The 6 best storylines to watch in Week 2 of the 2018 NFL preseason

Week 1 of the NFL preseason has come and gone, and while many of the league’s top stars didn’t bother suiting up for the start of exhibition season, there were still plenty of reasons to welcome football back into our lives. Colts fans got to see Andrew Luck throw a football in an actual game for the first time in 20 months. Vikings fans got to see their new, $84 million overlord Kirk Cousins don the purple and gold.

And fans of the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles got to take a long, hard look at, uh, third-string quarterback Nate Sudfeld.

So yeah, it’s still the preseason, but Week 2 means we’ll see some more meaningful snaps for veteran players rounding their way into game shape. It also means position battles across the league will ramp up from a slow simmer to a low boil as general managers and executives slowly switch from pencil to pen in filling out their final rosters. So what are the biggest storylines surrounding this week of exhibition games? Here are the ones that most have our attention:

If this week’s lineup wasn’t just exhibition games, it would leave you glued to your couch. Thursday’s action kicks off with a Super Bowl 52 rematch between the Eagles and Patriots. While it will lean more heavily towards Sudfeld and Brian Hoyer rather than Nick Foles or Carson Wentz and Tom Brady, the game will still be worth watching.

Brady should at least play some, and his struggling receiving corps — a group Washington’s first team shut down last week — will have to find a way to make hay against a smothering Philadelphia secondary. What can new veteran additions like Michael Bennett, Haloti Ngata, and Mike Wallace add to the Eagles’ championship roster? And how are the fans in Foxborough going to handle seeing the team who sent the franchise to its record fifth Super Bowl defeat on Thursday?

But Patriots-Eagles isn’t the only game between NFL heavyweights. Aaron Rodgers, back from his collarbone injury, should get a series or two when the Steelers visit the Packers on Thursday. The Chiefs and Falcons will match up for a showdown between playoff clubs Friday. Then on Saturday, the Jaguars and Vikings will pair off for a game between the 2017’s other two conference championship participants.

Even if you’re stuck with Bills-Browns, you still get to see Tyrod Taylor against the team who couldn’t wait to be rid of him. Speaking of ...

Baker Mayfield and Josh Allen should see plenty of playing time this week as the Bills and the Browns face off on NFL Network this Friday night. Mayfield shredded the Giants’ backups in his debut going 11 of 20 for 212 yards and two touchdowns. Allen had some highlights and some lowlights in his debut against the Panthers, but he did flash off the rocket arm and pocket mobility that sold the Bills on him as a top-10 pick.

With Nathan Peterman inexplicably looking like Joe Montana in the first preseason game (9 of 10, 119 yards, one touchdown, one interception), the chances Allen could steal that job any time soon are slim. But quarterbacks run this league and it’ll be fun to watch two hopeful talents face off on national television.

That’s not the only storyline in this game, though. There’s also a healthy dose of revenge on the line. The Browns’ starting quarterback is still Tyrod Taylor, who will play against his old team for the first time since the Bills shipped him off the Cleveland — something that he uses as motivation.

On the other sideline is Corey Coleman. Just a couple of weeks ago, the 2016 first-round pick was traded to Buffalo for the paltry price of a seventh-round pick ... two years from now. Coleman is still learning the playbook and probably won’t play much, but he’s looking to prove himself, especially after the way his Browns career ended.

It’s only the preseason, but it is kind of funny that the Cleveland Browns against the Buffalo Bills is a thoroughly intriguing matchup.

Joint practices have become an annual tradition during training camp — and so have fights during training camp. (Though some teams don’t need an opponent to start fighting during training camp, as the Jaguars proved this past week. And the Browns. And the Bills ...)

The biggest brawl so far happened Sunday between the Jets and Washington due to what Morgan Moses’ teammates thought was a cheap shot on the right tackle.

From Hogs Haven:

Trent Williams came out swinging in defense of his teammate. The fight involved a lot of players on both teams and reportedly spilled into the fans watching at training camp.

Another fight broke out shortly after, and Morgan Moses was taken into the building, visibly upset. Tempers continued to flare between the two teams, and some of their fans in attendance, until downpour/lightning ended today’s practice early.

Things were a little less heated Tuesday, but the bad blood was still evident — especially when D.J. Swearinger gave former teammate Terrelle Pryor an earful:

Unfortunately, Pryor won’t play Thursday night while he continues to recover from a broken ankle (an injury that Todd Bowles weirdly got angry at Pryor for revealing).

But things could still get chippy — or worse — when the two teams face off for real. Well, in the preseason sense of the word “real”.

Matthew Stafford hasn’t had much ground support over the course of nearly a decade in Detroit, but head coach Matt Patricia got him some help this offseason. The Lions invested a second-round pick on former Auburn tailback Kerryon Johnson, who impressed in his first game last week:

Johnson finished that game with 34 yards on seven carries. He should get even more touches Friday — and so should LeGarrette Blount, the pile-pushing veteran Detroit signed to give the team some extra bulk in short-yardage situations. The two were an effective platoon in the Lions’ first preseason game. They’ll get the chance to prove they can add some balance to what’s been a one-dimensional offense when they suit up against the Giants in Week 2.

Two years ago, John Elway did Jerry Jones a favor and used a first-round pick on Paxton Lynch.

Lynch, now in his third year, is facing a critical time in his career. This offseason, he needed to show the Broncos he was worth keeping around, if not as a starter, then at least as a backup.

So far this preseason, that has gone ... poorly.

Our Broncos site, Mile High Report, pulled no punches about what a disappointment Lynch has been:

When the Broncos drafted Lynch, I was solidly all aboard the “He’s going to take two to three years to develop” train. This is Year 3 ladies and gentlemen. This “QB” looks in his third year about as competent as he did in his first.

I’m excited as a fan to see the team hold him accountable to the product he has chosen to put on the field. No excuses. You don’t get to point fingers at coaching, offense changes, or anything else. The guy still looks lost out there and isn’t processing fast enough for the NFL game.

Last year’s Mr. Irrelevant, Chad Kelly, has since been promoted to the No. 2 job behind Case Keenum. Kelly never played as a rookie due to injuries and only just made his debut in the Broncos’ preseason loss to the Vikings last week. He played pretty well, albeit against a lot of backups. Meanwhile, Broncos fans are so fed up with Lynch that they’re booing him off the field and starting GoFundMe pages to try to get some easy money get him cut from the team.

Elway isn’t ruling out signing another, more experienced quarterback:

Just don’t count on it being Colin Kaepernick, who the Broncos nearly traded for in April 2016 (before Kaepernick started kneeling during the national anthem):

Maybe the demotion lit a fire under Lynch, or maybe he’s just a bust. Maybe Kelly will continue his promising start to the preseason. But considering the problems the Broncos have had at quarterback the last couple of years — and especially since there’s no guarantee Keenum can replicate his 2017 magic with the Vikings — they need to figure out what they’re going to do, and fast.

That gives more urgency to their game against the Bears Saturday night.

Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid is looking to give his young starting quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, extended playing time against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 2. In this case, “extended playing time” means the bulk of Kansas City’s first team offense will be on the field for the entire first half, seemingly regardless of performance or other factors.

“[I want Mahomes] just to work the offense in its simplest form,” Reid said after the team’s final St. Joseph practice on Tuesday. “Continue to work your reads, your progressions, run game situations and so on. Just another opportunity to get some reps in and work.”

Mahomes went 5 for 7 passing for 33 yards in the first preseason game. Typically, the third week of the preseason is when teams play their starters the most, but the Chiefs are in an important transition year. Alex Smith is in Washington, and the Chiefs need to give Mahomes as many reps as possible.

We’ll see if the Falcons leave their starters out there for long and give the second-year quarterback a bigger test. Mahomes is either the future of the franchise, or we will quickly find out that he’s not.