TORONTO — Jac Caglianone had a homer among his career-best five hits and finished with a career-high six RBIs, Noah Cameron pitched six strong innings and the Kansas City Royals beat the Toronto Blue Jays 13-2 on Thursday night.
The Blue Jays are 3 1/2 games behind Cleveland in the race for the final American League wild-card spot.
The Royals took two of three in the series, have won 10 of their last 11 games and four consecutive series, including two straight on the road after starting the season 3-15-2 in road sets. Kansas City, which went in tied with the Giants for the worst road record in MLB, is 24-45 away from home this season.
Cameron (9-8) allowed six hit and two runs and struck out three.
Carter Jensen hit a 421-foot homer off Spencer Arrighetti to lead off the game, and Vinnie Pasquantino hit a two-run homer that capped Kansas City’s six-run sixth and made it 10-0.
Caglianone’s two-run shot with two out in the ninth capped the scoring.
Bobby Witt Jr. and Kyle Isbel each had a run-scoring double.
Pasquantino had his string of consecutive plate appearances without a strikeout ended at a career-best 38 when he fanned in the first inning. It was the longest active streak in MLB.
George Springer hit his 13th homer of the season, a two-run shot, with two out in the sixth that ended Cameron’s scoreless streak at 19 2/3 innings.
Arrighetti (7-7), who went in 0-2 with a 16.00 ERA in two career starts against Kansas City, allowed four runs — three earned — in four innings.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. remained second in Toronto’s batting order and went 0 for 3. The first baseman is hitting a career-worst .260 and has just seven home runs, none at home, this season.
Up next
Royals RHP Michael Wacha (7-8, 3.49 ERA) Friday at Cleveland. The Guardians have not named a starter.
Blue Jays RHP Dylan Cease (8-5, 2.37 ERA) starts Friday against the Mariners at home. Seattle has not named a starter.
Nov 17, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Omar Khan talks on the phone before the game against the Baltimore Ravens at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con
With the NFL preseason nearing its conclusion, teams will have to begin the process of cutting players to be compliant with the 53-man limit for the regular season. The Steelers themselves just played their final preseason game and will need to make some tough decisions by the cutdown deadline this Sunday, August 30, by 6 PM EST.
As Pittsburgh gets one step closer to the regular season, they enter the year at plus-money odds to make the postseason at +154, per FanDuel Sportsbook.
The flurry of transactions won’t stop after initial cuts, though. Every year, after teams announce who they’ve released, there is a waiver process that allows teams to claim certain players released by other organizations.
Which players are eligible for these claims? When must claims be made? And how does the NFL decide the waiver order? We’ve got the answers for you.
When is the waiver deadline?
Once the 53-man roster deadline arrives, teams will have until 1 PM EST the next day — August 31 this year — to file their claims. The NFL will review those claims and then announce which claims were successful shortly after the deadline.
Once those have been announced, teams will officially be able to start filling their practice squads.
Which players can go on waivers?
The NFL ecosystem contains a great many players. During the preseason, teams are allowed up to 90 players on their rosters at a time, which works out to 2,880 players. But once cutdowns occur, just 1,696 remain, meaning 1,184 are suddenly up for grabs for teams to add if they wish.
Some of those players will head to the waiver wire, but others won’t. To determine which players are which, the NFL sorts the players into two categories: players who are vested and players who are not.
A vested player is one who has been credited with four or more seasons of NFL experience. To be credited for an NFL season, a player must have been on the active, inactive, IR, or PUP roster for three or more regular-season or postseason games. A player can also be credited for a season if they receive an injury settlement or grievance for the equivalent of three or more regular-season games. Note that a credited season is different from accrued seasons, which determine what type of free agent a player is.
Vested players do not go onto waivers and are free to sign with any team at any time, between the day after the Super Bowl and the NFL trade deadline. They are subject to waivers in the period after the deadline through the Super Bowl.
Non-vested players, or players with three or fewer credited seasons, are subject to waivers. If these players go unclaimed, they are free to negotiate with teams as free agents.
How does the NFL determine waiver wire priority?
