For many NFL players, it's an annual scourge to be weathered on the way to the games (and paychecks) that really count. However for some veterans, playing in August means the chance to be vindicated and extend a career. For many low-profile rookies, it may represent the only opportunity to get noticed and steal a roster spot.

"I know a lot of players didn't look forward to the preseason," Hall of Fame running back Terrell Davis recalled on NFL Network this week. "But remember, this is how I got my shot (in) 1995 as a rookie coming in in the sixth round."

Before becoming a 2,000-yard rusher and league MVP for the Denver Broncos, Davis actually made his maiden professional impression with a highlight-reel special teams tackle in an exhibition game played in Tokyo.

"How is a guy who is a late-round draft pick or undrafted free agent, how are they gonna make their mark now?" he wonders given the 2020 preseason will be wiped off the league calendar due to the coronavirus pandemic.

But that's reality with players fighting for a longer physical acclimation period during training camp following a virtual offseason that prevented many from accessing sufficient workout facilities. The NFL Players Association also felt playing games in August posed an unnecessary risk to a league that plans to adhere to its usual 17-week regular season prior to the playoff buildup to Super Bowl LV in February.

Though high-profile players and fans often rail against the necessity of a month-long preseason, its absence this year will come with consequences. Here's who stands to benefit and who doesn't as teams and players begin embarking on what will be marathon camps heading into Week 1 on Sept. 13:

Winners

Last season's final four: The Super Bowl LIV champion Kansas City Chiefs, NFC champion San Francisco 49ers, Green Bay Packers and Tennessee Titans the latter two lost in the conference championship round all return largely intact from front office, coaching and personnel perspectives. Sure, the Titans lost stellar RT Jack Conklin in free agency, and the Packers may not have done enough to upgrade QB Aaron Rodgers' array of weapons. But these teams should reap relative gains from the continuity factor that so often distinguishes good NFL franchises from bad ones.

Season ticket holders: Legions of them obligated to pay up every year for two exhibitions spend August donating, selling or otherwise unloading what's quite often the coldest ticket in town.

Drew Brees: The New Orleans Saints quarterback, who angered several of his black teammates by reviving the national anthem controversy following George Floyd's death, will get a month-plus to patch up any strained relationships for a team that otherwise appears primed for a title run. The Saints are so confident in their program and core of talented veterans, they decided in April to cancel their offseason activities entirely.

New England Patriots: Does any organization seem better steeled to weather a plague ... even if it just divorced the greatest player in league history? Yes, Bill Belichick has to retool a top-ranked defense raided by free agency while integrating presumptive starting QB Cam Newton, who wasn't signed before the virtual offseason ended, into the team's fabric. But a legendary coach one who's gone 13-6 without Tom Brady since he supplanted Drew Bledsoe in 2001 will likely embrace (and even relish) such hurdles. Just beware getting ensnared in some kind of COVID-gate, BB.

Established players: These are the working conditions the union fought for. And NFL veterans already assured of starting jobs typically don't play much in the preseason anyway, sometimes looking at you, Rams not at all. For them, this year may not feel different than most others from a competitive standpoint. For those working for coaches who prefer to blood their teams in August, no risk of a senseless injury in 2020. But the happiest vets will surely be the ones on roster bubbles or those trying to hang onto starting gigs guys like Colts RB Marlon Mack or Cowboys WR Michael Gallup knowing their club just spent a high draft pick on a player at their position.

Baltimore Ravens: They won a league-best 14 regular-season games in 2019, riding MVP Lamar Jackson's arm and legs, an NFL-high 33.2 points per game and a single-season league record 3,296 rushing yards. They've since added Ohio State star RB J.K. Dobbins and, perhaps more importantly, upgraded a defense that failed them in the playoffs with veteran DL Calais Campbell and first-round LB Patrick Queen. The Ravens could be even better given the roster additions and the fact their opponents didn't have a standard offseason to try and decode the Jackson-triggered offensive assault.

Fantasy football: Rejoice, faux general managers ... no more drafting Tony Romo, for example, to be your virtual quarterback only to look up from your beer and burger to seem him writhing on the turf, felled in a game that doesn't really matter.

Losers

Fantasy football: For those GMs who also double as faux scouts, no getting a leg up this year on your less-intense competition. Everyone will see the debuts of those third-round rookies (Alvin Kamara in 2017) or that recently promoted No. 2 wide receiver at the same time.

