Welcome to the Friday edition of the Pick Six newsletter!
It's finally here! The best weekend of the NFL season has arrived. OK, after reading that again, I might be overhyping things a little bit. I don't think a preseason week can be considered the "best weekend" of the NFL season, but I don't care if I'm overhyping it, because football is back. We have a full weekend of NFL preseason games coming your way over the next three days and the best part is that we're likely going to see multiple starters playing in each game.
Yesterday, we gave you one reason to watch every Week 1 preseason game that's being played and if you missed that, you can check it out again here. For everyone else, let's get to today's newsletter. And in case you're wondering, there's only one Brandon Aiyuk update today and it's at the very bottom. I'm making you earn it.
As always, here's your daily reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the newsletter and if you don't have any friends, then just tell some random person that you run into today. To get them signed up, all you have to do is click here.
1. Cowboys drama continues: Jerry Jones offers his latest take on the CeeDee Lamb situation
With the Cowboys season-opener less than a month away, you'd think they'd be in a hurry to get a deal done with CeeDee Lamb, but apparently, that's not the case. During an interview on Thursday, Jerry Jones went full Jerry Jones with a few of his answers relating to Lamb, and as we all know, you never want to go full Jerry Jones.
Here's what happened:
- Jerry not feeling any urgency to get a deal done with Lamb. Jones was asked if he felt a sense of urgency to get a deal done and he said, "No. I don't have a sense of urgency about getting it done." Lamb has been sitting out of training camp as he waits for a new deal and you'd think the team would like to get him to practice as soon as possible, but apparently, that's not the case.
- Lamb found Jones' answer amusing. Before Thursday, Lamb had not sent out a tweet in over a month, but after seeing Jones' comments, Lamb responded with an "LOL." Whenever you're LOL'ing at the owner, that's usually not a good thing.
- Dak Prescott wants to see a deal get done ASAP. Although Jerry isn't feeling any urgency to get a deal done, the Cowboys quarterback would like to see a contract get done as soon as possible so he can start practicing with his No. 1 receiver. "I know y'all want to ask, I got urgency for it to happen," Prescott told the media.
- Jones does feel good about negotiations. The Cowboys owners was asked if he felt like Lamb might miss Week 1, and for this question, he gave an answer that Cowboys' fans might find encouraging. "I don't know about that, but I know that we're getting great work, making real progress and I don't think losing a step at where we are now."
So there you have it: Jones doesn't feel any urgency, but he does feel good about the situation, which is the most Jerry Jones thing ever. You can read our full breakdown of Jones' comments here.
2. Biggest takeaways from Thursday night's preseason games
There were two preseason games played last night and we have takeaways from both of them.
All of the excitement from this game came in the fourth quarter with the two teams combining to score 13 of the game's 20 total points. Here are three quick takeaways:
- Drake Maye made his debut. The Patriots rookie played exactly one series and he wasn't really asked to do much while he was on the field. Maye completed two short passes on a night where he finished 2 of 3 for 19 yards. It's hard to take anything away from this debut other than the fact that Maye outplayed Jacoby Brissett, who finished 0 of 3 during his lone offensive series on the field.
- Joe Milton stole the show. The rookie sixth-round pick didn't get on the field until late in the third quarter, but he made the most of the time he was given. Milton had a flashy night that saw him throw for 54 yards and a touchdown while also rushing for 22 yards. On his first possession, it looked like the Panthers were going to sack him for a 14-yard loss, but he somehow escaped and managed to turn the play into a 12-yard gain (you can see his Houdini act here). Milton also threw a 38-yard laser for a TD to JaQuae Jackson that you can see here. It's only one game, but Milton looked much better than Bailey Zappe, who could be a roster casualty if he doesn't outplay Milton going forward.
- Dave Canales' debut was a dud. With Bryce Young on the bench and Andy Dalton dealing with an injury, the Panthers were forced to start an undrafted free agent (Jack Plummer) and it was painful to watch. One of the few bright spots for the Panthers was Jordan Matthews, who caught 3 passes for 48 yards, which means he almost accounted for one-third Carolina's offensive total by himself (The Panthers finished 151 yards in the game).
