NFL Training Camp 2023: Joe Burrow, Jalen Ramsey Injuries Could Reshape AFC Race

We're in full swing now.

Training camps across the NFL are underway. There's action galore from coast to coast as teams begin to prepare in earnest for the season to come. New coaches are getting to know their teams. Rookies and free agents are getting to know their new teammates.

It's a time when young players are trying to make a good impression. Veteran players are trying to get into game shape. And every player is trying to avoid an injury that could end their season before it begins.

It's the one thing that no team wants—for a star player to go down with a potentially significant injury before the preseason has even started.

Unfortunately, that's exactly what may have happened Thursday—to a pair of AFC contenders. That's where we'll kick off Thursday's look at camp developments around the league.

With two teams holding their collective breath and hoping against hope that disaster hasn't struck.

The Cincinnati Bengals enter the 2023 season as one of the Super Bowl favorites. In each of the last two years, Joe Burrow has taken the Bengals to at least the AFC Championship Game.

Burrow told reporters at the outset of camp that the team was champing at the bit to take another run at a Super Bowl trophy.

"Guys are excited to be back," Burrow said. "... It's a long season, a long training camp. It's going to be intense on that field. We have a bond in the locker room that is unbreakable and going to translate on the field on Sundays. That's the most important thing at the end of the day. We are going to continue to get better on the field, but that's what wins you games, locker room relationships."

Now, that excitement has turned into worry. Fear. And maybe ever terror. Because after pulling up lame during 11-on-11 drills, Burrow was carted off the field with what appeared to be a lower leg injury.

It's important to note that "carted off the field" doesn't mean the same thing in July it does in October. This time of year, the cart comes out for just about any injury. But were Burrow to have suffered a significant injury, that's it. Cincinnati's season is over. The team isn't going anywhere without its star quarterback.

Fortunately, Bengals head coach Zac Taylor told reporters after practice that Burrow is believed to have injured his calf. That's certainly not good news.

But an Achilles tear would have been catastrophic.

The Miami Dolphins made one of the biggest splash moves of the offseason on defense, trading for superstar defensive back Jalen Ramsey.

Now, just days into camp, the Dolphins will not have Ramsey on the field for at least six weeks, per NFL Network's Tom Pelissero.

Per longtime Dolphins beat writer Barry Jackson, Ramsey was carted off the field toward the end of practice with a left knee injury.

Cameron Wolfe of NFL Network then tweeted that safety Jevon Holland admitted that the team is concerned about Ramsey, but he didn't want to speculate about the severity of the injury.

There are big expectations surrounding the Dolphins in 2023, but just a day ago Ramsey told reporters that the team needs to worry less about those expectations and more about putting in the work in camp.

"It's just Day 1 of training camp," Ramsey said. "We've got to do the work first. The work comes first. When you put the work in, you don't really worry about none of that. You don't really worry about what other people say. You know what you have done to prepare and you just stand on that and whether it works out for you or not, you know if you put the work in."

Now, the Dolphins have something entirely new to worry about, as Ramsey will miss the start of the regular season. While Ramsey's ACL is (thankfully) intact, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that the 28-year-old will require surgery.

The Cincinnati Bengals nearly had a disaster at quarterback on Thursday. But another got some good news—and it just so happens to be the team that beat the Bengals in Super Bowl LVI.

In each of the last two seasons, Matthew Stafford of the Los Angeles Rams has been limited in training camp by injuries. Two years ago, that didn't matter. Last year, it was the prelude to an injury-marred mess of a season.

But as Jourdan Rodrigue reported for The Athletic, this year Stafford appears to be throwing with no limitations—and the 35-year-old said that has been a welcome change of pace.

"I feel a lot better physically," he said. "I feel really healthy compared to where I was at this point last year, so that's fun for me."

A healthy Stafford isn't going to make these Rams a Super Bowl contender—not after the team's talent exodus in the offseason. That offseason included trade rumors regarding Stafford, but head coach Sean McVay gave his quarterback a vote of confidence.

"There was a consistent and unanimous dialogue and understanding," McVay said. "When that March deadline came in terms of him being due the bonus that he's deserved and that he's earned, we were all in unanimous agreement that we wanted him to be the quarterback."

Stafford appears to be in a position to help repay that confidence in 2023—at least to an extent.

And with a healthy Stafford under center, the Rams may be a tougher out this season than some believe.

