BEREA, Ohio — For the first time in Cleveland Browns training camp, there’s been a change in the quarterback order.

Deshaun Watson was first up with the No. 1 offense for the second straight day Saturday and ran exclusively with the starters. By previous rotation, Saturday would have been Shedeur Sanders’ day with the No. 1 offense.

The change is notable for multiple reasons. Through the spring and the first eight days of camp, Watson and Sanders alternated days with the No. 1 offense, with a near 50-50 split of total reps. Before Saturday’s practice, Browns coach Todd Monken told reporters Sanders would get the majority of snaps with the potential exception of Watson getting an extra seven-on-seven session, which had happened on one of Sanders’ four previous days as the lead man.

Instead, we can take Saturday’s change as only the first strong sign that Monken views Watson as the clear leader of what’s been an uneven and unremarkable competition through two weeks of camp. Saturday was the Browns’ sixth practice in six days; Monken was not available to reporters after practice.

“There were personnel groupings (Monken) wanted to see Deshaun with,” a team spokesman said after practice.

At least for one day, Monken apparently wanted to see Watson in all of them. Saturday was Watson’s strongest overall throwing day of camp, too, marking his third impressive performance of the Browns’ long week. Watson struggled mightily in two early camp practices, leaving the impression that Sanders might be in the lead despite Monken’s insistence that he was rushing to no judgments of any kind. There have been 18 interceptions thrown in competitive drills by Watson, Sanders and Dillon Gabriel over the first 10 days of camp; Watson threw six over the first four days.

Watson hasn’t played since October 2024. He missed last season while recovering from a twice-torn Achilles tendon. He’s in the final year of the fully guaranteed $230 million contract he signed in 2022 after the Browns traded three first-round picks to acquire him from the Houston Texans. It’s been one of the worst trades in NFL history as Watson is 9-10 as the Browns’ starter and the team is undergoing a youth movement on the roster that included trading away two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett in June.

The Browns probably will look to find their quarterback of the future in the 2027 draft. But Monken appears to be leaning toward one more run with Watson, 30, a decision that indicates Monken is unburdened by recent history of Watson and the Cleveland franchise. In March 2025, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam called the Watson trade “a swing and a miss” as the team embarked on an offseason quarterback search that ended with the Browns drafting Gabriel in the third and Sanders in the fifth round of the 2025 draft. The Browns traded away Kenny Pickett last August and Joe Flacco last October.

Sanders, 24, started the final seven games of his rookie season and seems the more logical choice given the Browns’ overall youth and ongoing rebuild across the offensive roster. But Monken had divided the reps equally through the spring and the first eight installation-based days of full camp. He also altered his original plan of naming a starter early in camp because he said both Watson and Sanders deserved more opportunities to win the job.

Monken has said since the spring that Watson’s NFL experience should give him an edge in handling the overall operation — things such as commanding the huddle, using the cadence and diagnosing defensive looks — and said this month that those were probably the areas in which Sanders had the most room to improve. The Browns don’t practice Sunday, a day Monken said the coaching staff would use to evaluate what’s happened in camp and how the next stage should be handled. Cleveland’s preseason opener is next Saturday in Chicago. And though Monken said he expected Watson or Sanders to start that game and the other to start Aug. 22 versus Buffalo, he also said that was “subject to change.”

Since the most recent practice brought camp’s most significant change, perhaps Monken is closer to a decision than he’s previously let on.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — When Carolina Panthers rookie quarterback Haynes King walked off the Arizona Cardinals with a game-winning touchdown run Thursday, it capped what some called the best Hall of Fame Game in recent memory.

The victory also came with a consequence.

King, an undrafted free agent from Georgia Tech, is “week to week” with a hamstring injury, according to a league source who was not authorized to speak publicly on a player’s injury status.

The Panthers’ final exhibition game is against the Houston Texans on Aug. 28, two days before the roster-cut deadline. King is listed behind Bryce Young and Kenny Pickett on the team’s official depth chart.

The Panthers plan to sign another QB while King is sidelined, the source said. They recently worked out Kyle Trask, who was with coach Dave Canales in Tampa. Jack Plummer also could be an option: The UFL MVP spent the 2024 season with Carolina before being waived last summer.

King, the ACC’s Player of the Year in 2025, scrambled for a 5-yard touchdown as time expired in the 33-30 win over the Cardinals in Canton, Ohio. King dropped back looking to throw, but said he took off from the pocket when the middle of the Cardinals’ defense “parted.” With a linebacker angling toward him, King dove and extended the ball across the goal line, setting off a raucous celebration. Teammates rushed to surround King as he stood up.

A Hall of Fame Game moment for Haynes King. 🙌 pic.twitter.com/Va10tf3Fg9

— Sunday Night Football on NBC (@SNFonNBC) August 7, 2026

King didn’t mention the injury during postgame interviews.

King and Cardinals rookie QB Carson Beck — who once dueled in a memorable, eight-overtime game in college — impressed in their NFL debuts. King completed 21 of 34 passes for 180 yards and two TDs, while rushing for 39 yards on three carries. Beck was 15-of-19 passing for 188 yards and a score.

Panthers players and coaches were fired up for the 25-year-old King after his game-winner. As King conducted an on-field interview, defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero walked by and said, “A star is born.” Young wore a big smile, while offensive lineman Rob Hunt noted he and King are both from east Texas.

“I’m very excited I got this opportunity. I feel like I went out there and operated at a high level,” King said afterward. “And I feel like I affected a lot of people and allowed everybody around me to play better as well.”

Newcastle United winger Anthony Elanga has avoided a serious injury after being taken off on a stretcher during the team’s pre-season friendly win over Valencia on Saturday.

New Newcastle head coach Matthias Jaissle said after the match that he hoped the 24-year-old would be fit to start next week, when Newcastle have pre-season games against Everton, Bayer Leverkusen and Strasbourg.

In the first half, Elanga was on the receiving end of a reckless challenge from Valencia left-back Jose Gaya, whose left boot connected high on Elanga’s right leg. Gaya received a straight red card for the tackle.

The Sweden international appeared in considerable pain on the pitch as his team-mates, led by striker William Osula, confronted Gaya. The challenge also sparked an angry reaction from Jaissle, taking charge of his first game since being announced as Eddie Howe’s replacement on Wednesday, with the German shouting at the assistant referee and fourth official.

Elanga was treated on the pitch at the Mestalla Stadium before being taken off on a stretcher.

Players confronted each other after Gaya’s challenge (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

Club sources with knowledge of the situation, speaking on the condition of anonymity, indicated that Elanga was walking after being taken off and was dealing with a shin contusion. In his post-match press conference Jaissle said that Elanga “seems to be OK”.

When asked about the challenge, he said: “The only thing I can say is that it seems to be not bad, and we hope it’s true that Anthony can start again next week.

“Of course I was in fear, definitely. But now I am more relaxed because the medical department is showing a green light for it. It was a really tough (challenge), it was not expected. Fouls are part of the game — that was really harsh.”

Elanga joined Newcastle from Nottingham Forest last summer for a fee of £52million plus add-ons, he made 49 appearances in all competitions in the 2025-26 campaign, though he made just 14 Premier League starts and failed to record a goal in the league.

Newcastle fell behind against Valencia after an early strike from midfielder Filip Ugrinic, but a second-half double from Yoane Wissa turned things around for a 2-1 win.

Fabian Schar and Lewis Miley both missed the game, while Lewis Hall left the training camp on Wednesday as he manages a minor injury. Tino Livramento remains sidelined as he recovers from the calf issue that forced him out of England’s World Cup campaign, while Dan Burn is yet to join the main squad after representing the nation at the tournament.