CHARGERS LB DENZEL PERRYMAN ARRESTED ON WEAPONS CHARGES AND REMAINS IN JAIL
Los Angeles Chargers linebacker Denzel Perryman was arrested on weapons charges during a traffic stop for vehicle code violations and remained in jail on Saturday, law enforcement officials said.
During the traffic stop on Friday evening, Los Angeles Sheriff’s deputies discovered five firearms, including two assault weapons, in Perryman’s vehicle, the agency said in a statement. Perryman, 32, was cooperative with deputies during the traffic stop, the report said.
Perryman was booked on felony charges and is being held without bond at the South Los Angeles Sheriff’s Station, according to the sheriff’s department.
Agent Ron Butler confirmed that his client has not been released from jail.
Perryman is scheduled to appear at Inglewood Court on Tuesday, the sheriff’s department said.
“We are aware of a matter involving Denzel and are gathering information,” the Charges said in a statement.
Perryman, an 11-year NFL veteran, has also played for the Houston Texans and the Las Vegas Raiders.
BENGALS’ CORNERBACK COMPETITION HEATS UP WITH MULTIPLE PLAYERS VYING FOR FIRST-TEAM SPOTS
CINCINNATI (AP) — At Bengals training camp, no position has had more players rotating through with the first-team unit than the cornerback spot.
“I wouldn’t read anything these first couple of weeks into who’s lining up with who, because oftentimes it’s so fluid with us at 9:52 a.m. before a 10 o’clock practice,” coach Zac Taylor said. “That’s just part of training camp. There’s plenty of time for a bunch of these battles to shake out.”
Cam Taylor-Britt, Dax Hill and DJ Turner were the starters for most of last season. With Taylor-Britt being managed a bit for precautionary reasons, Hill coming back from a torn ACL and Turner coming off of a subpar 2024 season, first-team snaps have been up for grabs.
Josh Newton is making a strong push for the starting slot cornerback spot, and DJ Ivey has impressed while getting regular reps with the first-team defense.
Taylor-Britt has been a starter for the Bengals since the middle of the 2022 season. While 2024 was the worst season of his career, he’s simplifying his approach entering 2025 and has a fresh start with new defensive coordinator Al Golden.
Taylor-Britt went back to the drawing board during the offseason. He watched all of his bad plays.
“You can see my eyes,” Taylor-Britt said. “You can see why the ball was caught. It was bad eyes. It wasn’t technique or anything. I have to slow down at the line and be myself. Stay confident. Stay the same guy no matter what’s going on.”
Hill moved from safety to cornerback entering the 2024 season, and he immediately impressed at his new position. But the former first-round pick tore his ACL in Week 5.
This year, he’s a candidate to start at outside cornerback or in the slot, and he’s the Bengals’ most versatile defensive back.
“It’s good for everyone to know different spots,” Hill said. “At corner, it’s a lot of mental. Knowing your matchup. Knowing the offense, that’s the biggest thing at corner. Week-to-week at corner, there’s a different mindset you have to go into the game with.”
Turner had been struggling in camp, running with the second-team defense and regularly allowing receptions until last Thursday. Then during that practice, he astoundingly recorded five pass breakups, including highlight plays against Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.
Turner has always shown great athleticism and the ability to track receivers down the field. The next step for him is making more plays on the ball when quarterbacks challenge him down the field.
“It’s just football,” Turner said. “There are big names here. Joe Burrow. Ja’Marr. Trey. Big names. You have to look at it as normal people and just play football. You’re here for a reason, too. It’s just the mental aspect of going against people you watched growing up.”
Newton, the Bengals’ fifth-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, made six starts last year after Turner’s season-ending shoulder injury. His intensity, tackling ability and physicality in coverage have really been on display during a very strong training camp for him. He’s consistently running with the first-team defense.
“We have the biggest question mark (in the secondary),” Newton said. “It’s an honor to have that question mark because we have a pencil ready to answer it.”