Through the first three weeks of the NFL season, the waiver reorder follows the order of that season’s draft. Trades in the draft are ignored for this process, so, for example, the Bengals — who traded out of the 10th spot — would still be 10th in waiver priority. That means the Steelers will be 21st in waiver priority.
It’s also important to note that the NFL doesn’t have a rolling waiver system like readers who play fantasy football might be familiar with. In fantasy football, a successful claim typically moves a team down in waiver priority so they can’t hog all the waiver claims. However, in the NFL, a team in the top priority gets as many of their claims as they want. If that team filed 53 claims, they’d get all 53 if they wanted them. Obviously, no organization is going to go to that extreme, which is why teams are allowed to prioritize and add specifications to these claims. Using our example, a team could file 53 claims, number those claims in priority 1-53, and say something along the lines of “we only want two receivers and a cornerback,” which would cancel all their other claims once their specifications have been met.
Oct 19, 2025; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers kicker Eddie Pineiro (18) after the game against the Atlanta Falcons at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images
Mac Jones quarterbacked the San Francisco 49ers for the first two drives of the game against the Las Vegas Raiders.
Jones didn’t complete a pass on the first drive after there was miscommunication with rookie running back Kaelon Black on a second down. Reading coverages in the passing game on option routes will be something Black needs to learn on the fly this season.
Jones took an aggressive shot down the field to Jordan Watkins on third down, but Watkins didn’t pick up the ball in time. Watkins also braced for a hit on his initial kickoff return. That is not a trait the coaching staff is looking for.
Jack Jones started things off defensively with a nice open-field tackle and a near interception after jumping a slant route. His gambling mentality makes Jones a fun watch.
On that drive, rookie Jaden Dugger had a brutal miss on a tackle attempt in the open field. Dugger had an active night with 10 tackles, but only five were solo. He nearly had a sack, but he’ll want to clean up the tackling moving forward.
The second drive was a sloppy one for the defense. CJ West, Ashtyn Davis, and Eli Apple (multiple) all missed tackles. Darrell Luter Jr. avoided a block to make an impressive tackle on a screen before Siran Neal broke up a pass to end the drive.
Rookie cornerback Ephesians Prysock left with a shoulder injury on the drive.
Black benefitted from good blocking on a 14-yard run on the ensuing drive. His decisiveness shown on a 3rd & 1 run last week ended up being a mistake Jordan James made in his first action. Black gave way to James in the second quarter. On a 3rd & 1 run, James attempted to cut against the grain instead of staying on his path and picking up the first down. That’s a good learning moment for James.
James broke a run himself. He had a 17-yarder and also took a screen pass 20 yards. James isn’t flashy, but he’s the type of back to bounce off tackles and fall forward for a few extra yards. That’s what you want in a backup. He’ll learn to stick his nose in there and maximize the yardage in short-yardage situations.
Carver Willis played into the second quarter, as the team continued to evaluate their rookie left guard.
The most intriguing rookie may have been undrafted free agent tight end Khalil Dinkins. He’s listed at 6’4″, 226 pounds. That might be about 15 pounds too light. He played blocked with a level of intensity in limited action that is worth keeping around on the practice squad.
The score was 12-12 with two minutes to go. Eddy Pineiro nailed a 51-yarder to give the Niners a 15-12 lead. It was his fifth make in as many attempts. Pineiro also buried a 59-yard kick. Pineiro tacked on a 54-yarder with under 10 seconds to play for good measure. That made him an impressive 6-for-6. He’s in regular-season form.
NEW YORK — Aaron Judge is hoping to skip a minor league rehabilitation assignment before returning to the New York Yankees as he nears the three-month mark in his recovery from a stress fracture in his right rib.
“If I tell them I’m ready to go play, I think we’re ready to go play,” Judge said Thursday before the Yankees concluded a three-game series with Houston. “I’m not a pitcher. I’m a position player. I can get my reps down here in the cage. I’m in every game. I’m sitting there in the dugout watching every game, feeling the environment, feeling the energy, so I don’t think there’s going to be much of a difference.”
Judge skipped a rehab assignment in 2023 when he missed 42 games with a fractured right big toe after crashing into the right-field fence at Dodger Stadium. In 2019, he appeared in five minor league games for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre when he missed two months with a strained left oblique.
“He said that to me, too,” manager Aaron Boone said. “If and when we get to that point, we’ll work through all that.”
Judge began taking swings in the indoor batting cages Tuesday. The three-time AL MVP also recently started doing some running and throwing in the outfield.
The Yankees’ captain declined to offer a target date for his return, but said he’s not feeling anything other than normal soreness.
“Obviously, there’s soreness from not doing anything for the past couple of weeks, but now we’re building that up and we’re in a good spot,” Judge said. “So, there has not been any setbacks, which is the greatest thing.”
Judge missed his 74th game Thursday night since he last played on May 31. The Yankees entered 39-34 without him during that stretch, including 11-6 in their past 17 games.
The 35-year-old slugger’s only homer in the final 18 games before he went on the injured list was a game-ending, two-run shot to beat Tampa Bay 2-0 on May 24 that snapped an 11-game drought without an RBI, the longest of his career.
Judge is hitting .248 with 17 homers and 38 RBIs. He was initially injured attempting to avoid second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. on a diving catch in Houston on April 26 and batted .263 with seven homers and 20 RBIs in 31 games before being sidelined.
“I feel great,” Judge said. “So, I think that’s one reason why we’re kind of speeding through this and really doing more outside, doing more in the cage. Things are feeling good.
“Now it’s about volume, trying to get my volume back up since I haven’t played in quite a long time. So just build up the volume so I can go out there and finish the season strong.”
Judge won a batting title last season when he hit a career-high .331 with 53 homers and 114 RBIs in 152 games. He missed 10 games from July 26 to Aug. 4 with a flexor strain in his right elbow that he sustained on a throw to home plate July 22 in Toronto. He underwent a plasma-rich platelet injection and did not require offseason surgery.
Cruz expects decision on Tommy John surgery in two or three days
A day after getting diagnosed with a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, reliever Fernando Cruz is awaiting the findings from Dr. Keith Meister to see if he needs surgery.
Cruz was placed on the 15-day injured list Wednesday after allowing his fifth homer since the All-Star break a day earlier and telling the Yankees he felt pain. An MRI showed the tear and Cruz should know in two to three days if surgery is necessary.
In his second season with the Yankees, Cruz is 4-6 with a 3.13 ERA in 61 appearances. He allowed a tying, two-run homer to Jeremy Peña on a fastball in the sixth inning of Tuesday night’s 9-7 loss to the Astros and has a 5.52 ERA in 17 appearances since the All-Star break.
“I made the decision to let (them) know because I knew I was affecting the New York Yankees,” Cruz said. “I wasn’t affecting Fernando Cruz, and obviously the MRI came back in a way that nobody wants, nobody expected, but it’s just part of this game and I think we’re waiting for options to come down and make the best decision.”
Chris Sale had not finished a game in seven years. He had not thrown a pitch 100 miles per hour in eight.
Thursday night, the 37-year-old Braves' lefthander did both.
Sale scattered five hits, struck out 11 and did not walk a batter as he shut out the Dodgers 1-0 at Truist Park.
The last time Sale went nine innings, he was wearing a Red Sox jersey. It was June 5, 2019 in Kansas City. Since then he had Tommy John surgery, broke a rib and won a Cy Young Award at age 35. He barely pitched for four of those years, 31 starts total from 2020 through 2023.
But Thursday night, Sale pitched like those seven years were just a bad dream.
His fastball touched 100.1 miles per hour, his hardest pitch since 2018. He used it on Shohei Ohtani, who struck out twice swinging and did not get a hit out of the infield until the eighth inning. Sale needed 109 pitches and threw 80 of them for strikes. He generated 20 swings and misses.
Sale has been living on the margins all season. He lost 2-1 at Milwaukee last Friday and 2-0 to Arizona the week before. Thursday night, the one run came from Drake Baldwin, who led off the bottom of the first with his 22nd home run.
That was all Sale was going to get and he made it stand up. He is 13-9 with a 2.06 ERA, a combination that takes some doing. He has 177 strikeouts and 28 walks in 144 innings.
Atlanta is 79-55 and leads the National League East. Milwaukee, at 83-51, has the best record in the league. The Brewers have the best record in baseball and are in position to get one of the two first-round byes in the playoffs. The Dodgers, 80-54, are in position to claim the other, but only by a game over the Braves after losing three straight in Atlanta.
At 37 years, 150 days old, Sale is one of six pitchers who have thrown a shutout with double-digit strikeouts and no walks at that age or older.
The other five are in the Hall of Fame: Cy Young (twice in 1905), Eddie Plank (1913), Steve Carlton (1982), Nolan Ryan (1989) and Randy Johnson (2001 and 2004).
TAMPA, Fla. — City officials on Thursday approved a $2.3 billion deal for a new Tampa Bay Rays ballpark funded by public and private money.
The 4-3 vote by the Tampa City Council came three months after a tentative agreement was reached for a stadium, which would include $967 million in tax money.
Rays Chief Executive Officer Ken Babby said in a statement that the stadium project will “deliver lasting benefits” for the region.
“The Tampa Bay Rays are grateful for the leadership and support of the City Council members to approve an investment that, when accompanied by the private funding guaranteed by the Rays, will secure the future of Major League Baseball in Tampa Bay while creating a landmark destination neighborhood that will serve our region for generations,” Babby said Thursday.
Hillsborough County Commissioners will vote on the project Friday morning.
The Rays ownership reached an agreement earlier this year with Hillsborough College to build the stadium and mixed-use entertainment district on the campus and to renovate some of the school’s buildings. The property is located next to the New York Yankees’ spring training facility and across a highway from Raymond James Stadium, home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Rays have said they hope to have the new stadium built within three years.
Since the team took the field in 1998, the Rays have played at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, except for moving home games to the Yankees’ George M. Steinbrenner Field in 2025 following hurricane damage at the Trop. The Rays’ lease runs through at least the 2028 season. The team returned to the Trop last month for the start of this season.
A proposed $1.3 billion redevelopment deal for a new ballpark adjacent to the Trop fell through last year, raising new questions about the future of the team, which was bought last September by Patrick Zalupski’s ownership group.
Aug 27, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Browns quarterback Dillon Gabriel (6) runs the ball against the New England Patriots during the first half at Huntington Bank Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The biggest stories coming out of the game will be any injuries and how those bubble players perform with the chances that they are given. Some of the evaluation is tougher given the level of talent on the other side of the field, with the Patriots also not playing their top guys. Take everything within that perspective.
A few takeaways from Thursday Night Football off the shores of Lake Erie:
Rocket Sanders looks good
Quinshon Judkins and Dylan Sampson have locked up the top of the depth chart, but Raheim Sanders still has to secure his spot as the third guy. A few carries in the first few series looked like Sanders, nicknamed “Rocket,” is on his way to having that role.
Luke Floriea trying to make Browns roster decision tough
One of Shedeur Sanders’ favorite targets, Floriea just keeps making plays, including this touchdown from Gabriel:
CB D’Angelo Ross is a special teams star and looked totally out of place getting beat for a touchdown throw where he wasn’t anywhere near the receiver while looking into the backfield. Overall, the defense made a couple of big plays, but seemed to benefit from the bad New England offense more than making stops themselves.
Dillon Gabriel shows talent, value
As noted above, level of competition is a key reference point, but Gabriel showed out in the first half. Not only with the stats, but the long-term college starter looked under control, was rarely rattled, and was smooth with his decisions and delivery of passes. As much as Monken values “operation,” Gabriel was pretty clean throughout.
As for the stats, this is Preseason Performance Hall of Fame level:
12 for 15
186 yards
3 touchdowns
4 rushes, 3 yards
157.9 rating
There were some very good throws, as well as his receivers making plays and Patriots defenders not making the plays they needed to. For example, the text of this tweet is… interesting… given the play being made by RB Ahmani Marshall after a simple Gabriel pass, but a touchdown is a touchdown:
Dillon Gabriel is DEALING. That's 3 TDs in the first half 🔥
Both Gabriel and Green ran some zone read and other quarterback run-oriented plays. Green’s QB sweep was really well designed and put defenders in difficult positions.
