Chargers rookie wide receiver Mike Williams recently ran on a field for the first time since suffering a back injury in May that led the team to announce he would be on the sideline for most or all of training camp and invited speculation about whether he’d be able to play at all this season. You can forget Williams being ready for Week 1 but the team thinks he will be good to go come October. Here are two NFL preseason picks I recommend this week, along with the latest preseason odds & lines from MyBookie.
Starting RB Matt Forte (hamstring) has continued to miss time at Jets camp with a hamstring injury. It’s possible Forte is simply resting himself on a going-nowhere team or his body is simply breaking down. He battled knee problems last season and turns 32 this December. Fellow RB Bilal Powell (neck) remains sidelined at Jets camp.
Examining NFL Preseason Week 2 Bet-On Teams
.@PatrickMahomes5 football = Electrifying football
(via @GMFB) pic.twitter.com/J4XWCUdFf7— NFL (@NFL) August 15, 2017
Kansas City Chiefs at Cincinnati Bengals
When: Saturday, Aug. 19, 7 PM ETWhere: Paul Brown StadiumTV: Local only (NFL Network replay)Radio: 101 The FOX (Kansas) / WCKY-AM ESPN 1530 (Cincinnati)Opening NFL Preseason Lines: Bengals -1.5 (40)Chiefs Have Moved Up Mahomes
Kansas City lost its preseason opener 27-17 at home to San Francisco. First-round draft pick Patrick Mahomes II led the Chiefs to a third-quarter touchdown, and outplayed veteran backup Tyler Bray. The Chiefs already saw enough and had moved Mahomes up to No.2 on the depth chart. Starting QB Alex Smith was 4-for- 6 for 48 yards in his only series.All-Pro S Eric Berry (heel) did not suit up. He was joined on the sideline by DE Chris Jones, LB Tamba Hali, NT Bennie Logan and TE Travis Kelce, all with various knee injuries. It’s not clear if they will go here. Kelce is back at practice but the Chiefs may play it safe by keeping him out again against the Bengals.Kelce is coming off a career-best 1,125 receiving yards in 2016. Jones will probably be brought along slowly after undergoing a knee scope last month, but he should be ready well in advance of Week 1. The 23-year-old earned PFF’s No. 7 grade out of 51 qualifiers at 3-4 defensive end last season.Winning SU Picks NFL Preseason Week 2
Bengals Start Strong
Cincinnati beat Tampa Bay 23-12 in its preseason opener. Bengals QB Andy Dalton had his full complement of receivers — A.J. Green and tight end Tyler Eifert have returned from significant injuries last season — and moved the offense smoothly on Cincinnati’s opening drive before making a bad decision.Vernon Hargreaves III anticipated Dalton’s sideline throw and picked off a pass at the 1-yard line. That would be Dalton’s only series. He was 4-for-5 for 38 yards. Green, who missed the last half of last season with a hamstring injury, had a pair of catches for 21 yards.RB Giovani Bernard was held out along with first-round pick WR John Ross, who is recovering from offseason shoulder surgery. Bernard has fully practiced in camp while recovering from ACL surgery midway through last season. Ross (shoulder) took part in full-squad drills for the first time in training camp Monday. The No. 7 overall pick in April’s draft missed the first two-plus weeks of training camp after sitting out all of spring practices. Indications are Brandon LaFell and Tyler Boyd will likely open the season ahead of Ross on the depth chart.Controversial rookie RB Joe Mixon played one half, rushing six times for 31 yards and catching a pass for 11 yards. Mixon was a center of controversy leading up to the draft because of a 2014 incident in which he punched a woman. Mixon accepted a plea deal in the criminal case stemming from the incident.NY Jets at Detroit Lions
When: Saturday, Aug. 19, 7:30 PM ETWhere: Ford Field, DetroitTV: Local only (NFL Network replay)Radio: ESPN New York 98.7 FM (NY) / 760 AM WJR (Detroit)Stream Option: NFL LiveOpening NFL Lines: Lions -5 (38)Which Jets QB Starts?
The Jets have a quarterback battle ongoing in camp. Or do they? In their preseason opener, the Jets won 7-3 at home over Tennessee in by far the ugliest game of them all. Journeyman veteran Josh McCown got the start for New York. He was 3 of 4 for 72 yards and a touchdown in his one series, which was enough for the win because the Jets defense had eight sacks. Christian Hackenberg, a second-round pick in 2016, took over for McCown and played until late in the third quarter. Hackenberg was 18 of 25 for 127 yards. Bryce Petty, a fourth-round pick in 2015, finished up and was 2 of 6 for 16 yards.Most everyone believes McCown wins this job but Coach Todd Bowles could opt to start Hackenberg in this game just to play with the other starters. Every time Hackenberg came to the sideline Saturday, McCown was there alongside quarterbacks coach Jeremy Bates to help him through. The mentor role is not new to McCown, who was asked to do the same thing in Tampa Bay and Cleveland with Mike Glennon and Johnny Manziel.Starting RB Matt Forte (hamstring) has continued to miss time at Jets camp with a hamstring injury. It’s possible Forte is simply resting himself on a going-nowhere team or his body is simply breaking down. He battled knee problems last season and turns 32 this December. Fellow RB Bilal Powell (neck) remains sidelined at Jets camp.
