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Nuggets small forward Michael Porter Jr. told the Denver Post doesn't feel comfortable getting the COVID-19 vaccine. He also shared he's contracted the virus twice.
“For me, I had COVID twice, I saw how my body reacted, and although the chances are slim, with the vaccine, there’s a chance you could have a bad reaction to it,” Porter told the Denver Post. “For me, I don’t feel comfortable."
Porter Jr. also said he's against a vaccine mandate for NBA players.
“My stance on the mandate is it definitely shouldn’t be a mandate," he said. "It should be everyone’s decision. I see it both ways. If you want to get it because you feel more protected and you feel safer, and it’s protecting people around you, get it. That’s good for you. But if you feel like, ‘Oh, for me, I don’t feel safe getting it, then don’t get it.’”
Porter Jr.'s reasoning is that he already knows what a bout with COVID-19 entails, but he doesn't know what kind of effect the vaccine will have on him.
“I’ve had it twice, and I don’t know what’s going in my body with a shot, so if I already know how I’m going to react to COVID, I just feel like, for me, I don’t want to risk putting something that might affect me negatively in my body,” Porter said.
It was later reported that the deal is guaranteed $145.3 million, per The Athletic's Shams Charania. Denver, unlike San Francisco and New York, does not require proof of vaccination for pro athletes to play in arenas. However, if he does not get vaccinated, Porter Jr. will not be able to play in the home arenas of the Nets, Knicks and Warriors.
But unvaccinated players across the NBA will be held to different protocols compared to vaccinated players. They will not be able to eat in the same room with their teammates, will test far more frequently, and will have limitations on where they can go in their home city and on the road.
Week 4 of the 2021 NFL season kicks off Thursday night when Joe Burrow and the Bengals play host to Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars. Cincinnati, who are off to a 2-1 Straight Up and Against The Spread start behind the solid play of Burrow under center, will look to send struggling rookie Lawrence to his fourth straight defeat.
After a 27-24 overtime win over Minnesota in their season opener, the Bengals split their next two road games with a loss to Chicago in Week 2 followed by a 24-10 victory over AFC North rival Pittsburgh last Sunday.
The Jaguars, who have lost 18 consecutive games -including seven in a row by double digits, have been installed as more than a touchdown underdog by oddsmakers at SI Sportsbook.
Mike Dinovo-USA TODAY Sports
Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Cincinnati Bengals Betting Trends and Info
Public (Spread) Betting Percentages: JAX 37% | CIN: 63%
Game Info: Thursday September 30, 2021 8:20 pm EST | NFL Network
The line has held firm since its opening in favor of Cincinnati as a 7.5-point home favorite over the Jaguars at SI Sportsbook. The total, which opened at 45, has begun to see action to the over, pushing the line up to 46.
Public steam has failed to push this number up after its opening, despite significant money in support of the home Bengals. The Jaguars (0-3 SU; 0-3 ATS), have been outscored 91-53 in their first three games, will not find easy sledding as they try to cover the spread for the first time in 2021.
It has been a tumultuous start for the 2021 No. 1 overall draft pick. Lawrence is tied for the NFL lead with seven interceptions. On a short week, the rookie could be in for a long night if he does not improve his accuracy. The former Clemson standout has the worst completion percentage (54.2%) in the NFL. The young signal-caller will now face a Bengals defense that ranks sixth in points allowed (18.0) and fourth in sacks (10) through the first three weeks.
Cincinnati has been stout on the ground allowing the eighth fewest rushing yards (78.3), likely meaning that the Jaguars will need to heavily lean on Lawrence and the passing game to earn their first win of the season. The passing attack is led by a trio of wideouts which includes Marvin Jones, DJ Chark and Laviska Shenault. Oddsmakers are projecting that Jones will lead the game in receiving yards as most books around the country are hanging his projected receiving betting market around 70.5. My projections have Jones struggling to surpass his betting number as he has only topped that number once in three games.
Sam Greene via Imagn Content Services, LLC
Bengals Player Prop Info
On the other side of the ball, the Bengals will be without star wide receiver Tee Higgins (shoulder). However, Joe Burrow has been reunited with his LSU teammate Ja'Marr Chase and the duo has shined with the rookie wideout posting 16 receptions for 220 yards and four touchdowns in the first three games. Burrow has completed 70.7 percent of his passes for 640 yards and seven touchdowns. The second-year signal-caller has thrown two-plus touchdowns in every game this season and now faces a Jaguars defense that has already allowed Tyrod Taylor, Teddy Bridgewater and Kyler Murray to all throw for 300-plus passing yards.
Besides Chase, Joe Burrow is surrounded by a wealth of offensive talent led by star running back Joe Mixon and wide receiver Tyler Boyd. Mixon ranks second in the NFL with 286 rushing yards from scrimmage, only behind Tennessee’s Derrick Henry (353), and is going up against a Jaguars defense surrendering 115 rushing yards per game. Mixon and his playmaker at receiver face a Jaguars defense surrendering 30.3 points per game and thus several players from Cincinnati should likely find the end zone on Thursday night.
My projections suggest bettors should back Burrow throwing multiple touchdowns with strong target volume to Chase and Boyd. Although Mixon is a near-lock to score at least once in this matchup, his prohibitive -165 odds makes it a hard pass. Instead, we will take a stab with Chase (+100) in his any-time touchdown market offering at SI Sportsbook.
Frank's Thursday Night Football Betting Advice
Although I am never thrilled about laying more than a touchdown, the Bengals offense is too good for a Jaguars defense surrendering the fifth-most points per game. On the flip side, starting a rookie on a short week against a defense that is allowing the eighth fewest yards per game (327) is too big a task for the winless Jaguars. Lay the wood, and buy the hook, with the more talented team on both sides of the ball.
The Jaguars have lost 18 straight games dating back to last season
The Bengals are 6-3 ATS in its last nine home games
SI BET REVIEW
We had another profitable night on Monday when we hit Dallas -3 as well as our anytime-touchdown investment on Ezekiel Elliott (-125). However, our investment on DeVonta Smith (+180) finding the end zone came up short. Let’s keep it rolling on Thursday!
If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help:
call 1-800-522-4700.
Frankie Taddeois a successful high-stakes fantasy football player who created the first-ever DFS program ever offered in a Las Vegas sportsbook. Frankie is SI Betting's Senior Analyst and provides his significant experience and resources in the sports betting scene. You can follow Frankie on Twitter@Frankie_Fantasyfor his latest betting and fantasy insights from Las Vegas.
Three weeks isn’t long enough to permanently damage a young QB’s career. But there are consequences for a QB having too much patience with the team that drafted them.