Ivey was one of the best tight end stoppers in the NFL last season and regularly played on third downs. He has great size for the cornerback position and has been getting plenty of opportunities to develop as a true outside cornerback with the first-team defense.
“I think growth is a good word (for him),” Taylor said. “DJ continues to ascend in a lot of areas on defense and special teams, and I’m excited to watch him continue to compete in training camp. He’s a guy who is a joy to be around. I like what he’s about.”
CHIEFS’ RASHEE RICE SAYS HE HAS ‘COMPLETELY CHANGED’ AFTER CAUSING DANGEROUS CRASH ON DALLAS HIGHWAY
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice has “completely changed” after causing a chain-reaction crash last year on a Dallas highway that left multiple people injured, cost him more than $1 million in a settlement to victims, and resulted in a 30-day jail sentence that he will have to fulfill at some point in the future.
Rice spoke Saturday for the first time in training camp, and the first time since the 25-year-old playmaker tore a ligament in his right knee in Week 4 — an injury that wound up requiring season-ending surgery.
“I’ve completely changed. You have to learn from things like that,” Rice said of the March 2024 accident, when prosecutors said he was driving nearly 120 mph on the North Central Expressway and made “multiple aggressive maneuvers” before striking the other vehicles.
“I’ve learned,” Rice continued, “and taken advantage of being able to learn from something like that.”
Rice pleaded guilty in July to two third-degree felony charges of collision involving serious bodily injury and racing on a highway causing bodily injury. As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors said, Rice was sentenced to five years of deferred probation and 30 days in jail, along with paying victims’ out-of-pocket medical expenses totaling about $115,000.
He separately agreed to settle a civil case for $1,086,000, which included prejudgment interest and attorneys’ fees.
Meanwhile, the Chiefs are bracing for Rice to serve an NFL suspension, though the length and time remains uncertain. League spokesman Brian McCarthy said in a statement recently that the case “remains under review.”
“My legal team is handling all that,” Rice said. “All I can focus on is what I can control right now and that’s me doing what I do.”
So far, the knee injury that robbed him of most of last season hasn’t held him back.
After a standout rookie season, Rice caught 24 passes for 288 yards and two touchdowns through his first three games last season. But in Week 4, after Patrick Mahomes had thrown an interception, the quarterback accidentally dived into Rice’s leg as they were trying to make the tackle, tearing the lateral collateral ligament in the wide receiver’s knee.
Rice had surgery and was back for summer workouts, and he’s been full-go throughout training camp.
“I feel 100%. I’m excited to be back out here with the guys,” Rice said. “Just kind of basically where I left off at. The only thing is get back on the field and continue to have fun doing what I do.”
The Chiefs had hoped that Rice would be a focal point of the offense last season in a wide receiver corps that included Marquise Brown and then-rookie Xavier Worthy. But that triumvirate never materialized, because “Hollywood” Brown was hurt on the first play of the preseason — he didn’t return until the playoffs — and Rice ultimately joined him on injured reserve.
Now, the Chiefs have all three of them healthy, Worthy has a year of experience under him, and fourth-round draft pick Jalen Royals has turned some heads in training camp. Throw in veteran Juju Smith-Schuster and Tyquan Thornton, who appears to be taking advantage of a fresh start in Kansas City, and the Chiefs are confident in their depth at the position.
Especially if Rice must serve a suspension during the upcoming season.
“I’m locked in. This is what I do,” Rice said. “This is my job. This is what I love to do. So even when I’m not able to be with the team, I’m going to be working hard to get back with them as soon as possible.”
AARON GLENN GETS EMOTIONAL AS THE REALITY OF BEING THE JETS’ HEAD COACH ‘HIT ME PRETTY HARD’
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — The reality of the situation finally hit Aaron Glenn.
More than seven months after being hired by the New York Jets, the first-time NFL head coach got surprisingly emotional Saturday. And it had nothing to do with the 12 penalties called on his team during practice.
