Chargers

Chargers WR Quentin Johnston has had some very high highs and low lows since being a first-round pick back in 2023. After coming through with a huge two-touchdown performance in Week 1, Johnston reflected on his early struggles and how he uses the field as his therapy. 

“I don’t really talk about it to nobody. I feel like I just have to step up, deal with it on my own, get better each year,” Johnston said, via ESPN’s Kris Rhim. “So that’s what I’m doing, that’s what I’m continuing to do. I feel like my therapist is the field, so that’s where I take everything.”

“I’m just honestly at this point trying to prove myself right. I know a lot of people don’t really look at me as … I still see myself as a good football player. Everybody’s not going to hit their peak at the same time. … I’m just staying down and working until my time comes.”

Chiefs

Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes is set to turn 30 this month, marking his transition into the next era of his career after a remarkable run in his 20s. Mahomes said recently his hope is to hit a sweet spot in a couple different areas, including a balance between the aggression he played with in his 20s and the savviness he’s accrued from seven seasons as a starter.  

“You learn so much,” he said via Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer. “And when you get to your 30s, you have a better sense of why you’re calling a play, why it’s called, and why it’s going to set up the next play. I think for me, it’s about learning that and still having the aggressiveness of my 20s, and being able to push the envelope, and throw the ball and give guys chances to make plays.”

Mahomes also talked about how he’s learned so much from how Tom Brady handled his career, including the emphasis on taking care of his body to extend his career past the bounds of previous conventional wisdom. As he nears his 30s, Mahomes is clearly not planning to stop playing any time soon. 

“It started with Tom and LeBron — you can play longer,” Mahomes said. “I think, for me, as long as I can play, and have fun, and my family’s enjoying it, I’ll play. I don’t want to take away from my family. My kids are still young, but they’re getting older, and they love coming to the football games; they love being there. And the one good thing — compared to baseball, like when I grew up, my Dad was always gone — with football, you have a home city. So, hopefully, I can play as long as I keep playing well, and my family is enjoying it.”

As far as when Mahomes might consider retiring, he told Breer that as long as he has the love for the whole process that goes into playing — not just playing, but the meetings, practices and workouts — he’ll keep suiting up. 

“[Fans] always ask me questions. They ask me about why I play football,” Mahomes said. “I always love the team part of it. Even the process, all of it, is amazing. But I love just coming together as a team. And it’s like your best friends: you’re going to summer camp, and you’re practicing. You’re playing a game at the end of the day, and you’re doing it with all your best friends. I love that, and my best friends in the world are my teammates, and that’s because we have this common goal, and we’ve built this bond together.

“And if I lose that, I think that’s when I’ll be done playing, because I love sports for what it can do, not only on the field, but for society.”

Raiders

Raiders RB Ashton Jeanty had just 38 rushing yards on 19 carries in his NFL debut. Las Vegas HC Pete Carroll thinks he could’ve been more patient on some runs and thinks he’ll improve with time. 

“Ashton was hyped,” Carroll said, via PFT. “He was jacked up and he would tell you, I think, that he wishes he had been a little more patient on some reads and things like that. That will come. He didn’t look like that in preseason. This game, being out there, being called on to play and carry the ball 19 times, it was a little bit different for him. He’ll play way better, he’ll see things more clearly. I know he was a little frustrated by that.”