If anyone really looks forward to exhibition football games

Youth Gerald McCoy Jersey , this is the week to pay attention. One good place to start is in Oakland.Not because Aaron Rodgers will see plenty of action for Green Bay; he won't, might not play at all. And the Raiders' best player, Khalil Mack, still is holding out. Such is the approach for players and coaches in the preseason.But Rodgers gets to hang out — if not warm up with — an old friend and his former favorite target.The departure of receiver Jordy Nelson has left Rodgers in need of a new partner to take part in one of his pregame routines. In the end zone before a game, there would be Rodgers and Nelson playing catch and spinning footballs on their fingertips. That won't happen Friday night now that Nelson is a Raider, though they remain good friends."He said he has his own pregame routine now so we can't play catch before the game, so I'm a little disappointed by that," Rodgers quipped. "He's changed. ... He's a new guy."The competition between Brett Hundley and offseason acquisition DeShone Kizer to back up Rodgers will be a focal point for the Packers. Plus, depth is starting to become an issue at running back because injuries have slowed Jamaal Williams, Aaron Jones and Devante Mays. Jones could play Friday as he comes back from a hamstring injury, though the Packers will be without him for the first two weeks of the season because of an NFL suspension. Ty Montgomery is the only healthy holdover from last year.On the other side, Raiders coach Jon Gruden calls his running backs the strength of his team even if the top guys haven't gotten to show much in the preseason. Marshawn Lynch had a 60-yard TD run called back by penalty on his only touch, and No. 2 back Doug Martin has one carry for 3 yards.Both could get a longer look when Gruden plans to play his starters into the second quarter."We're not going to play them a whole lot, but they will get some time," he said. "Hopefully they have some success."Undrafted rookie Chris Warren III has made the most of the time Lynch and Martin have spent on the sideline. Warren leads the NFL with 196 yards rushing this preseason.MVPS IN ACTIONThe third preseason game is usually when Bill Belichick uses his starters most. Last year, Tom Brady played about two quarters, then sat out the exhibition finale. Look for Brady, the 2017 league MVP, to be on the field at Carolina for perhaps the first half.Rob Gronkowski could see his first action of the year. The Patriots are also looking for help on the offensive line after losing tackle Isaiah Wynn http://www.authenticstampabaybuccaneers.com/cheap-vernon-hargreaves-iii-jersey , the No. 23 overall pick, in the last game. With Kenny Britt cut this week, the team will also be seeking depth at receiver, especially for the four weeks Julian Edelman serves his performance-enhancers suspension.2015 MVP Cam Newton and the Panthers' first-team offense will see their most extensive action of the preseason, playing into the third quarter. Newton has dramatically improved his accuracy this preseason under new offensive coordinator Norv Turner, completing 71.4 percent as compared to a career completion percentage of 58.5 percent.Protecting Newton could be an issue as the Panthers will be without three starting offensive linemen due to injuries.O-LINE PROBLEMSMinnesota's task of improvement on offense begins with the line, where right tackle Rashod Hill and right guard Mike Remmers are expected to suit up against Seattle after sitting out the previous game with ankle injuries. Center Pat Elflein has been on the PUP list for the entire training camp, still rehabilitating from offseason ankle and shoulder surgeries. Left guard Nick Easton is out for the year with a neck injury."We're not the only ones in the league to be having these issues," Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said. "We just have a few more than we should have at this point in time. It's life."Seattle's recommitment to being a run-first team will get a stiff test. The Seahawks believe they've strayed from their successful formula as NFC champions in the 2013 and 2014 seasons, and re-establishing the run to control the game has been an offseason focus. While first-round pick Rashaad Penny won't play (finger), second-year running back Chris Carson is likely to see his most extensive playing time of the preseason.The Seahawks will also get long looks at second-year safeties Delano Hill and Tedric Thompson."ALL DAY" GETS A SHOTAdrian Peterson will make his preseason debut four days after signing with the Redskins.Coach Jay Gruden said Peterson's workload vs. the Broncos may depend on how much playing time the starting offensive line gets. Peterson will split carries with incumbent Rob Kelley, who emerged as the front-runner to start after rookie Derrius Guice tore the ACL in his left knee.Left tackle Trent Williams is still questionable as he comes off major knee surgery.Denver's defense played much better last week against Chicago than in the opener against the Vikings. Coach Vance Joseph said he wants his defensive identity to be "stopping the run" so the Broncos can turn loose the likes of Von Miller, rookie Bradley Chubb, Shaq Barrett and Shane Ray on the quarterback."Stopping the run and putting the offense in a one-dimensional phase, making them be a passing team so we can rush the passer. And, playing with a lead. That's important also for our defense. We do have great pass rushers, but if you don't have a lead, you won't ever see them come out," Joseph said.WHERE'S THE RUSHMatt Patricia was the defensive guru in New England White Adam Humphries Jersey , and now as head man in Detroit, his Lions have all of zero sacks this summer. He's not losing sleep over that as the Lions visit Tampa Bay."We're really not into stats here right now," Patricia said. "We're into evaluation. That's the biggest thing, and that's the most important process for us right now. Stats aren't going to get us anything as far as the regular season is concerned."Tampa Bay's top priority this offseason was improving a pass rush that ranked last in the NFL with 22 sacks. In addition to signing ex-Eagles linemen Beau Allen and Vinny Curry in free agency, the Buccaneers traded for Jason Pierre-Paul. Through two preseason games, the team