Category: News Feeds

As teams around the NFL begin to shift into gear for Week 2, Wednesday brought a fresh round of injury updates. The Seattle Seahawks got some relieving news under center, while the San Francisco 49ers’ receiver room deals with another injury, and two more starting quarterbacks landed on the injury report heading into Week 2. Sam Darnold avoided a long-term absence despite being ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals, while 49ers rookie wideout De’Zhaun Stribling is now facing roughly 10 weeks on the shelf after ankle surgery. Meanwhile, Joe Burrow is dealing with back tightness but sounds intent on playing through it, and Kyler Murray took a step forward in his return from concussion protocol with a limited practice. Here’s the latest from around the NFL on Wednesday. Sam Darnold appears to have avoided a major, long-term setback after exiting Wednesday night’s season opener with a glute injury. Head coach Mike Macdonald told reporters the quarterback has been ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Cardinals, but importantly, he will not be placed on injured reserve. With IR off the table, the expectation is that Darnold could be back under center within a game or two once he’s medically cleared. In the meantime, backup Drew Lock will take the reins, and he’s already shown he can hold things together — Lock led a second-half comeback against the Patriots on Wednesday, completing 16 of 22 passes for 187 yards and a touchdown. Given Lock’s steady showing in relief, Seattle’s offense shouldn’t miss much of a beat under Macdonald in the short term. Still, all eyes now turn to Darnold’s recovery timeline and how quickly the Seahawks can get their starter back on the field. The San Francisco 49ers officially placed rookie wide receiver De’Zhaun Stribling on injured reserve Wednesday. Stribling underwent ankle surgery and is expected to miss at least two months as he recovers. Head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters Wednesday that Stribling opted for surgery, adding that the team expects him to miss roughly 10 weeks. Losing Stribling adds to the mounting injury list in the 49ers receiver room, which lost Ricky Pearsall to a season-ending knee injury in training camp. The offense will need to rely on the veteran trio of Mike Evans, Deebo Samuel and George Kittle moving forward. Stribling initially injured his ankle late in the first quarter of the 49ers’ Week 1 win over the Los Angeles Rams. Though he briefly returned to action, his night ended on the very next drive when he went down in the second quarter and had to be carted off the field. He may have gone statless in Week 1, but Stribling’s impressive training camp proved he belongs in this offense. If the 49ers can navigate a brutal NFC West race without him, his return late in the year could give them a major dynamic boost in time for a playoff run. Joe Burrow will show up on this week’s injury report, but he isn’t sounding any alarms about his availability for Sunday’s game against the Texans. The Bengals quarterback was limited during the open portion of Wednesday’s practice and told reporters afterward that he’s dealing with back tightness, adding that he isn’t sure which play from last Sunday’s win over Tampa Bay caused it. Burrow noted he didn’t feel any pain until after the game had ended, and while he wasn’t certain whether he’d be able to practice for the rest of the week, he cleared the air on his playing status, calling it “ridiculous” to suggest he’d sit out. The Bengals travel to face the Houston Texans on Sunday, Sept. 20. After an emotional Week 1 comeback win, the Minnesota Vikings head to Chicago to take on the Bears. However, who will line up under center remains a major question mark as quarterback Kyler Murray remains in concussion protocol. On Wednesday afternoon, head coach Kevin O’Connell told reporters that Murray would practice in a limited capacity. The Vikings plan to rely on the league and medical staff before clearing Murray. Murray did not return to the game after taking a scary hit from a Green Bay Packers defender while sliding. As he remains in concussion protocol, the expectation is that Carson Wentz will step in to start in Chicago if Murray isn’t cleared. Wentz delivered a strong performance off the bench, leading a fourth-quarter comeback to seal a 39-22 victory. He completed 12 of 19 passes for 133 yards and three touchdowns, connecting with Justin Jefferson for two of those scores.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

