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The week in one paragraph

Training camp — the NFL's pre-season boot camp, where all 32 teams gather to practise, trim squads and break hearts — opened this week, and the biggest sigh of relief came from Kansas City. Patrick Mahomes, the Chiefs' talisman quarterback, has been fully cleared to practise just 222 days after tearing the ACL and LCL (two of the main stabilising ligaments) in his left knee last December. He says he feels "amazing" and wants to be ready for the Chiefs' opener against Denver on 14 September; head coach Andy Reid is playing it cooler: "Let's just see where we're at and not make any predictions."

Three things that mattered

1. Mahomes is back — but nobody in Kansas City is promising anything.

The best quarterback of his generation was cleared on Wednesday by the surgeon who repaired his knee, along with the Chiefs' medical staff. He'd been out since being hurt in December. Mahomes himself admits the knee will need managing "for years", and Reid is being deliberately vague about Week 1. Translation for newer fans: a torn ACL used to end careers; now it's a nine-month project — but quarterbacks who plant and throw off that leg are watched like hawks in their first season back.

2. The No. 1 draft pick signed — and walks into a very polite fight for the job.

Fernando Mendoza, the quarterback taken first overall in April's draft (the annual event where teams pick the best university players), agreed a four-year, $57.2m contract with the Las Vegas Raiders — fully guaranteed, with a $38m signing bonus. The wrinkle: veteran Kirk Cousins is also in the building, and ESPN reports the Raiders plan to bring Mendoza along slowly, Tom Brady-style. A strong camp from the rookie could speed that timetable up considerably.

3. Carolina's season took a hit on day one of camp.

Nic Scourton, the Panthers' promising second-year pass rusher (his job: chasing the opposing quarterback), tore the ACL in his right knee during the very first practice on Thursday and was carted off. He's been placed on injured reserve — the list for players out long-term — and will miss the season pending a second opinion. Scourton had five sacks as a rookie and was meant to bookend the pass rush with new signing Jaelan Phillips.

Dates for your diary

The bit that makes this season special for us on this side of the Atlantic — six regular-season games in Europe:

Plus the two that need an alarm: the season opener, Patriots at Seahawks, on Thu 10 Sept at 01:20 BST, and 49ers v Rams from the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Fri 11 Sept at 01:35 BST — the first regular-season NFL game ever played in Australia.

Download all eight games as a calendar file and let your phone do the timezone maths.

One thing to sound smart about

That Melbourne opener doubles as one of the season's best comeback stories: 49ers tight end George Kittle will be just 242 days removed from a torn Achilles when he lines up at the MCG, and he's 33. The question beat reporters are asking is not whether he plays, but whether the explosiveness returns after that particular injury at that particular age. Drop "242 days post-Achilles" into conversation and you'll sound like you've done the reading.