#elliott rodger witt

[alisegluskova]

"You got bamboozled!"

[robbeary]

Gaiden Event

[moonlightbeamlight]

Remember that fanart I posted where I said I was the friend? Well here's the piece. For context my friend and I were on call, drawing in pretty much silence and then found out we were drawing the SAME EXACT CONCEPT. Well here's mine!! Love this guy to death but thats why he's sad ig

[theinternetmusicalguy]

somethin HAPPENED with my art today i don’t even KNOW  i’m thinkin about mirage again! seriously he’s such a comfort character for me he means everything to me there is nothing i wouldn’t do for him /lh anyway! creepy obsession aside, here’s some art I did of my favorite man ever  i hope you like it! ya boy is learning how to shade on krita :)) shoutout to robin for making me feel good about this

[enfuseiasmus]

Beach babes wip

[ashterblaster]

I was already gonna join the whole boycott on Apex Legends for August (I think that's when it is, right?). Then I played yesterday and while I genuinely was just screwing around... my teammates were having such a weird, just not-fun time. Like they were cussing each other out for everything and just sounded like they were pissed and frustrated and that's USUALLY how I used to feel playing the game before I stopped taking it seriously.

And it just makes me sad because this used to be a game I could just enjoy and chill on. Yeah I would sometimes sweat, but when it got to the point where I was seriously upset over it, I knew I had to stop.

But honestly the game just feels so, so unplayable now. Which I know a lot of other people feel is the case as well. Unless you're like... grinding hours and hours or just plain gifted lol.

It's like with Overwatch I can still get pissed, but there's a lot less pressure for me to play well vs. Apex, at least for me. Plus the Apex games seem to be over soooo fucking quick now. I'll drop and half the lobby is already gone. Like... what?

Anyway, EA you can never take Mirage Elliott Rodger Witt Apex Legends from me, he's mine now <3

[llaellaps]

The Apex Games' Holographic Trickster!

Preface: I don't typically do this or engage much community wise, but a good friend of mine encouraged me to post some of my headcanons // fun little fixation thoughts on here. So, here I am! I'll have artwork accompanying the headcanon below the cut, I hope you guys enjoy the little ramble :]

✩ ,, cw + summary: discussion of eye trauma, canonical negligence and corruption within the Syndicate, personal interpretation of how Mirage got his scars over his eye!

✩ ,, Elliott Rodger Witt, one of the Apex Games' very first Legends — Mirage! — joined during the rising popularity and high demand of bloodsport entertainment! And with the want for profit, plenty tech used in the Games wasn't necessarily up to par.

At the time, this was passable, given the influence of the Syndicate and its hold over many in the Outlands. The dangers this posed to the Legends and those fighting to be on the official roster was disregarded in favor of the Games' rising numbers.

One of Witt's earliest matches was a prime example of this priority.

Mirage sustained a serious injury to his right eye when the Respawn tech could use some much needed touch-ups and wasn't nearly at its best. The laceration began above his eyebrow and drew down to his cheek; the only reason for the eye not being lost was because the regenerative tech preserved it as the rest of the match carried on, and he was forced to push through the pain and hope that he'd be fine by the end of it.

The Respawn tech wasn't nearly as quick as it should have been at the time of the injury being inflicted, though. The cornea and iris retained serious abrasions, resulting in the loss of sight in that eye. Witt doesn't let it get him down and outclasses his fellow Legends to this day despite it!

Can always count on the Apex Games' best getting right back up every time he's kicked down!

[carlosoliveiras-wife]

hey abybgirls(/gn)(i did misspell that purposefully) here's the full fledged f/o list for tumblr because i...need to make it so i dont unintentionally run into doubles and doubles don't unintentionally run into me and they arent ok sharing.

much like normal i'm not ok sharing any of my f/os because. im just not. even the crushes. i deeply apologize for that. gunshot sound

everything is listed by fandoms, and each section has no particular preference since my brain will focus on literally any guy at any given chance !

idm tags on any of these guys!! i like when people tag me in stuff of my goobers :]

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The Ascendaries!

My Darlin's!

Carlos Oliveira — Resident Evil 3 [Remake]

tags: #☔️: carlos! ; #⛈️☔️: carlochlo!

Pavia — Reverse: 1999

tags: #🌧️: pavia! ; #⛈️🌧️: pavchlo!

Miguel O'Hara — ATSV Specific (read pinned if you. need more context?? i guess)

tags: #🕸️: miguel! ; #⛈️🕸️: miguechlo!

Charles Smith — Red Dead Redemption 2

tags: #🍁: charles! ; #⛈️🍁: charchlo!

Lúcio Correia dos Santos — Overwatch

tags: #🎧: lúcio! ; #⛈️🎧: lúcichlo!

Lee — Arknights

tags: #💸: lee! ; #⛈️💸: chlolee!

Rei Sakuma — Ensemble Stars!!

tags: #⚰️: rei! ; #⛈️⚰️: chlorei!

Normal Ascendaries!

Leon Scott Kennedy — Resident Evil Franchise

tags: #🔑: leon! ; #⛈️🔑: chloleon!

Luis Serra Navarro — Resident Evil 4 [Remake]

tags: #🔬: luis! ; #⛈️🔬: chloluis!

Javier Escuella — Red Dead Redemption

tags: #🎼: javier! ; #⛈️🎼: javichlo!

Link — Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom Specific

tags: #🗡️: link! ; #⛈️🗡️: chlolink!

Totter — Arknights

tags: #🪶: totter! ; #⛈️🪶: tochlo!

Mr. Nothing — Arknights

tags: #🏮: ch'u! ; #⛈️🏮: chloch'u!

Kuras — Touchstarved

tags: #🪽: kuras! ; #⛈️🪽: kurachlo!

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The Primaries!

Priority Primaries!

Cole Cassidy + Genji Shimada [Poly] — Overwatch

tags: #🌅: cole!, #🐉: genji! ; #⛈️🌅🐉: colechlogen!

Michelangelo Ziegler/Concept Mercy — Overwatch

tags: #🌤️: michelangelo! ; #⛈️🌤️: michelangechlo!

Hanzo Shimada — Overwatch

tags: #🐲: hanzo! ; #⛈️🐲: hanchlo!

Arthur Morgan — Red Dead Redemption 2

tags: #🌄: arthur! ; #⛈️🌄: arthchlo!

Obi Edolasim — Apex Legends

tags: #🎨: obi! ; #⛈️🎨: chloobi! <- (usually shown as "ChloObi, my name then his, not the "ooh" sound)

Vere — Touchstarved

tags: #⛓️: vere! ; #⛈️⛓️: chlovere!

Standard Primaries!