Tom Brady’s power rankings are back for a third season, and before he reveals his first top-10 of the new season, there are a few rules the GOAT has. One, in order to make this week’s top 10, you’ve had to have won in Week 1. Two, the power rankings are all about what you’ve done lately, not what you can be. And three, if you have any complaints, direct them to the new FOX Sports digital show “Gronk & Jules.” So, now that’s out of the way, let’s dive into Brady’s first top 10 of the 2026 NFL season. Brady’s thoughts: They had a great win against a very good Bucs team. I thought that Bucs team was going to go into Cincy and upset some people. Sorry to Ja’Marr Chase and all those fantasy owners. Trust me, you’ve got nothing to worry about. Brady’s thoughts: If you turned this one off early, you’re probably wondering why the Lions aren’t higher. But you really don’t want to see how this one went down. I think it’s very brave of these teams to go for 2 [to win the game like the Saints did]. It’s basically a 45/50% chance of making it. That’s what the stats say. Sometimes, I think you should make the other team beat you. But when you’re the road team against a good team, sometimes I don’t mind going for broke. Brady’s thoughts: How about the Jags? At No. 8, they ran it up against Cleveland. That’s what a lot of people forgot about Jacksonville last season. They won 13 games last year. Keep an eye out for this team. Liam Coen, really impressed, man. Keep it up. Brady’s thoughts: Kenneth Walker, he’s your [Super Bowl LX] MVP and the Chiefs are sitting at No. 7. Patrick Mahomes, are you kidding me? He might be able to contribute something to this offense as well. He wasn’t avoiding any contact [on Monday night]; I’m sure of that. I think, in a lot of ways, he’s back to [being] Patrick Mahomes. What do I mean by that? His leadership, discipline, tenacity — all of those things were on display. He’s going to pick up some steam. He’s missed some football, missed a lot of the offseason. But never sleep on No. 15 for the Chiefs. Why are we counting them out? Never count them out. I always felt like when you’ve got a great coach and you’ve got a great QB, and that organization has championship standards … watch out, man. Brady’s thoughts: KB and I, we were on the call in Philly, and the Eagles are knocking on the door of the top five. They knocked a little rust off, but they took care of business, starting 1-0 in the division. They know how to start fast. I like this team. They’re always going to play great defense. Once they figure out how to run the ball a little bit better, and they’ve still got Saquon [Barkley] back there and Tank Bigsby — they’re making those explosive plays. That’s the formula that set them up a few years ago, too. Brady’s thoughts: In our top five, you can shuffle a lot of teams here, but remember, when in doubt, my rankings are always the correct ones. The Bills are starting at five. That was a huge win in Houston. Houston had one of the best defenses in the league last year, and there’s going to be arguments to put Buffalo at the top of the list. But they were a dropped pick away from being off the [list] entirely. We know Josh [Allen], we know James Cook — they’re going to move the ball all year long. But those Bills fans are waiting for January at this point. Who can blame them? Brady’s thoughts: Another team with a new head coach, Jesse Minter. Lamar [Jackson] dominated in Indy. They brought in Minter for this defense, but I’ll be watching [offensive coordinator] Declan Doyle and what he does with the weapons on this offense. It looked pretty good the other night. They’ll need the depth chart to step up at receiver for a few weeks. But Baltimore fans, guess what? You should be excited. Brady’s thoughts: We now have the definitive guide on how to travel to Australia now, right? I think people talked more about that than the game this past week. Hats off to the Niners and Kyle Shanahan for tuning out a lot of the B.S., a lot of the noise and doing what they do: dominate a great Rams team Down Under. Brock [Purdy], quick word of advice: Keep throwing it to Mike Evans. He’s really good at catching the football, especially when you get close to the end zone. Brady’s thoughts: The Caleb Williams MVP watch is under way. They put 59 on Carolina in Week 1. Ben Johnson wants the highest-scoring offense ever. But how about a little defense from this team when they get back to Chicago? Or, you know what, screw it — keep scoring 59 points. I’m an offensive guy, either way works. They make it look easy — 300 yards rushing, Caleb does his thing and when guys aren’t open, he scrambles. When they get that offense rolling, it’s hard to stop. I saw it a lot last year. I know we’re going to see it a lot this year. Brady’s thoughts: I don’t care, to be the champ, you’ve gotta beat the champ. When you win the Super Bowl and the Super Bowl rematch in the first game back, I don’t care who is playing QB, you’ve got to get the top spot. The defense, they haven’t skipped a beat. And I’ve got another secret QB hack for Drew Lock: As long as Sam [Darnold’s] out, throw it anywhere on JSN’s (Jaxon Smith-Njigba) side of the field; he’s going to come down with it.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

