4 Takeaways From Week One Of NFL Preseason

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA – AUGUST 08: Shedeur Sanders #12 of the Cleveland Browns looks on during the first half of an NFL Preseason 2025 game against the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium on August 08, 2025 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images)

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Week one of NFL preseason had its fair share of impactful plays, tantalizing storylines and various takeaways to choose from as football season began its unofficial takeoff.

Below are the four major takeaways from the first week of pre-regular season NFL football.

Shedeur Sanders Shines in First NFL Preseason Start

The Cleveland Browns fifth-round rookie quarterback received a bulk of the game action versus the Carolina Panthers due to various injuries and intentional rest to the three main guys in the quarterback room. Sanders struggled initially before settling down and orchestrating three scoring drives between the second and third quarter that helped the Browns take a 21-7 lead.

After a day’s work, Sanders finished the evening 14 of 23 for 138 yards and two pinpoint redzone touchdown tosses. While many viewed the rookies start as a success, reports are that the Browns quarterback depth chart will remain unchanged as the team gears up for its Week 2 preseason matchup versus the Philadelphia Eagles.

“The situations were invaluable for Shedeur and all of our offense,” Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski said. “We got a third-and-1 where he had a quarterback sneak. I mean, there’s just a lot of football and that’s by design with him getting a ton of reps in this game, and he’ll get a ton of reps next week as well. That’s all part of our development of our young players.”

Bengals Starting Offense Shines In A Quarter of Preseason Reps While Starting Defense Underwhelms

Due to consecutive slow starts in the regular season, Cincinnati Bengals coach Zach Taylor made it a priority that his team’s entire starting lineup would get meaningful preseason reps in hopes of getting off the blocks faster when the games matter.

In its first preseason matchup against the Eagles, Cincinnati’s starting offense hit its stride with two consecutive scoring drives that amassed a combined 15 plays. Joe Burrow attempted 10 passes and completed all but one for 123 yards and touchdown tosses to receiver Ja’Marr Chase and tight end Tanner Hudson.

The downside for Cincinnati was that its starting defense was mostly shredded by Philly’s backup offense led by reserve signal caller Tanner Mckee. Mckee posted for consecutive scoring drives in the first-half with three going for touchdowns. He finished the night with over 250 yards passing and two touchdowns on 20 total completions.

A slight bright side for the Bengals defense was rookie Shemar Stewart collecting a tackle for loss and generating a few pressures just a few weeks removed from returning to the team following his rookie contract agreement.

Travis Hunter Plays Offense and Defense In Jaguars’ Preseason Debut

The conversation around training camp was if and how much first-round selection Travis Hunter would play on both ends during his rookie NFL season. Viewers saw a glimpse of what could potentially come on NFL Sundays as he collected 16 total snaps this weekend versus the Pittsburgh Steelers.

11 of Hunters 16 snaps were on offense, and he posted all of his on-field statistics there by snagging two catches for nine yards. Defensively, he played during the team’s second possession and missed an open-field tackle on Steelers’ rookie running back Kaleb Johnson.

Hunter also suffered what appeared to be a coverage bust too the same drive that he and Jaguars defensive backs coach Anthony Perkins talked about on the sidelines. The ball was fortunately not thrown Hunter’s way as a Steelers’ wide out broke free behind him on a route.

“”He made a couple good catches on some option routes and missed the one tackle defensively that I noticed,” Jaguars head coach Liam Coen said after the game. “I’ll have to watch the tape on how he operated defensively a little bit more, but I thought offensively, he made the right decisions on those option routes. Made a good catch, almost broke out of that one where Trevor put it behind him on that third down we talked about, but I’ll have to go watch the tape a little bit more to know more.”

Spencer Rattler and Tyler Shough Create Little Separation During Early Stages Of Saints Starting Quarterback Battle

In what many deem to be a two-player race between second-year player Spencer Rattler and rookie prospect Tyler Shough for the Saints starting quarterback job, neither did too much yesterday versus the Los Angeles Chargers to put themselves solely ahead for the starting signal caller job.

Rattler received a majority of the first-half reps but led the Saints on zero scoring drives, including a goal line falter on the Saints second drive that stalled at the one. Shough came in to run the two-minute offense and received extensive reps all the way into the fourth quarter.

The rookie second-rounder led the Saints offense to a field goal before the half, tossed a pick six during the third quarter before answering with a long touchdown bomb to Mason Tipton that gave the Saints its first and only touchdown on the afternoon.

Rattler finished 7 of 11 for 51 yards passing and rushed for 22 yards. Shough threw 22 passes and completed 15 of them for 165 yards a score and an interception.

“Rattler did some good stuff coming out there,” Saints head coach Kellen Moore said. “Using his feet in some situations where he avoided zone areas, he was able to make some plays out of it.

Probably for us, playing some situational football where we were close on getting some points and we just weren’t able to get it done. Tyler [Shough] played a little bit more just between the second and third quarter. Great two minute drive right before the half. I thought he did some really good things there. He felt under control, I thought he managed the situations really well.”

Both will have their chance to stake a further claim for the starting gig next Sunday with a home tilt versus the Jacksonville Jaguars.