice Sunday, take Monday off, then host joint practices on Tuesday and Wednesday against the Rams.
Coach Jon Gruden addressed Brown’s absence on Friday with some frustration.
“I think we’re all disappointed,” Gruden said. ”We think he’s disappointed. We’d like to get the party started. We’d like to get him out here. He’s a big part of this team, but in the time being we’re going to continue to work hard and we’ve seen the development of some other receivers we are excited about.”
Beckham, Hunt say hello to Cleveland
Odell Beckham Jr. and Kareem Hunt made their unofficial FirstEnergy Stadium debuts as members of the Cleveland Browns.
Former Giants wide receiver Beckham and exChiefs running back Hunt took part in the intrasquad Orange and Brown Scrimmage in front of more than 15,000 fans. Both players were acquired in the offseason.
Beckham caught passes from Baker Mayfield on the first two snaps of full-team action, while Hunt logged his initial on-field work after missing the first eight training camp practices with a groin injury.
Veteran back Rodgers with Saints
The New Orleans Saints are giving veteran running back Jacquizz Rodgers, 29, a chance to make his third team in the NFC South Division.
Rodgers, who practiced with New Orleans on Saturday for the first time, was added to the roster in place of former Washington Redskins and Tulane running back Rob Kelley. The Saints waived Kelley after bringing him in last week.
New Jet Kalil has that ‘itch again’
Five-time Pro Bowl center Ryan Kalil, 34, officially signed a one-year deal with the New York Jets, resuming a career he thought was over.
“I moved back to California with my family and started living the beach life a little bit, getting ingrained back in the community where I grew up,” said Kalil, who starred at Servite High and USC before playing 12 years with the Carolina Panthers. “March came around and I started getting the itch again.
“To say it’s done and make that such a definitive thing, it was so finite. But ... I had a hard time turning the page.”