'He's in the best shape of his life': Ranking the most popular NFL training camp and preseason clichés

The NFL is a year-long enterprise that dominates media from training camp to the preseason to the regular season to the playoffs to the draft. There is a brief reprieve in the months of May and June, but football talk returns full force in July.

There is a lingo that has developed adjacent to the sport over the years to the point where key phrases are expected to be uttered by media, teams, players and fans alike this time of year. There are a number of clichés that are common among social media posts and national headlines. Whether or not one has taken the time to consider them, you know them by heart.

Below are some of the most common, but be sure to include your favorite or any that were overlooked in the comment section!

10. 'Ahead of rehab schedule'

The classic example of this is former Vikings running back Adrian Peterson. Peterson suffered tears of the ACL and MCL in December 2011 before returning for Week 1 of the following season eight months later. It was even more remarkable considering how much technology and medicine have progressed over the past decade-plus. 

Chiefs rookie left tackle Josh Simmons is a good illustration in training camp this year. Simmons suffered a torn patellar tendon at Ohio State in October. He fell to No. 32 overall in the 2025 NFL Draft as a result, but was available for the start of training camp. It sounds as though he is taking the left tackle competition by the horns in Kansas City. 

9. 'Wide-open competition'

The phrase is often coach speak to cultivate a competitive environment, but there are legitimate position battles all over the league.

San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh expressed that the competition at safety is wide open. Talanoa Hufanga departed in free agency and ascending talent Malik Mustapha suffered a torn ACL in the final week of the 2024 season. Ji'Ayir Brown, Richie Grant and rookie Marques Sigle are among those competing for those two spots. 

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Cody Benjamin

8. Precautionary cart-offs

There were a few days early in training camp when "carted off" may have been trending on social media because it felt as though a player were being carted off every few minutes. There were certainly some instances of players being carted off who suffered a significant injury, but far more were precautionary. 

Bengals pass rusher Myles Murphy was carted off the field one day at practice, but he was back the next day having recovered from leg cramps. 

7. 'Rookie exceeding expectations'

Fans and media are eternal optimists when it comes to training camp. Every draft pick is living up to expectation and every undrafted free agent has an opportunity to make the roster. In some instances, production meets expectation, but the overwhelming majority is preseason fodder. 

Packers quarterback Jordan Love was singing the praises of rookie wide receiver Matthew Golden as recently as Wednesday morning. It is not to say that Golden will not be a wild success this season or beyond, but rather an example of the rosy outlook for most rookies this time of year.

6. 'The game is slowing down'

A phrase that is often applied to rookie quarterbacks and positions that require a more cerebral approach to the game. Pace of play is one of the biggest adjustments for prospects matriculating from the college game to the NFL, which means decisions have to be made more quickly. 

Giants rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart used those exact words a little over a week ago.

"I can definitely feel a difference in the first day to even today," Dart said July 27. "Just that the game's starting to slow down a little bit the more that I get comfortable with the plays and the system."

5. 'Iron sharpens iron'

Chiefs message boards heavily referenced "iron sharpens iron" after a training camp scuffle between rookies Ashton Gillotte and Simmons, who was referenced earlier. Contact can often breed contempt when it is taken too far, and the Kansas City rookies felt their interaction went beyond a line of acceptability in that moment. Post-practice, cooler heads prevailed, but, as joint practices begin, scuffles will become more prevalent. 

4. Dramatizing routine moments in camp

Social media directors have little to work with early in training camp, and that can lead to some aggressive captions on routine plays. There was a particular throw on air by Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy that made the rounds on social media recently. The camera angle combined with the ball arriving as the pass catcher broke out of his route made it look awesome, but there was very little to take from the play overall. 

3. 'Football is back'

A shared love of football unites a large percentage of the country and beyond. "Football is back" echoes from coast to coast, but it only goes so far in preseason play. I, myself, am guilty of using the phrase for the return of preseason football, but the majority of fans probably tuned out of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game last week after one or two quarters because offensive play becomes very challenging when second- and third-string defensive lines are overwhelming their counterparts. 

2. 'New coach building a new culture'

Culture is a buzz word in the NFL, especially for a new head coach taking over a franchise that had struggled in recent memory. It can be difficult to shed that internal narrative of consistently falling short of expectations. 

Most reading this would likely assume that new Jets coach Aaron Glenn is the one preaching about toughness and closeness in the building. Those readers would be correct. The Dan Campbell disciple has set forth to improve the culture of a franchise that has not delivered a winning record since the Barack Obama administration. 

1. 'He's in the best shape of his life'

Fans hear this every year and it is often true, but does it translate to production and performance improvement? Eagles defensive tackle Jordan Davis is a prime example of the cliché in training camp. He revealed that he has removed liquid calories from his diet and that has allowed him to trim down ahead of the 2025 season. At the NFL combine, he weighed 341 pounds and was often larger during his time at Georgia, but 330 pounds was his training camp check in weight.

Browns offensive tackle Dawand Jones has altered his diet in an effort to remain healthier and buttress his transition to the left side.