You can check out our full takeaways from New England's win here.
What happens when you have almost zero offensive starters on the field from either team? You get this game. Here are three quick observations from the game:
- Eric Gray may start getting more touches. The second-year running back was the Giants' MVP in this game with 98 total yards and two touchdowns on just eight touches. Gray carried the ball four times for 52 yards, which included a 48-yard TD run in the second quarter that you can see here. He also caught four passes for 46 yards, including a 24-yard catch, which was the longest by any Giants player in the game.
- Tommy DeVito might be able to beat out Drew Lock for the backup job. It was only one game, but DeVito outplayed Lock by a wide margin. Lock played the entire first quarter before getting injured and during his time on the field, he completed just 4 of 10 passes while also throwing an interception. As for DeVito, he completed 8 of 15 passes for 92 yards and just seemed to have a better command of the offense.
- Jake Bates scores Detroit's only points. The former UFL kicker showed off his booming leg in New York. Bates only got one field goal attempt on Thursday night, but he made the most of it when he drilled a 53-yard field goal in the rain (You can see the kick here). Bates' kick was about the only highlight of the night for the Lions. The kick was set up by safety Brandon Joseph, who picked off Drew Lock in the first quarter. Joseph returned the interception 20 yards to New York's 35-yard line and the Lions went three-and-out from there.
In other news from this game, Malik Nabers played 12 snaps in his Giants' debut, but he didn't see a single target. If you want to read a few more takeaways from the game, you can see those here.
There are 14 more preseason games being played this weekend and if you see the full schedule of games, you can check that out by clicking here.
3. Aaron Rodgers has made a lot of headlines over the past 24 hours
The Jets quarterback made quite a few headlines over the past 24 hours for football-related reasons and non football-related reasons. Since this is an NFL newsletter, let's start with the football-related reasons.
- Rodgers got held out of practice on Thursday. The Jets had a joint practice with the Commanders on Thursday, but Rodgers didn't participate because Robert decided to hold his QB out. With rain in the forecast, Saleh admitted that decided to be "overprotective" and that he didn't want to risk any injury to Rodgers, "Woke up this morning and saw the weather," Saleh told the media. "He's taking every rep in practice, so I just felt it was unnecessary. Heightened environment, unfamiliar foes in terms of taking care of one another. I just didn't want to expose him to do it.
- Rodgers might actually play in the preseason. Saleh said that Rodgers probably wouldn't play in the preseason this year, but it seems that he's now at least somewhat open to the idea. The Jets coach said he'll talk with everyone involved, including Rodgers, and that it's possible his QB might see some action in New York's third preseason game, which will come against the Giants. "He's going to be included in the conversations along with the coordinators and Joe [Douglas] and we're going to make the best decision for the team," Saleh said.
The Jets are clearly being as protective as possible of Rodgers, which makes sense, considering he's 40 years old and coming off a serious injury. As for the non-football stuff, New York Post writer Ian O'Connor has a biography of Rodgers coming out this month called "Out of the Darkness: The Mystery of Aaron Rodgers"and a few snippets were released this week.
The biggest one revolves around Rodgers' ongoing rift with his family.
- Rodgers' parents apparently blame Olivia Munn for the family troubles. Over the years, the Jets QB hasn't offered very many details about the rift, but the book suggests that Aaron's former girlfriend, Olivia Munn, may have played a role in the rift, something Aaron and Munn both deny. According to the book, Ed and Darla Rodgers weren't thrilled that Munn had been publicly sharing details about her sex life with Aaron. "Given her devout religious views, Aaron's mother disapproved of premarital sex and was opposed to her middle child sharing a hotel room with his girlfriend even as an NFL player," O'Connor wrote, via the Daily Mail.