Elliott Rodger Witt — Apex Legends

tags: #🥃: elliott! ; #⛈️🥃: ellichlo!

Johnny Cage — Mortal Kombat 1

tags: #🎬: johnny! ; #⛈️🎬: johnnychlo!

Sidon — Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom

tags: #🔱: sidon! ; #⛈️🔱: sidochlo!

Akshan — League of Legends

tags: #🏹: akshan! ; #⛈️🏹: akshachlo!

Milo — Pokémon: Sword & Shield

tags: #🌿: milo! ; #⛈️🌿: milochlo!

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Other F/Os!

Matterhorn Yek — Arknights

tags: #🏔️: matterhorn! ; #⛈️🏔️: mattchlo!

Aleksandra Zaryanova — Overwatch

tags: #💪: aleksandra! ; #⛈️💪: aleksachlo!

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Crushes!

Crushes/Denials!

Syzoth — Mortal Kombat 1

tag: #🦎: syzoth!

Liu Kang — Mortal Kombat 1

tag: #🔥: liu kang!

Gale Dekarios — Baldur's Gate 3

tag: #🎆: gale!

Munehisa Iwai — Persona 5

tag: #TBD: munehisa!

Zenkichi Hasegawa — Persona 5 (Strikers)

tag: #🔍: zenkichi!

Theodore — Persona 3

tag: #✨: theodore!

Spider-Noir — Specifically Spiderverse's Version

tag: #🖤: noir!

Webslinger — Specifically Spiderverse's Version

tag: #🐎: webslinger!

Pearl & Marina — Splatoon

tag: #🎤: pearl!, #🎙️: marina!

Adaman — Pokémon Legends: Arceus

tag: #💎: adaman!

Chongyue — Arknights

tag: #TBD: chongyue!

Ennis Weiser — Arknights

tag: #🦜: ennis!

Zack Fair — Final Fantasy 7

tag: #☀️: zack!

Unknown Placement!

Ko Hei-Sing [Hung] — Arknights

tag: #🛡️: hei-sing!

Sanah — Fragaria Memories

tag: #🏖️: sanah!

Centurion — Reverse: 1999

tag: #🪙: centurion!

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[liahswriting]

A Very Merry Christmas Indeed

Relationship(s): Wattson/Original Female Character

Words: 1,966

Warnings: None

Summary: She and Natalie both like each other. Like a lot. Yet neither one of them seems to notice it. The rest of the gang decides to do something about it.

She wasn't usually the type of person who had a large friend group. She liked to keep to herself and only ever had a couple close friends in her circle. So it was a massive lifestyle shock when the other Legends welcomed her with open arms when she joined the Apex Games. It was great, for the most part. After adapting to the new social lifestyle, it was wonderful. Everyone was nice, there wasn't a dull moment when they were all together, and it was easy to flow into conversation. Plus it was also great having the ability to just go next door if you got the sudden urge to hang out with someone.

"So, what are you getting Nat for Christmas this year?" Makoa wiggled his eyebrows at her. Her face heated up as she tried to roll her eyes in feigned casualness.

"Yeeeah!" drawled Elliott. "What are you gonna get Nat?" he teased.

And then there were downsides to constantly being surrounded by friends. Once they caught on to something, it spread like wildfire to everyone else until you were the center of the jokes and teasing. Nothing was ever secret, nothing was ever personal, and you were always the butt of the conversation.

"It's a surprise." she merely replied.

Natalie Paquette was very easily the best person in the friend group to hang around with; she was incredibly caring, a great listener, and can cheer you up with the snap of her fingers. Not to mention she was so god damn adorable that it hurt. She wasn't quite sure when she started crushing on the blonde scientist, but by the time she realized she was, everyone else did too. Everyone else except for Natalie. And then the teasing started and it hadn't stopped.

"Are you gonna dress up for her?" Anita questioned with a grin on her face, making her own face heat up even more.

"No!" she huffed back.

"Come on, ya gotta get her something special. Tell her how much you like her! No better time than Christmas." Ajay suggested.

"Nat is a friend! That's it!"

"She's more than a friend to ya. Ya like her. We all know ya like her. So just do somethin about it already."

"I'm not gonna sabotage a friendship just to entertain you guys." she rolled her eyes once again.

"You're not sabotaging anything. She like you." Makoa said.

"Yeah!" agreed Elliott. "I mean, you two are so blind. I don't know how you haven't realized you like each other."

"Maybe because we're just friends, and you're seeing things that aren't there."

"What if we helped you!" Elliott cheerfully exclaimed. Immediately, her eyes went wide and she jumped out of her seat at him.

"No! Don't you dare!" she threatened. "Elliott Rodger Witt, if you do anything I will shave your head!"

"Okay okay!" he held his hands up in surrender. "Calm down, I'm not gonna do anything."

"Good." she sighed. "I appreciate your concern, guys, but please just stay out of it, okay?" she asked. Everyone mumbled their agreement to her in disappointed synchronization. "Good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I gotta go wrap up my present so I can give it to her later."

She promptly made her was out of the room, disappearing from sight. Once she was gone, the others all looked to each other with a knowing twinkle in their eyes.

"We're going to get them together, right?" Anita asked what everyone else was thinking.

"Oh, definitely." Ajay replied.

"I've got an idea!" said Elliott, and then huddled everyone together so he could share his plan.

The Christmas Party was starting soon. She had her Christmas Dinner contribution ready at her fingertips, and Natalie's present was all neatly wrapped up in snowman wrapping paper. It was an electromagnetic radiation thingamajig. Honestly she had no idea what it did, and it took her like 3 months of internet searching key terms to figure out what the hell Natalie even said she wanted. She thinks she got the right thing, and she hoped Nat would love it.

She headed down to the lounge. Most of the others were already there: some setting up decorations, others getting the table lined with their food dishes, and of course there was a Christmas tree surrounded by presents that Ajay was organizing. She set her food dish down on the table, allowing Elliott and Renee to take it and get it situation. Then she headed over to Ajay and set her present down.

"Is that for Nat?" the medic grinned.

"Yes. Be careful with it. Cost me a shit ton to have it shipped here."

"Relax relax." the red-head soothed. "I won't break it. Promise. What'dya get her?"

"Some sort of electrical testing kit. Or something. I don't know anything about science. For all I know, it could be a bomb." she said sheepishly.

"Well, whatever it is, I'm sure she'll love it. Here, I'll put it next to her present for ya." she grabbed the gift from her hands and placed it next to a small box in red wrapping paper and a gold bow on top. Her heart skipped a beat.

"She... she got me a gift?" she blushed.

"Well, yeah. Duh." Ajay chuckled.

"Is she here?" she asked, trying to casually look around the room. She didn't see the blonde when she walked in.