Matt Nagy appeared at his press conference refreshed on Wednesday, saying that the last 72 hours were full of honest and raw conversations between members of the coaching staff with one another, and members of the coaching staff with the players.
“I’m getting tested to see where I’m at with this,” he said.
Nagy struck the correct tone, appearing as humbled and mindful as any coach in the fourth week of a difficult season. Like other coaches, though, he remained expectedly secretive about what kind of changes will come from those revelatory 72 hours, whether he would remain the team’s play caller, whether the conversations lead to changes on the offensive line, or who will be the team’s starting quarterback on Sunday.
As of now, Dalton remains the team’s first-string quarterback, with Fields as the No. 2. Both have injury issues, which could ultimately factor into the decision for Sunday.
Nagy said that he’s not concerned about potentially sitting Fields back on the bench after the quarterback endured one of the most horrific first starts in recent memory. Fields was sacked nine times and completed just six of his 20 passing attempts. Analysts loudly pointed out the number of times Fields was left behind basic, five-man protections despite the rickety state of Chicago’s offensive line and the presence of generational pass rusher Myles Garrett on the other side (Garrett had 4 ½ sacks on his own). It was a game plan that seemed doomed from the beginning. He also intimated that Fields is on board with the direction the franchise is heading in.
These must be heady times for Fields, who got a chaotic taste of the NFL from an on-field perspective and is now seeing its business machinations first hand. Does what happened this week instill confidence?
If it doesn’t, Fields shouldn’t be shy about having raw and honest conversations of his own. In fact, no rookie quarterback should. After watching Fields flounder this week, after watching Zach Wilson toss four picks against the Patriots, after watching Trevor Lawrence try and sling his way through a Madden ’08 offense, it became clear that young quarterbacks should begin to exercise the kind of nomadic powers their veteran counterparts have.
Simply put: If they feel like the ship they’re on is really headed in the right direction, they’ll put their heads down and endure. If they feel like it’s sinking, they should be more inclined to request permission to seek a trade before their careers are irreparably damaged.
Sports Illustrated
Before dismissing this as some kind of click grab, consider the finite timeline quarterback prospects have to cement their perception around the NFL and how that ultimately affects their ability to attain a second contract that aligns with the top of the market. I would imagine, for example, that even if Sam Darnold continues to play as well as he has for Carolina over the remaining 14 games of this season, he will still be forced to prove his worth once again the following year on his fifth-year option before staging an epic battle for fair, market equivalent wages. The millions he’ll likely lose, along with the number of anonymous NFL types who have now populated and reproduced, whispering about his negative qualities and spreading those biases to other front offices around the NFL, was the tax he paid for patiently trusting that the Jets would eventually take care of him. They did not.
Quarterbacks who wait for the organization to catch up to their skills—as opposed to finding an organization that can already accentuate them—seriously increases the risk of their career washing out before it has the chance to begin. A player has little control over where and when they are drafted, and yet we all unconsciously label them busts when the situation does not work out. In many cases it was not a deficient player, but a coach or general manager unwilling to provide the right system or attain the right complementary personnel.
Baker Mayfield and Josh Allen may be two of the only quarterbacks in recent memory who waded patiently in murky waters before the best possible situation enveloped them, allowing their financial futures to become far more stable than they would have been otherwise. (Mayfield, unfortunately, still has not fully recovered from the errors made during the Freddie Kitchens era and went into this season without a contract extension.) Any team that is bad enough to draft a franchise quarterback is going to have some growing pains, but there is a difference between a stable rebuild and entering Dorothy Gale’s house in the middle of a twister.
Imagine you were a promising grade school student who was accepted into an elite boarding school to prepare you for college. The school had undergone some management changes since its reputation had been established, so it came as a surprise that, on your first day in the classroom, there was simply a man with his boots up on the desk smoking a Parliament light and thumbing through Reddit on his iPhone. After a few minutes of silence, he frisbees a textbook at your head, uses the lit cigarette to light off some fireworks and yells “LEARN IT ALL BEFORE THE SPRINKLER SYSTEM SOAKS YOU TO THE BONE” before running out of the school.
Would you come back the next day, knowing that four years of this may greatly affect the way top universities think of you? Or, would you make the initially difficult, but ultimately satisfying choice of touring a few more schools and seeing if there’s something better out there?
This decision would be unpopular with a segment of the NFL, but that would be the same group that wouldn’t be interested in tailoring a scheme to fit a player’s best interests anyway. Fields, Wilson, Lawrence and the rest are also at the dawn of a new era of quarterback empowerment, where the likes of Russell Wilson, Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady have all publicly explored the free-agent space. Sooner or later, these decisions aren’t going to make us flinch as much as they used to. Players want to get paid, have fun and win football games, though for most, one of those components is necessary to fulfill the others. It is up to the franchises to create a hospitable environment conducive for success, just like it is the job of every business, competitive university, social club or piece of software, to start with the basic understanding that, in order for this to work, you’re going to need people to like it and be able to function comfortably with or within it.
Before the Bears named Fields the starter, I wrote that Nagy was right in keeping Dalton as the starter because it was clear that the offensive line could not buoy a rookie quarterback who does not get the ball out of his hands faster than almost any quarterback in the NFL (like Dalton does). And, after watching the Bears get shellacked by the Browns this past weekend, what was said at the time remains true. But Nagy was also wrong in not having a vision for Fields to begin with, or any kind of system in place to protect the quarterback.
This, if I’m Fields, is what would concern me the most. Not that I wasn’t chosen initially, but that when I was, I was thrust into a role designed for a completely different person playing at a completely different level of experience and possessing a completely different set of unique skills. I would also be wondering why there was not a Fields playbook being developed on cocktail napkins the second my franchise turned in the card to select me.
Nagy, like a lot of coaches, alluded to things happening behind the scenes that he won’t get into or that we’ll never understand. There is probably some truth here. Maybe there is a very good reason why some of this did not happen that we cannot know. Maybe a sprinkler alarm is going off and everyone is running around the building.
The reaction to suggesting a player should consider looking at a trade after one poor start will likely be vitriolic, contain some accusation of drumming up controversy and touch the nerve of the “these kids need to toughen up” crowd. But I honestly believe that, in a few years, this won’t be a strange occurrence. Teams will have figured out how to dump dead cap space more effectively. Owners will realize that fans are not going to stop coming, out of protest for some organizational incompetence. (Franchises have done far more twisted and cruel things to their fanbases and still watched as they loyally trudged back to the stadium—perhaps in a different state than it used to be!—every Sunday.) And from the opposite side, accommodating such trades earlier, before the organization diminishes their asset beyond the point of receiving a fair return (hello Cardinals!) will eventually look smarter as well. Plus, from the perspective of ownership, you get to draft another quarterback next year. That is almost always good for someone who pedals hope for a living.
