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If Fernando Mendoza felt like he was on top of the world with his standout performance in his preseason debut last week, then the Las Vegas Raiders’ quarterback received a slice of humble pie on Thursday. Mendoza’s outing against the Texans highlighted another busy day of news across the NFL. The rookie quarterback and No. 1 overall pick played the entire first half of the Raiders’ win over the Texans, but had his fair share of struggles. Elsewhere, a San Francisco 49ers star received good news on the injury front, while the Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints were disciplined for their several fights at Wednesday’s joint practice. Here’s what you need to know about what happened around the NFL on Thursday. Expectations were high when news broke that No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza would start Thursday night for the Las Vegas Raiders, but the former Indiana Hoosier quickly ran into trouble against the Houston Texans. Mendoza threw a pick-six on his third pass of the game. Texans linebacker Wade Woodaz jumped his pass over the middle, returning it 80 yards for a score. It set the tone for a relatively underwhelming night for Mendoza. He completed 8 of 16 passes for 86 yards, leading Las Vegas to just three points as he played the entirety of the first half. Aidan O’Connell had better luck against the Texans’ defense. The Raiders’ backup quarterback completed 15 of 24 passes as he led his team to a 22-20 comeback victory, erasing a 20-3 halftime deficit. There is a real scenario where San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle could return as early as the regular season opener against the Los Angeles Rams. Kittle had a visit with Dr. Neal ElAttrache that was “encouraging” on Wednesday, as it’s believed he’s ahead of schedule with his recovery from an Achilles tear he suffered in January, ESPN reported. Kittle hasn’t been a full participant in 49ers practice yet this training camp. However, he expressed optimism that he could return by the start of the regular season when he met with reporters earlier in the week. Despite missing time due to injuries he suffered prior to his Achilles tear, Kittle was efficient for the 49ers last year. In 11 games, he racked up 57 receptions, 628 yards and seven touchdowns. Adding Kittle back would be a positive development for San Francisco’s offense and quarterback Brock Purdy. The unit has already lost wide receiver Ricky Pearsall for the entirety of the season, causing them to sign veteran wide receiver Deebo Samuel after camp started. After missing the playoffs for three straight seasons, Joe Burrow is done waiting. The Cincinnati Bengals’ star quarterback made it clear on Thursday that the time for “next year” excuses is over and it’s now or never for a Super Bowl run. “I’m trying to put it out into the world,” Burrow told reporters. “I’m trying to manifest it. I’m trying to show our guys the urgency that I have and that I want us to have as an organization to go and make it happen.” Burrow iterated that the urgency starts now for the Bengals. “Life is too short to keep pushing things down the road, and I’m trying to instill some urgency and some intensity in everybody to go and be great every day and try to make it happen,” Burrow said. Despite being limited to just eight games in Cincinnati, Burrow produced impressive numbers. He completed 66.8% of his passes for 1,809 yards with 17 touchdowns and five interceptions. He also threw at least three touchdowns in three of those eight appearances for the Bengals last season. The NFL fined the Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints $500,000 each on Thursday following altercations during their joint practice in Oxnard, California. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones told reporters that he plans to appeal the fine. But he also expressed remorse over his team’s actions. “All of that makes it a real focal point of the league to stay within good sport, and the taking of helmets off, swinging and hitting, and that type of thing is not good for anybody, and it’s certainly not what we want to represent to our fans and as a league or as a team,” Jones said. Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer spoke about his team’s conduct following the joint practice. “Not the way we like to do business,” Schottenheimer said. “Got to be better, but I’ve got to look at the film. We’re certainly not going to take s— from anybody.” Detroit Lions tight end Sam LaPorta missed multiple practices this week with a hip injury, putting his status for Week 1 against the New Orleans Saints in doubt. Lions head coach Dan Campbell was blunt when asked if LaPorta would be able to go when the regular season starts. “I don’t know. I feel like we’ll be OK, but I don’t know,” Campbell told reporters. “It flared up a little bit, it’s a little aggravated. But we feel good long-term about him. We’ll rest him for a little bit here and letting it calm down,” Campbell added. LaPorta played nine games in 2025 before a disc injury sidelined him for the remainder of the year.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — All coaches have their preferences and quirks, and new Miami Dolphins coach Jeff Hafley has one: He doesn’t like 7-on-7 drills in practice. They’re great for wide receivers and defensive backs, and some coaches like that it gives the big guys on both lines a period of relative rest, but Hafley, laying out the ground rules for Thursday’s joint practice with the New York Giants, insisted there would be no 7-on-7 work. “We want to play real football,” he told reporters before practice, “and I want to see if we can block them, if we can pick up the pressures and our protections, if the quarterback can get rid of the ball on time, if the receivers can run the right routes so the ball can get out on time. So it’s going to have to be a team thing.” It’s a bold move against a talented Giants front — there were plenty of would-be sacks whistled dead Thursday — but if you’re trying to stress the importance of winning the line of scrimmage, the message was appreciated there. “Absolutely,” said center Aaron Brewer, a second-team All-Pro in a breakout season last year. “I can’t play 7-on-7, so whenever we’re out there and all working, that’s what it’s going to be. I feel like it translates from practice