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Best of Monday at NFL training camps: Damar Hamlin’s first padded practice, more injuries

The second week of 2023 NFL training camps has begun.

Every team has taken the field in preparation for the upcoming NFL regular season — which is just five weeks away. We will have updates every day of camp to keep you informed on the latest news, coolest videos and most interesting photos.

On Monday, Damar Hamlin participated in his first padded practice since suffering cardiac arrest during a game at the Cincinnati Bengals on Jan. 2, the 49ers are still without Nick Bosa, and Colts rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson was sidelined.

Elsewhere around the NFL, Peyton Manning made an appearance at the Green Bay Packers‘ training camp, and Justin Herbert hit a hole-in-one … kind of.

Here’s what you need to know from camps across the league:

Top NFL news of the day

Colts’ Richardson sits out after nasal procedure

Indianapolis Colts rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson underwent minor surgery to correct his nasal septum on Sunday, leaving him sidelined for at least Monday’s practice, coach Shane Steichen said. The team’s first-round draft pick — selected fourth overall from Florida — needed the procedure, Steichen said, “so he could breathe better.”

Ramsey eyes quicker-than-expected return, Mike McDaniel says

Jalen Ramsey might be back sooner than expected, at least if he has his way. The Miami Dolphins cornerback underwent surgery on his left meniscus Friday, with coach Mike McDaniel saying Monday that the procedure went “as well as it could have” and that the three-time All-Pro was in good spirits. Such good spirits, in fact, that he immediately turned his attention to beating his rehab timetable. “Tell me what the timeline is and I’ll beat it by a month,” Ramsey told McDaniel, according to the coach.

49ers GM John Lynch understands Bosa’s absence amid talks

The San Francisco 49ers are nearly a week into training camp and are still without defensive end Nick Bosa, but general manager John Lynch says he is “not at all” concerned about reaching an agreement with the NFL’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year. “I don’t like not having one of our best players here,” Lynch said Monday before the 49ers held their first fully padded session of training camp. “We’ve got a really good track record that I’m proud of as a group of having our players in, but I also understand it. And understand that we’re going to have to exhibit some patience and understand that ultimately this thing will work out.”

Broncos fear WR Patrick suffered injury to Achilles

Broncos wide receiver Tim Patrick was carted off the field Monday with a left leg injury almost a year after he tore his right ACL at training camp. Coach Sean Payton told reporters the team fears that Patrick suffered an Achilles injury. The 29-year-old receiver was embarking on a comeback after missing all of last season.

Hamlin on first padded practice back: ‘It feels amazing’

For the first time since suffering cardiac arrest on a football field in Cincinnati on Jan. 2, Damar Hamlin participated in a padded practice, and the little moments transformed into remarkable ones. “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.”

More:

What our NFL Nation reporters saw today

New England Patriots: Cole Strange, the team’s 2022 first-round pick and starting left guard, left practice after coming up limping following an individual run-game drill. It was the Patriots’ first day in full pads, and the acclimation to contact led to multiple players leaving practice with injuries; specific to Strange, members of the athletic training/medical staff were checking out his left knee as he lay on the ground. Strange, who was wearing braces on both knees, later went through a variety of agility tests, and after about 30 minutes, he was given his helmet to return to the sideline. — Mike Reiss

Jacksonville Jaguars: Wide receiver Calvin Ridley was the most impressive player on the field the first week of camp and that has carried over into Week 2. On Monday, the team did receivers vs. defensive backs in one-on-one drills for the first time, and the first snap was Ridley vs. Darious Williams. Ridley went deep, got a step on Williams, and quarterback Trevor Lawrence hit him for a touchdown down the right sideline. “He’s been great,” wide receiver Christian Kirk said of Ridley. “His intensity, how he’s approached every day, the extra effort and time that he puts into his craft and taking care of his body. Everybody’s seen it, the way he approaches practice and the way he competes, so it just brings up the level of competition in our room and our standard.” — Michael DiRocco