Sports Illustrated
Right now, Fields and some of his fellow rookies have just finished their first day at the fireworks school. They are soaked, sore from where the textbook struck them and are no better equipped to handle the next outing, whenever that might be.
Fields’s options are twofold: Stick it out, which, in Chicago, means dealing with an embattled head coach, a diminished offensive line, the subsequent hiring of a new coach or the turbulent retention of the embattled coach, and all the other issues that almost always contribute to the downward spiral of the quarterback caught in the rapids. We’re not saying that Nagy can’t figure this out. He has become a convenient target to dunk on this week despite lifting some bad teams to the playoffs in the past. He could very well install the Fields offense we’d been waiting for and shake the world off his back, eventually eliminating the confusion as to why it wasn’t utilized in the first place.
The second option is that Fields can start to look at how the rest of the league has worked forever before it’s too late. Coaches almost always have a chance to move on and coach elsewhere, even after sinking a rookie passer. Rookies who underperform high expectations do not. If they do, they are almost permanently relegated to a depth chart basement somewhere.
It’s not unreasonable to want to level the playing field a bit—to stay dry while you can.
Weston McKennie was expelled from the U.S.'s last World Cup qualifying camp, but all parties are moving forward, beginning with his return for the upcoming matches.
Weston McKennie made the wrong choice four weeks ago, and he paid for it. The 23-year-old midfielder, who’s a vital cog and commanding presence on a young and talented U.S. men’s national team, was benched and then sent home following a significant breach of team rules and coronavirus protocol. As a result, McKennie missed two crucial World Cup qualifiers and became the subject of the sort of conversation and scrutiny that every athlete wants to avoid.
Since then, however, it appears that he’s done everything right, at least according to U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter. McKennie owned up to his error publicly and privately, accepted his responsibility and punishment, and cheered on his U.S. teammates via social media. So on Wednesday, he was included on the list of 27 players called in for next month’s qualifiers against Jamaica, Panama and Costa Rica. As far as Berhalter is concerned, McKennie is back as a full member of the squad.
“I spoke to Weston. He was very forthcoming at the time. And as far I’m concerned, this is something that’s done,” Berhalter said Wednesday following the roster release. “He’s still going to be held accountable for his behavior. Everybody’s going to be held accountable. But this isn’t something that we hold on guys. That’s not the type of culture we have in the group, and it won’t be moving forward. Weston’s back in. We had good conversations with him and he’s focused on helping the team win.”
McKennie played the entirety of the Octagonal opener in El Salvador on Sept. 3 and then traveled with the rest of the U.S. to Nashville, where he trained the evening prior to the Sept. 6 qualifier against Canada. On match day, however, it was announced that McKennie was removed from the lineup following a “violation of team policy.” He then was sent back to Italy, where he plays for Juventus, ahead of the 4–1 win at Honduras on Sept. 9. The U.S. finished the September window 1-0-2 and in third place in Concacaf’s eight-team qualifying competition.
Andrew Nelles/The Tennessean/USA TODAY Network
McKennie started two of Juve’s subsequent five matches and was on the bench to begin Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League showdown against title-holder Chelsea.
The gravity of McKennie’s mistake was evident by the decision to remove him from the squad in Nashville. Voluntarily dispensing with one of your most important players during such an important stretch is no small thing. But on Wednesday, Berhalter insisted that perspective must accompany the punishment. The manager demonstrated his commitment to team culture and discipline four weeks ago. Now he’s asking that those be balanced with an allowance for youth, inexperience and human fallibility.
“I’m glad we’re addressing this right away. Because when this thing happened, we stressed the importance of us having a young team, people making mistakes and people being held accountable for their mistakes. And that’s exactly what it was and what it is,” Berhalter said.
"The one thing I didn’t love how this whole thing got spun is just the lack of tolerance, a lack of understanding for a player’s situation—for the fact that we have a young group and this group needs to learn,” he continued. “I think we’re way too quick to condemn people and not really understand a player’s perspective. Listen, his behavior was unacceptable. He took responsibility for it, and we move on. We really do move on. But will he be accountable in the future? Absolutely. That’s going to be part of it. He understands that. The group understands that. So we move forward.”
McKennie was elected two years ago as one of six members of the national team’s Leadership Council, which functions not only as a conduit between the players and coaches, but as a sort of a collective quasi-captain in place of a single, permanent figurehead. Game to game, the armband typically is passed among members of the Council, and McKennie captained the U.S. in the May friendly at Switzerland.
Berhalter has not addressed McKennie’s current status as a member of the Council. But he did say Wednesday that the midfielder is ready to do the work required to re-establish his place within the squad.
“You work through it and the player takes responsibility, and I think there is part of it that you move forward and you say, ‘O.K., it’s a clean slate for you,’” Berhalter said. “But there’s a certain amount of trust that Weston needs to rebuild with the group and he’s willing to do that, and I think that’s the important thing.”
Then it will be time to take the field and re-establish his influence there. McKennie has had an uneven start to the season thanks to his issues in Nashville and uneven performances at Juventus, which has endured an uncharacteristically slow start in Serie A. Following last week’s league game at Spezia, Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri told reporters that McKennie “should have scored at least four goals” in the 3-2 win.
“There are players who have important qualities and who need to improve,” Allegri said.
Berhalter clearly has retained his faith in McKennie in more ways than one.
“He’s a top-quality player,” Berhalter said Wednesday. "We’re still waiting for him to hit the top form with Juventus. We know he can do it. We’ve seen him do it in the past. They’re working with him hard. He’s working hard on his game and we’re confident he’s going to get to a good spot.”
Just like Rey Mysterio and Psicosis before them, these rising luchadores wowed the crowd at the old ECW Arena in Philly.
SI.com’s Week in Wrestling is published every week and provides beneath-the-surface coverage of the business of pro wrestling.
Arez and Aramís ready to capture the wrestling world’s attention with their match on ‘MLW Fusion’
The future of wrestling will be broadcast Wednesday evening.
Lucha sensations Arez and Aramís put on a sublime display in their match for Major League Wrestling, which will air Wednesday night on MLW Fusion. The pair worked an evolutionary style in the 11-minute encounter that was taped in July, which is fitting since the match took place in Philadelphia, the home of revolution.
The Arez-Aramís match took place in the same spot where Rey Mysterio and Psicosis set the wrestling world aflame in 1995. That 10-minute match put them on the map in the U.S., and it was held in Philly at the famed ECW Arena (now 2300 Arena), the same place where Arez and Aramís worked their magic.
Just like the cutting-edge lucha from Mysterio-Psicosis in 1995, a shared factor for Arez and Aramís was wrestling great Konnan bringing the talent to Philly for the match.
“I still remember telling Paul E. [Heyman] that Rey and Psicosis were going to blow everyone away,” says Konnan, who is the head of creative for AAA and serves in a variety of behind-the-scenes roles for MLW, including talent liaison. “After the Rey-Psicosis match, Paul E. called me from the arena and said to me, ‘Can I have them back next week?’ I knew it was going to be great.”
Konnan’s track record speaks for itself when he brings in new talent, and he is confident that people are really going to like Arez and Aramís.
“It wouldn’t be fair to compare them to Rey and Psicosis—they revolutionized wrestling and there has been no one like them since; Arez and Aramís will get over for different reasons,” Konnan says. “People are really going to get into them.”
Arez has his own distinct approach to wrestling, which he calls “Strange Style.” It is a beautiful array of unique holds and creative high-flying spots.
Asked to describe “Strange Style,” Arez explains that it needs to be seen in order to be fully appreciated.
“There is no other way to describe it than strange,” Arez says through a translator. “You never know when I will entangle you or do strange things on the ropes, corners or another attack. That’s why I am here. I arrived at MLW so that they knew what the ‘Master of Strange Style’ is capable of.”
Aramís applies a different style of magic, generating genuine emotion from those watching him in the ring.
“My fighting style is a combination of all my experiences, which has led me to where I am today,” Aramís says through a translator. “My wrestling reflects the heart of fighting for what you love. I want to convey that passion and emotion, and be able to inspire someone like I was inspired.
“I think there was no better way to make my MLW debut than facing Arez. We always push ourselves to the limit in each fight, we both want that victory, and we are hungry to show that we are ready for great challenges in MLW.”
Arez and Aramís seek to connect with wrestling fans on a deep level by delivering a sensational display of cutting-edge lucha. Only a week after Kenny Omega and Bryan Danielson set the gold standard for wrestling on a Wednesday night by capturing the beauty and power of wrestling, Arez and Aramís hope to show the wrestling world its future.
“Twenty-six years after Rey Mysterio and Psicosis changed their careers at the ECW Arena, it is time for me and Aramís to have our moment,” Arez says. “I think this is a good time to carry on their legend.”
For Aramís, it is not only an honor to be mentioned alongside Mysterio and Psicosis, it is also a dream come true.
“They are two great idols that symbolized an era for me,” Aramís says. “I am honored to have wrestled in their building. And the MLW audience turns this into a night I will never forget.
“Everything happens very quickly in the match, but as it was happening, I tried to remember everything we sacrificed and fought for to reach this moment. I was in front of a rival who, like me, has not had a simple path. I was very proud to share that moment with him, and I can’t wait for everyone to see our struggle and dedication.”
Adam Cole on Kevin Owens’s Twitter post: “I got a kick out of the tweet”
Earlier this month, Kevin Owens tweeted the coordinates for Mount Rushmore.
While the Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a famous sculpture carved into a South Dakota mountainside, it was also the name of a faction in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla just under a decade ago that featured Owens, The Young Bucks and Adam Cole.
Owens later deleted the tweet, but it still caused a great deal of speculation, specifically centered on the chance that he would like to one day work again with the Bucks and Cole, who are all employed by AEW. Owens is one of Cole’s best friends, and he also cherishes his memories of their time together as Mount Rushmore.
“I got a kick out of the tweet,” Cole says. “Kevin is one of my best friends, and the friendship goes deeper than just pro wrestling. I’m very thankful for our friendship.”
If Owens were to ever leave WWE for AEW, which is not out of the realm of possibility, it would cause a massive shock to the industry. But wrestling aside, Cole shared that it is not uncommon for Owens to be paying attention to whatever it is he is doing in the ring.
“He’s one of the first people to text me, no matter what,” Cole says. “Whether it was about NXT or Pro Wrestling Guerrilla or Japan, or now AEW, he’s [one] of the first people to reach out every single time.”
The (online) week in wrestling
The match pitting Kenny Omega against Bryan Danielson was absurdly entertaining. Will Danielson now need to work his way through the entire roster to get back at Omega? And how will Hangman Page enter the fray when he returns?
Eventually I’ll stop doing this, but I have to remind myself each time I watch him wrestle that CM Punk is back. His match against Powerhouse Hobbs on Rampage served as an excellent chance to highlight both performers.
Big E is making the most of his time so far as champ on Monday Night Raw, creating a show in his image. He fought off the newly reconciled Hurt Business, then defeated Bobby Lashley in a steel cage match. It is great to see Raw fully committed to Big E, whose next challenger appears to be Drew McIntyre.
A name doesn’t make the man, but I like the new “Bearcat” nickname for Keith Lee. If that is all it takes to highlight one of the best talents in the entire industry, then I’m all for it.
Bianca Belair likely created a fan for life by getting this young woman involved in her attack against Becky Lynch.
Shayna Baszler with an edge gives Raw another dimension.
Ronda Rousey, who helped headline WrestleMania 35, just welcomed her first child into the world.
Following that thud of an ending to their match at Extreme Rules, will Finn Bálor be added in the upcoming Roman Reigns–Brock Lesnar match in Saudi Arabia? Unfortunately for Bálor, neither Reigns nor Lesnar is likely to take that decisive pinfall.
Tony Khan on Urban Meyer’s AEW appearance: “Urban is a red-light guy”
In addition to his role overseeing AEW, Tony Khan is also the chief football strategy officer for the Jaguars.
Urban Meyer is the new head coach of the Jags, who are rebuilding the team this season. They have lost their first three games, but Khan is excited to have a three-time Division I FBS national title winner as his head coach.
Along with assistant head coach Charlie Strong, viewers were treated to a Meyer cameo during AEW’s Double or Nothing pay-per-view in May.
“When I asked Urban and he agreed, I was so excited,” Khan says. “I thought Charlie would be really excited for it, too. Charlie’s a huge wrestling fan; he’s followed it for years. They were both so great about it, and I think they enjoyed it. We thought that would get us a lot of mainstream press, while also staying in the spirit of the Stadium Stampede.”
The show took place at Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, which is connected to the Jaguars’ home stadium, where The Inner Circle and The Pinnacle threw down in a Stadium Stampede match. So it made sense when the brawl between Chris Jericho and MJF sprawled into the coaches' room.
“I had this idea where Max and Chris would be fighting around the building, and since the coaches are always here late, anyway, they’d go into the coaches' room and we’d see how it played out,” Khan says. “Urban is a red-light guy, as we say. He’s a very charismatic person, so I felt like this was going to be a home run.”
