Pre-season kicks off in earnest … The shortened NFL pre-season schedule gets underway in earnest later this evening with a couple of games tonight starting with the Giants at New England at 7 PM ET on the NFL Network, while Tennessee plays at Baltimore at 7:30 PM ET. Arguably, the most interesting game of the week, though, will be on Friday evening when Cleveland plays at Jacksonville. That’s because the Browns have indicated that embattled QB Deshaun Watson will start despite the fact that he already faces a 6-game suspension for violating the league’s personal conduct policy that could very well escalate to a full-season ban as the NFL appeals the original decision essentially to itself. The bulk of this week’s schedule, though, goes on Saturday with a couple of games featuring legitimate QB battles, both of which have implications for the 2023 draft. Carolina, for example, plays at Washington at 1 PM ET on Saturday in a game in which both Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold are expected to get snaps at QB for the Panthers, a team which is expected to be looking hard at the position next April. Meanwhile, Seattle will be at Pittsburgh at 7 PM ET Saturday evening and if any team is ‘stinking for Stroud’ or whatever its the Seahawks who claim to be happy with Geno Smith and Drew Lock battling for the starting QB situation. And its says here that any team that even has Geno Smith as a possibility to start at QB has a huge problem at the position.
