🏈 The Touchdown Collective: Injured NFL star 1000% ready for season
Anthony Richardson, Amon-Ra St Brown and Bo Nix all feature to keep you ahead of the game, one play at a time
In today’s Touchdown Collective there’s the latest on Anthony Richardson in Press Coverage, Derrick Henry has a film offer in Get to the Post, while Inside Zone has the scoop on Kirk Cousins’ future. And Extra Point gives you the best on Substack this week.
📰 Press Coverage
Indianapolis Colts
As reported at the end of last week, Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson is out of the rest of the off-season with a shoulder injury.
But there is a general belief that he will be back in time for training camp. On the Rich Eisen Show (below), Tom Pelissero said he has been told the QB will be back in some shape for camp, even if it will be a slower start than normal to that process when the time comes.
That will also give Colts newbie Daniel Jones some much-needed time under centre.
Pelissero said: “I was told that he’ll one thousand per cent be ready for training camp, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the Colts will let him loose. You’re going to want to ramp him up after he misses the end of OTAs and minicamp.
“You’re not just going to go out and have him throw 600 balls on the first day of practice. So these are reps that now go to Daniel Jones, and he gets more of an opportunity.”
Denver Broncos
Bo Nix is more ready than ever before, partly because he’s quicker – not on the field, but in his mind.
The Broncos QB is back for Year 2 and says he is much more comfortable with life as an NFL QB.
“I feel like I'm a lot further,” Nix said. “Just spitting out play calls [is] a lot easier, and processing. … It’s a lot better. It’s a lot more enjoyable not thinking right now as opposed to what I was doing last year.
“It’s fun. It's fun to be in the know. It’s fun to have a little bit more of an understanding of what’s going on so I can be a little bit more beneficial to others and help them out along the way. I feel good. We’re in a good spot.”
LA Rams
An area of focus for the Rams continues to be special teams – especially kick-offs after the changes brought in last season.
The dynamic kick-off rules have been tweaked again ahead of this season and with it now here to stay after a vote in the spring, Rams special teams coordinator Chase Blackburn is looking for an edge wherever he can.
“I think we hit our stride as the back half of the year progressed and having J Whitt (wide receiver Jordan Whittington) back there and (wide receiver) Xavier (Smith) and (running back) Blake Corum and the number of guys we use back there for different skill sets and different return styles, we can use that stuff to our advantage and I think more teams found that out as the season progressed,” Blackburn said.
Philadelphia Eagles
Jalen Carter is fully focused on being the best version of himself.
The Eagles pass rusher started all but one of last season’s games as they claimed a Super Bowl win, but he has come in for some criticism, not that he’s letting it bother him.
“I know who’s good and I know who everybody loves,” Carter said to Dave Zangaro of NBC Sports Philadelphia. “Dexter Lawrence, Chris Jones. All of them. I see it, but at the end of the day, I’m still grinding and just doing my own thing. If my name pops up, then I guess congratulations to me. Just keep going.”
Detroit Lions
Amon-Ra St Brown might not be on the field, but he’s still putting in the work getting up to speed.
Having missed OTAs following knee surgery, the wide receiver has been deep in new offensive coordinator John Morton’s playbook.
He said: “I actually have to study up some plays because I can’t be messing up out there. But I think it’s good for the offense and good for the guys. Coaches, too, they have to be on their toes because it’s different formations.
“We have to lock in, but I think it’s going to help us in the long run.”
Pittsburgh Steelers
Aaron Rodgers has officially signed his $13.65 million one-year deal with the Steelers (he can get up to $19.5m with incentives).
That $13.65m puts him joint-19th in terms of NFL QB pay for 2025, some way short of Dak Prescott’s $60m in Dallas. It’s a hard life, eh?
Meanwhile, Dan Marino says it’s Rodgers’ mind, rather than his arm, that needs to be in the right spot this season.
Speaking to 93.7 The Fan, Marino said: “I still think Aaron has some game. He can throw it as good as anybody that has ever thrown the football. If his mind’s into it and he’s ready to go and that works, I don’t think it would be an issue with the Steelers.”
And another QB, this time in the shape of Rodgers’ former team-mate in Green Bay, Jordan Love, can’t wait for their reunion this season. “It’s going to be fun,” Love told Chanel3000's Jason Wilde. “It’s going to be awesome. I’m excited for it. I can’t wait to be on different sides meeting up. I know we’ll talk pregame, things like that, and then hopefully we can exchange jerseys after.”
Rodgers’ current QB team-mate, Mason Rudolph, told Kevin Gorman of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Rodgers’ arrival “won’t change my approach.”
New York Giants
Russell Wilson is trying to be all things to all men. Well, his team-mates, anyway.
The Giants QB is part of a packed position room with Jameis Winston, Tommy DeVito and first-round Draft pick Jaxson Dart all in there with him.
And Wilson is looking to provide all of them with what they need, Jordan Raanan reports on ESPN.
Wilson said: “I’ve always viewed it as you’re always trying to be the best version of you, and then you’re always giving back to everybody else.
“I think that it’s not just about one team-mate, it’s about all the team-mates.”
↗ Get to the Post
🎥 It’s nearly showtime...
Gotta keep putting in the work…
Tiktok failed to load.Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
Never change, Jules…
Kelvin Joseph, a former second-round pick of the Dallas Cowboys was arrested early on Saturday morning in Texas on charges of driving while intoxicated and collision involving personal injury or death, as first reported by TMZ.
🤫 Inside Zone
Miami Dolphins cornerback Jalen Ramsey does not plan to attend the team’s mandatory minicamp this week while the club continues to seek a trade.
Kirk Cousins’ chances of leaving Atlanta this off-season took a massive hit when Aaron Rodgers signed in Pittsburgh, with the trade market for Cousins now “dry”.
Running back James Cook will not be “in Buffalo anytime soon” according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter amid an ongoing contract dispute with the Bills.
The Houston Texans are expected to sign former Browns RB Nick Chubb pending a physical later today.
🫵 Extra point
I’ve been reading on Substack a lot this past week during some much-needed time off, so here is the NFL content I enjoyed the most over the past seven days.
Matt Lombardo’s look at the first round of the 2025 Draft – for Between The Hashmarks – with a key thought for each of the 32 picks.
Nick Kehoe’s view on Aaron Rodgers – for Football Film Room – and what the four-time MVP has left in the tank ahead of a season with the Steelers. Also check out Nick’s analysis of the Patriots’ Drake Maye while you’re there.
Bob Sturm’s breakdown of the Dallas running game – on SturmStack – and the impact of the Cowboys’ new coaching setup.
🙌 Thanks for reading The Touchdown Collective! I will continue breaking down the NFL next week. In the meantime you can share this great find with your friends and family, simply click on the link below and follow the instructions so they can join too. Thanks, it means a lot.
📩 Who am I? I’m Michael Ham, the Daily Star Sunday and Sunday Express Sports Editor – and an avid NFL fan. I have almost 20 years of experience in sports news journalism and I’m the writer behind The Touchdown Collective. Write to me using this form with your thoughts on anything in this newsletter, things you’d like to see more of, or your view on anything NFL.
The Touchdown Collective: Your go-to NFL source to
stay one step ahead of the game
Really appreciate you including me! Keep up the awesome work 👊🏼