Excerpts from a new book written by ESPN's Seth Wickersham about secrets within the Patriots organization reveal that at one point former Texans coach Bill O'Brien was discussed as a possible replacement for coach Bill Belichick.
Upon hearing of this, O'Brien reportedly joked that he wanted the Texans to fire him so that he could become available for the job.
Brady and Kraft reportedly discussed who would eventually replace Belichick and discussed O'Brien as a candidate, if offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels took another coaching job.
O'Brien heard about the discussion while he was in a power struggle with Texans general manager Rick Smith. Leaks from O'Brien's camp signaled that he wanted out from Houston and the rumors were so "aggressive" it became suspicious, per ESPN.
The Texans gave control over football operations to O'Brien after he won the power struggle. O'Brien later joked to a confidant that it was an empty victory.
"I was trying to get fired," he said.
O'Brien was eventually fired by the Texans in 2020 after starting the season 0–4. He compiled a 52–48 regular-season record in Houston and was just 2–4 in the postseason. He joined Alabama in 2021 and currently serves as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
The Composite nailed it in Week 4 with redemptive and profitable results.
The SI Composite struck back in Week 4. After a few hard-luck results, things broke right in a big way at seven games over .500. Early in the day, we were 10-5-1, and yes, it's simply a product of sequencing on the day's schedule, but that lead held as the Composite finished positive for the first time this season. The underlying numbers are phasing preseason projections out, so we're learning more about teams.
Conference play is here, which means more like-for-like matchups with a little bit less variance. For instance, backups playing in early season out of conference blowouts.
With that being said, the season is a marathon, and we're still not even halfway through, and variance comes for us all in the end.
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The process behind the picks is briefly explainedin my Week 1 column. Most of the time, the computer spits out something within one or two points of the real line (and at that point, sharp plays and whale plays are what’s moving the line anyway). But if the computer gives something more than three points, it’s worth a second look.
Favorites
-BYU (-8) over Utah State
-Memphis (-11.5) over Temple
-Texas (-4.5) over TCU
-Appalachian State (-9.5) over Georgia State
-USC (-7) over Colorado
-Eastern Michigan (-1) over Northern Illinois
-Tulane (-3.5) over ECU
-UCF (-15.5) over Navy
-Florida (-8) over Kentucky
-Oklahoma (-10.5) over Kansas State
-Army (-5.5) over Ball State
Dogs
-Michigan (+1) over Wisconsin
-Syracuse (+5) over Florida State
-Troy (+7) over South Carolina
-Ole Miss (+14.5) over Alabama
-Boston College (+16) over Clemson
The Big Dogs
-Arkansas (+19.5) over Georgia
-Louisiana-Monroe (+32.5) over Coastal Carolina
-Rutgers (+16) over Ohio State
Looking into how worried the Chiefs should be, if the Panthers are legit, what's going on with the Steelers' offense and more.
Lively mailbag this week. So let’s (figuratively) dive in …
From Rye Kellz (@RyeKellz): Are you worried about the Chiefs?
Rye, I did some homework here, so I’ll share my notes from Sunday with you …
• C Creed Humphrey, 79 of 79 offensive snaps.
• G Joe Thuney, 79 of 79 offensive snaps.
• OT Lucas Niang, 79 of 79 offensive snaps.
• OT Orlando Brown, 79 of 79 offensive snaps.
• G Trey Smith, 79 of 79 offensive snaps.
• LB Nick Bolton, 52 of 66 defensive snaps.
• CB Mike Hughes, 50 of 66 defensive snaps.
• DT Jarran Reed 46 of 66 defensive snaps.
• CB DeAndre Baker, 31 of 66 defensive snaps.
Those nine guys, all at important positions, played zero snaps for the Chiefs in 2020, and four of them (Humphrey, Niang, Smith, Bolton) had never played an NFL snap, period, before this year. And then you have second-year guys like L’Jarius Sneed, Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Mike Danna who are playing major roles.
Denny Medley/USA TODAY Sports
So sure, Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Tyreek Hill, Chris Jones, Frank Clark and Tyrann Mathieu are all still around (though Clark and Jones were out Sunday), and still the most important players on the team. But this particular Chiefs team is going through a pretty healthy amount of transition and putting a lot of trust in the coaches’ ability to develop green players into pieces ready to compete for a championship in January and February.
The good news is this is really just the ground floor for a lot of that transition, and things should get better as the season wears on. And if everything works out, the team will have a good layer of players on rookie contracts that should help balance the books with the stars’ cap numbers continuing to rise.
From Shane (@storyhiii): Are the Panthers legit?
Shane, I believe they are. But I say that with two important caveats.
The Jaycee Horn and Christian McCaffrey injuries really sting, for obvious reasons.
Sam Darnold needs to continue to deliver.
And when I call those things caveats, I’m not saying either will necessarily get in the Panthers’ way. C.J. Henderson’s acquisition, when combined with the team’s institutional knowledge of Henderson (we wrote about his connection to Carolina corners coach Evan Cooper in the MAQB the other day), could mitigate the damage in losing Horn, and Chuba Hubbard has the potential to help manage the short-term loss of McCaffrey.
As for Darnold, it sure looks like OC Joe Brady’s plan to simplify verbiage and reads for his QB, in an effort to get him playing faster, is working. He’s gotten better with every game. And I feel like we have to continue to remind everyone that this is a 24-year-old who went third in the draft three and a half years ago. The talent is there.
The rest of the foundation, as I see it, is there too. Carolina’s still going to have to add a piece or two to the offensive line, but progress has been made in shoring up that area of the team. The defensive front, behind Brian Burns, Derrick Brown and Haason Reddick, has blossomed into a legitimate team strength. And if you add those two groups together, you can see how Matt Rhule and Scott Fitterer are building through the line of scrimmage.
I picked the Panthers to make the playoffs before the year. I picked Rhule to win Coach of the Year. I’m not backing off either of those predications as we head into October.
From ryan (@ryan003m): It seems the Patriots hit on two picks in 2020 (Kyle Dugger and Michael Onwenu). It’s early but if they have hit on two in 2021 (Mac Jones and Christian Barmore) how many more drafts and hits till they are contenders again?
Ryan, it’s a good question. The way I look at it, the failures of the Patriots in the draft from 2017 to ’19, and to some degree ’16 too (now that Joe Thuney’s gone), have left a canyon in New England’s roster. The reality is that the dearth of players worth paying from those years is why the team had the cap space to be aggressive in free agency in March and felt comfortable spending so freely (since there wasn’t a huge need to save room for homegrown players that they were planning to pay).
