NFL Nation reporters look ahead to Saturday's practices and preseason games.
AFC EAST
Buffalo Bills: The Bills will be back on the practice field Saturday morning, beginning a full week of preparation before their next preseason game. It would be positive news for the Bills if they can get any of their injured running backs or wide receivers back for Saturday's practice. Robert Woods, Sammy Watkins and Fred Jackson should be close to returning. -- Mike Rodak
Miami Dolphins: The Dolphins will play their second preseason game, this time in Carolina against the Panthers. Miami quarterback Ryan Tannehill will look to build off his near-perfect start to the preseason; he was 6-for-7 passing for 56 yards and a touchdown last week against the Bears. -- James Walker
New England Patriots: The Patriots face the Saints Saturday at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome (7:30 p.m. ET), and all eyes will naturally be on Tom Brady. He played seven snaps over two drives in the Aug. 13 preseason opener, going 1-for-4 for 10 yards. Brady got a lot of work in joint practices with the Saints on Wednesday and Thursday, and one line of thinking is that perhaps that means he doesn't play much, if at all, Saturday. But another line of thinking is that he needs all the work he can get, so why not let it rip? -- Mike Reiss
New York Jets: When the Jets meet on Saturday to assess their personnel, they should take a hard look at tight end, where depth is an issue. Jace Amaro (sprained shoulder) could miss another couple of weeks -- and perhaps the rest of the preseason. Veteran Kellen Davis, coming off a three-penalty performance in Friday night's win over the Falcons, is having a rough preseason. Starter Jeff Cumberland is solid, but unspectacular. -- Rich Cimini
AFC NORTH
Baltimore Ravens: Baltimore travels to Philadelphia to play its second preseason game on Saturday night. Typically, coach John Harbaugh would play his starters for two quarters, but given the fact that the Ravens are without two starting offensive linemen (right tackle Rick Wagner and left guard Kelechi Osemele), Harbaugh might be leery about exposing quarterback Joe Flacco to too many hits. -- Jamison Hensley
Cincinnati Bengals: The Bengals close out their week of practice with one more workout Saturday. A day later, they'll have one last walkthrough before traveling to Tampa ahead of Monday night's game with the Buccaneers. It'll be interesting to see if coaches give any indication Saturday of how much backup quarterback AJ McCarron will play in the game after missing last week's preseason opener with an injury. -- Coley Harvey
Cleveland Browns: The Browns return to the practice field following Thursday's 11-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills. The practice will be light work and not at full speed, but quarterbacks will throw. It will be interesting to see if Josh McCown partakes, considering he had his ring finger X-rayed after the Bills game. McCown said he was fine, as did the team, but the Browns might choose to give him a day or two off, given that the third preseason game isn't until Aug. 29 in Tampa Bay. -- Pat McManamon
Pittsburgh Steelers: The organization has made clear it doesn't renegotiate contracts unless a player is going into the final year of his current deal. Will that reality affect Antonio Brown's attitude toward the team? Brown has three years left on a six-year, $43-million deal. Brown appeared visibly frustrated during a practice this week because he wanted the ball more. He said in July he's not eyeing a holdout, so let's see if he stays true to his word. -- Jeremy Fowler
AFC SOUTH
Houston Texans: Receiver Cecil Shorts III caught the Texans' first touchdown of the preseason on a perfect throw from quarterback Brian Hoyer. Both the route Shorts ran and his run after the catch showed how well Shorts is acclimating to the Texans' offense. He's been a standout at practice and will be a player to watch Saturday again as the Texans face the Denver Broncos in their second preseason game. -- Tania Ganguli
Indianapolis Colts: The Colts play their second preseason game against Chicago on Saturday. Quarterback Andrew Luck and most of the starters will likely play longer this game after the majority of them played only about two series against Philadelphia last weekend. Running back Vick Ballard is expected to play his first game since Week 1 of the 2013 season. He has missed the last 31 regular season games with a torn ACL and Achilles. -- Mike Wells
