I hope you had some fun this weekend watching NFL preseason games. There were guys out there grinding for jobs, players who might someday emerge as key contributors for the teams where they earn a roster spot.
That said, I wasn’t focused on the bubble guys. I was interested in the stars. And some key things were happening this week in the preseason games — and the greater NFL news cycle. This is Sound Smart, where I try to spin forward, dive deeper, think outside the box and read between the lines.
1.
The Los Angeles Rams protected Ty Simpson and played it nice and safe. Almost boring, in fact.
The first-round quarterback had 84% of his passes travel 15 yards or fewer and 72% for 10 yards or fewer. In the first three quarters, there were a lot of rollouts and passes behind the line of scrimmage so that Simpson barely needed to think — operating the basics and letting everyone else do the work for him.
I suspect that’s why coach Sean McVay said the following about the team’s preseason playcaller, Nate Scheelhaase: “I thought the coaches did a really good job putting guys in good spots. I thought [Scheelhaase] called a really good game.”
The beauty of a preseason game is that defenses are as simple as can be. That makes life easier for the playcaller and the QB. In the final 10 minutes, Simpson and his coaches started to ramp up the difficulty and use more of the field — with a little more intermediate throwing and some targets toward the middle of the field.
Ultimately, he saw pressure on only three of his 25 dropbacks. He had a tight-window throw on 8% of his passes. It looked easy for Simpson because it was very easy for Simpson — a stone’s throw away from 7-on-7 drills. It seems like the reaction has been unanimously positive about Simpson, perhaps because of his statistics. And while I’m excited about his long-term prospects on the whole, I’m not sure I saw anything particularly outstanding.
But here’s the thing: At least Simpson played in control. At least he made the easy stuff look easy.
Because I can think of somebody who didn’t.
2.
I was startled by Ward’s film.
I hate to get worked up about preseason film, but I can’t really stop myself here. There was an astonishing lack of accuracy. There was an astonishing lack of … everything.
If there’s one thing we know about the preseason, it’s that it’s deeply deceitful. I’ll never forget in 2015 when Sam Bradford absolutely tore apart preseason defenses with former Philadelphia Eagles coach Chip Kelly calling the plays. And I thought it meant something.
It didn’t.
Bradford was a mess and Kelly got fired after going 6-9. With Ward and the Titans, the same (but opposite) can be true here, where the second-year QB’s preseason calamity won’t translate to the regular season. But let’s just look at the numbers, because it’ll help contextualize my alarm.
On 12 dropbacks, Ward attempted a tight-window throw on 8% of his passes. (Just like Simpson.) That should speak to an easy day for Ward: no risky or high-difficulty throws.
So you’d think he would’ve been completing his passes, right?
Wrong!
He completed 41.7% of his passes (5-for-12). Even worse, he had a completion percentage over expected of -26.3%, second worst among all 91 passers who took 12 or more dropbacks this first week of preseason. His success percentage (23.1%) was second worst among those same 91 QBs. His expected points per dropback was tied for eighth-worst — alongside Colts QB Anthony Richardson, whose play is currently bad enough that Indianapolis can’t seem to find a trade partner.
Cam Ward (1) and new Titans coach Robert Saleh (right) can’t feel good about the QB’s outing this past weekend. (Photo by Matthew Huang/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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You’re probably also thinking that maybe Ward didn’t have receivers Carnell Tate, the fourth overall pick this year, or Wan’Dale Robinson, the team’s $70-million free agent acquisition. You’d — again — think wrong. And Tate, whose training-camp highlights have often appeared on the Titans’ X account this summer, saw three targets for zero receptions.
This was a tremendously bad outing for Ward.
It was also a small sample size — in preseason. But it looked too much like the lowest lows from Ward’s rookie season. I had hoped he was getting past all that. For now, let’s try to chalk it up to preseason. Let’s hope it’s just a whole bunch of nothing.
Because, man, what the heck happened out there?
3.
LAKE FOREST, Ill. — The Chicago Bears might have the most compelling and polarizing passing attack in the NFL (and I’ll have more to say about them in a story later this week). But while Chicago’s rushing attack may get neglected by the media, it has the head coach’s attention.