“I’m sure this is going to hit at some point, but I told the players this: The first time since I became head coach, today was the first day it really hit me,” Glenn said to open his post-practice news conference. “And it hit me once I heard the fans give the ‘J-E-T-S’ chant.
“And I don’t know why, but it just hit me.”
The 53-year-old Glenn was drafted by the Jets in the first round in 1994 and played for the franchise for eight of his 15 NFL seasons. The three-time Pro Bowl cornerback was also a personnel scout for New York for two seasons and a longtime assistant coach, most recently as Detroit’s defensive coordinator for four seasons, before getting the chance to lead his former team.
“It hit me pretty hard,” Glenn said, his voice cracking slightly. “Man, I am so thankful. I’m thankful for this organization that gave me a shot. I’m thankful for this organization that gave me my second shot at becoming a coach.
“I don’t know why, fellas. But it hit me and hit me pretty hard, and, man, I just feel grateful. Grateful to be in this position.”
Glenn, along with new general manager Darren Mougey, faces the task of turning around the fortunes of a franchise that has the NFL’s longest active playoff drought at 14 seasons.
He has talked several times since being hired in January about changing the culture around the Jets and building them into a consistent winner by stressing fundamentals and competition. But with the team practicing in front of packed stands for its annual scrimmage at the facility, Glenn couldn’t shake his emotions — especially when he heard the fans.
“Yeah, I was,” Glenn said when asked if he was surprised he felt that way. “I thought it had already hit me.”
One thing Glenn has focused on during training camp is cutting down on penalties after the Jets were called for the most in the league in each of the past two seasons. He has officials at every practice to try to get players to understand how plays will be called. But it didn’t seem to help much Saturday.
The Jets had 12 penalties called on them during what Glenn called a “pseudo scrimmage,” including several holding calls.
“There are a lot of things we’ve got to clean up and the one thing I’m sure everybody saw is the penalties,” the coach said. “I’m glad we had the refs out there because that’s one thing we want to hit — we want to make sure we hit those hard. And I want them to ref it just like it was a game and I thought they did a good job of that.”
It made for a sloppy practice as Justin Fields and the rest of offense, including the backups, struggled throughout the session. Some calls even had the fans booing.
“There’s no excuses,” Glenn said. “Our players understand that. We know penalties, they’re discipline issues and we’ve got to make sure we are more disciplined in aspects on both sides of the ball. We will get those cleaned up, I promise you that. But there’s a lot of work to do.”
Injuries
Cornerback ace Kris Boyd left the field on a cart after injuring a shoulder during special teams drills. He went down on the sideline and was writhing in pain while he was looked at by trainers. Glenn had no immediate word on his condition.
Glenn said wide receiver Xavier Gipson also injured a shoulder on the final play of practice when he tried to catch a pass in the end zone.
Safety Jaylin Simpson was waived/injured after he injured a hamstring during practice Saturday. The Jets claimed defensive back Mario Goodrich off waivers from Denver to take Simpson’s roster spot.
SAINTS OL NICK SALDIVERI (KNEE) OUT FOR SEASON
New Orleans Saints guard Nick Saldiveri will miss the 2025 season with a knee injury, head coach Kellen Moore confirmed Saturday.
Moore said Saldiveri, a third-round pick in 2023, was hurt during an indoor practice session Thursday and will be placed on injured reserve.
Saldiveri, who turns 25 later this month, appeared in four games (no starts) as a rookie in 2023 and started six of his 11 games last season before a knee injury in December ended his season. It is unclear if Thursday’s injury is to the same knee as December’s injury. He also underwent shoulder surgery at the end of the 2023 season.
Moore said the Saints have re-signed guard Shane Lemieux, 28, to replace Saldiveri on the training camp roster.
Lemieux played seven games (four starts) for New Orleans last season following four years with the New York Giants, who drafted him in the fifth round in 2020.