"She's in the bathroom. Ya should go wait for her. She put on her best dress for ya." Ajay winked playfully.

She tried to get her heart under control. Ajay's teasing wasn't helping, and now she got to thinking of what Nat could be wearing. Nat always looked cute not matter what, but dresses definitely flattered her the most. She has a beautiful baby blue number that hugged her curves nicely and brought out the color of her eyes. She really liked that dress, but could never think straight whenever she saw the blonde wearing it. Is that what she was wearing tonight?

No. When Natalie stepped out of the bathroom, she saw it wasn't the baby blue dress at all. Instead, it was a green puff-sleeved lace dress, accompanied by red jewelry and a poinsettia in her hair to get into the Christmas spirit. She had to swallow her hear that was creeping up in her throat.

"You look great, Nat!" she called out, approaching the woman.

Natalie smiled and gave her a tight hug. She smelled really good. Must be a new perfume or body lotion, because she was unable to recognize the scent.

"Merci! You do too! Oh I'm so excited! Tonight is going to be très magnifique!"

"I hope so. I've never been to a Christmas party."

"It will be!" she assured. "We'll eat dinner, drink drinks, open gifts. It will be fun!"

"Do you do this every year?"

"Oui. We're all family. Some of us only have this." Natalie responded, turning a bit solemn. She was thinking about her dad. She did that a lot.

She gently brought the blonde in for a hug, consoling her so she didn't cry. Nat held it together, reciprocating the hug with gratitude.

"No sad thoughts today! Today is for happiness only. Suis-moi," Nat grabbed her hand. "help me put up the Christmas ornaments!"

Nat pulled her along to the tree. She took the box of decorations from Bloodhound to pull out some ornaments- nothing special, just your typical glass balls on a hook, and a strand or two of tinsel. Nat, being the shorter one of the two of them, handed her the smaller ornaments to be hung on the top branches of the tree. She teased the blonde woman about her height, making Nat giggle and playfully fight back.

"Elliott calls me 'fun-sized'."

"I heard my name!" sang Elliott, walking over to them.

"We're just laughing about your fly being down." she said. Elliott's face tightened and he panicked. He hid himself against the wall as he looked to his pants zipper.

"Hey! My fly isn't down!"

"No, but you fell for it."

"Ha ha, very funny. Can you girls do me a quick favor?"

"Oui! What can we help with?"

"I left the champagne at my place. Can you go quickly grab it? Dinner's almost ready."

"Sure."

"Here's my key. It's in the kitchen." Elliott handed them his key card and sent them off.

She and Nat made their way to the elevators and headed up to his floor. Leave it to Elliott to forget his own contribution. But at least it was only drinks. If he had been in charge of an actual food dish, no doubt he wouldn't forgotten to cook it. As promised, a couple bottles of champagne were sitting on his island. Both women grabbed a bottle each and went back down to the lounge.

Suspiciously, the door was closed and locked. She rattled the door handle to no luck. Then she knocked on the door.

"Why would they lock us out?" Natalie questioned with a quirk in her eyebrow.

"No idea." She knocked again, this time the door opening easily. "Okay, why was the door locked?" she asked the group who were all huddled together and smiling at them.

"Oh, would you look at that. What is that on the ceiling?" Elliott theatrically asked, pointing above the women's heads. Both she and Nat looked up to see a mistletoe hanging above them.

"Guys!" she gritted through her teeth, realizing she had been set up.

"Now what could that possibly be doing there?" Anita followed Elliott's lead.

"I can't believe you guys! After you promised!" she cried out.

"Do they want us to kiss?" Natalie innocently asked, looking up at her and tilting her head.

"They set us up, Nat." she replied, trying desperately to hide the blush that was tinting her cheeks. "They're just playing a joke-"

She was cut off by the blonde throwing her arms around her shoulders and pressing her lips against hers in a deep kiss. Her eyes went wide, caught completely off guard at what was happening. No way this was happening. Absolutely no way. Natalie didn't hesitate to push her tongue into her mouth. And her brain was going haywire. She could taste the flavored lip gloss Nat wore. And she finally pinpointed the scent of her perfume -berries. It was berries.

She finally kissed back. She allowed her own tongue to swipe against hers as they stood in the center of the doorway, embraced in each other. Her arms went to go wrap around Natalie's waist, holding her close as she savored the moment she's dreamed of since they first met. Her lips were soft, and her body was warm. The dress she wore was silky on her fingertips.

"Okay okay. I think that's enough." she heard Renee suddenly speak up.

"If they start having sex-"

"Okay! We're done!" she pulled away from Natalie to prevent Octavio from finishing his sentence.

"Dinner time!" said Anita.

Everyone gathered at the table. Elliott took the champagne from the women and began pouring and passing out drinks. A spot was saved for her and Natalie right next to each other. As the different dishes of food were being passed around the table, Natalie reached down to lace their fingers together.

She blushed even harder as she looked down to their hands hands interlocked, but she didn't pull away. She gave their hands a squeeze.

"Merry Christmas." Natalie leaned over and whispered.

"Merry Christmas."

[octanesimp3000]

The Bunny, The Decoy and the Apex Games #1

Here is the first chapter of my first-ever Apex Legends fanfiction! You can expect fake dating, love triangles and a whole lot of drama!

AO3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/32034451/chapters/79351393

Summary:

Both you and Octavio Silva have been experiencing severe drops in your popularity ratings in Season 9 of the Apex Games. The Syndicate has a plan to fix that, but you'd have to fake a relationship with Octavio.

Problem is, you have feelings for someone else entirely. What will you choose to do - agree to the deal and risk hurting your relationship with the one you love dearly, or go against the Syndicate's words?

*Y/L/N = Your Last Name

*Y/N = Your Name

Chapter 2

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Chapter 1

“You’ve got to be kidding me! No way am I doing that!”

One of the managers of the Apex Games that you had just shouted at out of anger managed to keep the fake smile he always wore plastered on his face. “I’m afraid you don’t have a choice, Ms. Y/L/N. Both you and Mr. Silva’s ratings have been suffering badly this season. We need you two to get on board with our plan or I’m afraid we’ll have to resort to...other means,” he said.

Octane, who had been sitting next to you silently while restlessly bouncing his bionic leg the entire time suddenly spoke up, asking “But how does us suddenly getting into a relationship increase our ratings?” You glanced over at him quickly in disbelief that Octavio was even considering this preposterous suggestion. Had the green hair dye finally had its effects?

You knew that ratings and popularity were important and all in the Apex Games but to go to this extent? “They think that us getting all lovey dovey is going to make people want to...what’s that word Ramya always uses? Ship! They think that fans are gonna want to ship us if they think we’re dating and then, the ratings might go up,” you explained before sitting back in your chair and crossing your arms. “But I’m not doing it.”

