As the first week of training camp nears its conclusion, DeAndre Hopkins grabbed the day's headlines by leaving camp due to displeasure with his current contract. The superstar receiver is a major bargain for the Texans under his current contract, and the team has a strong stance of not negotiating with players under contract. It appears that Hopkins is, at least temporarily, willing to deal with the daily fine of $40,000. For now, it'll be interesting to see if the team or player blinks first, or if this becomes a protracted holdout that puts regular-season games in jeopardy.
Moving from the business side of football, a few reports of positive injury news surfaced today:
• After tweaking his knee in Thursday's practice, Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com reports that Julio Jones could practice in full as early as Sunday. Since this appears to be a minor injury, the Falcons will likely be very conservative when deciding when their best player is ready to get back on the field. That said, with a planned off day scheduled Monday, it wouldn't be a surprise to see him back in pads on Tuesday.
• While working to return from offseason knee surgery, Melvin Gordon participated in Saturday's practice, and the second-year running back declared that he feels as explosive as he did before suffering the injury. With the Chargers having invested a first-round pick in 2015 on Gordon, he'll likely have every opportunity to be the leader of the backfield, though he's currently in competition with Danny Woodhead. When both players were on the field last year, Woodhead was clearly the superior player, and unless Gordon is vastly improved this season, he'll struggle to keep his counterpart off the field.
• Cowboys' head coach Jason Garrett expects Tony Romo to be recovered from his collarbone injury to the point where he won't be limited in camp. Assuming all goes as expected, the veteran quarterback is in a great situation this year, as the team anticipates having a fantastic rushing attack along with a dominant offensive line, which should limit the amount of hits he'll take. In 2014, he proved that he can be a strong fantasy option even with limited pass attempts, and he appears to be a value in fantasy drafts, where he's typically being drafted as a backup.
• In his attempt to come back from nearly two missed seasons, Victor Cruz went through a pair of consecutive practices without limitations, and it's appearing that his calf injury is healed enough that he'll be on the field for preseason games. However, it's difficult to believe that he'll be anywhere near the player he was before succumbing to injuries, but a strong preseason can ensure that he sees plenty of regular-season action, especially when the team uses three-receiver sets.
Along with the positive injury news, training camp always ensures that we'll see our share of players struggling with ailments:
• Adrian Peterson suffered a pulled hamstring before reporting to camp, as reported by Ben Goessling of ESPN.com, but head coach Mike Zimmer didn't seem overly concerned about the injury. For now, it appears as if Peterson will be limited in practice, but he's expected to return to his usual form before the Vikings square off against the Bengals on August 12. Assuming things check out as planned, he should remain as one of the top six running backs off the board in fantasy drafts.
• Despite plenty of positive buzz in early-July, Curtis Crabtree of ProFootballTalk.com reports that Thomas Rawls' ankle injury will force him to begin training camp on the PUP list. Although it's been consistently reported that he's fully expected to be ready for Week 1, until he's on the field running as well as he did in 2015, he'll be a risky selection in fantasy drafts. It should be noted that even though he performed very well last year, he did so with an extremely small sample size when defenses were certainly not game-planning to stop him.
• The road to recovery for players attempting to return from patellar tendon injuries is typically very difficult, so it's no surprise that Curtis Crabtree of ProFootballTalk.com is reporting that Jimmy Graham will begin camp on the PUP list. Even though he hasn't experienced any setbacks, and he's expected to be ready for Week 1, his underwhelming performance in his first year as a Seahawk makes him a very risky fantasy option if drafted as a starting tight end.
Finally, a couple pieces of news surfaced about players facing position battles:
• According to the team's official website, Robert Griffin is the clear frontrunner in the Browns' quarterback competition. Friday's practice offered clear proof, as he took all of the first-team reps in practice. Although head coach Hue Jackson won't name his starting quarterback until August 12, at the latest, this job battle seems all but concluded. However, the team hopes to employ a run-first attack, so it'll be difficult to count on Griffin as more than a deep backup for fantasy purposes.
• In the hopes of being a three-down back, Jeff Dickerson of ESPN.com reports that Jeremy Langford bulked up during the offseason. Although the second-year running back had moments in which he shined, he struggled to routinely break tackles, protect the passer and consistently catch the ball. For now, he's penciled in as the Bears' starting running back, but nothing has been promised to him, and he'll be in a battle with rookie Jordan Howard, Ka'Deem Carey and Jacquizz Rodgers for his place in the backfield. Langford carries quite a bit of risk in fantasy drafts until his situation is cleared up with the progression of training camp.