Players and fans aren't only ones excited for return of NFL – New York Post


The NFL never leaves, really. Between the draft, free agency and round-the-clock interest, it’s hard to detach, especially for those in media. But this time of year is still just as special.

Training camp is open. The Hall of Fame Game is in less than a week. The season is on the horizon — and coverage is about to ramp up.

“It’s like opening up a present,” NBC’s Al Michaels told The Post. “And then all of the sudden it begins and then you kinda roll with it.”

Michaels will be on the Bears-Ravens broadcast from Canton, Ohio, along with Cris Collinsworth and Michele Tafoya. It’s one of two preseason games the Sunday Night Football crew gets, along with a Cowboys-Cardinals matchup in Week 3.

Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky is unlikely to play much, if at all, in the Hall of Fame Game. Ditto for the Ravens’ Joe Flacco and Lamar Jackson. It won’t stop those three from being the talk of the game.

“In Chicago, everybody’s kinda making the analogy that Jared Goff in Los Angeles didn’t play until the second half of the season his rookie year,” Michaels said. “Didn’t play well, [and] they changed — you know, they fired Jeff Fisher, brought in Sean McVay last year. And so you’ve got this McVay-Goff thing, which turned out to be phenomenal. They went from the worst offense in the league to the best, which is unheard of — 32nd to 1st — made the playoffs, great team, you know. So I think if you’re Chicago, you’re saying, ‘Hey, it’s the same situation. We’ve got an offensive-minded coach, Matt Nagy. We’ve got a quarterback who got his feet wet last year.’ ”

Michaels wasn’t the only one to draw that analogy — NFL Network’s Andrew Siciliano did as well. As for the Ravens, the story is more about whether Jackson can push Flacco, than whether he can win the job out of camp — and if he’ll be on the field regardless.

Al MichaelsGetty Images

Baltimore has shown packages with both quarterbacks on the field, and John Harbaugh has said he wants Jackson on the field.

“Part of me is skeptical, says this is only for us to talk about now, for fans to talk about now,” Siciliano said. “That once we get going with real games, you’re not going to see it. But I also find it very … for me, it’s difficult to believe that they’re not going to find a way to utilize [Jackson]. And this isn’t trying to suggest he’s a wide receiver. He’s not. He’s a quarterback. But he is a spectacular player when the ball is in his hand.”

For “Inside Training Camp Live,” Siciliano will hit Baltimore, Chicago and Canton as part of a seven-city training camp swing that also includes Green Bay, Atlanta, New Orleans and Cleveland.

“When I was a kid, I would get so excited to go to training camp,” NFL Network’s Andrew Siciliano told The Post. “My parents would drop me off at Browns camp — I’m not from there, but I’d go visit my grandmother and my parents would drop me off at camp. Back then they were in Lakeland, Ohio, and training camp would kinda be my babysitter.”

Now, these days are packed for Siciliano — get on TV, cover a team all day, get to the airport, rinse, repeat. He can’t wait.

“It’s hard to put into words how excited we are,” Siciliano said. “I’ll quote Andrew Luck, I am so stoked.”

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