The manager’s smile faltered for just a moment before it came back twice as strong. He began speaking slowly as if he were trying to explain something to a child “Like I said, you don’t have much of a choice. It’s this or our more...drastic measures which I’m sure you don’t want to find out about. But I understand that this has been very sudden news so I will allow you two till tomorrow morning to make a decision or to come up with some other brilliant plan to raise your ratings. Do we have a deal, Ms. Y/L/N and Mr. Silva?”

Of course, you two had no choice but to agree with his compromise. Not even stopping to talk to Octavio who still looked a bit confused, you immediately made your way to your dormitory. There was precious little time and you had to quickly come up with something genius to stop this ‘fake dating scheme’ from happening!

However, 4 hours passed and you’d so far scratched out every single idea that you’d written down. It was no good, you’d come up with a great plan but you’d quickly spot a flaw that either the Syndicate or the audience would notice was out of place. Resting your head on your arms, you stare quietly at the framed photograph that was the only piece of decoration on your desk. It was one of you and Elliot when you two had first joined the Apex Games. He had his arm around your shoulder and you, your cheeks flushed pink, were flashing the camera a cheesy peace sign.

What was Elliott going to think about all this?

Just before your thoughts could wander any farther, you felt your stomach rumble. It was then that you realized that you hadn’t eaten anything except for a cereal bar for breakfast before rushing off for training. You decided that maybe a quick meal in the dropship’s cafeteria would help the brain juices start pumping. You pocketed your smartphone and headed out of your dormitory, walking face first into someone’s chest.

“Ah, Y/N! About earlier? I was thinking about it and I really think we should just do it!,” Octavio said in a quick burst before you could put in a word or even process that he had been waiting for you outside your dormitory. You also noted that he was also speaking much faster than usual, you didn’t know how but here he was, proving again that nothing is faster than the Octrain. “So? So? What do you think?!”

You stared blankly at Octavio’s excited and earnest face for a moment as you tried to come up with an answer that wasn’t a flat-out no. You didn’t want to hurt his feelings, Octavio could be very sweet and you had your own reason for not wanting to ‘fake date’ him which had nothing personal to do with Octavio.

“I know it’d be a bit weird but I mean, we both know that it’s fake, you know? I won’t make you do anything you really don’t want to, like uh...kissing? We don’t have to kiss if you don’t want to! Plus we’d get the managers off our backs for a bit, wouldn’t that be great?!,” Octavio continued, seeming to sense your hesitation. He ran a hand through his short green hair nervously as he waited for your response.

You felt your resistance to the idea melting just a little with how thoughtful Octavio was being. It was so unlike the daredevil to be like this. You ran the idea over in your head again and figured that maybe, just maybe it wouldn’t be as bad as you thought it’d be. As long as you didn’t have to be too physical with him and you could tell the other Legends what was going on, then it’d all technically be fine.

Looking up at Octavio, you rolled your eyes with a playful smile curling your lips and said defeatedly “You win, Octavio! I suppose we could give it a try. What’s the worst that could happen anyway?

[turbobyakuren]

Pathfinder: I do not have a big B U T T like my worthy opponent Elliott Rodger Witt right here.

Mirage: :/

Pathfinder: But what I do have...

Pathfinder: Is the (glitches with his grappling hook)

[itsfreesportstips-blog]

The Cowboys Are Now Fully Dak Prescott’s Team. He Says He’s Ready

OXNARD, Calif. — The excuses might as well be right there for Dak Prescott, sitting on the coffee table in this spacious Residence Inn guest room. He could tell you that his NFL sophomore slump was thanks to Dez Bryant and Jason Witten getting older. Or to some moving parts along the offensive line. Or to Zeke Elliott’s suspension. Or to the fact that expectations were out of whack coming off his starry rookie campaign. The now-firmly-installed face of America’s Team reached for none of those. And that’s probably why the people around Cowboys camp talk about him like they do. “It was me,” Prescott told me on Saturday, without a second of hesitation. “It’s just about being more consistent. I simply was trying to do too much last year. And as I was trying to do too much, I was getting away from my simple reads. I was maybe passing by my second read to try to get to my third read, or skipping over one or two, trying to get to the big throw early, rushing things. “I was wanting to make that big play, I was wanting to do the spectacular. coach Mullen told me when I was in college, a lot of being a quarterback is making a lot of unspectacular plays that don’t necessarily look great but turn out to be the right thing. And so I think in Year 2, I was simply trying to do too much.” In some ways, the 2018 Cowboys will need more from Prescott, and he knows it. But it’s probably not in the ways you’re thinking. That’s what he learned going through last year. The idea of taking over after losing a big name or two, and trying to be more as a quarterback? He’s been through that, and now, as he sees it, is when his growth will come through taking an approach counter to all of that. “I have bigger and higher expectations for myself than anyone else does or ever will, so for me it’s not trying to live up to expectations,” Prescott continued. “But you want to win, and you want to make that play to win. It’s that, trying to win on every throw, I got myself out of position. Sometimes you want it too much. You look at some of my interceptions, it’s simple as that.” So his hope is that his place as a player will, in a way, shrink. Conversely, his place on the team will have to grow, and we’ll explain that.

James D. Smith via AP In this week’s jam-packed MMQB, we’re going to take you through my August tour, with a look at Philip Rivers’s future, a wider-ranging peek into Rams camp, an explanation of the Browns’ quarterback decision-making, the culture Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch are building in San Francisco, and some info on Odell Beckham and the officiating of the helmet rule as the Bears and Ravens staffs saw it. But we’re starting with Prescott and his place within the league’s flagship franchise, and how the change there was signified by a phone call he got on May 1. On the line was Jason Witten and, whether it was intended that way or not, it became a passing-of-the-torch moment for a quarterback who was three months shy of his 25th birthday. “It came out that he was retiring and he spent that week—I’m thinking about it, I’m figuring out what I’m going to do,” Prescott said. “And it was then when he called me, two days before his actual retirement speech, he was like, ‘I’m making it official.’ We had a heart-to-heart about how great it was playing with each other, and he encouraged me to be that guy.” There was a reason why that talk hit Prescott a certain way, too. “Witt handled things in the locker room, off the field, on the field, he was the ultimate leader,” Prescott said. “He shaped me, shaped some other guys in the locker room to be that leader. , he was telling me, You’re that guy, you can be that guy, go be that guy. I’d credit a lot of the steps I’m taking to be a leader to Witt. It was great.” It was also necessary, which Prescott knew well before that conversation. With the departures of Witten, Bryant and others, the Cowboys were left with just three players on the roster over 30—linebacker Sean Lee, kicker Dan Bailey and long-snapper LP Ladoucer. Star-studded as it is, the entire offensive line is 27 or younger. Elliott’s only 23. And as Prescott said, Witten cast a long shadow as a leader. Just the same, it wasn’t unnatural. There was no question that Prescott was capable of taking charge, a belief Jason Garrett and the staff had going back to intel they got in the spring of 2016 from Mullen’s staff, and one that was solidified in the Dallas locker room right away after Tony Romo got hurt that August. Garrett always had Romo address the offense before games, and he had no problem plugging Prescott in to do that. “Saturday night, his first game, he stepped up there and talked for about five, 10 minutes and it was as smooth as can be, as confident as can be, and guys realized he was for real,” All-Pro guard Zack Martin said. “Rookie, Week 1, opening with the Giants on Sunday Night Football, it was like he had been doing it for 10 years. He’s just got it. I don’t really know what ‘it’ is, but he’s got that ‘it’ factor as a quarterback.” This offseason, though, he realized he had to get to a point where he’d be a little more vocal in the room, a little more willing to tell teammates truths that might not be so comfortable—an approach that, after talking to Witten and thinking on it, he believes may have helped last year. “We went 9-7. A lot of teams would pay to go 9-7 and be one game out of the playoffs, but it was a sh---y year for us,” he said. “The way things went down, there were things we could’ve fixed as leaders on and off the field. And going into Year 3, I’ve just said to myself, ‘I’m gonna do everything the right way.’ If I see something I don’t like, I’m gonna say something about it. If it causes conflict, well, it causes conflict.” That brings us back to his play, and Prescott knows that walking the walk remains the most vital piece of talking the kind of talk he’s planning to come the season. So he took me through two examples of what precipitated a year-over-year drop in passer rating (104.9 to 86.6), TD-INT differential (23-4 to 22-13), completion percentage (67.8 to 62.9) and yards per attempt last year (8.0 to 6.9). • On a third down in the second quarter against the Eagles on Nov. 17, Prescott was pressured, and rather than play it safe and take the sack or throw it away, he threw the ball up to Bryant, who broke deep on a double move. In his words, all it took “was a fair catch” for corner Ronald Darby, so much so that, if you watch the play, Malcolm Jenkins could’ve picked it off too. • Against the Chargers the next week, down 22-6 in the fourth quarter, and on a first down in the red zone, Prescott took the snap and had room to scramble right. Instead, he turned to his left and threw against his body to Cole Beasley. Without his body behind throw, he didn’t quite get everything on it. Desmond King picked it off, and went 90 yards for the game-sealing pick-six. On the former play, Prescott failed to cut his losses. On the latter, he declined to take what was there. On both, devastating blows were delivered by the opponent, when the quarterback could have lived to see another throw. That Prescott is so up front about what he did wrong on those plays is part of why, when you watch the Cowboys in camp, you might not see anything that jumps off the practice field about the quarterback. In his words, this summer’s been for focusing on “basics,” emphasizing going through his reads, and making the right play, even if it’s not the big one: “Trying to get there faster … Is it there? … Do I want it? … Boom, boom, boom, boom.” And his teammates can see the work he’s doing, too, which is part of why everyone here sees him as having such rare ability to lead. “That’s just who he is,” Garrett says. “He just has an amazing way of coming to work everyday with just an incredible spirit—‘We’ve had success, OK, here we go, that’s behind us, we gotta keep going to the next one.’ And similarily, if things don’t go well, he’s very accountable—‘I didn’t do a good job, I should’ve made that throw. I’ve got to play better.’ “He’s a great example for me as a coach, and a great example to his teammates, about how to go about it. The approach he takes is remarkably good. It’s beyond his years. He’s really an impressive guy, and we’re lucky to have him as our leader.” Will Prescott rebound, and make up for the big-name losses, with Elliott, that line and a new defensive core around him? I don’t know. But one thing that’s obvious here is that coaches and teammates are behind him, and it’s just as obvious why— because he’s behind them, and accountable to them too. It showed again when I asked if, with the old guard mostly gone, he feels a heightened sense of responsibility. “I definitely feel a responsibility, playing the quarterback position, ever since I was moved to the position in middle school,” Prescott said. “I’ve always felt like there’s responsibility that comes with being the quarterback. You’re the face of the team. You’re the leader of the team. And a lot of the time, wins and losses depend on what you do. Of course, there’s a responsibility level there. “ And he’s certainly embraced it. • THE MORNING HUDDLE: Get The MMQB’s newsletter, in your inbox first thing each Monday through Friday. Subscribe today. For However Long It Lasts, Philip Rivers Is Loving It Tom Brady has long said he wants to play until he’s 45. Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers told me last week, “Minimum is 40.” And others, like Drew Brees, have made mention of a belief that quarterbacks can play well into their 40s. That’s why I was surprised when, the other day in Costa Mesa, I asked Chargers QB Philip Rivers how much football he has left, and he didn’t give what has become the stock answer. “I’m super excited about a handful more years,” Rivers told me. “I don’t have a number in my head. I laugh when I hear Drew, Brady’s already 41, when I hear them say mid-40s, I go, ‘Y’all can have that. I have no desire to get there. One thing I am thankful about is I know what I’m gonna be doing when I’m done. I’m gonna be coaching high school football somewhere, maybe the very next season.”

