In terms of the starting quarterback battle between Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold, Rhule still wasn’t ready to name the winner, although multiple sources have said the job remains Mayfield’s to lose.

Rhule also wasn’t ready to say whether he would make that decision before the preseason finale Friday against Buffalo, but he did say “most, if not all, of the starters” will play against the Bills.

Almost all of the starters, including Mayfield and Darnold, were held out of the 20-10 loss to the Patriots.

Rhule said Corral’s injury won’t influence his decision on who plays against Buffalo. But he said it could influence whether the team keeps three quarterbacks as he said was the plan early in training camp.

Corral likely would have been the third quarterback, behind Mayfield and Darnold. Carolina also has former XFL star PJ Walker, who is 2-0 as a starter for the Panthers the past two years.

Walker struggled with two interceptions and a lost fumble that resulted in a touchdown against New England.

“That position takes a beating,” Rhule said. “We want to have as many good players at that position as possible and make no apologies for it. Matt was coming along.”

Corral’s injury occurred in the fourth quarter when a player stepped awkwardly on his foot. He limped off the field and did not return, leaving Gillette Stadium in a walking boot.

Rhule said deep snapper J.J. Jansen and other veterans gave up their seats in first class to give Corral more room on the flight home.

“I hate it for him,” Rhule said of Corral. “I thought he was playing well, too.”

The Panthers selected Corral in the third round out of Ole Miss. In the Friday matchup he saw his most extensive playing time in practice or preseason games as Mayfield and Darnold have gotten a majority of the snaps.

Corral, who was 1-for-9 in the preseason opener at Washington, was 9-for-15 for 58 yards against New England.

“I thought I saw a lot of really nice signs early in the game,” Rhule said. “But I know Matt’s a battler. This year’s developmental. He’s just going to have to grind, both taking care of his foot and all the things he needs to do as a quarterback.

“Hopefully, someday he’ll look back and say it was a blessing, but I hate it for him right now.”

McKinney’s situation is a little different. He’s a safety, and on defense the green dot is traditionally reserved for a linebacker. McKinney going head-to-head against Jones in the playcalling challenge confirmed that the Giants, in all likelihood, have a different plan this season.

“So, I had a discussion with [defensive coordinator Don] “Wink” [Martindale]. And I have a lot of confidence in Wink,” Daboll said. “He’s done it that way for the past few years. So, that’s who we chose to wear it right now.”

The initial response from former players to a safety getting that type of responsibility is generally surprise. It’s not the norm.

“Safety calling a defense? That’s rare,” former Giants linebacker and playcaller Jonathan Casillas said this week while watching the team practice. “Coverages sometimes come from defensive backs, but calling the defense? Never from a safety from my experience. But if you have capable safeties …”

McKinney has been the on-field defensive playcaller most of this summer, which makes some sense because the third-year safety rarely comes off the field and is part of the Giants’ future. Starting middle linebacker Blake Martinez might not always be a three-down player in Martindale’s defense, and is in the final year of his contract.

The Giants’ defensive formations this summer have featured a lot of three-safety and one-linebacker looks. Martindale seems to have endless pressure packages with rotating personnel, except on the back end.

Martindale has used a safety as the playcaller in his scheme in the past. Eric Weddle and Chuck Clark did it for him in Baltimore. Martindale even connected McKinney with Weddle this offseason to prepare for the role.

Weddle, who came out of retirement last year to win a Super Bowl ring with the Los Angeles Rams, played for Martindale from 2016 to 2018 with the Ravens.

“He helped me a lot, actually, with just kind of how to disguise certain things and how to be on the same page with Wink and things like that,” McKinney said of Weddle. “He really helped me out in terms of looking at film, studying film, how he did it when he had Wink.”

McKinney, 23, has called plays in the past.

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“The last two years, it has been the [linebacker] … I talked to Wink, and it’s not something that’s new to me. I’ve done it before — I did it at [Alabama],” McKinney said.

“It’s different when you’ve got grown men in the huddle and you’re trying to get the call to everybody. Obviously being on the back end of it, you might have to run 30 yards and run back to get the play to everybody.”