Kansas City Chiefs: First-round draft pick Felix Anudike-Uzomah missed most of offseason practice because of injuries but has been a participant through the first eight camp workouts. Anudike-Uzomah is in the playing rotation at defensive end, and it’s important that the Chiefs get pass-rush help from him, particularly with defensive tackle Chris Jones holding out in hopes of getting an improved contract. “Felix is climbing,” defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo said. “We all know he didn’t do anything in the offseason [because of injuries] and that set him back. He was a little rusty and he struggled early. … But as you watch one-on-ones and you watch the team periods, he’s flashing now.” — Adam Teicher

New Orleans Saints: Most of the top plays of the day involved wide receiver Michael Thomas, who had his most involved day of camp so far after having a light day on Saturday. Quarterback Derek Carr threw two short passes to Thomas in the first set of team drills, then targeted him three straight times on the next set. Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore got the best of him with a pass breakup on a slant route on one play, but Carr went straight back to Thomas, rolling out of the pocket and pointing at him before confidently getting him the ball. Tight end Jimmy Graham also made his presence known, lowering his shoulder and running over defensive back Troy Pride after catching a pass from quarterback Jameis Winston in team drills. While it was a positive practice overall, offensive guard Andrus Peat left early with what coach Dennis Allen called a potential quad strain. —Katherine Terrell

Atlanta Falcons: Another day, another impressive move or two from rookie running back Bijan Robinson. He took advantage of linebacker Kaden Elliss playing very, very far off the line, stutter-stepping before cutting inside to create a lot of space for an easy reception. It’s this type of talent that has left coach Arthur Smith saying he was “pretty damn pleased” with how Robinson has performed in his first week of training camp. After practice, Robinson said he’s been watching film of Raiders receiver Davante Adams to study his releases and how he “sets people up to create opportunity for himself.” He says he has often watched film of receivers on his own time as he tries to expand his skill set — something he didn’t do as much when he was in college at Texas. — Michael Rothstein

Houston Texans: The first day of pads showed why edge Will Anderson Jr. (2023) and cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. (2022) were drafted No. 3 overall. Anderson was disruptive by consistently getting in the backfield. There was a play in which quarterback Davis Mills threw a deep ball to wide receiver Xavier Hutchinson for about a 50-yard gain. But when you look at the replay, you see Anderson waiting in the backfield for Mills to throw the pass. The first day of pads left positive impressions of Anderson. For Stingley, he’s had good coverage all camp, but today’s highlight play was him intercepting C.J Stroud and returning it for a touchdown. — DJ Bien-Aime

Washington Commanders: Safety Kamren Curl, who is entering the last year of his contract, has said since the spring he’s not worried about his next deal. Curl is an important part of Washington’s defense: His versatility and smarts make a big difference, allowing him to play safety or drop into their hybrid linebacker/safety role. He has not been a big playmaker — he often prevents them via alignment, forcing quarterbacks to look elsewhere — with one interception, one fumble recovery and no forced fumbles in 37 career starts. But Curl had a nice pick of quarterback Sam Howell today. After pre-snap communication with corner Benjamin St-Juste, Curl altered his alignment to come up over the outside half, and that’s where Howell tried to hit wide receiver Jahan Dotson. But the ball was a bit wide, and Curl was in the perfect spot for the pick. — John Keim

Carolina Panthers: A reminder that quarterback Bryce Young is going to make rookie mistakes: He has now thrown an interception in three straight practices. Under intense pressure, the top pick of the 2023 NFL draft stepped up in the pocket and, in what appeared to be an effort to get rid of the ball, threw a pass that made inside linebacker Frankie Luvu look like the intended target because no receiver was around. It was part of a 1-for-3 start for Young in team drills. He bounced back well, though, completing seven of his next nine attempts to finish 8-for-12 (including a drop on his last attempt). It was an example of what coach Frank Reich means when he says Young is “unflappable” in describing that nothing fazes the former Alabama star. — David Newton