The Jets restructured the contract of quarterback Aaron Rodgers on Wednesday, and now it appears there may have been a reason the Jets freed up that cap space.

Per Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, free-agent running back Dalvin Cook is flying to New York on Thursday and will meet with the Jets over the weekend.

The 27-year-old Cook, who rushed for 1,173 yards last year with the Vikings, has been linked to a number of teams after being released by Minnesota, and he said last week at his football camp in Minnesota that he was in no rush to select a new team.

"At this moment, it's just kind of taking my time and being patient with the process," Cook said in an interview with KSTP-TV. "You can't rush this. This is a life decision that can put me in a great predicament for my future. I'm just taking my time and I'm not rushing it. When I make that decision, it's going to be right for me and my family."

However, according to Craig Carton of FS1, New York is Cook's preferred destination, and just $1 million separates player and team in contract talks.

A signing would be a coup for the Jets, who could then bring back second-year pro Breece Hall (who tore his ACL in 2022) more slowly.

And while there have been plenty of twists and turns in Cook's offseason saga, the arrows are now pointing toward the Big Apple.

Want some more running back drama?

Too bad. You're getting it anyway.

After missing most of the last two seasons with a knee injury, Baltimore Ravens running back J.K. Dobbins sat out OTAs. Now, Dobbins has also been a no-show for the start of training camp, opening it on the PUP list. And while speaking to reporters, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh admitted that he isn't sure when the fourth-year back will show up.

"That's a J.K. question," Harbaugh said, via Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com. "I wish it was a simple answer. There's always a lot of things that go into football. There's some complexity to it and we're working through all of that. J.K.'s working through it. I'm looking forward to when he's out there."

Frankly, given how effective Dobbins was at the close of the 2022 season, this issue probably has a lot less to do with Dobbins' knee than it does with the fact it's the final year of his rookie deal. Last month, Dobbins lamented the business side of the NFL while speaking to WJZ-TV.

"The business side is very hard, it's very different," Dobbins said, via Hensley. "You saw with Lamar [Jackson]. It's never just roses and daisies. It can be hard at times and it's business though."

It's still early enough that this could be much ado about nothing—Dobbins essentially has zero leverage, and assuming he's healthy he should report soon.

But it's the kind of distraction a Ravens team with aspirations of being a player in the AFC doesn't need.

Yep. More running backs,

Last week, Los Angeles Chargers running back Austin Ekeler demanded answers from ownership regarding the depressed market for running backs.

Well, Wednesday evening he got one—it just wasn't the one he wanted.

Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay has never been shy about speaking his mind, and he didn't hold back on Twitter about his thoughts on the state of the running back market.

To say that this is a curious decision is an understatement. For starters, there's no denying that running backs are grossly underpaid compared to other positions—the numbers speak for themselves. Agents attempting to get better deals for their clients is literally their job. And as Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk pointed out, the owners had no problem revisiting the most recent CBA in 2020 in light of expected financial losses from the COVID-19 pandemic.

What's really bizarre about the timing of this tweet is that Irsay's Colts have a star running back in Jonathan Taylor heading into the final year of his rookie deal. All Irsay's tweet accomplishes is assuring that negotiations with Taylor begin in an adversarial manner.

To date, Taylor has been quiet about Irsay's statement.

But I can guess how he reacted to it.

No one was surprised when Las Vegas Raiders running back Josh Jacobs refused to report for training camp. The NFL's reigning rushing king has made it abundantly clear he doesn't want to play under the $10.1 million franchise tag, and the two sides couldn't reach an agreement on a long-term deal before the July 17 extension deadline.

Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels told reporters Tuesday that he respects Jacobs' decision, but he hopes that the 25-year-old will eventually report.

"I respect [Jacobs'] decision to ultimately not sign a deal at that point," he said. "So right now, I mean, it is what it is. There hasn't been much since the deadline and certain things can change, obviously, we know that, but that's obviously a lot of his decision and I respect whatever he chooses to do. That's his choice and so I look forward to seeing him when we do."

Apparently, Jacobs left more than just $10 million on the table. While appearing on The Rich Eisen Show, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network reported that the Raiders offered Jacobs a deal averaging about $12 million per season (via Marcus Mosher of Raiders Wire).

Given the state of the running back market, he arguably should have taken it.

There are only three potential resolutions to this standoff. Either Jacobs reports, the Raiders sweeten his tag with some incentives—a la what the New York Giants just did with Saquon Barkley—or he sits out into the regular season.

