Broncos

Most people around the NFL figured Broncos HC Sean Payton would only give up his play-calling sheet if it was pried out of his cold, dead hands. Instead, Payton voluntarily handed things over to OC Davis Webb for this season. In an interview with Colin Cowherd, Payton reiterated he wasn’t forced to do anything.

“I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t think it was going to help us win games,” Payton said.

Payton also said Webb doesn’t need to be looking over his shoulder and wondering if Payton will yank back the sheet at some point, or even overrule him on certain calls on game day. 

“I had a great three years of experience with Bill Parcells,” Payton said. “Now Bill, you had commentary almost after each call. It would be a deep breath, and then if something went well, he would say, ‘Atta boy, atta boy.’ It became white noise; it had to.

“I’ve tried to take the approach in the preseason — Davis a year ago called plays, this preseason. And it might be between series, or maybe there’s a clock stoppage, and it might be me saying, ‘Hey, be thinking about this,’ so he understands if I’m thinking this is a four-down situation. In other words, if we’re approaching a third down at the 38-yard line, I might say to him, ‘Hey, I’m thinking four downs here,’ that could change his third down call. That has to exist.”

Payton acknowledged he can’t help but have input given he’s the head coach and given his background but he’s trying to limit it to before game days. 

“I think it’s more during the week; like last night in our meetings, you know, ultimately, what we put on that sheet, he has to feel good about,” Payton said. “I’ll go through some plays, some thoughts, that I think look good. Here’s why, and I said [to Webb that] the worst thing we can do is take down and install plays that you know in your heart of heart on Sunday that you won’t be interested in calling.” 

Chargers

It’s rare to see teams rotate offensive linemen, as typically those players benefit the most from chemistry and continuity with the players next to them. There’s also usually a gulf in skill level between starters and backups. However, the Chargers elected to split snaps at left guard between Kayode Awosika (who got 35) and Trey Pipkins (20 snaps) in Week 1’s loss to the Cardinals. It’s fair to say it didn’t go well, as the Chargers didn’t block particularly well in either the run or pass game and piled up too many penalties. 

“We felt that was the best thing for us,” Chargers HC Jim Harbaugh explained via USA Today’s Gavino Borquez. “Just how good those two players are, and yeah, had the rotation. That was our decision.”

He was non-committal about whether they’d continue that moving forward, however, saying, “We’ll look at that.”

Chiefs

Regardless of how Kansas City’s season opener goes against the Broncos, the fact that QB Patrick Mahomes will be under center just nine months after tearing multiple ligaments in his knee is a remarkable accomplishment in and of itself. It speaks to how much Mahomes attacked the rehab process, essentially going non-stop from the day after he was injured to now. 

“It’s incredible,” Veach said via ESPN’s Nate Taylor. “That’s a guy that defines what leadership and what the face of a franchise should look like. He gave up an entire summer. He just attacked [the rehab]. Everybody in the building sees it. The level of sacrifice is something that has been an example throughout the entire organization.”

The other key figure in Mahomes’ story is Chiefs trainer Julie Frymyer, who was the one working with him just about every day for the past nine months. In all of Mahomes’ previous injury comebacks — missing just two games with a dislocated kneecap, playing through turf toe in the 2020 playoffs, overcoming a high ankle sprain in the playoffs to lead the Chiefs to a Super Bowl win — Frymyer has had a prominent role. 

“I trust her so much,” Mahomes said. “There’s days you come in [and] you’re tired. I mean, you’re sore. But she makes sure I finish the entire workout — and I’m going to do it the right way. She knows when to pull back on some days. It lets me go out there and work and not have to think about if I’m doing too much [or] am I doing not enough.” 

Raiders

Coming off a rough three-win season, the Raiders cruised to a 27-13 Week 1 win behind 102 rushing yards and two total touchdowns from RB Ashton Jeanty. The second-year back isn’t looking at what they’ve already done and is focusing on creating a new culture in the organization.

“The past is the past,” Jeanty said, via Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk. “We’re moving forward, and we’re not worried about what happened last year. This is a new team, new staff, and we’re building a new culture here. And that’s a culture that’s going to win football games.”