Trevor Lawrence used a sizzling second half to insert himself into the MVP conversation in 2025, emerging as a finalist for the first time in his NFL career last season. Well, Lawrence kept the high-level play going at the start of this season, completing 18 of 23 passes for 245 yards, with four touchdowns and no interceptions for a league-leading 150.6 passer rating in the Jacksonville Jaguars’ 34-10 rout of the Cleveland Browns. Lawrence was sacked just once, completing passes to nine different pass catchers. He was particularly effective pushing the ball down the field. Lawrence completed 10 of 11 passes for 179 yards and three touchdowns on passes of 10-plus air yards against Cleveland, per Next Gen Stats. Lawrence’s three touchdowns of at least 10 air yards were the most in a game during his NFL career. Week 2 should provide a tougher test for Lawrence. He and the Jaguars travel to Denver to face one of the best defenses in the Broncos in Week 2. However, Lawrence and the Jaguars carved up the Broncos last season, getting a 34-20 easy win. This is just a continuation of a hot stretch for Jacksonville’s quarterback and his team. Lawrence has led the Jaguars to victories in nine of their last 10 games. Over that span, Lawrence has completed 63.6% of his passes for 2,461 yards, with 26 touchdowns and seven interceptions for a 109.0 passer rating. Lawrence’s efficient play is validation for head coach and offensive playcaller Liam Coen that the Clemson product has the talent and consistency to lead the overlooked Jaguars on a deep playoff run.’ The oddsmakers are starting to believe as well, as Lawrence is tied with Brock Purdy with the fifth-best odds for the award at 14-to-1. Josh Allen is tops on the board. Let’s take a closer look at my picks for the top three of all the major awards heading into Week 2. Offensive Player Of The Year The skinny: Kenneth Walker III certainly has an argument for being on this list, but I went with the reigning Offensive Player of the Year in JSN at No. 3 because of what he did in the second half with Sam Darnold out to help lead Seattle to victory. The 32-year-old Henry might have had the most impressive performance, with three touchdown runs as the Ravens looked dangerous on offense again. Lions offensive coordinator Drew Petzing is apparently ready to feed Gibbs, who carried it a career-high 29 times in the win over the New Orleans Saints. Defensive Player Of The Year The skinny: Hutchinson is tied for the league lead in sacks (2) and quarterback pressures (10) after Week 1. Watt also had two sacks and completed one of the biggest defensive plays last week, intercepting Atlanta Falcons quarterback Cooper Rush on a screen pass and picking himself up to rumble 35 yards for a score. Los Angeles safety Quentin Lake finished with an interception and a league-leading three pass breakups in a loss for the Rams. Coach Of The Year The skinny: Johnson means what he says about breaking the NFL scoring record, as Chicago tallied a league-high 59 points in its Week 1 win over the Carolina Panthers. And in New York, it only took a week for Harbaugh to change the identity of the Giants, as they earned a grind-it-out win over the visiting Dallas Cowboys. Everyone thought the Cardinals were playing for 2027 draft status and Arch Manning, but no one told LaFleur, who looks like he’ll have Arizona ready to fight each week. Offensive Rookie Of The Year The skinny: Price vs. Love should be an interesting battle to watch this year. In Week 1, Price was the starter for the Seahawks, posting 52 rushing yards on 10 rushes. I was surprised the Seahawks didn’t give Price the ball more, as he averaged 5.2 yards per carry. Love served as the backup to Tyler Allgeier, finishing with 50 scrimmage yards on 13 touches, including a 5-yard run for a score. The two Notre Dame products will face off when Seattle travels to Arizona for Week 2. Williams had a nice debut for the Commanders, totaling four catches for 64 yards and a touchdown. Defensive Rookie Of The Year The skinny: A second-round selection by the Titans, Hill leads the league in tackles after Week 1 with 16. Downs showed versatility and playmaking ability in his first career start, finishing with a sack, a forced fumble and seven combined tackles. But Trotter showed off the most playmaking ability. The son of former Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Jeremiah Trotter, the younger Trotter became the first player in NFL history to record both a sack and an interception returned for a touchdown in his first career game. He finished with 10 combined tackles, a sack, two tackles for loss and an interception returned for a 38-yard score. MVP The skinny: Lawrence’s impressive play to start the year at least makes things interesting, as it’s not just a two-man race between Jackson and Allen. Speaking of Jackson, he looked just fine taking snaps under center in new offensive coordinator Declan Doyle’s offense. Jackson finished 6 of 8 for 114 yards and a 116.7 passer rating from under center, per Next Gen Stats. Allen averaged 12.6 air yards per attempt in a Week 1 win over Houston, the most for him in a game since Week 18 of the 2022 season. Patrick Mahomes looked healthy in Kansas City’s runaway win over Denver, which is bad news for the rest of the league.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports