NFL.com provides highlights and buzz below from Wednesday's training camps across the league.
Vrabel bloodied in Commanders-Pats scrum
Blood was drawn during Wednesday's Commanders-Patriots joint practice, but not from any current player.
A mid-scrimmage scuffle ensued after a reported altercation between Washington and New England players. Per local reporters, when the dust cleared, Patriots coach Mike Vrabel emerged -- from the bottom of a pile -- with a bloody cheek after intervening in the dustup.
After the practice, Pats receiver Demario Douglas told reporters that he asked Vrabel what happened in the scrum.
The coach reportedly replied, "You should've seen the other guy."
Said tight end Hunter Henry of Vrabel, "He's right there with us, man."
Vrabel, a former linebacker of 14 seasons, is no stranger to August dustups, but the first-year Patriots coach, just eight days from his 50th birthday, isn't the brawler he once was.
In fact, before Wednesday's proceedings, Vrabel was preaching level-headedness to his team.
"We want to practice the same way we've practiced against our team," Vrabel said, "and that's by playing physical and aggressive and not doing stuff that hurts the team and certainly don't expect any of that and if it does, we'll have to handle it accordingly.
"You have to be able to play competitively and physically without letting your emotions get the best of you."
Looks like it's back to the drawing board on that one in Foxborough.
-- Jeremy Bergman
London high-points for TD
It's not just coaches who are struggling to cover Drake London this summer at Falcons camp. The fourth-year receiver skied for a tough sideline TD catch on a nice pass from Michael Penix Jr..
-- Around The NFL staff
Watt, Highsmith experimenting with position swaps
T.J. Watt will one day end up in Canton. He's not anywhere close to hanging up the cleats, though, and the same is true for his creativity.
Watt and fellow edge rusher Alex Highsmith have been experimenting with flipping sides on the defensive front during Steelers camp in an effort to get comfortable with the change and increase versatility among the Steelers' key defenders, according to the team's official site. In fact, Watt has been testing it out for the last year, and while it might not be a harbinger of a change in approach for the Steelers, it remains interesting.
"We've been doing it," Watt said. "It's not something that we're doing every single day. I think we're picking days to kind of work on it.
"I'd rather work on one side for that day just to get more reps at it as opposed to going over there for a rep here or there. It's something that we are going to continue to do."
Watt has long lined up on the left side of the defensive line, matching up with the opposition's right tackle. Historically, the right tackle has been the worse of the two, but that trend is starting to change thanks to the excellence of players like Penei Sewell, Lane Johnson and Tristan Wirfs.
If Watt is searching for advantages, it might include heading over to the other side of the trenches. He'll be ready for the moment if and when it arrives.
-- Nick Shook
McMillan-Young connection continues to grow
Panthers rookie receiver Tetairoa McMillan continued to build chemistry with quarterback Bryce Young, making a number of notable plays during Wednesday's joint-practice with the Browns, including a nifty TD grab.
-- Around The NFL staff
'Tricky' practice situation for Waller with Dolphins
Darren Waller has yet to practice for the Dolphins and it's a "tricky" situation, according to head coach Mike McDaniel.
Acquired on the first week of July by Miami via trade with the Giants, Waller is coming out of retirement and his body still needs a bit more time to adjust. The structure of the training camp/preseason schedule has presented McDaniel with some additional challenges.
"With Waller, it's a little tricky because you're bringing a guy back and is his first practice a joint practice?" McDaniel said Wednesday, via team transcript. "So it's about a week so it's a little tricky in terms of what practice and we'll feel our way through that and you're just trying to be smart with that."
Wednesday was the Fins' final home practice before embarking for the Midwest, as Miami will have a joint practice with the Bears ahead of the teams' preseason opener on Sunday. Thereafter, it's on to Detroit, where more joint practicing awaits before a preseason Week 2 matchup with the Lions.
Thus, finding the best time to get Waller, who's on the physically unable to perform list, back out there remains to be decided.
While Waller waits for the right time to participate physically, he's getting plenty of mental reps in, according to offensive coordinator Frank Smith. It helps that Waller has experience in the offense thanks to his history playing in a similar system with the Raiders.
"There's actually more than you'd think, just because our version of the West Coast offense, there's very many similarities to the one that we had with Jon (Gruden) because Kyle Shanahan was with Jon to start off as a quality control coach," Smith said Monday, via team transcript. "So there's certain terminology that he's like 'Oh, OK. Yeah, I got it,' and all that.
"He's extremely intelligent and works his butt off, so I will be sure that he will have it all down. When I ask him questions, it's amazing what he's able to fire off really quickly. At the Raiders, he lined up everywhere. He lined up in the backfield, tight end, wide receiver. He lines up wherever works, so he's very willing and capable of handing him a load of doing whatever is necessary for what we'll need him to do."