It is one reason I believe Watson won the starting QB job and think the QB run will be a huge part of this
Al Michaels just saying whatever was funny
Michaels made a number of mistakes, railed on the refs, the virtual measurement, and more. Perhaps too much celebration of his 60th wedding anniversary (seriously, that is amazing). Given that the game didn’t matter, Michaels being a little less professional, and showing a little chest hair, was kind of appropriate.
Taylen Green’s legs a weapon, a few good passes too
As noted above, the QB run game was shown more in this game, but Green’s legs were useful as a scrambler as well. Defenders have to be ready for the run from Green, which can open up lanes for the running backs in option oriented palys and even receivers in some passing concepts.
Green finished with eight rushes for 66 yards.
Not everything was perfect, of course, but Green hit a few passes as well, including a key checkdown to Floreia to keep a drive going.
Social media and our game chat were full of ideas to have a package for Green or to use him on sneaks, the problem there is that Cleveland would have to keep three quarterbacks on their active game-day roster, instead of two and an emergency third QB. Seems unlikely unless injuries require it. Green is only likely to be active if/when he’s the backup QB (or starter).
4 running backs?
Davon Booth and Marshall both made plays in the third preseason game. Will the Browns keep four running backs and rely on a tight end to take the fullback role? Veteran FB Michael Burton hasn’t practiced during training camp, while Rocket Sanders, Booth, and Marshall have all made a case for making the roster as well. Perhaps Monken gets creative with his usage, including Sanders taking some snaps at fullback.
ORCHARD PARK, NEW YORK - AUGUST 27: Skyler Bell #13 of the Buffalo Bills runs the ball in for a touchdown during the third quarter of a preseason game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Highmark Stadium on August 27, 2026 in Orchard Park, New York. (Photo by Bryan M. Bennett/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Preseason Week 3 is a wrap, and the Buffalo Bills close out the exhibition slate with a 26-7 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers at Highmark Stadium. Thanks for your love in the first article of this series, and glad to be back for another one. Here’s everything I wrote down as it happened.
1st Half
Skyler Bell moves fluidly and is a huge mismatch running routesinside. The way he moves reminds me of Stefon Diggs a lot.
Shane Buechele isn’t close to Kyle Allen as a passer. And Allen isn’t great.
Trent Sherfield is a lock to make this roster IMO.
Joe Andreessen will make the team. They wouldn’t keep him out of this game if he wasn’t part of their roster. They’d give him a chance to put up more on tape for his NFL future elsewhere.
Keonta Jenkins in trouble? Maybe PS bound again.
Mitch Wishnowsky is gone. A 19-yard punt when battling for his life? Oof.
Ray Davis messed up with his punt return case. Better now than in week 1, I guess? It might cost the Bills a roster spot, though. The punt returner job might not be settled. Mecole Hardman hasn’t been good, Khalil Shakir is simply a guy for safety there. Maybe Keon Coleman will get another shot? I’m not very excited about any of those options.
A battle for the CB2 job in week 3 of preseason? Davison Igbinosun is giving Maxwell Hairston a run for his money. I won’t be surprised to see him alongside Christian Benford in week 1.
T.J. Parker reminds me of Shaq Lawson right now. I know Shaq never became what we expected from him, but that’s not a bad comp for T.J. as he starts his career. He has the potential to become better and more complete.
I wouldn’t keep Damar Hamlin or Geno Stone in my 53, going with Jordan Hancock and Jalon Kilgore as my backup safeties. I think the Bills will carry one of them, though. Hamlin’s probably getting the nod with another INT.
Phidarian Mathis looks good, too bad he’s on PEDs.
Kani Walker is an awesome find. Undrafted? This guy looks better than Levi Wallace, who was also undrafted, and Dane Jackson, who was a 7th-round pick. He’s young Benford-like, but Benford was a 6th round pick. Awesome find.