The best players left from 2017 to ’19 are probably Isaiah Wynn, Damien Harris and Ja’Whaun Bentley. So a middling, injury-prone left tackle, a good tailback and an average linebacker.
With that established, you’re right, there’s some promise in the last two classes. From the 2020 group, Dugger and Onwenu are already good players. Josh Uche has really flashed early in Year 2, and Devin Asaiasi showed some promise in the summer (he’s stuck behind Hunter Henry on the depth chart). The 2021 group has got a lot already from its first two picks, Jones and Barmore.
I still think the Patriots need another offseason. The future at corner is cloudy (Stephon Gilmore and J.C. Jackson are pending free agents), as it is at linebacker; help is still needed at receiver, and the offensive line could use assistance. That’s why I saw the Patriots as a 10–7, one-and-done playoff team going into this year—thinking Bill Belichick and his staff could get a little extra out of the group—with next year bringing, potentially, a real contender.
That, in some ways, sort of works out for the Patriots anyway, since by the time we get to next fall, Jones will be through the normal rookie-quarterback ups and downs.
From Britsoxer (@britsoxer): How do the Patriots solve their protection issues?
Convince Dante Scarnecchia to come out of retirement again?
I’m only half-kidding when I say that. The Patriots look like they’ve regressed along the offensive line, and it’s hard not to look at how, when Scarnecchia retired the last time, the dip in play in his second year away was serious enough that his replacement, Dave DeGuglielmo, was fired and he was coaxed back out of retirement. This, again, is Scarnecchia’s second year away.
Draft picks haven’t been developing the way they used to, for sure—2019 middle-rounders Hjalte Froholdt (cut last year) and Yodny Cajuste (a fringe backup) didn’t work out, and second-year pro Mike Onwenu has taken a step back after a strong rookie year—and that was apparent in the need to trade for Chiefs’ backup Yasir Durant in the summer. And as you said, Jones has been knocked around a lot, considering how well the team’s run the ball.
What stings for the Patriots here is that this was supposed to be a team strength. It really hasn’t been.
From Ross Fishman (@FishmnRoss): Are the Jags regretting not getting a good pass-catching TE in free agency or the draft?
Ross, I think the answer to that lies in the team’s insistence on getting Dan Arnold back from the Panthers in the Henderson trade. Carolina really wasn’t looking to deal Arnold; he was only moved because Jacksonville really wanted him. And part of the reason he makes so much sense for the Jaguars is that the team loves what Chris Manhertz can bring them from a blocking standpoint, which helps Trevor Lawrence in a number of ways.
Having Manhertz on the field helps the run game and can help in protection, and getting Arnold to pair with him in 12 personnel (two-tight-end sets) gives them flexibility to use him as an extra lineman—since Arnold, a converted wide receiver, can bring plenty in the passing game.
Now, you can argue that the Jaguars would’ve been better off just getting the third-rounder back for Henderson and not giving up a pick as part of the deal (presumably to get Arnold back as part of it), because Jacksonville needs all the draft capital it can get. But if Arnold’s an investment in Lawrence’s development, both in giving the rookie another target and freeing them up for Manhertz to do more for him, then I totally get it.
From Bom Trady (@BomTrady8400): What’s up with Tampa’s defense? Asking for a friend.
Tell your friend that they should be fine.
It’s interesting, when I was at Bucs camp this summer, I remember asking where the weakness, or potential weakness, on the team was. And the answer I got—maybe fourth offensive tackle, sixth interior defensive lineman or fifth corner—seemed to me to be just another signal of how loaded the roster was. And still is. But we’re going into Week 4, and it turns out the Bucs are already stressed in one of those areas.
Fact is, Tampa Bay felt really good going into the season, and had every right to feel that way, about their triumvirate of 24-year-old corners—Carlton Davis, Jamel Dean and Sean Murphy-Bunting. Well, Murphy-Bunting went on IR after dislocating his elbow in Week 1, Davis is fighting a hamstring injury, and Dean left Sunday’s game against the Rams with a knee injury and probably won’t play in the Brady-Belichick Bowl this week.
In the short term, given how aggressive coordinator Todd Bowles likes to be, and how the defense is built that way, being nicked at corner’s not good. But I think so long as those guys get healthy, and stay that way, the Bucs should come out of this O.K.
Jenna Watson/IndyStar/USA TODAY Network
From ... (@cineburns) Why have the Colts been so disappointing?
Cine, sometimes the easy answer is the correct one—it’s injuries and it’s the quarterback.
On Sunday, the Colts were without big-money right tackle Braden Smith, and three-time first-team All-Pro guard Quenton Nelson went down. On top of that, Nelson, Carson Wentz, All-Pro linebacker Darius Leonard and Pro Bowl center Ryan Kelly have missed significant on-field time over the last two months. Left tackle Eric Fisher is just coming back, and it’s from a torn Achilles (a bad injury for a big man), and he hasn’t hit his stride yet.
So there’s that, and then there’s Wentz himself. To this point, it’s hard to see a whole lot of difference from a quarterback who looked broken last year in Philly. Maybe it’ll come in time. If there’s any place it’s going to happen, Indy, with Frank Reich there, is it. But the fact that quarterback play has been average at best puts the Colts where teams looking for answers at the position often are—needing to be just about perfect everywhere else to win.
Now, over the last four years, I’d say GM Chris Ballard and coach Frank Reich have earned the benefit of the doubt. They went 28–20 and made the playoffs twice over the last three years with three quarterbacks (Wentz being the fourth in four years), and the roster is now stocked with cornerstone players entering their respective primes. But it’s not a stretch to think that Andrew Luck’s sudden retirement in August 2019 continues to haunt them.
Bottom line, they need to get healthy and get a full, honest assessment of Wentz’s future over the next few months. There’s still a lot right here. But as we’ve seen time and again, being wrong at quarterback can render the rest moot.
From Shane (@storyhiii): Time for the Steelers to bench Big Ben? Offense has looked so stale?
Shane, I don’t think you can bench Ben Roethlisberger after deciding to go into the season with him, unless you’re 100% sure you have a better option behind him (that, in this case, would be either Dwayne Haskins or Mason Rudolph). If you replace him and it doesn’t work, you can kiss your season goodbye.
And maybe this is like the situation with Peyton Manning in 2015. If it is? Well, the Broncos did win the Super Bowl that year. They just had to radically change their formula to do it, and saddle up behind a dominant defense and efficient run game. The good news for Pittsburgh, as I see it, is that the ingredients are in place on Mike Tomlin’s roster to do the same sort of thing.