That is one potential downside to having a safety calling plays in the huddle. The other, mentioned by Casillas, is that in two-minute or hurry-up situations, it could be difficult for the safety to communicate with the defensive line — especially if there is significant crowd noise. The call might at times have to go from the safety to the linebacker to the defensive line, adding an extra layer of communication compared to when the middle linebacker calls the plays.

But Martindale and Daboll clearly aren’t afraid to think outside the box or adjust on the fly.

“Well, I don’t think that’s written in stone yet …” Martindale said of McKinney being the playcaller all season. “That could change week to week on who we have wear the green dot.

“The biggest thing is to get them all communicating.”

In Martindale’s scheme, with constantly changing positions as they rush the passer or bluff seemingly on every play, that might be more important than who is calling the plays on the field.

1 Related

Becton is under contract for 2023, due to make a fully guaranteed $3.1 million in the final year of his rookie deal. By then, he is likely to have missed 35 of a possible 50 games because of injuries. He dislocated his right kneecap in the 2021 opener, resulting in season-ending surgery. There is virtually no chance the team will exercise his fifth-year option for 2024.

“Everything happens for a reason…I know God and my Grandma got me up there I JUST KNOW IT! TRUST!#IMSTILLHIM #4GK,” Becton posted on Instagram.

For now, the Jets have a pressing need at right tackle. The current starter in camp is Chuma Edoga, a 2019 third-round pick who has 12 starts in his NFL career. He began training camp on the roster bubble, which explains why the organization is seeking an upgrade. The team also has career backup Conor McDermott, who is out one to two weeks with a sprained ankle.

The Jets are in talks with former Seattle Seahawks free agent Duane Brown, a five-time Pro Bowl selection who turns 37 on Aug. 30. Brown, who visited with the Jets last weekend, is in “phenomenal shape,” general manager Joe Douglas said Tuesday in an interview with WFAN radio. Asked about their interest in Brown, Douglas said “the wheels are in motion.”

Other teams also are showing interest in Brown, a source said.

Douglas passed on the top tackles in the draft even though there were questions about Becton’s durability and weight. Now the Jets are scrambling to find an experienced tackle to start opposite George Fant. They drafted Max Mitchell (Louisiana) in the fourth round, but he’s regarded as a developmental prospect.

The Jets were in talks with Brown before Becton’s injury, which occurred Monday in practice. He hurt his knee in a noncontact offensive line drill, but remained in practice even though he was limping badly. Minutes later, in an 11-on-11 period, he was knocked backward by defensive end John Franklin-Myers and his knee appeared to bend awkwardly as he fell.

Writhing in pain, Becton — listed at 6-foot-7, 363 pounds — removed his shoulder pads and limped to the locker room. After practice, Saleh said the preliminary tests were encouraging and there was no reason to think it was a significant injury.

With the help of video analysis of the play, doctors determined there was no damage to the main ligaments. Saleh said the knee was “stable.” Later, an MRI revealed the damage to the kneecap.

Asked why the team didn’t pull Becton out of practice after the initial injury, Saleh said, “Hindsight is 20/20. We can play that game, for sure.” He said it was “going to take a little while for his knee to get going” because the team had a day off Sunday, which followed a scrimmage on artificial turf. Becton’s reps in the scrimmage Saturday night were limited because it was his first time on turf since his knee surgery last September, Saleh said.

Becton has been a polarizing player. He flashed immense potential as a rookie, but has since battled injuries and a weight problem. He was up to 400 pounds last year during his rehab, and he frustrated the organization by being overweight at the June minicamp.

On Tuesday, Saleh defended Becton against his critics.

“These are young men and sometimes, with social media in this world, we dehumanize these athletes in the worst way imaginable,” he said. “Mekhi has walked in this building and he has taken every single punch you can get from every which way, and he shows up, and he works his tail off and he grinds every single day.

“He shows up to camp and he’s fighting to get himself back in shape. He’s got videos of him vomiting, and people are throwing shade. And he’s limping … and he’s fighting for his family and himself, for his teammates, for this organization, for this fan base. He’s doing everything, and then everybody wants to drop him like a wet rag. That ain’t the case. We love Mekhi.”