Ray Stubblebine / Reuters

Eli Manning will miss Plaxico Burress this season, but he'll spend training camp looking for a new go-to receiver. But that's just one key training camp tidbit to know. We detail the crucial aspects for each team.

It's almost NFL training camp time. Do you know the crucial details for every team? We do.

AFC EAST

Buffalo Bills
1. After going 7-9 three straight seasons, the current administration knows it needs to get it done this year or turn in their swipe cards. So they signed receiver Terrell Owens, a move that will bring explosiveness to their offense and, quite likely, instability to their locker room.

2. Standout running back Marshawn Lynch is suspended for the season’s first three games. For a team that needs to hit the ground running, that makes for tough sledding. But if T.O. starts productively and underrated wideout Lee Evans continues at his level of play, the Bills may be able to get through Lynch’s punishment OK.

3. Irked by his agitating for a bigger contract, the Bills traded Pro Bowl left tackle Jason Peters to the Philadelphia Eagles. They don’t have to listen to him complain anymore. Nor do they have him to protect the blind side of quarterback Trent Edwards. And, in a division populated by savvy defensive minds like Bill Belichick and Rex Ryan, that could be an issue.

Miami Dolphins
1. After a stunning turnaround last season in which they won the AFC East, the Dolphins will deal with increased expectations and the resulting pressure. Yet Miami was fairly quiet this offseason. Aside from reacquiring franchise icon Jason Taylor, the Dolphins’ other “big” signing was former Raiders center Jake Grove.

2. On paper, the Dolphins’ receiver corps is unremarkable. Ted Ginn hasn’t set the world aflame since being drafted ninth overall in 2007. Greg Camarillo and Davone Bess aren’t stars in the making. But the Miami coaching staff expects a breakout year from Ginn. Meanwhile, Camarillo and Bess (who caught 55 and 54 passes last year respectively), are tough competitors. With the additions of rookies Patrick Turner and Brian Hartline, the Fins receivers are better than you think.

3. If the MVP award is designed to recognize the player who had the greatest positive impact on his team, then Miami quarterback Chad Pennington was the guy in 2008 regardless of who was given the award. But will Pennington, 33, be able to string together a pair of 16-game seasons? He’s never performed that modest feat in his career, having played 3, 16, 9 and 16 over the past four. He is the key to Miami’s success.

New England Patriots
1. There are no signs that Tom Brady’s going to have any significant physical limitations from the left knee he blew at the start of 2008. While training camp, the preseason and actual games will provide challenges he hasn’t yet seen, the guy who threw 50 touchdowns in 2007 appears to be full-go for 2009.

2. The Patriots overhauled their secondary. They needed to after a horrendous 2008. Veteran corners like Shawn Springs and Leigh Bodden have been imported while the team used second-round picks on corner Darius Butler and safety Patrick Chung. Bodden could be good but Springs, 34, probably doesn’t have much left in the tank.

3. New England added to its already impressive fleet of offensive weapons by signing wideouts Joey Galloway and Greg Lewis, tight end Chris Baker and running back Fred Taylor. But the team has to get used to working without offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who is now Denver’s coach.

New York Jets
1. After waiting years for his own coaching gig, Rex Ryan finally got his break with the Jets. And since he’s been on the job, he’s been breathing fire at rivals and ratcheting up the fun for his own team. The Jets won’t be boring in 2009.

2. They may not be that good on offense, either. Rookie Mark Sanchez, drafted fifth overall, is competing with heretofore unimpressive Kellen Clemens for the starting quarterback job. Wideout Laveranues Coles signed with the Bengals and the remaining receivers — Jerricho Cotchery, Chansi Stuckey, David Clowney and Brad Smith — are unremarkable.

3. The Jets' defense has always been stocked with talent but underachieved, so they upgraded. N.Y. brought in linebacker Bart Scott, safety Jim Leonhard and corner Lito Sheppard among others. The Jets will miss linebacker Calvin Pace (suspended for four games for using a banned substance) but that could open the door for 2008 first-round pick Vernon Gholston to make a splash. Ryan’s promising a wrecking crew.

AFC NORTH

Baltimore Ravens
1. Significant offseason personnel losses hit one of the NFL’s surprise teams from 2008. Linebacker Bart Scott, left tackle Willie Anderson, receiver Derrick Mason, kicker Matt Stover, fullback Lorenzo Neal, center Jason Brown, corners Chris McAlister and Samari Rolle, safety Jim Leonhard and defensive coordinator Rex Ryan are all out the door. That’s a huge chunk of talent and experience to try and replace.

2. With the surprise mid-July retirement of Derrick Mason, an already suspect Ravens’ receiver corps lost its most productive player (Mason had 80 catches for 1,037 yards last year). Meanwhile, running back Willis McGahee is coming off ankle and knee surgery — and his least productive pro season (670 yards). Add in a rookie left tackle (first rounder Michael Oher) and a new kicker, and that means more pressure on young quarterback Joe Flacco.

3. With Rex Ryan now in New York and Bart Scott having gone with him, the conventional wisdom is that the Ravens’ defense will be less imposing. Even if that’s the case, they will still be extremely talented. With perhaps the decade's best defensive player, Ed Reed, still playing at his customary level, Ray Lewis remaining relevant and studs like Haloti Ngata up front, the Ravens remain formidable.

Cincinnati Bengals
1. There’s going to be buzz about the Bengals this year, a switch from recent seasons in which there’s merely been buzzed Bengals getting pulled over by the police. HBO will be featuring the Bengals in its “Hard Knocks” training camp reality show which means attention trollop Chad Johnson will do his best to stay relevant on the field, and off. Meanwhile, additions like running back Cedric Benson, rookie left tackle Andre Smith, safety Roy Williams and wideout Laveranues Coles have given the team more punch.

2. Quarterback Carson Palmer says his arm is 100 percent heading into camp. After opting to deal with his injured elbow through rest and rehab instead of Tommy John surgery, Palmer’s decision seems to have paid off. Palmer turns 30 this season and played just four games last season. He’s still one of the league’s better passers, and while the Bengals the team have gone 32-33 in his 65 starts, imagine what they’d be without him.

3. Most people may not realize this, but the Bengals won their final three games of 2008. The reason? Most people probably weren't paying attention because they were 1-11 until then. Coach Marvin Lewis is entering his seventh season and while he’s only made the playoffs once in that span, his job seems as secure as a Supreme Court justice. If Cincy falls flat this season, especially after the attention they’ve been getting, Lewis job security could come into question.

Cleveland Browns
1. Cleveland's still is stuck in quarterbacking limbo. Choosing between a guy it never expected to get (Brady Quinn) and a guy they never expected to be any good (Derek Anderson) has created quite the dilemma. When Quinn fell to the Browns in the 2007 draft, then failed took his time signing a contract, which delayed his training camp learning curve, it opened the door for Anderson. Anderson then overachieved in 2007 (29 touchdown passes, 3,787 passing yards in 15 starts) and underachieved last year (9 TDs, 1,615 yards in 9 starts). The 2009 season begins with both men starting from scratch. Expect Quinn to take the job.

2. After casting out one ex-Patriots defensive coordinator, the Browns tried again by replacing Romeo Crennel with Eric Mangini, who’d just been kicked to the curb by the Jets. Mangini’s New York tenure was marked by steady grumbling from varied corners of the Jets’ locker room about his detached approach. Given that he was hired so quickly for another job, it's unlikely he changed much. More grumbling will likely follow in Cleveland.

3. With tight end Kellen Winslow shipped to the Buccaneers, the Browns desperately need Braylon Edwards to step up his game after an uneven 2008. The Browns also spent a pair of second-round picks on receivers Brian Robiskie and Mohamed Massaquoi. How well offensive coordinator Brian Daboll gets his wideouts to perform while also reinvigorating a running game with aging Jamal Lewis as the lead back will be interesting to watch.

Pittsburgh Steelers
1. While the recently filed civil suit against Ben Roethlisberger presents a major off-field challenge, on-field, Roethlisberger's performance in 2008 vaulted him into the same stratosphere as Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. He is authoring one of the great starts ever with two titles in his first five seasons. Smarter, more mature and now even more deadly in the clutch, Big Ben is the key cog in the Steelers’ machine. But the Steelers have to do a better job protecting him. He’s been sacked 46, 47 and 46 times in the past three regular seasons.

2. The defending Super Bowl champs didn’t climb out on any limbs this offseason. No big free agent signings, no major free agent losses or retirements. Pittsburgh remains the class of the AFC North, but the Chargers and Patriots were sorely diminished by injury in 2008 and it’s going to be tough to repeat as conference champions.

3. The Steelers won a title in 2005 and went 8-8 the following season in Bill Cowher’s final year. How well coach Mike Tomlin is able to channel his team’s focus in this year’s title defense will be one of the toughest tests of the young coach’s early tenure.

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