NFL Training Camp News, Directly From the Teams

NFL training camps are off and running, as the league closes out its final weekend without football until February. While each team around the league loves to put its own spin on the news and information that come out from camp, there is still some solid information that come directly from the teams themselves. 

We decided to put together the most recent news and information from the official Twitter accounts of teams throughout the league. Check out what’s happening below.

The Cleveland Browns opened camp with much fanfare, mostly due to the presence of the enigmatic Johnny Manziel, who had to answer questions about his off-field exploits since being drafted back in May.

Browns owner Jimmy Haslem spoke to the media and had a couple interesting sound bites. He indicated that the Browns are not going to release suspended wide receiver Josh Gordon, who may miss the entire 2014 season. In addition to that, Haslem took a shot at Manziel by indicating that “great athletes make the news on the field, not off.”

The San Francisco 49ers are going to be relying on Chris Culliver a great deal this season. With the likes of Tarell Brown and Carlos Rogers moving on in free agency, this young cornerback needs to step up and make the most of his chances. Culliver played well through the vast majority of the 2012 campaign before struggling in the playoffs and Super Bowl. He missed the entire 2013 season with a torn ACL.

San Francisco also opened up Levi’s Stadium to fans for the first time on Friday evening. A total of nearly 28,000 SBL members were able to get a preview of ths state-of-the-art stadium, which is officially set to open in about three weeks. In some bad news from 49ers camp, backup running back Kendall Hunter tore his ACL and will miss the entire 2014 season.

Seattle may have attempted to skirt the entire Marshawn Lynch holdout issue on Saturday, but quarterback Russell Wilson spoke directly about what backup running backs Christine Michael and Robert Turbin bring to the table. The two promise to share first-team reps while Lynch is away. Head coach Pete Carroll indicated on Friday that he expects Lynch to honor his contract, at which point Doug Baldwin took to Twitter in order to question Carroll’s logic.

https://twitter.com/DougBaldwinJr/status/492790988180447232

Lynch will likely have to report to camp at some point in the not-so-distant future. If not, the fines that he piles up will end up becoming a weight around his neck. There is no indication that Seahawks’ general manager John Schneider is even contemplating giving Lynch a new deal. .

Obviously, there is other information coming out of Seahawks camp. As they indicated, the wide receiver group looked good during the first practice. Though, it must be noted that Percy Harvin sat out of action on Saturday.

Talented young Arizona Cardinals defensive back Tyrann Mathieu continues to take a positive approach while he recovers from a torn ACL suffered last season.

Mathieu is currently on the PUP (physically unable to perform) list, but should be able to return by Week 1. When healthy and on the field, Honey Badger is among the best young playmakers in all of football. The Cardinals desperately need him to get right.

Rookie safety Deone Bucannon, who has the inside position for the starting strong safety gig, reflected on what he thought about his first training camp practice. Bucannon was seen taking first-team reps and will likely start over fellow youngster Tony Jefferson. The combination of Mathieu, Bucannon as well as Arizona’s starting corners has the makings to be one of the best secondaries in the NFL.

The Oakland Raiders added a bunch of veterans in free agency this season. Running back Maurice Jones-Drew, who grew up a Raiders fan, seems excited about helping Oakland turn around its luck in 2014.

Jones-Drew is battling for the starting running back job with the oft-injured Darren McFadden. All things equal, McFadden is the better option for Oakland at this point. But there is no telling whether he will be able to stay healthy. For his part, Jones-Drew has indicated that he signed with Oakland to start and won’t accept anything less from himself.

Justin Tuck is also going to be relied on to make an impact as a starter in 2014. Still capable of getting to the quarterback from the edge, it seems Tuck is fully prepared to play outside of New Jersey for the first time in his career.

Tuck recorded 11 sacks for the New York Giants last season and has put up double-digit sacks four times in his career.

Now that Jamaal Charles’ contract situation is resolved, the Kansas City Chiefs can turn their attention to building off what was a surprising playoff appearance in 2013. They apparently had a nice following show up for practice on Saturday, as confidence seems to be at an all-time high among Chiefs’ fans.

That shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. Kansas City boasts one of the best fan bases in the entire NFL. Speaking of said fans, they seem split over whether Kansas City should give in to Alex Smith’s contract demands. He’s entering the final year of his contract and is said to be demanding a contract of about $18 million per season.

For his part, Smith is said to not be too worried about the contract and is happy just to get back into action. He stabilized a previously downtrodden quarterback position in 2013 and is looking to take it even a step further this year.

The Minnesota Vikings have their own little quarterback competition going on in camp this summer. While head coach Mike Zimmer has announced that Matt Cassel is the starter right now, we know just how much things can change over the course of five weeks.

Not in question is the return of future Hall of Famer Adrian Peterson for his eighth season in Minnesota. Fully healthy and ready to continue what has been one of the best careers for a running back in the history of the league, Peterson showed off his moves in camp.

Peterson has put up nearly 12,000 total yards and 91 touchdowns thus far in his career. For those of you who don’t major in math, that’s an average of 1,714 total yards and 13 touchdowns throughout his career. Minnesota is going to need that type of production from Peterson if its going to surprise people this year.

Speaking of production, Green Bay Packers wide receiver Jordy Nelson is coming off a campaign that saw him put up 1,314 yards and eight scores last season. That earned him a nice little contract extension from the Packers.

In addition to this nice new contract, there is even more reason for optimism in Green Bay this year. Aaron Rodgers if fully recovered from an injury that cost him seven games last year and running back Eddie Lacy is looking to improve off what was a stellar rookie campaign. Then again, the Packers chances of competing for a conference title will rely on improved play from their defense.

Clay Matthews finally has himself a proven running partner from a pass-rush standpoint. And it should help the Packers improve from an overall standpoint on defense. Julius Peppers put up 7.5 sacks for the division-rival Chicago Bears last season and has tallied 10-plus sacks eight times in a 12-year NFL career.

The Baltimore Ravens need to bounce back from what was a disappointing 2013 campaign. In addition to needing to improve on the offensive side of the ball, Baltimore needs some new leaders to step up on defense. Despite a recent run in with the law, Jimmy Smith thinks he’s ready to up his game.

Smith’s legal issues are just the latest in what was an offseason filled with them in Baltimore, most notably running back Ray Rice. The veteran is set to miss the first two games of the season after being suspended by the NFL. With Rice out of the equation early on, Bernard Pierce will need to step up.

Pierce averaged just 2.9 yards per attempt last season. Overall, Baltimore was horrendous from a rushing aspect in 2013. If that doesn’t change, quarterback Joe Flacco will have yet another tough job ahead of him.

Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers guard Carl Nicks parted ways with the team late last week, which is going to leave a big hole to fill along the interior of Tampa Bay’s offensive line. Nicks, who was a Pro Bowl performer during his days with the New Orleans Saints, never really rebounded from a toe issue that was directly related to a MRSA outbreak in Tampa last year.

In some new involving the team on the practice field, young defensive back Bradley McDougald made one heck of a play.

That’s about it from us. We will be doing periodical posts similar to this throughout training camp and the preseason.

Photo: Seahawks Official Twitter Account