Tom Walko/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Rivers turns 37 in December, so a handful more seasons would actually get him a couple years into his 40s. But that wasn’t really his point. “It could be two, my contract’s up in two, but I’d like to get in that new stadium,” Rivers continued. “Could it be four, five? I don’t know. I feel good. I don’t want to hang on, but I don’t feel like I’m there by any means right now. I want to stay aware, so when it does become that, I’ll know. And it’s a two-sided deal—they have to want me to still be here when it gets to that.” Now for where Rivers stands going to this season. None of the Chargers coaches want to say there’s momentum carried over from last year, but all the guys I talked to conceded there’s a lot to build off of, based on how the team that went through a move, spent half its offseason as a sort-of about-to-be-evicted tenant of San Diego, played in a stadium often filled with visiting fans, started 0-4 and managed to get to 9-7. Rivers feels it too, to be sure. Anthony Lynn being back for a second year doesn’t hurt. Nor does the development of 2017 first-round wideout Mike Williams within the offense—he could replace some of what Hunter Henry brought to the table—or a growing offensive line that adds center Mike Pouncey. As much as anything, and as much as he doesn’t want to call playing quarterback in the NFL easy, Rivers says he can let the game come to him more than he ever has, which has made everything easier. “I felt like last year was probably as consistent as I’ve been in four or five years,” he said. “Steady is the word that comes to mind, not trying to do too much, taking care of the ball but making a bunch of big plays. We made a bunch of big plays. It wasn’t playing scared, but it also wasn’t trying to will us to win. Trust everyone else.” And he’s doing that from a leadership standpoint, too. Where in the past Rivers might have pushed and prodded teammates, he’s now just as content to pass that torch to young vets like Melvin Ingram—which has allowed him to soak in being player, while he still is one. “I’m trying to enjoy every part of it,” Rivers said. “Norv told me back when he was here, gosh, five, six, seven years ago, that there’s going to come a time, and it happened to Fouts, when all your guys are going to be gone and you’re still playing, and it can be a little bit of a transition. Me and Hardwick and Gates, all these guys, it hits you because that’s one of my favorite parts of being a teammate, just being one of the guys. “I feel like after 15 years, you understand things like the coaches do, so you can coach and help them, but I want to be one of the guys. I don’t want to lose that.” You watch the way Rivers bounces around the practice field, and you definitely get the feeling he hasn’t lost that, even if doesn’t want to do this forever. The Rams Try to Stay Ahead of the Curve There’s a lot going on at Rams camp. You have the Aaron Donald holdout. The offseason haul of Ndamukong Suh, Marcus Peters, Aqib Talib and Brandin Cooks. Year 2 for Sean McVay in L.A. Year 3 for Jared Goff in the NFL. Todd Gurley coming off an Offensive Player of the Year season, and signed to a massive contract extension. Expectations are high—and on the day I was in Irvine, those expectations looked justified in the efficient, high-energy, quick-paced practice McVay and his staff ran. At least for now—and no one’s lost a game yet—the Rams looked hyper-organized and effectively blended together. But what struck me was how the team was focused on getting ahead of potential potholes. Here are three I think worth looking at …

Chris Williams/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images • First, there was a real acknowledgement that the players may have caught some teams off-guard last year with McVay’s innovations on offense. Goff mentioned to me that all the motion and formationing and movement in the scheme crossed defenses up last year. He expects the teams on the Rams’ 2018 schedule to be more prepared this time around. Which means it’s on McVay, Goff and company to keep it moving. “The tape’s out there,” Goff  “That’s number one. Number two, we’ve evolved. We’ve tried to implement new stuff. This guy’s pretty smart over here , and he’s come up with some good stuff. And we’ve got some new wrinkles that should give teams fits. That starts with him, the dialogue he has with all the other coaches, and then with us giving him feedback on what we’re seeing, he’s very, very good in listening to us. “He’ll listen to anybody, and any sort of feedback we can give him he loves. I thought last year we were always evolving as the season went on. It felt like teams were always one week behind on what we were doing offensively.” • Second, and this plays off that notion, McVay hasn’t wasted time to troubleshoot anything he can. It may be picking up something to evolve the offense one day, and picking up something else to maintain the culture he’s established the next. To that end he’s tapped into new relationships with people like Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, Celtics coach Brad Stevens and L.A. mayor Eric Garcetti to try to continue to innovate. And from all that networking, McVay says the best advice he’s gotten is, “There’s power in saying, ‘I don’t know’, and let’s figure out a way to collaborate together and find the best approach for our players, and for our team. And fortunately you’re in a situation where you have a lot of people you can lean on. You feel so fortunate to be surrounded by our coaching staff, with a lot of veteran coaches that have done a great job, that have been through experiences that I just haven’t been through.” • Third, there’s clearly confidence here. You can see it in the way McVay carries himself on the field, and the way his coaches are teaching and correcting on the fly, and in how the players are competing. GM Les Snead told me the difference between last year and this year, is evident in that belief – “What we earned last year, which Sean couldn’t give in a team meeting or with a great speech, is confidence.” And all the same, McVay’s monitoring it. “We’ve talked about it—‘Like the confidence, like the swagger, but make sure it doesn’t border on arrogance,’” McVay said. “It’s understanding you have to earn that confidence every day. Previous success helps you have that confidence, but also continuing to work. We talk about it every single day. Our whole process is committed to that daily improvement, getting one percent better.” Of course, every team that comes off a playoff year and has an aggressive offseason like the Rams did is going to feel good in August. And plenty fail to live up to expectations. Which, give them credit, is something these guys seem pretty aware of. • THE MMQB’S TRAINING CAMP REPORTS: Broncos | Steelers | Eagles | Colts | Ravens | More Baker, the Browns and the Aaron Rodgers Model I always have a hard time believing teams when they draft a quarterback in the first round, then say that they plan to redshirt him. The idea—taking pressure off the kid, giving him time to learn, etc.—sounds good. It almost never gets carried out. I’ve used this stat here before: From 2008 to ’17, 27 QBs went in the first round. Only two, Tennessee’s Jake Locker and Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes, weren’t eventually given the job as rookies. So the Browns saying that Tyrod Taylor is their starting quarterback is one thing. Actually keeping Baker Mayfield on the bench is another. But after visiting Berea this week, I have a little bit of a better understanding why both coach Hue Jackson and G.M. John Dorsey have been so steadfast about that stance. For Jackson, it starts with the experience he had starting Cody Kessler as a rookie in 2016, and DeShone Kizer last year.