So I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Najee Harris’s usage spiked in Week 3—after getting the ball 32 times over two games against the Bills and Raiders, he touched it 28 times in the Bengals game alone. And I don’t think it’s happenstance that the Steelers have looked like a different team since T.J. Watt went down with a groin injury, since Watt’s the one guy who takes Pittsburgh’s defense from merely good to great.
Now, the Steelers will need more than just a lot from those two. Dan Moore and Kendrick Green need to come through as rookies on the offensive line, and a defensive interior that’s aging will have to get/stay healthy (Stephon Tuitt’s on the shelf for now as it is). But if we’re ranking the guys in terms of importance? I think Harris and Watt top Roethlisberger on the list. Because if they have huge years, the quarterback won’t have to have one.
From Cincyfan (@Darktraveler1): What’s your take on Cincy’s defense? Potential top 10?
Cincy, I don’t know if they’re a top-10 defense, but I do believe a lot of things have come around for a group that was maligned over the last couple of years, and much of it has to do with a concerted effort the front office made to acquire players from winning programs to captain that unit. All you need to do is look at the roster to see that.
Trey Hendrickson and Vonn Bell came from the Saints. Chidobe Awuzie came from the Cowboys. Mike Hilton came from the Steelers. Trae Waynes came from the Vikings. D.J. Reader came from the Texans, when Houston was a perennial playoff team. And the results were obvious through camp to all the coaches there, with communication and play-speed ratcheted up on a day-to-day basis in a way that actually helped the offense develop as much as did the defense.
Now, I’m not going to sit here and tell you it’s an elite group or anything like that. But it’s by far the best unit Cincinnati’s fielded since Zac Taylor arrived and brought in Lou Anarumo to run the defense. And it should keep getting better. Add that to the way Joe Burrow’s come off his knee injury, and I’d expect the Bengals to be in the mix in December.
From Christoffer A. (@cvoersaa): Will Kyle Shanahan be more hesitant to start Trey Lance after seeing the struggle the other rookie QBs are going through?
Christoffer, I don’t think Shanahan’s going to base his decision about whether to go to Trey Lance or not on anything but what he sees. What has he seen thus far? In the spring, he saw a player who simply wasn’t ready to be a starter. After 40 days away, between minicamp and training camp, Lance made such great strides that the coaches felt compelled to at least give Lance a run at Jimmy Garoppolo, even if the chances of the rookie’s winning the job remained remote. And now, we’re into the season.
If you watch the preseason games, you saw the upside and the downside of playing Lance. He’s an incredible athlete with a cannon for an arm. He’s also whip smart and has good instincts. But the Josh Allen comps you hear are apt (because I’ve heard them legitimately made by enough NFL folks)—he’s not what he will be two or three years from now.
The obvious question, then, is why the Niners shouldn’t play him if it worked out the way it did in Buffalo, with Allen’s starting there as a rookie. And the answer is that the Bills were in a very different spot in 2018 than the Niners are now. That year, you’ll remember, the Bills took on more than $60 million in dead-cap charges to turn the page financially and got a whole younger everywhere. It was the season that Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane chose to sacrifice for a greater good, and that showed up in the team’s record (6–10).
The Niners, on the other hand, have a playoff roster that was in the Super Bowl just 20 months ago. Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch are in Year 5 (Beane and McDermott were in Year 2). And San Francisco has an above-average starting quarterback with four years of background in Shanahan’s offense. Simply put, the Jets and Jags can afford to ride lumps out with Trevor Lawrence and Zach Wilson. The Niners aren’t in that spot.
So be patient. You’ve got a good team now, and Trey’s time will come.
From K1SZN2021 (@KSzn2021): Do you see the Cardinals somehow beating the Rams in week 4 to stay undefeated?
If it were in Arizona, I’d think hard about it. But the Rams are playing too well, and that game is at SoFi Stadium. So I’m gonna stick with Matthew Stafford & Co.
From Craig Ginsberg (@CraigAdamGP): Any chance that the Giants would fire Dave Gettleman during the season? Seems like it would be very out of character for ownership, but there doesn’t appear to be any reason for optimism, and something clearly has to change here.
Craig, I don’t think so. And I think the Maras would have a hard time firing Gettleman, period, because he’s been a loyal soldier over such a long period of time. So if there’s a change, I think it’ll be more graceful than a midseason axing.
That said, I do think change is on the table, because it’s pretty obvious that owner John Mara isn’t pleased with the state of the franchise. How much change? I think he’ll stick with Joe Judge as his coach, and a shakeup will come in scouting (if the Giants keep losing) with the team’s having one of three paths to take from there.
Find a personnel guy to match with Judge. Titans director of player personnel Monti Ossenfort, who’s close with Judge from their time in New England, would be one name to watch there. I’d have put New England scouting chief Dave Ziegler on the list too, but he was just promoted to director of player personnel in Foxboro.
Promote from within. Both assistant GM Kevin Abrams and college scouting director Chris Pettit are well thought of in the building and throughout the league, and the Giants have a long history of hiring people they’re connected to.
Go outside to find a new football czar. You’re the New York Giants. People are going to line up for the job. So it might make sense to just go get the best of the best.
And amid these options, there’s this—some feel like the organization has too many people who have worked there for too long, and it could use a bit of a reset. If the Giants keep going the way they have, we’ll see if John Mara feels that way too.
Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports
From BigBub (@Big_Bub): How hot is Matt Nagy’s seat and who would be a suitable replacement?
Bub, I think one of two things has to happen in Chicago the next three months—either the Bears make the playoffs, or they look like an ascending team with a young QB who’s rolling—to avoid some level of change in football ops there. The team will be set to enter a critical phase, with a first-round quarterback going into the meat of his rookie contract, in 2022.
In this week’s MAQB, we wrote about some of what went wrong on Sunday in Cleveland, and I’d encourage all of you to check out the details on that. In there, you’ll see there are some simple things the Bears can do to adjust that might help Justin Fields get rolling a little bit. And the fact that he’ll be playing against the Lions (presuming he’s healthy enough to start and Andy Dalton isn’t) rather than the Browns should help, too.
A bad game is a bad game, and Sunday’s game was a bad one for both the Bears and Fields. What would be worse is if the same problems crop up again, and there are things under the staff’s control to prevent that.
And if all this doesn’t work out? Well, then I’d expect the Bears’ next coach to be of the quarterback-centric variety. There are options at the NFL level (Panthers OC Joe Brady, Bucs OC Byron Leftwich, Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy, Cowboys OC Kellen Moore, Rams OC Kevin O’Connell, Bills OC Brian Daboll), and the chance Chicago makes a run at Fields’s well-regarded college coach (although, trust me, I really hope Ryan Day stays at my alma mater for a long time to come, and I don’t think he’s looking to leave).
