From Denver Broncos offensive tackle Ryan Clady tearing his ACL to Philadelphia Eagles players defending Chip Kelly against racism accusations, Thursday was a busy day in the NFL. But aside from those headlines -- plus Adrian Peterson freaking out on Twitter -- there was even more news from organized team activities, including the surprise appearance of Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant.
Dez Bryant shows up at Cowboys OTAs, Tim Tebow struggles with Eagles
Despite not having a contract, Dez Bryant showed up at Dallas Cowboys organized team activities on Thursday.
Bryant, who has yet to sign his $12.823 million franchise tag as the two sides work on a long-term deal, showed up for OTAs on Thursday and participated in individual drills, according to Charean Williams of the Star-Telegram. Bryant can’t do much right now without his name on a contract, so he didn’t go through team drills. When training camp rolls around, he can sign a waiver to participate, but both he and the Cowboys are surely looking to get a deal done before then.
Here’s some of the other news from OTAs around the league Thursday:
Tebow is still a quarterback
Tim Tebow remains a popular topic as he tries to launch a comeback as quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles. Although Chip Kelly intends for Sam Bradford to be the full-time starter once healthy, he's been limited in practices, which is giving Mark Sanchez and Tebow plenty of looks. Sanchez took all of the first-team snaps on offense on Thursday, but Tebow, making his first public appearance as an Eagles quarterback, got in some work with the third team.
How did Tebow look? Not great, according to Jeff McLane of Philly.com. While some have suggested that Tebow’s throwing motion is much improved, McLane claimed that “there didn’t appear to be much difference than how he looked two years ago.” Regardless, Kelly noted that the Eagles aren’t considering moving him to another position, saying that Tebow has improved as a passer and has “spent a lot of time in the last few years in terms of working on his game,” as posted by NFL.com.
Rookies miss practice due to orientation
Multiple rookies around the league missed practice on Thursday to attend the NFL Players Association's Rookie Premiere, including Tampa Bay Buccaneers first-round pick Jameis Winston. The team is clearly resting most of its hopes of competing on Winston, so it's probably good news that the Buccaneers have nothing but good things to say about him at this stage. Head coach Lovie Smith said the Buccaneers "like where he is right now," according to ESPN.
The Rookie Premiere is an annual orientation hosted by the NFLPA featuring seminars on financial planning and brand building for rookies coming into the league. Many of the league's business partners -- potential sponsors for individual players -- also attend the premiere. Other big-name players like Ameer Abdullah, Amari Cooper and T.J. Yeldon were among those in attendance. A full list of players who attended can be found here.
Jairus Byrd is “full go”
Despite the restrictions of OTAs, there are still injuries to note, from Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr to Cincinnati Bengals tight end Tyler Eifert. One player trying to work his way back from injury is New Orleans Saints safety Jairus Byrd. A massive free agency pickup a season ago, Byrd tore his MCL during practice last October and sat out most of the season. This was after signing a six-year deal worth $54 million.
But Byrd was a full participant in practice on Thursday, as reported by Katherine Terrell of NOLA.com. Byrd is one of the most talented safeties in the league and his loss was a big reason the Saints regressed a season ago. If he can go full speed now, he'll be even better in training camp and should be all systems go when the regular season rolls around. A healthy Byrd alongside Kenny Vaccaro makes one of the top safety tandems in the NFL, alongside the pairing of Kam Chancellor and Earl Thomas in Seattle and Eric Reid and Antoine Bethea in San Francisco.
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