Nick Cammett/Diamond Images/Getty Images “I’ve had two players here in the past who’d never played in the National Football League, and we put them out there,” Jackson told me. “That didn’t do anybody any good. So why take a guy who we know is going to be our future and put him in that situation? We understand how hard it is to play in this league, how much you need to know, what your supporting cast has to be for you to have success. “Why put him in a situation where maybe he wouldn’t flourish? That would make no sense.” At that point, I brought up to Jackson his experience coaching Andy Dalton, a Year 1, Week 1 starter who made the playoffs his in first five years in Cincinnati (though Jackson didn’t get back to Cincinnati until Dalton’s second year). The Browns coach nodded and reminded me he was also the Ravens quarterbacks coach in 2008, the year Joe Flacco got Baltimore to the AFC title game as a rookie. This, as he sees it, is a different situation. The team he has now carries the baggage of 1-31 with it, and Mayfield is the fifth quarterback taken in the first round in the New Browns era, following Tim Couch, Brady Quinn, Brandon Weeden and Johnny Manziel. “It’s the makeup of the team,” Jackson said. “When I was in Baltimore, you’re talking about Ray Lewis and Ed Reed and Haloti Ngata and Terrell Suggs and all those guys on defense—that was a different team. Here, quarterback’s gotta drive the train right now. Let’s be honest about where we’re coming from. That’s a lot of pressure, a lot of things would have to go right for him. So why do that, why force that?” And then there’s Dorsey’s experience. He drafted Mahomes last year with the intention of sitting him. Dorsey was in Green Bay for the three years Aaron Rodgers spent sitting and waiting for his time. So he can paint a picture of the benefit—and he did for me, raising a hypothetical where a safety creeping into the box can force a quarterback to adjust in a split second, and throw out his best-laid plan on the fly. “Aaron actually demonstrated that when he got in there, that he could do that. He couldn’t do that his rookie year,” Dorsey said. “Understand the speed of the game, it slows down for you. You understand the concepts the defense is trying to run into you. He’s under new terminology. It takes time to digest that type of information.” Only time will tell if the Browns stick to their guns on this one. For now, and through a week of camp, they haven’t budged much, even as Mayfield’s play has improved. “We needed somebody to come in our locker room who’s been an NFL player, who’s won games, who understands what we’re trying to accomplish right now, today, and start to lead this organization away from where we’ve been,” Jackson said. “We got the right guy in Tyrod. We drafted the right guy for the future of the organization, there’s no question in my mind about that.” … OF THE WEEK TWEET Had a moment with #Rams defensive coordinator @sonofbum today. Me: “C’mon, I know you’re not really playing Fortnite.” Wade (deadpan): “Hey look, I’ve got a good squad.”   — Charles Robinson (@CharlesRobinson) July 29, 2018 I honestly wish I saw this tweet before I saw Wade Phillips on Wednesday, because this basically confirms that the Rams’ DC, at 71, is more with it than I am, at 38. QUOTE “When I played, crime went lower in Baltimore. It’s like nobody needs to be mad now. It’s like everybody wants to be happy and celebrate.” — new Hall of Famer Ray Lewis. Look, I don’t want people to think our site is picking on the guy (ICYMI: Our man Robert Klemko wrote insightfully on Lewis the other day). But this isn’t the first time that Lewis has placed the NFL in society as a crime-fighting force. And here I’ve been thinking we all just get to cover a kid’s game. CLIP If this is a personal foul they need to erase the safety position pic.twitter.com/vBvak4AojK — Jac Collinsworth (@JacCollinsworth) August 3, 2018 More on this in a minute. MEME The NFL next season if theses tackle rules stay the same. pic.twitter.com/A0PeZ8KpsZ — Cole Thompson (@MrColeThompson) August 3, 2018 Like I said … we’ll get to the helmet rule in the Takeaways. S/O to … The Jets for giving 6-year-old cancer survivor Gio Toribio a moment he won’t soon forget – Toribio took a handoff from Josh McCown and went 50 yards for a touchdown at Saturday night’s annual Green and White Scrimmage at Rutgers. Toribio was diagnosed with lymphoma two years ago, at 4 years old, and declared cancer free in 2017, a few months before he met Jets linebacker Darron Lee. The two have grown close, and that’s facilitated a growing relationship between the young fan and his favorite team. As for the touchdown meant to Lee, after the scrimmage, he said, “It meant everything. Everything’s been through, he’s the ultimate warrior in my eyes. Like I told everyone before, he’s my hero.” My wife works in cardiac ICU at Boston Children’s, and so I’ve heard first hand what these sorts of uplifting experiences can mean for kids who are going through incredibly difficult times. So credit to the Jets, and Lee, for providing Gio with one. He’s a cancer survivor. And now Gio’s going the distance on the field, too. What a run! #GioStrong pic.twitter.com/ellgkINxDu — New York Jets (@nyjets) August 5, 2018 OFF-FIELD ISSUES 1. Because I’m pretty vocal about my alma mater, I’ve been asked plenty about what’s going on at Ohio State this week. And I’d say this—I hope my school is as thorough as possible, gets to the truth and reacts by doing the right thing. It should go without saying that getting to that point over the next week or two should be a bigger deal for everyone involved than winning football games. 2. I’ve learned from covering the NFL that it’s best to be patient and wait for facts before coming to conclusions in domestic violence cases. I think we all underreacted in the Josh Brown case two years ago, and then his ex-wife’s journal came to light. Conversely, a lot of conclusions were drawn in the Rueben Foster situation before they should have been. We knew way more about Greg Hardy and Ray Rice months down the line than we did initially. All evidence that making immediate sweeping judgments is probably a bad call. 3. I don’t blame the Nationals for gauging the market for star outfielder Bryce Harper. They’re hovering around .500 and stand to lose him for nothing after the season, and he has an agent who takes everyone to the market. Even if he’s a 26-year-old ubertalent whom you should probably just hand a blank check to. 4. I’ll admit it. I think Very Cavallari is hilarious, and I’ve missed it the last couple weeks on the road. That show is exactly what FOX saw in Jay Cutler, and the Cutler you see when his guard is down. Here’s a text I got from one of his old coaches got while I was watching it a couple weeks ago: “I told Cutty he’s going to be a way bigger star than Kristin! That’s who he is every day.” 5. In a weird way, I bet the NFL is kind of hopeful that LeBron James has become Donald Trump’s new piñata to swing at. For obvious reasons. TEN TAKEAWAYS 1. We’re going to have more on the Niners next week (I think), but since I did spend Sunday there I figured it’d be worth passing along something from their camp. And while I was there, I couldn’t help but remember how misunderstood I felt Kyle Shanahan was a few years ago, which is why I did a story with him on in in 2016. “I don’t think a lot of people know me,” he said then. “There are misconceptions. I know it’s not all great. But I can’t control it.” Amazing how quickly those have melted away. The culture in San Francisco couldn’t be much better than it is, which has a lot to do with the partnership between Shanahan and G.M. John Lynch. It’s also why Lynch believes his team is ready to handle expectations well beyond those of most 6-10 teams. “One of Kyle’s great strengths is that he’s honest with these guys,” Lynch told me. “What you put on tape is going to be talked about. He’s not dressing guys down. When they’re doing well, he’ll praise them and show why they’re doing well, and use it as education. When they need to pick it up, he’s very effective at doing that. It’s authentic and it’s real. Not that you need to knock them down, but he does a real effective job of keep things real.” Truth is, through some tough times, Shanahan’s always been himself. And that’s benefitting him now. 2. I know you guys love