COWBOYS BRING BACK VETERAN OT LA’EL COLLINS
The Dallas Cowboys welcomed back La’el Collins and also signed fellow offensive lineman Geron Christian.
Collins, 32, played for the Cowboys from 2015-19 and again in 2021 but last appeared in an NFL game with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2022. He worked out for the team on Friday at training camp in Oxnard, Calif.
Christian, 28, split the 2024 season with the Los Angeles Rams and Cleveland Browns. He has appeared in 63 games (25 starts) with five teams since breaking into the league as a third-round pick by Washington in 2018.
Collins played both right and left tackle during his previous stints with the Cowboys. He has started 86 of his 89 career NFL games since going undrafted out of LSU in 2015.
Dallas needed reinforcements on the offensive line while dealing with a rash of injuries to Terence Steele (ankle), Rob Jones (neck), Tyler Guyton (knee), Tyler Smith (knee) and Hakeem Adeniji (concussion).
To make room for Collins and Christian, the Cowboys placed wide receiver Parris Campbell (knee) on season-ending injured reserve and waived/injured tackle Matt Waletzko (ankle).
BROWNS QB SHEDEUR SANDERS HELD OUT OF PRACTICE WITH ARM SORENESS
Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders did not take part in team drills on Saturday because of arm soreness, the team said.
In addition, a shoulder ailment kept cornerback Greg Newsome II out of practice, and he is considered day to day, coach Kevin Stefanski said.
Defensive end Myles Garrett also sat out Saturday for what Stefanski called precautionary reasons, and quarterback Kenny Pickett, who injured a hamstring earlier this week, took part only in individual drills.
With the absence of Sanders and Pickett from team drills, veteran quarterback Joe Flacco and rookie Dillon Gabriel shared the reps.
ESPN Cleveland reported Flacco was 11-of-18 passing and Gabriel 11-of-22, with each throwing a touchdown at practice.
On Friday, Flacco was 9-of-13 with two scores and Sanders went 7-of-10 with a touchdownl, per ESPN Cleveland.
Gabriel struggled, finishing the Friday session 3-for-14 passing with an interception.
The Browns open the preseason on Aug. 8 at the Carolina Panthers and the regular season on Sept. 7 with a home game against division rival Cincinnati.
REPORT: KEENAN ALLEN, CHARGERS HAVE MUTUAL INTEREST IN REUNION
Free-agent wide receiver Keenan Allen and the Los Angeles Chargers might be getting the band back together.
NFL Network reported that there is a mutual interest in a reunion. Allen visited the Chargers on Friday, the day after their 34-7 victory over the Detroit Lions in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio.
Allen, 33, spent 11 seasons with the Chargers after being selected in the third round of the 2013 NFL Draft. The six-time Pro Bowl selection recorded 904 receptions for 10,530 yards and 59 touchdowns in 139 games (134 starts) for the team.
Allen was then traded to Chicago in March 2024 for a fourth-round pick in that year’s draft.
He collected 70 catches for 744 yards and seven touchdowns in 15 games (all starts) with the Bears before becoming a free agent in March.
The Chargers’ wide receiver room took a hit when Allen’s former teammate — Mike Williams — announced his retirement before training camp.
That left Ladd McConkey, Quentin Johnston, Jalen Reagor and rookie Tre Harris as the top targets for quarterback Justin Herbert.
COMMANDERS COACH ON TERRY MCLAURIN TRADE REQUEST: BUSINESS AS USUAL
Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn said Saturday that he understands the business side of the sport when it comes to wide receiver Terry McLaurin requesting a trade from the team.
McLaurin asked for a change of scenery on Thursday given his frustration with the lack of progress in negotiations toward a contract extension. Quinn said McLaurin told him of his plea for a trade before the news became public.
“We love Terry. I’m really glad he’s here,” Quinn said. “Hopefully he’s out practicing soon. We also understand there’s the business side of this things that (general manager) Adam (Peters) and his side and Terry and his reps are working it through. I just kind of stay in that space. We recognize both are happening.
