NFL Notebook: Preseason sked includes 8 national TV games

On Wednesday, the NFL released its 2018 preseason schedule, a 65-game slate that opens with the traditional Hall of Fame Game at Canton, Ohio, one of eight nationally-televised games. The Chicago Bears and Baltimore Ravens kick off the schedule Aug. 2 with the Hall of Fame Game from Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium. In week 2 of the preseason, ESPN will televise games between the New York Jets and Washington Redskins on Aug. 16, and the Ravens vs. the Indianapolis Colts on Aug. 20. There will be five nationally-televised games on the third week of the preseason, starting with the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles against the Cleveland Browns on Aug. 23. The other nationally-televised games include the Detroit Lions vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Aug. 24, the New Orleans Saints vs. Los Angeles Chargers on Aug. 25, the Cincinnati Bengals vs. the Buffalo Bills on Aug. 26, and the Arizona Cardinals vs. the Dallas Cowboys later the same day. --Recently retired NFL tight end Martellus Bennett said on the NFL Network that he believes about 90 percent of the players in the league use marijuana. When Bennett was asked if the number of players who use marijuana is over or under 70 percent, he answered with "over" before estimating the actual figure to be somewhere around "89 percent." "There's medical marijuana," said Bennett, who played 10 seasons in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Chicago Bears, New England Patriots and Green Bay Packers. "So it's like, there's times of the year where your body just hurts so bad that you don't want to just be popping pills all the time." The NFL is expected to be revisit the issue when the current collective bargaining agreement expires in 2021. --Free-agent safety Eric Reid was asked for his reaction by Mike Brown after the Cincinnati Bengals owner told him that he plans to prohibit kneeling during the national anthem for the 2018 season, Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio reported. Per his report, Florio said that the conversation on Monday almost exclusively centered on the topic and that Reid wasn't willing to make a commitment on the spot. Reid said last month that he's not planning to kneel or otherwise demonstrate during the anthem. Reid was the first San Francisco 49ers teammate to kneel next to Colin Kaepernick in the 2016 season. --Wide receiver Dez Bryant, whose lucrative salary and declining production have put his future with the Dallas Cowboys in question, will meet with owner Jerry Jones on Friday, according to media reports. The 29-year-old Bryant, who is due to make $12.5 million in 2018, with a $16.5 million salary cap hit, has failed to reach 900 yards receiving in a season since signing the contract in 2015. He went over 1,200 yards in each of three previous seasons. Jones has consistently backed Bryant this offseason, but there is speculation that the three-time Pro Bowl selection might be asked at the meeting to take a pay cut or be released. --Robert Griffin III said his focus is on the future as opposed to the past during his introductory press conference with the Ravens. Griffin, who went unsigned for the entire 2017 season, said that he "isn't really" concerned about returning to where he was as a rookie and that he wants to do "whatever I can do to help the team win games." The former Heisman Trophy winner and 2012 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year also said he was looking forward to the chance to learn from fellow quarterback Joe Flacco. --The Chicago Bears will not to match the two-year, $10 million offer sheet restricted free agent wide receiver Cameron Meredith signed with the New Orleans Saints last week, a source told the NFL Network. Meredith's contract with New Orleans includes $5.4 million guaranteed, which was too much for the Bears after they signed wide receivers Allen Robinson and Taylor Gabriel in free agency. Meredith caught 66 passes for 888 yards and four touchdowns with the Bears in 2016 but missed last season after sustaining an ACL injury in August. --The Tennessee Titans agreed to terms on a one-year contract with former Baltimore Ravens wide receiver/punt returner Michael Campanaro, the team announced. Campanaro recorded career highs in receptions (19) and receiving yards (173) to go along with one touchdown in 13 games last season. He also returned a punt 77 yards for a score against the Chicago Bears in 2017 and led the AFC with an average of 10.8 yards per punt return. The 27-year-old Campanaro has 31 catches for 310 yards and two touchdowns in 24 career games since being selected by the Ravens in the seventh round of the 2014 NFL Draft. --The New York Jets plan to pick up the fifth-year option on former Pro Bowl defensive end Leonard Williams, according to a published report. The New York Daily News reported that the Jets will pick up the option of the sixth overall pick in the 2015 draft, for the 2019 season prior to the May 3 deadline, the newspaper reported, citing an undisclosed source. Williams, 23, will make $2.975 million in 2018 while his fifth-year option salary will be the average of the top 10 players at his position. --Linebacker Terence Garvin has agreed to terms with the Miami Dolphins, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported. Garvin recorded 25 tackles and two forced fumbles in 15 games last season with the Seattle Seahawks. He collected 77 tackles and 1.5 sacks in 74 career contests with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Washington Redskins and Seahawks. --The Indianapolis Colts signed unrestricted free-agent cornerback Kenneth Acker, the team announced. The 26-year-old Acker recorded 19 tackles, one interception and one fumble recovery in 16 games last season, his second with the Kansas City Chiefs. --Free-agent cornerback Dontae Johnson has agreed to terms with the Seattle Seahawks, NFL Network's Mike Garafolo reported. The move represents an effective exchange of cornerbacks between the NFC West rivals, as Richard Sherman was released by the Seahawks and signed with the 49ers last month. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Johnson spent the last four seasons with 49ers, starting all 16 games in 2017 and recording 76 tackles with one interception that was returned for a touchdown. --Former Houston Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson admitted that he nearly pulled out of the ceremony to become the first member of the franchise's Ring of Honor because of his displeasure with team owner Bob McNair. Johnson was irked by McNair referring to the NFL's national anthem controversy as "the inmates running the prison" in October. Johnson's ceremony was the following month. "I wouldn't say it surprised me, but I just didn't like it," Johnson said of McNair's comment on former teammate Arian Foster's podcast, via the Houston Chronicle. "To know you did so much for a franchise and to have him come out and say something like that." --TE Bryce Williams signed a one-year contract with the Arizona Cardinals, the team announced. Terms were not announced. The 6-6, 260-pound Williams, 25, signed with the New England Patriots as an undrafted free agent out of East Carolina in 2016 and spent his rookie season on the Los Angeles Rams practice squad. Last season, he was released by the Carolina Panthers on Sept. 1.