Ben Johnson gets excited anytime he has the opportunity to coach or discuss the ground game. And so it was interesting to hear first-year offensive coordinator Press Taylor relay Johnson’s philosophy on the run game.
“I don’t think Ben’s ever mentioned the word efficiency,” Taylor said last week. “We talk about explosives. We are trying to attack a defense. I think there’s a perception — a lot of people are going to run the ball. ‘We’re going to stay efficient. We’re going to control the clock. We are looking to attack a defense.’
“We’re looking to attack fronts to expose space, to create run lanes, to create explosives. We don’t look at the run game as a way to stay on track. We look at the run game as a way to attack defenses and really be explosive and continue to just put our foot on the gas.”
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Nick Wright, Chris Broussard and Kevin Wildes discuss Ben Johnson’s goal for the Bears to become the highest-scoring offense ever.
All eyes are on quarterback Caleb Williams, whose flair for late-game heroics was incredible last season. He’s a former No. 1 overall pick, and his arm talent is otherworldly. He has the rare ability to generate explosive plays at any moment.
And while we don’t often think about D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai in the same way, it seems like Taylor and Johnson would like us to. The 2026 season will be about further establishing that identity.
4.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Despite not having the new contract that he wants, Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez had been a willing participant in training camp. In fact, his presence had been infuriating newcomer A.J. Brown — to the point where the star receiver admitted he was looking forward to joint practices because the competition was getting too fierce between teammates.
The underlying takeaway is that Gonzalez is among the best cornerbacks in the league. (And from my vantage point, he’s the best.) He should get paid as such.
But when those joint practices started last week, Gonzalez was not on the field.
It sure seemed like that was the cornerback’s first flex of leverage in his contract negotiations with the team. And he didn’t stop there. He wasn’t on the field for the team’s first preseason matchup against the Colts at Gillette Stadium.
Patriots coach Mike Vrabel addressed Gonzalez’s absence.
“Christian was unavailable — physically unavailable for the practice. That’s the clarification,” Vrabel told reporters after the team’s preseason game. “Just like other players that I told to have treatment, and everybody has a plan here, there were other guys that were in that same category.”
The “clarification” is still quite vague.
And that’s often how it goes when a player is holding in.
If there was anything that would further entrench Gonzalez, it was the news that Seattle Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon, represented by the same agent, Reggie Johnson, signed a $132-million, four-year deal.
New England’s defense can’t afford to start the season without Gonzalez. The Patriots will need their best defensive player on the field when they kick off the NFL season in a rematch against Seattle on Sept. 9. They need to get a deal done. And it’ll probably have to be a deal that’s more lucrative than what Witherspoon got.
5.
EAGAN, Minn. — This was one heck of a statement from Vikings cornerback Byron Murphy about six-time Pro Bowl safety Harrison Smith, who retired after last season.
“I would say obviously having Harry [Harrison Smith] back there, a guy who’s gonna probably tell you every single play that’s coming — it’s been different [not having him],” Murphy said at the Vikings’ practice facility in Eagan last week. “But obviously, we got guys stepping in. We got communicators like 44 [Josh Metellus], even the young guys are stepping in. So we got guys that still are communicators.”
Harrison Smith walks off the field after his final NFL game last January. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
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Minnesota’s defense is still incredible, starting at the top with DC Brian Flores, who seems destined to — sooner or later — find his way back into a head coaching position. Flores has been no less ruthless this camp, doing what he can to terrorize the two quarterbacks — and amping up the degree of difficulty, with help from stars like edge rusher Dallas Turner, as each QB tries to prove himself.
Two weeks ago, I saw firsthand how quickly Flores’ defense can shut down the Vikings’ offense, with both Kyler Murray and J.J. McCarthy failing to complete a single pass in the 2-minute drill. Murray’s offense went three-and-out and McCarthy threw an interception.
Even so, Smith won’t be an easy guy to replace. And you get the sense that maybe they won’t have to. There have been rumors about a possible Smith return, but Minnesota isn’t counting on it. Instead, they’re counting on Metellus, who’s beginning his seventh year with Minnesota.
“It’s crazy, man, to be following after a guy for so many years,” Metellus told me. “And then you get to a position where you follow him so much that you just like step into his road, almost naturally.”
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