the intel on rookies. So here’s some underground info I picked up talking to coaches and personnel people at the six camps I was at this week. The Browns are convinced their first four picks (Mayfield, Denzel Ward, Nick Chubb, Austin Corbett) are direct hits, but the guy to watch might be fifth-round linebacker Genard Henry. Heard more than one person call him a “b---h” for the offense to deal with, in a good way for the defense. … Colts sixth-rounder Deon Cain has been spectacular. Some off-field issues, and a subpar 2017, caused him to fall, but there’s an internal belief he’s a second-round talent—and it’s shown so far. … Rams third-round OT Joe Noteboom is already in the mix for playing time at guard and tackle, as is fifth-round LB Micah Kiser. … Chargers fourth-rounder Kyzir White played safety at West Virginia, but L.A. drafted him to play linebacker, and he’s since looked like an ideal athletic fit in Gus Bradley’s defense, while putting on about 10 to 15 pounds of solid weight. … Cowboys second-rounder Connor Williams has taken all first-team snaps from the day he arrived at right guard, and third-round receiver Michael Gallup has flashed his potential, but fourth-round DE Dorance Armstrong has been the real revelation through the first week of camp, positioning himself for a role in September. … Niners second-round pick Dante Pettis will contribute right away in the return game. The acumen for football and natural intelligence he’s shown (FWIW, he had a high Wonderlic score) is giving him a shot to carve out a serious role on offense too. 3. OK, so now to the helmet rule. From what I heard, the Ravens believed two of the three calls against them were officiated correctly, with the outlier being the one against Bennett Jackson that we showed you (via Jac Collinsworth) above. The Bears coaches, for their part, were expecting more calls as the officials work their way through the new rule—and didn’t get a good look at the kind that’ll occur inside the tackle box, which they believe are going to be the drive killers/starters to result from the change. And the concern for staffs coming out of the Hall of Fame Game is that it’s hard for the officials to call the rule in real time, which leads to fear on their part that they’ll miss violations and get downgraded. We’ll see what kind of feedback the league gives Baltimore and Chicago this week. 4. A sign of how good the Eagles feel about EVP Howie Roseman and coach Doug Pederson: Those extensions through 2022 weren’t really extensions at all. Philly did new five-year deals with two, which is a nod to the job they’ve done in building a championship outfit over the last 31 months. 5. I think analytics are a very useful tool for NFL teams, but Corey Coleman’s failure to make any dent in Cleveland is probably a good example of relying too much on numbers. He ran a sub-4.4 40 at his pro day, and was incredibly productive at Baylor—he notched 74 catches for 1,363 yards and 20 touchdowns in 2015. It was a priority for Cleveland to find guys who could get in the end zone, and Coleman clearly showed he could in Waco. But on the flip side, there were questions about his football IQ coming out of a simple offense, and his route-running ability, and that’s why there are more than a couple teams that aren’t very surprised at how his time in Cleveland ended, with Sunday’s trade to Buffalo for a bag of pylons. • TEAM PREVIEWS: ANDY BENOIT’S 10 THOUGHTS ON  ... The Bears | Bucs | Texans | Giants | More 6. One other thing to take from Cowboys camp: Ezekiel Elliott’s in a very different place than he was before. Watching him move in drills, it was clear he had more of a hop in his step than we saw last year. And when I asked Zack Martin about it, he didn’t want to compare this year to last, but said he absolutely sees an edge to the Elliott of 2018. “It has jumped off the tape how he's been practicing, Martin told me. “He's been kind of a quiet professional, maybe more than normal this year, like he’s on a mission. Shoot, he went through so much last year, and I can't imagine how that was, all that weight on his shoulders. So he's coming in determined this year to get after it and have a big year.” 7. I wouldn’t be totally shocked if Paxton Lynch isn’t a Bronco by the end of the summer. When I was turning over rocks before the draft, word was that the team would have viewed each of the four quarterbacks at the top as an upgrade over Lynch, their 2016 first-rounder, even if they didn’t see all of them as worthy of the fifth pick (I believe Sam Darnold is the only one they would have considered). To me, that’s a sign that they’ve recognized their mistake. And so if 2017 seventh-rounder Chad Kelly, who was injured last year, continues to show progress, there could be a decision to make there. 8. Full disclosure: I still haven’t gotten to watch the Hall of Fame speeches, since I was with the Cowboys until late on Saturday, then flew to San Jose to see the Niners Sunday morning, then drove to the Raiders camp in Napa after that. But one thing that caught my attention: Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft making the trip to see Randy Moss go in. Before Moss got to New England, I always thought he was a guy who got by on raw ability, which would make him a funny fit as a Patriot. And I remember after he arrived—I was a Patriots beat writer at the time—how Belichick kept explaining how intelligent and evolved Moss was as a player. Proof positive was how Belichick and Josh McDaniels moved Moss around. It’s very difficult to learn one receiver position in that offense. If you can get them all down, you’re pretty sharp. And Moss was. 9. I’ve continued to get great feedback on how Odell Beckham has carried himself at training camp. He looks healthy to the staff and is on board with Pat Shurmur’s program. Doing a contract will, to be sure, be challenging. The team could make the argument that it has him at about $45 million (his fifth-year option, plus two franchise tags) over the next three years, while he can point to the exploding receiver market (his draft classmates Sammy Watkins and Brandin Cooks are both making $16 million per) and ask for a lot more. That’s why the good feeling between the new Giants regime and Beckham is, at least, a necessary starting point as the sides seek a middle ground. 10. Johnny Manziel deserves a lot of credit for doing what a lot of other quarterbacks have refused to, in going to Canada to try and pump life into his career. And I’m not giving up on him yet. But that was pretty ugly the other night. FIVE-DAY FORECAST We’ve got a full slate this weekend! And like you guys, I’m looking forward to seeing the first-round quarterbacks go. So all eyes will be on MetLife Stadium, as Mayfield and the Browns will visit the Giants on Thursday night, and Sam Darnold and the Jets host the Falcons on Friday night. Meanwhile, Josh Allen and the Bills get the Panthers at home on Thursday, and Josh Rosen and the Cardinals host the Chargers on Saturday. And we get a second look at Lamar Jackson on Thursday with the Rams wrapping up a week in Baltimore. What do you want to watch? In each case, it’ll be interesting to see if the coaches get the first-year guys reps with the 1s. That can be a tell that they’re at least toying with the idea of starting the rookie right away—and we know that three of the five teams (Jets, Cardinals, Bills) have been open about the idea of doing that. And here’s a stat to file away: The last time there wasn’t a rookie quarterback starting in Week 1 of a season was 2007. That was the year JaMarcus Russell went first overall. See you guys next week. Question or comment? Email us at talkback@themmqb.com. 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[theinternetmusicalguy]

Hi, haven’t been here in a minute! It’s good to be back. I recently got my friend into Apex after being a longtime fan, and their newfound obsession with it is rekindling mine. /pos But we’ve been particularly into cryptage and their dynamic. And I brought up the idea of; “Hey, what if Mirage tries to bring Crypto back and the Respawn Beacon fails?” And thus, this drawing was born.  Fun fact! We were both in a call, drawing respectively with barely any communication, and both ended up drawing this premise. Could not have timed it better.  (First digital art piece on here, please do not flame me :’D)