New coaches: Mike McCarthy (Cowboys), Ron Rivera (Washington), Joe Judge (Giants), Kevin Stefanski (Browns) and Matt Rhule (Panthers) would normally get an offseason head start on the competition as coaches new to their respective organizations. This year? They're just now meeting most of their players for the first time. McCarthy and Stefanski at least inherit highly capable rosters, but infusing new playbooks, schedules and most important affecting a cultural shift will likely be highly problematic to execute on the fly.

Rookies: So many of them cite preseason as the time when they were baptized with their "Welcome to the NFL" moment by a salty veteran opponent or lined across from a next-level superstar for the first time. Not this year, when the 2020 freshmen will likely be spending most of September and beyond getting their bearings in the professional football landscape. And, like Davis mentioned, it will be especially difficult for bottom-of-the-roster undrafted free agents to distinguish themselves without the crucible of game action. Even worse, they may be waiting a year or forever for r sum -building game films that so often lead to future employment opportunities.

Joe Burrow: Speaking of rookies, will any team be more reliant on one than the Cincinnati Bengals, who picked the LSU superstar and reigning Heisman Trophy winner atop the 2020 draft? Burrow is tasked with leading this team out of the wilderness, and he'll be partially counting on fellow rookie WR Tee Higgins and 2019 first-round OT Jonah Williams, who didn't play a down as a rookie due to shoulder surgery. Sub-optimal.

Quarterback competitions: The most closely watched this summer will likely be Mitch Trubisky vs. Nick Foles for the top job of the Chicago Bears. But it will be waged from suburban practice fields with Trubisky likely to have a significant leg up given his familiarity with teammates and the playbook. Unfortunately for the Bears and perhaps the Patriots, Washington Football Team, Los Angeles Chargers and Miami Dolphins (the latter two used top-10 draft picks on a passer) picking the wrong guy in this environment means suffering bona fide consequences in the win-loss columns.

New quarterbacks: As great as Colts QB Philip Rivers and new face of the Buccaneers Brady, who's arguably been working out with TE Rob Gronkowski and his new teammates more than is advisable, are, expecting them to rebound from subpar 2019 campaigns by their Hall of Fame-level standards and immediately lift foreign teams into playoff relevance is a tough ask. Newly anointed QBs Tyrod Taylor (Chargers) and Teddy Bridgewater (Panthers) face even more daunting promotions, though at least Taylor knows his teammates while Bridgewater played for new Carolina OC Joe Brady in New Orleans.

Teams re-molded by free agency: The Jets have an overhauled offensive line. The Texans are moving forward with a new-look receiving corps that doesn't include DeAndre Hopkins. And the Dolphins? In addition to an 11-man draft class, Miami committed nearly a quarter-billion dollars to free agents in the spring. Dinner may not be ready for a while.

'Football shape': We're long past the days when players treated camp as a vehicle to shed excess pounds and kick into the appropriate cardiovascular gear. (Though in the grim reality that is 2020, and given the disparate access to gyms and workout facilities, some may need every bit of the acclimation period to be game-ready by September.) But with no preseason games or even de rigueur joint practices also scrapped this year to get players used to bona fide hitting again, don't be surprised if injury reports are atypically lengthy heading into Week 2 and even October. August could be unusually hazardous, too. Once teams reported following the 2011 lockout, 10 players league-wide ruptured Achilles tendons in the first 12 days of training camp.

Non-NFL economies: Locales that don't have NFL teams but are used to hosting them in summer Oxnard, California (Cowboys); Latrobe, Pennsylvania (Steelers); and Richmond, Virginia (Washington) among them won't get the fiscal boost that is probably needed more this year than ever.

Stadium operations: League owners had wanted two preseason games, but not entirely because of financial benefits and the opportunity to let their teams work out the kinks. That proposal also would have provided all 32 teams one home game as a de facto dress rehearsal to address unforeseen game day issues as stadium personnel adapted to functioning amid the pandemic one that is reducing fan capacity at venues throughout the league and changing the way everyone from ticket takers and concession operators to scouts and television crews will perform their jobs.

New stadiums: Speaking of dress rehearsals, the L.A. Rams and Chargers move into sparkling new SoFi Stadium this year, while the rechristened Raiders are set to debut in Las Vegas, home to brand new Allegiant Stadium, aka the "Death Star." Needless to say, opening a new yard (and/or playing for the first time in a new city) would have actually generated legit preseason buzz. Alas ...

NFL Network: The league's 24-7 football channel typically spends most of August broadcasting and re-airing all 65 preseason games. Just one more programming obstacle, peeps.