Jacksonville Jaguars: The Jaguars' game against the Giants (7:30 p.m. ET) will be the debut for DE Jared Odrick, who missed the preseason opener with a sore knee. He was signed to play the big end spot, which has a main duty of setting the edge in the run game. But he's also a solid pass rusher (12.5 career sacks), which is something the Jaguars haven't had the past two seasons. -- Mike DiRocco
Tennessee Titans: The Titans expect the Rams' talented and deep defensive front to pose a significant challenge Sunday night at Nissan Stadium. It'll be good experience for an offensive line still sorting itself out. -- Paul Kuharsky
AFC WEST
Denver Broncos: The Broncos really liked what they saw from center Matt Paradis in the preseason opener last week, but want to see a little more composure early on from their two rookies along the O-line in Saturday's preseason game in Houston. Denver had some communication issues up front early in the game in Seattle and had to simply pound the ball on the ground to settle things down a bit. This time, with Peyton Manning set to make his first start of the preseason, the Broncos want to see the youngsters get settled in early and handle Manning's pre-snap adjustments. -- Jeff Legwold
Kansas City Chiefs: The Chiefs are off from practice until Monday after Friday night's preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks. In the meantime, Kansas City needs to figure out the proper lineup for its offensive line. The starting line had many breakdowns against the Seahawks. -- Adam Teicher
Oakland Raiders: The Oakland Raiders play at Minnesota on Saturday night. The first-team offense will likely work well into the second quarter. Quarterback Derek Carr said the key is to play clean and efficiently while the first unit is on the field. -- Bill Williamson
San Diego Chargers: Will Melvin Gordon play on Saturday against the Arizona Cardinals? That'll likely be a game-time decision. After missing practice on Wednesday, Gordon got back on the field on Thursday and indicated he was healthy enough to play this weekend. But head coach Mike McCoy might want to take a more cautious approach by holding Gordon out, with his rookie running back nursing a minor ankle injury. Expect San Diego's starters to play about a quarter in the team's second preseason game. -- Eric D. Williams
NFC EAST
Dallas Cowboys: The Cowboys will hold a walk-through at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, in advance of their Sunday game against the 49ers. While the team might want to test out the problematic sod at the stadium, the real purpose of the trip is for the Cowboys to envision a return there next February for Super Bowl 50. -- Todd Archer
New York Giants: The Giants will play their second preseason game Saturday night, hosting the Jacksonville Jaguars. Tom Coughlin said this week he'd like to see the first-team offense get on track -- a task made more difficult by the likely absence of injured wide receivers Victor Cruz and Rueben Randle. The coaches will have their eyes on the right side of the offensive line, which struggled last week against the Bengals and could face changes next week if it struggles again. -- Dan Graziano
Philadelphia Eagles: After three days of lively practices with the Baltimore Ravens, the Eagles will play John Harbaugh's team in a preseason game Saturday night at Lincoln Financial Field. All signs point to Sam Bradford playing in his first game since tearing his left ACL in August 2014. -- Phil Sheridan
Washington Redskins: The Redskins will lift and watch film Saturday, but there won't be any practice and there probably won't be any update on injured players, including Robert Griffin III. One overshadowed player injury belonged to Adam Hayward, a linebacker and special teams captain who is out for the season with a torn ACL. The Redskins need their defense and special teams to be strong if they want to do anything this season. Hayward is now the second key special teamer done for the season (joining Niles Paul, not to mention Logan Paulsen had he made the roster). -- John Keim
NFC NORTH
Chicago Bears: Head coach John Fox expects to play his starters two quarters in Saturday's preseason matchup vs. Indianapolis. Tailback Matt Forte expressed a desire to participate in the Colts game, but Fox said he needed to discuss the matter with the coaching staff before he reached a final decision. Keep an eye on second-year offensive tackle Charles Leno, who is expected to see increased action with starting right tackle Jordan Mills (calf) nursing an injury. Mills is not a lock to start the year on the first team after struggling much of last season. -- Jeff Dickerson