At this point, there's been nothing to indicate Jacobs will be showing up any time soon.

After last year's disastrous season, the Denver Broncos can use every iota of good news they can get.

They received some at the outset of camp with regard to running back Javonte Williams, who tore the ACL and LCL in his right knee last October.

On Thursday, Williams told reporters that he has been cleared for contact. However, the third-year pro said he was unsure if he would play in the preseason.

On Wednesday, Broncos head coach Sean Payton told reporters that Williams will be eased back into mix cautiously.

"We're pleased obviously with his progress," Payton said. "We felt really good about it in the spring. He put the work in. Any player who had a significant injury a year ago, [vice president of health and performance] Beau [Lowery] and I will sit down and we'll have a group one, and that would be someone like him. They'll have days on and limited days, day off. So there's a process. He would fall into that first group of a planned schedule as he's recovering from a major surgery."

The Broncos brought in Samaje Perine as an insurance policy of sorts, and there's still no guarantee that Williams will be ready for Week 1. But it's welcome news in Denver that the young running back, who topped 1,200 total yards as a rookie, is making good progress.

The Kansas City Chiefs have plenty of uncertainty at wide receiver, which only grew when Kadarius Toney injured his knee Sunday.

It's still early, but it appears that one of the newest faces in town is doing his best to step into the void.

According to Nate Taylor of The Athletic, rookie Rashee Rice has seen a big bump in snaps with the first-team offense with Toney sidelined. The former SMU standout has made the most of those snaps, making a positive impression on offensive coordinator Matt Nagy.

"You look for baby steps of growth, learning this offense," Nagy said of Rice. "He comes from a no-huddle offense (at SMU). But it's a little bit different with the tempo of hearing a huddle play, getting to the line of scrimmage, running your route, having conversions with it and yet being on time jogging back and doing it again. Every day, he's made incremental improvements."

The 6'1", 204-pounder was a second-round pick in April after hauling in 96 passes for 1,355 yards and 10 scores at SMU last year. He has an excellent combination of size, speed and hands. But he's far from a finished product, so every rep he can get with Mahomes helps.

With JuJu Smith-Schuster now in New England and Toney once again banged up, there's an opening for Rice to make a quick move up Kansas City's depth chart.

Last year, Dallas Cowboys safety Donovan Wilson led the team with 101 total tackles in a career season.

This year, he may not be ready for the season opener.

Per ESPN's Todd Archer, Wilson could miss 4-6 weeks after being carted off the field Wednesday with what was revealed to be a calf strain. The 28-year-old signed a three-year, $21 million extension in the offseason after his career 2022 campaign.

After signing that deal back in March, Wilson told Patrik Walker of the team's website that he planned to have an even bigger season in 2023.

"You can expect a lot of leadership and we're gonna fly around and do what we do," he said. I feel like it's the chemistry we have and just how close we [are]. That was a big part of me coming back."

There's optimism that Wilson will still be ready to go for the season opener against the New York Giants. But calf injuries can be tricky business, so Wilson will all but assuredly be shut down for the rest of training camp and the preseason.

Wilson's injury might turn out to be no big deal. But if his absence lingers into the regular season, it would be a major blow to the Cowboys in an NFC East that may well be the NFL's toughest division.

Last year, the New England Patriots offense was a disaster. As that disaster unfolded, rumors swirled of a rift between Patriots quarterback Mac Jones and head coach Bill Belichick.

Now, the Patriots have a new offensive coordinator in Bill O'Brien. And Jones told reporters that all is well between he and Belichick.

"I think the biggest thing that we've all talked about is just having a fresh start. I think there's a lot of learning experiences from last year that we've talked about and this year, it's all about just working together, right?" Jones said. "You've got to come up with a plan, obviously talk about it, and then execute it. So, I'm excited for that part of it."

For his part, Belichick echoed that his relationship with Jones was fine—in true Belichickian fashion.

"I'm good with all the players that are on the team," Belichick said. "Absolutely, I have trust in all the players on our team. If I didn't, they wouldn't be here."

After letting a defensive coach (Matt Patricia) run the offense for a year, just having a viable and experienced OC in O'Brien should be a big boost. Offensive tackle Trent Brown said O'Brien's return is already having a positive impact, per Andrew Callahan of the Boston Herald.

"I think they can expect to see traditional Patriot football," Brown said. "Bill has been here before, and I think that attitude he's bringing that back, guys are just excited to play for him and each other."