“But like I said, I’m really glad he’s here. I love coaching him. But the business side, that’s kind of where it’s at. It’s not — somebody asked me if it’s a distraction — it is not. Players today, they’re more aware of contracts and things maybe than they used to be. They recognize that business part happens, as well, so for the team, we’re just rocking and going and throwing some great practices.
“For Terry and the trade request, that’s part of normal business that is happening around the NFL. It’s normal, we understand it, and we just throw our very best practices out on the field.”
McLaurin, who turns 30 in September, became a hold-in and was placed on the team’s physically unable to perform list with an apparent ankle injury suffered last season. He did not attend organized team activities and mandatory minicamp. He did, however, participate in spring workouts.
With a base salary of $15.5 million and cap hit of $25.5 million in the final season of a three-year, $68.3 million contract, the speedster is coming off a career year with 1,096 receiving yards, 13 touchdowns and 82 receptions on 117 targets. He added three scores and 227 yards on 14 receptions in three playoff games.
McLaurin and rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels helped lead Washington to a 12-5 regular-season mark and its best season since it won the Super Bowl in 1991. The Commanders knocked off the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC wild-card round and Detroit Lions in the divisional round before falling to the eventual Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship Game.
Over six seasons with Washington, the two-time Pro Bowl selection (2022, 2024) has 6,379 receiving yards, 38 touchdowns and 460 catches in 97 games.
A team captain, McLaurin has hit the 1,000-yard mark for a franchise-record five straight seasons despite instability at the quarterback position before Daniels’ NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year campaign.
RICKY PEARSALL’S JOURNEY FROM GUNSHOT WOUND TO 49ERS’ KEY RECEIVER
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Ricky Pearsall’s rookie season for the San Francisco 49ers never really got off the ground.
Nagging injuries kept him out of almost all of training camp and then he was shot in the chest during a robbery attempt by a 17-year-old in San Francisco about a week before the start of the season
Pearsall survived the shooting and made it back on the field for the final 11 games, but wasn’t able to truly show why he was picked in the first round by the Niners.
“I just felt like I was behind the eight ball,” Pearsall said. “I like to say that I rolled out of bed and started running routes because I damn near did. You can’t really rehab a gunshot wound. So I basically rolled out of bed and started running routes in Week 7. … From that Week 7 and on, that was my training camp. Those practices in between, before the games, that was my training camp, for me.”
Pearsall made an immediate impact after getting back on the field and had a 46-yard TD catch in a Week 9 win at Tampa Bay. He then caught only two passes over the next five games as he struggled to become a consistent part of the offense.
Pearsall thought he was still getting open during that stretch yet just didn’t get the ball that way, but it isn’t so simple in San Francisco’s complex offense based so heavily on timing.
Sometimes he would make an extra move to get off press coverage at the line or take an extra step to open down the field, but it was too late for quarterback Brock Purdy.
“We had a couple of those moments and there were times where he took it a little deeper and then broke open.” Purdy said. “He was like, ‘dude I was open.’ I said in the timing of the play, I needed it quicker. So, we had moments like that, and that’s part of getting to the NFL. … I think toward the end of the last season, you saw Ricky come out his shell, he was playing within our system and timing.”
That was evident in the final two games when Pearsall had 14 catches for 210 yards and two TDs in a confidence-building finish to an otherwise difficult rookie season.
Pearsall’s late-season surge provided a rare bright spot at the end of a disappointing six-win season for the 49ers. His role is much more important in 2025 with Deebo Samuel having been traded to Washington in the offseason and Brandon Aiyuk expected to miss the start of the season recovering from knee surgery.
San Francisco has few proven options at receiver with free agent acquisition Demarcus Robinson facing a possible suspension for a DUI arrest. Last year’s leading wideout Jauan Jennings’ status also is unknown as he is currently sidelined by a calf injury.