Detroit Lions: The Lions are off Saturday before partaking in a short practice Sunday and then heading into regular season mode Monday. It will be an important day of rest for some injured starters from Thursday's game against the Redskins. -- Michael Rothstein
Green Bay Packers: The team leaves for Pittsburgh on Saturday, but it's unclear whether linebacker Clay Matthews will make the trip. He didn't travel to New England for last week's preseason opener because of a sore knee, and now he also has an elbow injury that limited him in practice this week. -- Rob Demovsky
Minnesota Vikings: The Vikings' third preseason game, against the Oakland Raiders on Saturday night at TCF Bank Stadium, will bring some familiar faces to town. Former Vikings linebacker Jack Del Rio, former head coach Mike Tice, former offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave and former quarterback Christian Ponder are all in the Raiders organization now. -- Ben Goessling
NFC SOUTH
Atlanta Falcons: The Falcons played Friday's exhibition game without wide receiver Roddy White, who apparently is nursing an elbow injury. Maybe it wasn't a big deal since it was the second preseason game, but White's body will be worth monitoring as Week 1 nears. We'll see how much he practices the coming week. -- Vaughn McClure
Carolina Panthers: The Panthers begin life after wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin in Saturday night's preseason game against the Miami Dolphins. Rookie Devin Funchess is the most likely candidate to replace the injured Benjamin, but Funchess is out with a bad hamstring. This provides an opportunity for Jarrett Boykin, Corey Brown, Ted Ginn Jr. and others to step up. Saturday will also mark the debut of first-round draft pick Shaq Thompson, who missed the opener with a hamstring injury. -- David Newton
New Orleans Saints: It's game day. The Saints will host the New England Patriots tonight in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, and it should be the preseason debut for quarterback Drew Brees. Though coach Sean Payton hasn't confirmed his QB rotation, Brees said he expects to play for a quarter or a quarter-and-a-half. The Saints would love to get off to a better start than last week, when they went three-and-out on their first two drives in Baltimore before finally finding their groove. -- Mike Triplett
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Saturday marks the end of the training camp portion of the preseason. One player who needs to show more in practice is tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins, who has dropped way too many passes. Seferian-Jenkins needs to start holding on to the ball or else the Bucs could turn to Brandon Myers as the starter. -- Pat Yasinskas
NFC WEST
Arizona Cardinals: The Cardinals play their second preseason game, against San Diego Chargers, at University of Phoenix Stadium on Saturday night. Rookie defensive tackle Rodney Gunter was promoted to the first team in place of the injured Corey Peters. Running back Chris Johnson will get his first snaps with the Cardinals. -- Josh Weinfuss
St. Louis Rams: The Rams are traveling to Tennessee for Sunday night's preseason meeting with the Titans, and St. Louis coach Jeff Fisher has said his starters will get an "increase" in snaps from last week, when both sides played two series. Quarterback Nick Foles & Co. probably won't play much more than that against the Titans, but they'll probably get into the second quarter before their night ends. -- Nick Wagoner
San Francisco 49ers: The 49ers are off today as they prepare for their preseason home opener on Sunday night against the Dallas Cowboys. Niners coach Jim Tomsula would not say who would or would not play this time, though it seems unlikely that inside linebacker NaVorro Bowman would see any action after sitting out last week's exhibition at the Houston Texans. -- Paul Gutierrez
Seattle Seahawks: The Seahawks will have the rest of the weekend off, giving the coaching staff two days to assess how the newly-configured offensive line fared in Friday night's preseason game against Kansas City. They'll likely see plenty of positives, especially with second-year right tackle Garry Gilliam. He made his first career start and more than held his own against one of the league's best edge rushers in Justin Houston. -- Brady Henderson