New York Jets: Jets coach Robert Saleh, who met Sunday with free-agent running back Dalvin Cook, said he’s “not pushing or pressing” the player for a decision. Cook, who spent nearly a full day with the Jets, enjoyed his visit and is mulling his options, a source said. There’s still mutual interest, as the two sides remain in contract talks, sources said. Cook reportedly has interest from the Dolphins and Patriots. The Jets say they’re comfortable with their current running-back situation, so they’re not likely to overspend for Cook. Saleh said Cook “has a plan and he knows exactly what he wants. It was a really good discussion.” — Rich Cimini

Green Bay Packers: No one would say exactly why Peyton Manning was at Packers practice on Monday — other than it wasn’t to recruit quarterback Jordan Love to appear in the next season of his Netflix special “Quarterback.” But if the Hall of Fame quarterback wanted to see if Love could throw a deep ball, well, he came on the right day. Love hit wide receiver Christian Watson in stride for a 67-yard touchdown on a go route down the right sideline. Watson beat safety Innis Gaines, and Love led him so perfectly that Watson didn’t have to break stride. Perhaps even more impressive was that it was an adjusted play call by Love at the line scrimmage. Combine that with the fact that Love struggled with deep-ball accuracy during a practice last week, and it was good sign for the offense. “I was talking to J-Love this morning and was telling him, ‘All we need is to hit on one of these deep balls and get that ball rolling,'” Watson said after practice. “We wanted to take a shot and it worked. I think we’re going to continue to keep on climbing and continue to try to connect on those deep balls and continue to make plays.” However, the practice ended on a sour note with Love and the No. 1 offense failing to pick up a first down during a two-minute drive. — Rob Demovsky

Chicago Bears: Justin Fields and the first-team offense looked sloppy during Monday’s practice. The third-year quarterback threw two interceptions, one that was picked off by second-round cornerback Tyrique Stevenson and another by UDFA Bralen Trahan. The two-minute drive started with a bad snap from backup center Lucas Patrick, rebounded with back-to-back completions from Fields to wide receiver Chase Claypool but ended with the quarterback throwing a deep ball that was intercepted in front of the end zone. That’s not to say it was all bad for Fields, who looked strong in 7-on-7, as did Claypool, who held his own in matchups with top cornerback Jaylon Johnson and made some tough catches in the team period. — Courtney Cronin

Buffalo Bills: The Bills held the team’s first padded training camp practice of the year on Monday, and towards the end of the session, it was quarterback Josh Allen who took an accidental big hit by nickelback Taron Johnson. The hit happened at the end of a trick play in which Allen was the intended receiver. The quarterback was slow to get up afterwards and gestured to his right leg, but received no medical attention and was quickly talking with teammates and moving around. The quarterbacks all wear red “no contact” jerseys, which means that they are off limits for tackling, but Allen seemed to be OK after the incidental hit, avoiding a bad situation. — Alaina Getzenberg

Las Vegas Raiders: Nickel cornerback Nate Hobbs, who missed the Raiders’ first four training camp practices after taking a flyball off the right side of his face in a charity softball game, suited up for the first time Monday … in a red non-contact jersey. There is seemingly a heavy competition to start at an outside corner spot opposite Marcus Peters, but Hobbs missing so much time to start camp might be a factor to him staying in the slot. Still, he ended practice by fielding punts from a football passing machine … while wearing his helmet. — Paul Gutierrez

San Francisco 49ers: The 49ers put on full pads for the first time in this camp on Monday and looked every bit the part of a team that had been waiting to hit something. It didn’t take long for the first skirmish of camp to break out. It was unclear who, exactly, started it but it came after linebacker Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles hit running back Elijah Mitchell a little too hard as he ran down the field. What followed was a lengthy fight that took some time to break up. There’s a trade off the Niners are willing to make in their continuous efforts to be one of the league’s most physical teams but there’s also a line they can’t cross. After the fight, coach Kyle Shanahan stopped practice, huddled his team up and reminded the players that they are on the same side, with the same goals, so they must protect each other on the field. — Nick Wagoner

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