The number of NFL players in the COVID-19 vaccination process has reached 80%, with nine teams having 90% or more of their players in that category.

Dr. Allen Sills, the league's medical director, said Friday that nearly all Tier 1 and Tier 2 team employees - those who deal directly with players - have been vaccinated. Five teams are at less than 70% of players who have either received one vaccination shot or both. He is optimistic the number of vaccinated players will continue to rise as training camps open.

"I think we are off to an excellent start," Sills said. "Those numbers are much higher than what we're seeing in society as a whole. There has been a lot of movement in that area. As you see players coming to training camp, you will see more players beginning that process (of vaccination)."

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FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) The New York Jets placed safety Marcus Maye on the non-football injury list and defensive lineman Quinnen Williams on the physically unable to perform list Friday ahead of the team reporting for camp next week.

Defensive linemen Foley Fatukasi and Vinny Curry were also placed on the non-football injury list. Safety Ashtyn Davis and defensive linemen Jonathan Marshall and Kyle Phillips are also on the PUP list.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) In an era when NFL teams chose general managers from the ranks of former players, coaches and personnel executives, George Young was ahead of his time with the New York Giants.

Young was a Renaissance man. He filled all the prerequisites and so much more in a career that earned the former high school teacher, coach and later NFL front-office executive a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

MIAMI (AP) Cornerback Cre'von LeBlanc signed a one-year contract Friday with the Miami Dolphins, who added depth to their secondary with the status of All-Pro cornerback Xavien Howard in question.

Howard was a no-show at mandatory minicamp, wants to renegotiate the contract he reworked two years ago, and might hold out when training camp starts next week.

Dak Prescott bowed his head and slowed his walk before pointing to the sky and breaking into a trot while taking the field for the first practice of training camp.

The star quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys savored the latest milestone in his return from the horrific ankle injury that ended his 2020 season, which didn't start with the usual camp in California because COVID-19 kept teams at home.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) Patrick Mahomes and several of his Kansas City Chiefs teammates reported for training camp Friday, with 90% of the team's roster having received the COVID-19 vaccine.

"There's six teams that are over 90%, so we're glad to be in that area there," coach Andy Reid said. "We're one of the teams where the players have really challenged themselves to get things done and take care of business."

NFL teams that experience a COVID-19 outbreak among nonvaccinated players could forfeit regular-season games, with players on both teams not getting paid.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell warned the 32 teams Thursday in a memo obtained by The Associated Press that no games would be rescheduled under such circumstances. Instead, forfeits could happen.

NEW YORK (AP) New York Jets assistant coach Greg Knapp died Thursday of injuries suffered in an accident when he was struck by a car while riding a bicycle Saturday near his home in California. He was 58.

Knapp's family released a statement through the team that the longtime NFL assistant coach died at 2:32 p.m. EDT.

CLEVELAND (AP) Mac Speedie spent his life overcoming hurdles both physical and figurative. He's about to clear another.

A quick, sure-handed wide receiver on powerhouse Cleveland Browns teams in the 1940s and 50s, Speedie, who overcame a childhood disease and later delayed his playing career to serve in World War II, is finally being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) Running back Saquon Barkley, coming off an ACL injury, is starting training camp for the New York Giants on the active/physically unable to perform list.

Barkley and five other players were placed on the list Thursday as the team's quarterbacks, first-year players and those rehabbing injuries checked into training camp. They joined a group of rookies who reported Wednesday.