Malcolm Butler appears to be on his way to securing the job as Darrelle Revis’ replacement as the Patriots’ left cornerback. AP Photo/Elise Amendola
ESPN.com staff
NFL Nation reporters look ahead to Tuesday practices at their team’s training camp.
AFC EAST
Buffalo Bills: The Bills are off Tuesday, but when they return to practice Wednesday, coach Rex Ryan says the team will begin including opponent-specific periods in practice. The game-planned elements of those practices will be used in the evaluation of the still-unsettled quarterback situation. — Mike Rodak
Miami Dolphins: The Dolphins return to practice following their first off day. The focus will be on the two guard spots as Dallas Thomas and Billy Turner have struggled thus far. — James Walker
New England Patriots: The Patriots return to practice today. Super Bowl hero Malcolm Butler has looked good the first four practices, with his one-on-one matchups against receiver Julian Edelman producing a spirited competition with some notable trash talk. If he keeps up the momentum, he’ll further entrench himself as the top option to replace Darrelle Revis at left cornerback. — Mike Reiss
New York Jets: The Jets return to the practice field after a day off. The focus will be on defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson, who left practice Sunday with a hamstring injury. Will he be back? — Rich Cimini
AFC NORTH
Baltimore Ravens: Players receive their first day off in this year’s training camp on Tuesday. The Ravens will then go with four straight days of practice with different start times each day (8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, 10 a.m. on Thursday, 1 p.m. on Friday and 4 p.m. on Saturday). Coach John Harbaugh doesn’t want his players to get used to playing at any specific time, especially given the team’s four West Coast games and five prime-time games. — Jamison Hensley
Cincinnati Bengals: Minor injuries have arrived to Bengals camp. In addition to the MCL sprain Michael Johnson picked up Sunday — likely giving him more than a monthlong rehab — receiver Marvin Jones and defensive end Wallace Gilberry tweaked hamstrings. As the Bengals go into their last fully padded practice before Wednesday’s off day, it will be worth monitoring how well they get through Tuesday’s practice from a health standpoint. — Coley Harvey
Cleveland Browns: The Browns return from a day off for a 9:30 a.m.-noon practice. They’ll try to sort through a running back situation that became cloudy on Sunday. Three of the Browns’ top four backs were sidelined — Terrance West, rookie Duke Johnson and Glenn Winston — and that meant extra reps for Shaun Draughn. Losing Johnson for any length of time would be especially significant. The rookie fall behind with missed time and the Browns want him to be an integral part of the offense. — Pat McManamon
Pittsburgh Steelers: Players get a much-needed day off Tuesday after six straight days of heavy work, including some serious hitting. Let’s see how healthy they can get with time to recoup from minor injuries. Several starters have been affected, including linebacker Ryan Shazier (back), outside linebacker Jarvis Jones (biceps) and receiver Markus Wheaton (hamstring). The defense needs a full supporting cast to sharpen up for the final three days of practice (2:55 p.m. each day) before the preseason opener against Minnesota. — Jeremy Fowler
AFC SOUTH
Houston Texans: Texans coach Bill O’Brien said first-round pick Kevin Johnson has had a good start to training camp. Cornerback is one of the Texans’ deepest positions, anchored by veterans Johnathan Joseph and Kareem Jackson, both of whom got new contracts this offseason. The Texans are off on Tuesday after Monday night’s first fully padded practice. — Tania Ganguli
Indianapolis Colts: The weak link of the Colts is their defense, which struggled against elite offenses last season. Rather than mix-and-match players in practice, they’re having their projected starting unit go against Andrew Luck and the starting offense as much as possible. “If we don’t apply the pressure from an offensive standpoint on our defense and vice versa, we’re not going to prepare ourselves,” coach Chuck Pagano said. — Mike Wells
Jacksonville Jaguars: The Jaguars will have their first off day of camp on Tuesday after four consecutive days of practice. The Jaguars were in shoulder pads on Sunday and Monday and concentrated on the run game, which has been one of the worst in the NFL the past three seasons (88.8 yards per game over that span, third-lowest in the league). The players will get a day of rest before their first full-pads workout on Wednesday. — Mike DiRocco
Tennessee Titans: After four days of work that concluded with a Monday night practice under the lights, the Titans will enjoy a day off to recover on Tuesday. Players will have time to refresh their bodies and also get a mental break before returning to work Wednesday morning. — Paul Kuharsky
AFC WEST
Denver Broncos: Quarterback Peyton Manning often has spoken of the “rhythm” on the passing game. But Tuesday will offer the initial glance of how things look after he gets a rest day. Manning took his first fully healthy day off from practice Monday as part of coach Gary Kubiak’s new schedule for his starting quarterback. On Tuesday, we will see how Manning responds. — Jeff Legwold
Kansas City Chiefs: First-round draft pick Marcus Peters had a huge day in practice on Monday, intercepting three passes and breaking up a couple more. That’s big news for a defense that intercepted just six passes last year. It will be interesting to see if Peters can follow up with another big practice. Peters clearly can play but the Chiefs want to see it on an everyday basis. — Adam Teicher
Oakland Raiders: The Raiders get their first day off from training camp Tuesday. The break comes after a solid four days of work. The Raiders ramped it up the past two days, working in pads. — Bill Williamson
San Diego Chargers: After five training camp practices, including three straight in pads, head coach Mike McCoy gave the Chargers Tuesday off. But he wants to make sure they use the free time wisely. “You get some time off, but be smart,” he said. “There’s nothing wrong with getting away from it for a day. Just do the right thing and take care of your body.” — Eric D. Williams
NFC EAST
Dallas Cowboys: While his teammates have two fully-padded practices under their belts, Jeremy Mincey will have his first Tuesday when the Cowboys return to practice. Mincey ended a brief holdout on Sunday, but the Cowboys will ease their leader in sacks last year into practice to help avoid injury. — Todd Archer
New York Giants: Giants players are off Tuesday. They will return to practice Wednesday, when the plan is for them to practice in full pads for the first time. The hope is that rookie left tackle Ereck Flowers, who missed Monday’s practice with a hip flexor injury, can get on the field for the padded practice because the coaches have been looking forward to the chance to evaluate him against more aggressive contact. — Dan Graziano
Philadelphia Eagles: The Eagles will hold one of only two open practices at Lincoln Financial Field Tuesday at noon. It will be fans’ first chance to see Sam Bradford, DeMarco Murray, Byron Maxwell and other new players. But the fans aren’t the only ones looking forward to the change. The players are too, especially since it will be their first practice in pads. “Obviously, the intensity goes up,” safety Malcolm Jenkins said. “We’ll have some fans out there. Guys won’t want to get embarrassed. You’ll want to show out a little bit.” — Phil Sheridan
Washington Redskins: The Redskins will get their first day off of training camp since reporting July 29. It comes at a good time, with more players getting nicked up after three days of working in pads. They will return Wednesday with a walk-through and practice, followed by three days of work vs. the Houston Texans beginning Thursday. — John Keim
NFC NORTH
Chicago Bears: After five straight practices, the Bears receive their first day off in camp on Tuesday. The rest day is expected to increase the chances of wide receiver Alshon Jeffery (shoulder) and cornerback Alan Ball (foot) practicing later in the week. Quarterback Jay Cutler and offensive coordinator Adam Gase will address the media when the Bears return to Bourbonnais on Wednesday. — Jeff Dickerson
Detroit Lions: Lions DT Haloti Ngata was placed on the active/non-football injury list Monday, which is noteworthy considering his importance to the team’s defensive line. Will he or fellow defensive line starter Jason Jones return to practice Tuesday? — Michael Rothstein
Green Bay Packers: After Clay Matthews missed practice on Monday because of a sore knee, the Pro Bowl linebacker played it off as no big deal. “Honestly, I’m going to be fine,” Matthews said. “You’ll be like, ‘Oh, Clay just gave us a heart attack.’” Perhaps, but we’ll see if Matthews is back on the field Tuesday. — Rob Demovsky
Minnesota Vikings: The team will have an evening practice in Blakeslee Stadium before players get a day off on Wednesday. It will be the Vikings’ second night practice of training camp, following Saturday’s session before a capacity crowd of approximately 10,000 people. — Ben Goessling
NFC SOUTH
Atlanta Falcons: The Falcons have the day off Tuesday, which will allow some of the players dealing with injuries a day to recover. Starting strongside linebacker Brooks Reed was limited Monday as he continues to deal with a groin/hip injury first suffered this offseason. Fellow linebacker Justin Durant took the last two days off with an undisclosed injury, plus starting left tackle Ryan Schraeder remains on the mend from a hamstring strain. The Falcons return to practice Wednesday morning (10 a.m. ET). — Vaughn McClure
Carolina Panthers: The Panthers get the day off Tuesday. When the team returns to work, it will be without starting defensive tackle Star Lotulelei, who reinjured his right foot. Somebody will need to fill the void, beginning Wednesday. — David Newton
New Orleans Saints: Players will have their first day off Tuesday, which means we could be in for an intense three-day stretch when they return. Not only will they be a little refreshed, but the competition should continue to ramp up, culminating with Friday’s scrimmage. Safeties Kenny Vaccaro and Rafael Bush have been especially intent on setting a physical tone. — Mike Triplett
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Now that the team is practicing in pads, look for the running backs to get more action than they did during the first couple of days of camp. Offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter said the team was working on installing the passing game before moving on to the running game. Once that starts happening, there should be strong competition between Doug Martin and Charles Sims for the starting spot. — Pat Yasinskas
NFC WEST
Arizona Cardinals: RB Kerwynn Williams could continue to get the lion’s share of snaps with the first unit on offense, as he did Sunday and Monday, with Andre Ellington and David Johnson missing practice time due to injury. Williams, an undrafted player in his second season, had a 100-yard effort in his first NFL game in 2014, so that wouldn’t be a big surprise. — Jose Romero
St. Louis Rams: The Rams will have their first full-team, fully padded practice Tuesday. It’s an important step for a young offensive line that has three new starters. So far, it has been tough sledding for the young line against the Rams’ talented defensive line, but pads are expected to help even the playing field. If they don’t, it could be a long summer for rookies such as right tackle Rob Havenstein and right guard Jamon Brown. — Nick Wagoner
San Francisco 49ers: The 49ers put the pads on Tuesday for the first time in camp and all eyes will be on linebacker NaVorro Bowman, who will be hitting for the first time since that gruesome left knee injury in the NFC title game at Seattle on Jan. 19, 2014. Australian rugby star Jarryd Hayne also will be under scrutiny as he experiences an NFL hit for the first time. — Paul Gutierrez
Seattle Seahawks: Tuesday is a day off on the field for the players. The defensive coaches are going to use the day to readjust the defensive line after cutting starting tackle Tony McDaniel. Defensive coordinator Kris Richard said the first two candidates to move inside are Demarcus Dobbs and Ahtyba Rubin. Rubin would be the natural starting candidate. He is 6-2, 325 pounds and is massive along the line. Dobbs is a good run-stopper, according to Richard. — John Clayton