has three sacks.MEADOWLANDS MATCHUPAs the Jets try to determine if first-rounder Sam Darnold is already their top quarterback, he might get to throw to two veterans for the first time. Wide receivers Quincy Enunwa (thumb) and Terrelle Pryor (ankle) could also see their first preseason action.Darnold, who started last week at Washington, took the bulk of snaps with the first-team offense during practice. He had a solid debut as the third-stringer in the preseason opener against Atlanta and was inconsistent against the Redskins. Bowles said he expects the starters to play a minimum of two quarters, so Darnold could be out there a while.Meanwhile, Giants running back Saquon Barkley, taken one spot ahead of Darnold, returned to practice on a limited basis. It seems unlikely that Barkley (hamstring) will play against the Jets.It also doesn't appear star receiver Odell Beckham Jr. will make his preseason debut, despite being a full participant in practice. Beckham hasn't played since breaking his ankle last October, and he might not see the field until the regular season begins."We try to be smart with it," coach Pat Shurmur said. "He's gotten so much work behind the scenes, we'll just have to see how it plays out."The Bucs should steal more concepts The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had the 11th best offense in the NFL last season. But that doesn’t tell the whole story. The passing game carried the offense, finishing 9th best while the running game floundered, finishing 25th. In fact Youth Vita Vea Jersey , the passing game was the only real strength on the entire team. General Manager Jason Licht is trying to change that, hoping an influx of athletic talent at running back and a massive influx of physical talent on defense will turn things around. But that doesn’t mean the passing game shouldn’t look to get better. As Bucs Nation has addressed many times previously, the spread is here to stay. Seattle, New England, and now especially the Philadelphia Eagles have won Super Bowls in recent years by incorporating or fully relying on “college” spread principles. As Andy Reid stated, the NFL is usually about five or six years behind college. When it comes to the spread, the NFL has tried to resist this change. But it is inevitable, and so the Eagles, copying from Andy Reid and his Kansas City offense that combines the West Coast with spread concepts, adopted it along with some wrinkles from Carson Wentz’s time at North Dakota State, and along with elite talent on both sides of the ball catapulted itself to spearhead the revolution taking place in full swing.Football is a copycat league. Everyone copied Tony Dungy’s Tampa 2 defense in the mid-1990s to early 2000s, and Dungy himself copied it from a play in the mid-1970s Pittsburgh Steelers defense. Reid and the Chiefs smashed the Patriots last season and the Patriots turned around and used some of the plays Reid called against them the very next week. All or almost all NFL teams now use some kind of spread principle, but we have seen a difference in who is willing to go all the way in running a “college” offense and who isn’t. With the Eagles winning last season’s Super Bowl, expect this evolution to accelerate even faster.All of this is to say, if you are an NFL team in 2018 and you aren’t stealing spread concepts, you will be left behind, quickly. If you didn’t spend this summer visiting other NFL teams or college teams picking up some wrinkles you might be looking for a job soon. College evolution is now arguably on its 4th or maybe even 5th-generation spread offenses, and these offenses are so good elite defenses regularly give up 30 points per game. Bad ones give up 60. The current NFL rules make it a possibility that NFL fans might see a toned-down version of this, but one that will nonetheless change the game significantly enough that fans will notice.So what could the Bucs add so they don’t get left behind? Well White DeSean Jackson Jersey , lots of things. They could run more zone read, especially in the red zone. They could copy more pick routes, and indeed if OTA’s are any indication, they have flirted with that. If they want to make it a true RPO (run-pass option) they could package the zone read with a quick-hitting pass concept like a slant, or a bubble screen. There are third-level RPOs targeting safeties like what Baylor had been running, and the Bucs want to be nothing if not aggressive. And speaking of screens, the Bucs could get better there as well. Here’s one of their screens last season from Week 15 against the Atlanta Falcons:This is a pretty straightforward concept. The receivers to the play-side try to vacate the area of defenders, which is good, except the defense is playing zone coverage which means they have their eyes on the quarterback and the backfield and rally down quickly. Pamphile manages to get to and bury his man in space. Tampa Bay’s offensive linemen couldn’t always do that last season. But there’s no blocker for the other linebacker, who does a good job reading it quickly, and Charles Sims goes down for a one-yard loss. Even if Sims had been able to shake the linebacker earlier the two corners would have ensured a short gain.Sean McVay had the Los Angeles Rams humming last season with one of if not the best screen games in the league last season.Among other things it’s one reason why Goff went from a historically awful rookie season to a pretty good sophomore campaign. Here’s an example why:I’m not arguing the Bucs should put this much into their screens, but they could do a lot better at disguising what they’re doing. The jet sweep is a distinctly spread concept used to horizontally stretch defenses and it’s used here as a dummy. But the beauty is this play can also set up the sweep for a later time. It’s these kinds of wrinkles that can help make your offense less predictable, and more explosive. It’s worth noting the Bucs did try a straight-up jet sweep last season, but Bernard Reedy and Jameis Winston fumbled the exchange. Tampa Bay’s fans have been waiting since at least 2013 for a good pass defense. Until and unless the defense can prove they’re up to the challenge it will continue to be up to the offense to carry the load. Incorporating stealing more spread concepts is one way to stay ahead and afloat until that happens.