A new book written by ESPN's Seth Wickersham about the Patriots' dynasty details the tension between key figures in the franchise, including owner Robert Kraft and coach Bill Belichick.
At one point in 2018, Wickersham reports, Kraft called the team's longtime coach the "biggest f------ a------ in my life."
"As for Kraft, in late September, he was in Aspen [Colorado] for a conference and bumped into a few friends in the hotel lobby early one morning. He told them he was leaving later for Detroit, where the Patriots were playing their next game. 'I hate leaving here,' Kraft said, per ESPN. 'You leave here and you leave some of the most brilliant people you've ever met. You pick up so much knowledge from all these brilliant minds. And I have to go to Detroit to be with the biggest f------- a------ in my life—my head coach.' "
"Bill was an idiot savant," the book details Kraft told a confidant, according to ESPN, when discussing Belichick's reputation before he hired him in 2000. "I gave him this opportunity."
Since joining the team in 2000, Belichick—a three-time AP Coach of the Year winner—has helped lead the Patriots to six Super Bowl wins. Despite the team's success with quarterback Tom Brady, Kraft reportedly felt that Belichick was disrespectful.
"Kraft sometimes groaned to confidants that Belichick didn't show him the respect he deserved, but he was in no rush for life after him," Wickersham also writes, according to ESPN. "Brady, though, seemed ready for it. ... 'I don't want to play for Bill anymore,' he told people close to him in 2017."
Brady departed the team in 2020, joining the Buccaneers. The Patriots finished last season 7–9, their worst record since 2000, and have started the 2021 campaign 1–2.
Brady won the Super Bowl—the seventh of his career—last season with Tampa Bay.
The Bucs are set to visit New England this Sunday at 8:20 p.m. ET in Brady's first return to Gillette Stadium since he left the Patriots.
Check out odds, insights and more in our betting preview for the UTEP Miners vs. Old Dominion Monarchs college football matchup on October 2, 2021.
Sep 10, 2021; Boise, Idaho, USA; Boise State Broncos linebacker Brandon Hawkins (3) strips the ball from UTEP Miners quarterback Calvin Brownholtz (7) during the second half at Albertsons Stadium. Boise State beat UTEP 54-13. Mandatory Credit: Brian Losness-USA TODAY Sports
The UTEP Miners (3-1, 0-0 C-USA) host the Old Dominion Monarchs (1-3, 0-0 C-USA) on Saturday, October 2, 2021 in matchup between C-USA foes at the Sun Bowl Stadium. Old Dominion is a 5.5-point underdog. A total of 48.5 points has been set for this matchup.
Check out odds, insights and more in our betting preview for the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns vs. South Alabama Jaguars college football matchup on October 2, 2021.
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns running back Terrence Williams holds a ball during pre-game warm-up as the Cajuns prepare to take on Ohio on Thursday, Sept. 16, 2021. Cajuns Vs Ohio Football Pregame 5743
The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns (3-1, 0-0 Sun Belt) visit the South Alabama Jaguars (3-0, 0-0 Sun Belt) on Saturday, October 2, 2021 in matchup between Sun Belt foes at Hancock Whitney Stadium. South Alabama is a 12.5-point underdog. The point total is set at 53.
Check out odds, insights and more in our betting preview for the Michigan State Spartans vs. Western Kentucky Hilltoppers college football matchup on October 2, 2021.
Sep 25, 2021; East Lansing, Michigan, USA; Michigan State Spartans quarterback Payton Thorne (10) jogs off the field during the third quarter against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports
The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (1-2) will look to prove oddsmakers wrong when they square off against the No. 17 Michigan State Spartans (4-0) on Saturday, October 2, 2021 as a 10.5-point underdog. This matchup has an over/under of 64 points.
Check out odds, insights and more in our betting preview for the Vanderbilt Commodores vs. UConn Huskies college football matchup on October 2, 2021.
Sep 25, 2021; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores running back Patrick Smith (42) runs the ball during the first half against the Georgia Bulldogs at Vanderbilt Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
The UConn Huskies (0-5) are facing tough odds as 14.5-point underdogs heading into their matchup on Saturday, October 2, 2021 against the Vanderbilt Commodores (1-3). The over/under is 51.5 for the outing.
Check out odds, insights and more in our betting preview for the Nebraska Cornhuskers vs. Northwestern Wildcats college football matchup on October 2, 2021.
Sep 25, 2021; East Lansing, Michigan, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers running back Rahmir Johnson (14) runs with the ball during the second quarter against the Michigan State Spartans at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports
The Nebraska Cornhuskers (2-3, 0-0 Big Ten) are 10.5-point favorites when they host the Northwestern Wildcats (2-2, 0-0 Big Ten) in a Big Ten matchup on Saturday, October 2, 2021 at Memorial Stadium. An over/under of 50 is set for the contest.
The league's protocols for unvaccinated players will be very similar to what the entire league operated under last season, before vaccines were available.
In a memo sent on Tuesday, the NBA reportedly informed teams that is was close to finalizing and agreement with the National Basketball Players Association on health and safety protocols for the upcoming season, according to ESPN's Tim Bontemps. Unvaccinated players will be subject to many of the same regulations the entire league operated under last season, before COVID-19 vaccines became available.
Players who have been vaccinated will have much more lax restrictions, including no daily testing. This also applies to Tier 1 personnel, which includes coaches, referees and anyone working within 15 feet of players on a regular basis.
Unvaccinated players must undergo daily testing before entering a team facility, participating in team-organized activities, or interacting with other players and Tier 1 personnel. They will also be subject to lab-based testing on game days.
Beyond routine testing, unvaccinated players will operate under further restrictions, per Bontemps, including: no dining indoors with other players or Tier 1 personnel; must maintain six feet of separation from any other person; must wear a mask at all times; must have a locker that is as distant from other players as possible, and it cannot be next to another non-fully-vaccinated player.
The league is also requiring unvaccinated players from staying in their homes or hotel while on the road, with the exception of team and "essential activities," including buying groceries or taking their children to school. They will be prohibited from going to bars, restaurants, nightclubs or large indoor gatherings. In-person interactions with people who are outside of their family are only permitted for a "limited number of close personal guests" who have to be tested beforehand.
With the exception of "unusual circumstances," fully vaccinated players will not have to quarantine if they are a close contact. Unvaccinated players will have to quarantine for seven days. Both vaccinated and unvaccinated players will be required to wear masks at all times, excluding when they're participating in basketball activities, showering or actively eating and drinking.