to the game. There are no days in a game where you’re running 7-on-7.” That’s echoed by defensive tackle Zach Sieler, the longest-tenured Dolphins player, here since 2019 and a leader in a locker room loaded with new arrivals. “My thing is, how do we play on Sundays? It’s 11-on-11,” he said. “When you put every piece together, that’s how the game is played. You want to put game-like stress in practice, pushing us to the limits on every single play, and that’s something we focus on a lot this year.” Miami went 7-10 last year, but traded off key players as part of a rebuild that included hiring Hafley and a new general manager in Jon-Eric Sullivan. There are few NFL teams with lower outside expectations than the Dolphins, too. The oddsmakers’ projected win total for the Dolphins is 4.5. However, you won’t hear Hafley or his players use the low-hanging fruit of the perceived slight to fuel motivation. “I just believe that if that’s what we’re using to motivate, we’re worried about the wrong things right now,” Hafley said. “That stuff wears off after a while. There’s only so much you can use it, only so much you can care about it. I want the motivation to come from within. I want the motivation to come because the players want to be great and the coaches want to be great, because they don’t want to let their teammates down … if you do that, it will last.” Offensive guard is not a sexy position for a high draft pick, but the Giants and Dolphins both took guards in the top 12, with New York getting Miami (Fla.)’s Francis Mauigoa at No. 10 and Miami getting Alabama’s Kadyn Proctor at 12. Proctor is massive, listed at 6-foot-7 and 360 pounds and already making a strong impression. “He’s a big guy. He’s fast, he’s physical, and he’s just a smart young guy,” Brewer said of Proctor. “He buys in and gives his effort, so he’s just a great football player.” Miami left tackle Patrick Paul is 6-7 and bigger than the 326 pounds he’s listed at, so Miami could have the largest left side in the NFL. “Overall, dominant. I feel like we didn’t play to the standard that I hold us to, or our leaders hold our defense to because coming out as our first joint, trying to be smart, make sure everybody gets taken care of, but at the same time, they’re not our team. So, when you have an opportunity to hit them, you hit them. And you hold them up and they get hit again. “We started to do that later on, towards the middle of the day and the rest of the day on. But we had splashes in the beginning, but I wanted to swarm from when we first got out here and it just took a little bit to get going, but I understand it’s our first joint [practice]. But I let it be known, we don’t wait to get punched in the mouth. That didn’t happen, but we don’t wait to get punched in the mouth to fire off on somebody.” — Giants edge rusher Brian Burns on his team’s physicality against the Dolphins.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

INDYCAR is in Washington, D.C., this weekend for the Freedom 250, and the unique event is getting a unique trophy. The Freedom 250 will be a street race to celebrate the United States’ 250th birthday. It was designed as a 250-mile race on a 1.7-mile layout across landmark locations in D.C. Winning team owners will receive hardware built specifically for the event. The trophy scales and blends two D.C. icons: the Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol dome. The trophy is a representation of this one-of-a-kind venue framed by two historic landmarks on either end of the track. The look, according to designer Michael Montri, reflects the perspective from behind and through the Washington Monument while looking toward the Capitol Building across the National Mall and this incredible course. Here are four things to know about the official INDYCAR Freedom 250 trophy. The upper shaft of the Freedom 250 trophy isn’t a random pyramid. Instead, it’s a proportionally scaled tribute to the Washington Monument. The upper section features a solid clear crystal pyramid modeled after the Washington Monument profile. The crystal pyramid features a 72.6-degree face angle and a 1,600 height-to-base ratio, matching the proportions of the physical monument. A hollow shaft continues down from the crystal at the same 72.6-degree angle in a straight line to the plinth. The owner trophy is produced in three scaled sizes for the podium finishers. Construction specs detail a black hollow base assembled with 45-degree miter joints and a mirror-finish polish where the plinth meets the base. Crowning each trophy is a detailed model of the U.S. Capitol dome, and the components are scaled down across all three podium spots: Tucked right beneath the plinth is a clever optical detail. The underside of the hollow plinth features a mirror-finish polish where it meets the black base. This reflective deck directs light upward into the hollow shaft, illuminating the solid crystal pyramid and Capitol dome from within during victory lane celebrations. The circular black base uses clever fabrication tricks to keep the design sleek. Assembled from a cylindrical wall ring and top deck disk, the base is brought together using 45-degree miter cuts along the slope. This hides the bond line seam completely inside the corner, giving the base a monolithic appearance. The Freedom 250 will be an exceptional race but also expected to be the only one of its kind. INDYCAR could return to D.C. or the general mid-Atlantic area in the future, but this race is a one-time deal. And that easily could be the case for the trophy as well. Only one driver in INDYCAR’s history will be able to say they conquered the U.S. Capitol course, and while there are three versions of the Freedom 250 trophy, there’s still only one first-place trophy. Overall, as our Bob Pockrass pointed out, racing through the streets of the nation’s capital is a rare historic occasion. “Racing on the streets of Washington, D.C., racing around some of the more iconic venues of the nation’s capital,” Pockrass said, “It’s going to test the drivers when it comes to heat. It’s going to test the drivers when it comes to strength, and it will be a test of the pit crews, since they’ll probably have at least four stops.” Freedom 250 is slated to begin Sunday at 11:30 a.m. ET, and the green flag for the main race is expected to wave around 1:13 p.m. ET.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports