With many NFL training camps underway, the league is abuzz with position battles, injury news and rookies making an immediate impact. Each day, TSN.ca provides the latest rumours, reports and speculation from around the NFL beat. Johnny Be Focused? Cleveland Browns head coach Mike Pettine declared on Wednesday that Johnny Manziel needs to focus on football in order to have a chance to win the starting quarterback job. "I think he knows that in order for him to compete well, hes going to have to probably be more dedicated than ever," Pettine said via Tom Withers of the associated press. After a well-documented offseason, Manziel enters training camp behind incumbent Brian Hoyer at the quarterback position. The Browns report for training camp on Friday. Showing Up Injured Carolina Panthers running back Jonathan Stewart reported to training camp with a pulled hamstring and will miss the first one-to-two weeks of camp. Due to injury, Stewart appeared in only six games for the Panthers last season, rushing for 180 yards on 48 carries. Genos Job According to Brian Costello of the New York Post, New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith took 13 first-team reps on Thursday compared to Michael Vicks four. Throughout the offseason, the starting quarterback position has been reported to be Genos to lose. Entering his sophomore season, Smith threw 12 touchdowns and 21 interceptions in 16 games in 2013. Instant Starter? Eric Williams of ESPN reports that San Diego Chargers first-round pick Jason Verrett practiced at starting right cornerback on Thursday, while Richard Marshall lined up across from him. Free agent acquisition Brandon Flowers worked at left cornerback with the second team. The Chargers ranked fourth-worst in the NFL last season against the pass, averaging 258.7 yards allowed per game via the air. Riddick in the Rotation? Kyle Meinke of MLive.com believes 2013 sixth-round draft pick Theo Riddick is a lock to make the Detroit Lions 53-man roster, while 2011 second-round pick Mikel Leshoure is on the roster bubble. Despite receiving only 13 offensive touches in his first year, Meinke notes that Riddick has drawn praise from both coaches and teammates this offseason. Meinke envisions Riddick filling a Darren Sproles-like type of role in the Lions offense and earning regular touches in the running back rotation. Leshoure faces an uphill battle to earn touches in the Lions offense. The 24-year-old played in just three games last season, receiving two carries for nine yards. He rushed for 798 yards on 215 carries with nine touchdowns in 2012. New Lead? Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle would be "surprised" if Maurice Jones-Drew was not the starting running back for the Oakland Raiders this season. Signed this offseason after spending eight seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Jones-Drew joins a backfield in Oakland that features former fourth-overall pick Darren McFadden, as well as Latavius Murray, Jeremy Stewart, rookie George Atkinson and former CFL standout Kory Sheets. Jones-Drew rushed for 803 yards on 234 carries in 15 games with the Jaguars in 2013. Exiting for Personal Reasons Denver Broncos wide receiver Demaryius Thomas is expected to miss the first four days of training camp for personal reasons. Mike Klis of the Denver Post reports that Thomas attended the teams camp-opening meeting but was then excused by coach John Fox to attend the funeral services of the grandmother who helped raise him in Georgia. Thomas led the Broncos with 92 catches for 1430 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2013. He also set a Super Bowl record with 13 catches in the Broncos loss to the Seattle Seahawks. 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The Wild, playing their first game since leading scorer Mikko Koivu broke his ankle Saturday at Washington, have won three straight for the first time since Nov. 1-5. Koivu underwent surgery on Monday and is expected to miss at least four weeks. Custom Arizona Cardinals Jerseys . Curtis Davies and Robert Koren secured the victory with goals inside 35 minutes of the fifth-round replay against the second-tier side. KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Moments after James Shields struck out Rockies slugger Troy Tulowitzki, catcher Salvador Perez popped to his feet behind the plate and demanded the ball. Shields raised his hands in utter confusion. "He was like, Whats going on? This is a good ball. I like this ball," Royals manager Ned Yost said, "and Salvy is making me throw the ball back in." It took Shields a moment -- and some help from the scoreboard -- to realize he had just reached 1,500 career strikeouts. It came in the sixth inning Tuesday night as he struck out the side, highlighting Kansas Citys 5-1 victory over hot-hitting Colorado. "Normally when the umpire calls for the ball, the hitter is checking the ball or whatever, wants to take it out of play," Shields said with a grin. "And Im like, I just struck the guy out! But once they pointed at the scoreboard I knew what was going on." The only run Shields (5-3) allowed came on an RBI single by Justin Morneau in the fourth inning. Shields wound up striking out eight without issuing a walk over seven sharp innings. Perez helped him out with the bat, too, hitting a solo homer. Alcides Escobar drove in a pair of runs and Lorenzo Cain added a two-run shot to provide plenty of support. Franklin Morales (3-3) gave up four runs for the Rockies. He allowed eight hits and four walks without a strikeout in five innings, needing 99 pitches just to get that far. "I need to pitch better, man, because thats my job," he said. "I try to do the best I can, but when Im behind in the count every time I got in trouble." The Royals jumped on Morales right from the start, a pair of double plays the only thing keeping the game from getting out of hand early. Still, Kansas City was able to coax a run across on a two-out single by Escobar to take the lead in the second inning. Cain made it a 3-1 lead with his two-run shot in the fourth. It was the first home run by the Royals injury-prone ooutfielder since July 4 against Cleveland.dddddddddddd The ball landed in the bullpen in left field to end a drought for Cain spanning 206 at-bats. Perez added his solo shot in the fifth, the ball landing in just about the same spot. That was more than enough support for Shields, who induced a double play to escape a jam in the second inning and then left two runners aboard in the fourth during a nice bounce-back performance at Kauffman Stadium. In his previous home start, Shields allowed eight runs and 12 hits in a loss to Detroit. "He did a good job of shutting this lineup down," Rockies catcher Jordan Pacheco said. When Shields recorded his milestone strikeout, the crowd at the K gave him a standing ovation. Shields appeared to be confused by the spontaneous applause, raising his hands on the mound as if to say, "What?" Eventually, he turned around on the rubber to see his strikeout mark on the giant video board in centre field and started chuckling. After stepping off the back of the mound, Shields tipped his cap and went back to work. He struck out Carlos Gonzalez to end the inning, then set down the Rockies in order in the seventh, finishing off his night by striking out Brandon Barnes for the second time. "I knew about 10 days ago I was getting close," Shields said. "To be honest with you, I didnt even know how many strikeouts I had in the game. But that was a pretty special moment. Once I realized it, its kind of crazy to think -- 1,500 strikeouts is quite a bit of strikeouts." NOTES: RHP Tommy Kahnle threw two shutout innings in relief for Colorado. ... The Royals placed 2B Omar Infante (sore back) on the DL and selected the contract of INF Pedro Ciriaco from Triple-A Omaha. ... The Rockies activated Josh Rutledge (illness) from the DL and optioned him to Triple-A Colorado Springs. ... LHP Jason Vargas will start Wednesday for Kansas City. RHP Jhoulys Chacin takes the mound for Colorado. ' ' '