Broncos

Broncos DL Eyioma Uwazurike enters the fourth year of his career after recording career-highs of 39 tackles and 3.5 sacks in 2025. Uwazurike is hoping to pick up where he left off and feels like he’s had a strong offseason. 

“Having that last season under my belt has been really good,” Uwazurike said, via Susanna Weir of the team’s site. “Kind of just picking up where I left off from last season. I tried to get back to that as fast as I could this OTAs, and I did. And that led me into camp. … I maintained that and am doing a good job in camp this entire time so far.”

Broncos G Quinn Meinerz said Uwazurike has been impressive throughout training camp. 

“I think everyone’s been talking about ‘Enyi’,” Meinerz said. “He’s been really maturing as a player and getting better. I’ve been seeing his improvement as well.”

Broncos DT D.J. Jones reiterated that Uwazurike has taken a big leap with his development. 

“This game is fast, it’s physical — which he has,” Jones said. “But if you don’t have good eyes on the [defensive] line, then you’ll be lost. The leap he’s taking right now is pretty scary. Like I said, he can play every position, [he’s] very physical and his eyes are 10 out of 10 now.”

Chiefs

Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes made it clear a Week 1 return was always the goal coming off his ACL injury. Mahomes cited his rehab work as to why his competitive nature is being rewarded in a quick turnaround from a significant injury. 

“This has always been the goal — to get out there and play Week 1,” Mahomes said, via the team’s YouTube. “It was a long offseason, a lot of work, a lot of great people around me — trainers, [my wife] Brittany, my family supporting me.”

“I’ve built up the strength, I’ve built up all the days of rehab so I can be myself. I’m going to keep myself out of harm’s way like I always will — not trying to take big hits and stuff like that. But I’m a competitor. I signed up for this, and I’m going to go out and play football. I think that’s how I’ve always rolled, no matter what it is. That’s how I’ll probably roll the rest of my career.”

“I think that’s what makes me who I am, is that I just love competing. Playing quarterback is one thing. But you’ve got to love competing to have success in this league. You see that with the guys around this league nowadays. I’ll try not to lay any blocks unless it’s needed. But other than that, I’m going to go out and be myself and play football. We’ve built up all this strength over the offseason for that, so why not go out and maximize it?”

Raiders

The Raiders listed second-round S Treydan Stukes as a starter on Week 1’s unofficial depth chart alongside veteran Jeremy Chinn. Las Vegas DC Rob Leonard explained why Stukes won the job, saying his confidence went up fast, his communication was excellent, and he can do it all on the field.

“I felt like all of a sudden, it was sudden, and he was playing with more confidence,” Leonard said, via the Raiders Wire. “He was playing faster. And communicating loudly. And I think even he mentioned the other day it was somewhere in the middle of training camp, but, those are the decisions that they make to carry themselves a certain way.”

“Speed. Closing speed. His ability to close is glaring. His ability to cover. Good tackler, good blitzer. He’s a great top down player.”

Although Stukes is replacing Isaiah Pola-Mao, who started the last two years, Leonard feels Pola-Mao is a perfect glue guy in that room who’s more than capable of starting when they need him.

“Isaiah is one of the biggest keys in terms of a leader, what a great teammate should look like,” Leonard said. “He is so supportive. He’s the glue. The guys look to him, and he could be in there starting, Treydan can be in there, and he’s just been awesome. But you can’t talk about Isaiah without talking about the person.”