ESPN

‘Drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the third round in 2014 out Iowa, Kirksey, 31, spent the first six years of his career with the Browns. He started 54 games and had two seasons with 135-plus tackles in Cleveland. He then spent one season with the Green Bay Packers (2020), starting 11 games, and the following two years with the Texans, starting 29 games. In Houston, Kirksey was a team captain in 2022 and the team’s nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year award. He dealt with a strained hamstring in Texans training camp this year.’

‘”That’s the kind of stuff that contributes to you not being on the field. That’s why you’re in when you’re blowing us out by 25 at the end of the game. Maybe if that man learns how to play the game the right way, he’ll see the field. Until then, he’ll have to go and live off of plays like that, I guess.”‘

‘”The thing is with this game, man, it gives you the lowest lows and it gives you the highest highs. I love feeling how I felt last week,” Allen said. “I really do because it makes the good feel that much better. It forces us to be better, and I want to be the best I can be playing this game and being the best quarterback I can be for the Buffalo Bills. So, I take the bad with the good, I understand it, and I’m just trying to let it fuel me and use it to my benefit.”‘

‘Diggs, though, took to social media Thursday. In response to the initial comments made by Glab that were picked up on the hot mic, he said he “never said anything remotely close to that to her.”‘

‘Following an offseason and lead-up to the regular season spent emphasizing the importance of reducing turnovers and making smarter decisions on the field, Allen walked into MetLife Stadium on Monday night and did anything but.’

‘”For me, it means more now than it did when I was, my first time ever being named a captain,” Diggs said Thursday. “Just the consistency of it, the respect from your peers. I know the biggest thing for me is always earning the respect from my teammates, earning the respect from my coaches, and when you get named a captain, that’s like reassurance, like, you might be halfway decent at what you do, you know what I’m saying? Not just professionally, but as far as like how you represent yourself and who you are as a man.”‘

‘This offseason, the Bills added a former teammate of Miller’s to the pass-rush room with veteran Leonard Floyd. Earlier Tuesday, Buffalo traded 2021 second-round pick Boogie Basham to the New York Giants, moving on from one of the team’s young pass-rushers in the rotation. Buffalo will rely on the likes of Floyd, 2021 first-round pick Rousseau and 2020 second-round pick A.J. Epenesa in Miller’s absence.’

‘The big question here is if the Bills will add outside help for depth at tackle with the injuries at the position and Brandon Shell’s retirement. It’s the position on the roster with the least amount of depth and the team could use more options at swing tackle. Starting left guard McGovern is also now one to watch after suffering a knee injury this past week, and Ike Boettger’s roster spot may depend on McGovern’s availability.’

‘”It’s just one of those things that you gotta get healthy and, you know, that’s the main part for him to get healthy, man,” Von Miller told ESPN of his close friend and former Denver Broncos teammate at a Monday charity event. “I’m sorry, he got hurt. I’m injured now [recovering from surgery on right ACL], so I already know what he’s dealing with. He’s staying here at my crib at the house, so that’s a good thing, too, where I can put my hands on him and keep my eyes on him, man, and, you know, I think he’s shown what he can do on the football field and, you know, whenever he gets that chance to go out there and play, that’d be great.”‘

‘Consider: 56% of past Madden cover athletes saw at least an 80-point decline in PPR fantasy production in the season they were selected. That’s greater than the percentage of games that Christian McCaffrey has played over the past three seasons.’

‘A fifth-round pick by the New York Jets in 2016 out of South Carolina, Shell has largely played right tackle throughout his career. He played in 83 regular-season games and started 72, playing four seasons with the Jets, two with the Seattle Seahawks and most recently for the Miami Dolphins, appearing in 13 games with 11 starts last season. In his career, he averaged a pass block win rate of 87% and averaged 84.6% with the Dolphins last season.’

‘”When I’m feeling those nerves and I’m feeling those emotions, it just means I, it means I love, I really love this,” Hamlin said, whose first play back was a kickoff. “I love this, like, I want to be here. I want to play, I want to do good. I want to be one of the greats. I want to be remembered as somebody who, you know, stood for something and who made a difference when I was out there on the field.”‘

‘”It feels amazing,” Hamlin said of being in pads again in his first news conference since April. “It’s a roller coaster of emotions. I was kind of all over the place, just kind of being back for the first time. But God don’t make no mistakes. I’m on God’s timing. As much as the NFL is on schedule and camp starts this day, this is all God’s timing.”‘

‘”That’s my sentiment with any player, in particular a player as important to us as Stef,” McDermott said in June. “And so, I get concerned when players miss for reasons off the field, for reasons on the field. Whether it be they’re injured or whatever it is. That’s just how I am. So, when I say very concerned, I’m very concerned because of the situation with one of our players, and it was something that we needed to work through and those are healthy conversations that happen and I’m extremely appreciative of those conversations. It gets us, when you have those healthy conversations, it gets you to a better spot. And I feel good about that. I feel like we’re in that spot.”‘

‘But as the Buffalo Bills kicked off training camp Wednesday, the wide receiver sat down for his first news conference since the 2022 regular season and cleared the air. Over 20-plus minutes, Diggs called the issues and conversations that led to his absence from one mandatory minicamp practice last month a “family matter” and said it was all “water under the bridge.”‘