Kansas City’s training camp is starting to look a little thin on the injury report ahead of their August 15 preseason opener against the Rams. Saturday’s practice saw RG Trey Smith (hip), WR Xavier Worthy (shoulder), LB Drue Tranquill (back spasms), DE Ashton Gillotte (hamstring), and DT Omarr Norman-Lott (knee) all sit out, while Rashee Rice was limited to individual drills as he manages a knee issue and rookie Cyrus Allen got 7-on-7 work but no full-contact reps. Andy Reid is also reportedly planning to keep Patrick Mahomes out of the preseason opener entirely, which means Justin Fields is about to get a real audition under the lights. With Smith out, the right tackle spot became a bit of a revolving door — undrafted rookie Kahlil Benson got run at the position, while veteran Jaylon Moore slid over to work there with the first-team offense during long-drive periods. Worth keeping an eye on as camp winds down and roster spots start getting sorted out.
Elsewhere, the Giants added a little insurance up front, signing offensive lineman Brenden Jaimes, a 27-year-old free agent who’s appeared in 50 NFL games with center as his primary spot but tackle experience in his back pocket too — a solid, unglamorous depth move as teams round out their interior line groups before preseason games start counting for something. Out in Las Vegas, the more interesting storyline is developing at quarterback, where Fernando Mendoza picked up increased reps in Saturday’s balanced offense-defense session behind starter Kirk Cousins. The Raiders are off Sunday before returning Monday with just a handful of practices left before their August 13 opener against Arizona, so however they’re divvying up those quarterback reps right now is worth watching as a preview of who’s actually pushing for the backup job.