- Rodgers secretly met with his dad last year. Rodgers hadn't really spoken to his family since the holiday season of 2014, but that changed last year when he had a secret meeting with his dad, Ed. According to O'Connor, Ed decided to make the trip to Lake Tahoe in July 2023 to watch his son play in the American Century Championship golf tournament. Aaron didn't know his dad was going to be there, but once he spotted him, he decided it was time to finally break the ice.
Rodgers actually talked with O'Connor for the book, which will be released on Aug. 20, and it's expected to reveal several new details about the QB's football life and personal life. We've got a few more details on the rift with his family here.
4. NFL All-Under-25 Team: Best defensive players
Earlier this week, we ranked the best offensive players under the age of 25, so decided that it would only make sense if we also ranked the defensive players.
After handling our offensive ranking, Jordan Dajani also put together our defensive ranking, and here's what he came up with at several key positions:
EDGE: Aiden Hutchinson (24), Lions
DT: Jalen Carter (23), Eagles
LB: Nick Bolton (24), Chiefs
CB: Sauce Gardner (23), Jets
CB: Patrick Surtain II (24), Broncos
S: Kyle Hamilton (24), Ravens
If you want to see the full All-Under-25 team on the defensive side of the ball, then be sure to click here. If you want a refresher on who made our All-Under 25 offensive team, you can see that here.
5. AFC vs. NFC: Breaking down which conference is better
During the 2023 season, the AFC absolutely destroyed the NFC. The two conferences played 80 games against each other and the AFC went 46-34. Now, does that mean that the AFC is the better conference? Not necessarily.
Jared Dubin wanted to know which conference has more talent, so he went through every position on the field to figure out which conference has the edge.
He started on the offensive side of the ball, and surprisingly, the AFC only had the edge at one position:
- QB advantage: AFC. "The AFC may be home to the four or even five best quarterbacks in football. Patrick Mahomes is the clear-cut best player in the NFL. Josh Allen may be a tier behind, but he is also still a tier ahead of everyone else but Mahomes. And it's entirely possible that the next three best guys are Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow, and C.J. Stroud."
- Running back advantage: NFC. "With Christian McCaffrey -- a.k.a. the best running back in the NFL -- leading the way, the NFC is pretty clearly the stronger conference."
- Receiver/tight end advantage: NFC. "NFC wide receivers and tight ends actually outperformed their AFC counterparts last year, taking the edge in targets per route run, catch rate, yards per reception, yards per route, explosive catch rate, first downs per target, success rate and drop rate."
If you want to know which conference is better on the offensive line, you can check out Dubin's full rankings here.
6. Extra points: Panthers plane goes off the runway
It's been a busy 24 hours in the NFL, and since it's nearly impossible to keep track of everything that happened, I went ahead and put together a roundup for you.
- Panthers have a long flight home. After losing to the Patriots last night, things didn't get much better for the Panthers on their flight home. The team's plane ran off the runway after landing in Charlotte. You can get the full details of the story here.
- Falcons lose Rondale Moore for the season. The Falcons new receiver, who had to be carted off the field during practice on Wednesday, will miss the entire 2024 season. The team announced that Moore suffered a serious knee injury that will keep him from playing this year. Moore was in his first season with the Falcons after spending the first three years of his career in Arizona.
- Here's what's apparently holding up the Brandon Aiyuk trade. A report came out on Thursday explaining what might be holding up the deal and it seems to revolve around two things: The 49ers asking price is too high and they want to get a receiver in return. The Steelers haven't been willing to budge on what they're offering and they're also unwilling to make George Pickens part of the deal. At this point, it seems the 49ers are thinking about taking the draft picks they might get from the Steelers in a potential trade and flipping that for a receiver in what essentially would be a three-team trade. Yes, this situation gets more confusing by the minute. You can read our latest on Aiyuk here.
- 49ers sign receiver. It looks like the 49ers are starting to plan for life without Brandon Aiyuk. The 49ers have signed veteran wide receiver Robbie Chosen -- AKA the player who was once known as Robbie Anderson. Chosen spent the 2023 season in Miami, where he averaged 31.5 yards per reception, but he only caught four passes the entire year.