Pearsall has carried over that performance to training camp where he has been San Francisco’s best receiver since he returned from a hamstring injury.
“To be honest, I’m approaching it the same exact way,” Pearsall said. “Whether those guys are in the room or not, that’s just how I look at myself. I just got to be able to step in that role. That’s just how I look at it. I look at myself as being able to be a guy that goes out there and makes plays. Whether they’re there or not, that’s how I look at myself.”
The aftermath of the shooting is something that Pearsall is still dealing with 11 months later even if physically he is healthy once again. He has expressed an interest in talking to the 17-year-old charged in his shooting, but is focused first on getting himself right.
“Unfortunately, I revisit that every single night I go to bed,” he said. “I kind of just carry that with me. Now it’s not as much as avoiding it and whether or revisiting it or not revisiting it. It’s more about how I deal with it and the light I put on it. It’s more a positive light and things I can get out of that, to try to inspire other people. As far as my own personal stuff, I’ve been doing a better job dealing with it, myself.”
ALL-PRO DEFENSIVE TACKLE ZACH ALLEN AGREES TO 4-YEAR, $102M EXTENSION WITH DENVER BRONCOS
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Like teammate Courtland Sutton, Denver Broncos All-Pro defensive lineman Zach Allen didn’t skip any days of training camp while his agent argued for a new contract.
Unlike Micah Parsons in Dallas, Trey Hendrickson in Cincinnati and Terry McLaurin in Washington, things never got contentious with the front office in Denver.
“This is my happy place,” Allen said Saturday after signing a four-year, $102 million extension with the Broncos that includes nearly $70 million in guarantees and makes him one of the NFL’s highest-paid interior defensive linemen in average annual salary.
Allen said the way both sides “handled this was just awesome.”
“The fact that we were able to go about this the way we have compared to probably some other things around the league is a testament to what we’re building,” he said.
“It’s a business but it never got contentious,” Allen said. “And I think that was a cool thing was just the way that everybody handled it.”
Allen said he told his agent, Tommy Condon, “I want to obviously get the best deal possible … but I care about these people, I care about this place, and I don’t want it to get ugly. The way he went about it, the way the team went about it was awesome.”
Allen’s extension came less than a week after Sutton signed a four-year, $92 million deal that features $41 million in guaranteed money. Sutton also thanked the Broncos’ ownership group and general manager George Paton for the tenor of talks as he continued to take the field during training camp content in knowing a deal was at hand.
In many ways Allen has served as the fulcrum of Denver’s dominant defense the last two seasons, applying pressure up the middle to augment the Broncos’ premier pass rush and stellar secondary.
A third-round pick by Arizona out of Boston College in 2019, Allen joined the Broncos two years ago, following defensive coordinator Vance Joseph to Denver. He had five sacks in his first season in Denver and a career-best 8 1/2 sacks last season when he earned second-team All-Pro honors and the Broncos set a franchise record with a league-best 63 sacks.
Allen, who turns 28 this month, also set career bests last year with 15 tackles for loss and 40 quarterback hits while playing nearly 90% of Denver’s defensive snaps and moving between end and tackle. He also led the league’s defensive tackles with 67 pressures, according to Next Gen Stats.
Allen is due $12.74 million this season, the final year of his three-year, $45.75 million deal he signed with Denver in 2023.
With deals in place now for Sutton and Allen, the Broncos’ biggest contractual concern is rising star edge rusher Nik Bonitto, who is entering the final year of his rookie contrac. He also was named a second-team All-Pro last season when he led the team with 13 1/2 sacks.
Before camp began, Bonitto said he realized a deal might not get done until sometime during the season but knows he’ll cash in eventually.
“Yeah, I mean, the edge market is kind of crazy right now knowing that everybody’s getting these big deals and it’s only getting bigger and bigger,” Bonitto said last month. “Luckily for me, I’m in a good position right now where the market’s kind of in my favor.”