Andre Jones Jr. giving Max Iheanachor, a 1st round pick, some trouble is a good look for somebody who’s fighting for a PS place.
Rough half for the OL.
2nd Half
Nice to see Bell being moved around and getting open no matter where he lined up. It’s against backups at this point or even people who won’t make the team, but we’re talking about a 4th round pick, it’s not like he’s supposed to be a stud out of the gate. His versatility will give him opportunities.
I’ve heard all the talk about the new stadium, but I’ll tell you one thing: it looks gorgeous on TV, especially as the night comes.
It’s just preseason, and with a lot of backups and camp bodies on the field at this point, but I’m really excited for the new defensive schemes. Jim Leonhard’s defense should be fun.
Bad bad look for the Special Teams allowing that punt return for a TD. No discipline, poor angles, and even worse tackling. Teaching tape on what not to do for the guys in the final 53.
That Pittsburgh PR, though. Dude is a real weapon. (Kaden Wetjen, 4th round pick). One of the best punt returners coming out of college recently (Two-time Jet Award winner, 2024-25).
It’s extremely frustrating how Buechele doesn’t risk anything downfield, like, ever. Give his WRs a chance to make some plays. It’s always a check-down or scrambling. (He just gave Max Tomczak a shot as I was typing this, and guess what? It worked).
I wish Ja’Mori Maclin had more chances, but, as said above, Buechele.
Last drive and Buechele starts to let it fly. Gave Dante Pettis two chances and good things happened — a 1st down completion on 3rd and 14, and a long PI call setting the Bills up inside the 10.
Pettis is an NFL receiver. He ate his competition alive late in the game, including on the game-winning 2-point conversion. Can he become the punt returner and make the team? I’d rather have him than Hardman, but I don’t think any of them make the team.
1 min left, 1-point game. The type of situation Sean McDermott’s D failed miserably, again and again. Not Leonhard’s though. 4 and out, game over. What’s that? Is it real life? Love to see it.
Catch up on all this and more with the latest edition of Leading the Charge!
New York Yankees pitcher Cam Schlittler reacts while pitching against the Boston Red Sox in the first inning at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts, Thursday, April 23, 2026. (JASON SZENES/ NY POST)
A four-game series against the Red Sox this weekend stands to be pivotal for the Yankees.
For Cam Schlittler, however, every game against the Red Sox is notable.
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That’s just the way it’ll always be for the American League Cy Young Award favorite, who grew up roughly 30 miles from Fenway Park and has taken on the role as Yankees villain in a near yearlong feud with Boston fans following his historic performance against the club in their AL wild-card series last season.
The bad blood, of course, stems from fans hurling death threats and trolling Schlitter and his family on social media in the leadup to the postseason clash.
The 25-year-old, who will start Friday to open the series, is used to it at this point.
“It’s never stopped,” Schlitter said Thursday of Red Sox fans harassing him online ahead of the Yankees series finale against the Astros. “Whether it’s comments on my posts or my messages or Twitter or whatever it is, or messaging people in my family, it’s always been there. It hasn’t stopped at all. I don’t expect it to stop. I feel like I probably created that issue.
“I could have easily just thrown last year and not said anything, but it didn’t feel right to not say anything.”
Playoff position will be on the line as the rivalry is reignited in The Bronx this weekend, with the Red Sox sitting 2 ½ games behind the Yankees in the AL wild-card standings.
The last time these teams met, when the Red Sox swept the series in June, Boston was 15 ½ games back. Since then, they have been one of the hottest teams in baseball. They completely turned their season around, rattling off multiple lengthy winning streaks to close the gap with the rest of the league.
New York Yankees starting pitcher Cam Schlittler (31) pitches against the Toronto Blue Jays during the first inning at Yankee Stadium. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
After Ryan Weathers landed on the 15-day injured list with a low-grade left forearm flexor strain, the Yankees also pushed back Schlittler’s scheduled start to line up with the Boston series.
Asked if that was by design or happenstance, Schlitter sounded like he was all for taking the game.
“I was prepared to throw [Thursday against Houston]. Obviously, I pushed that back,” he said. “There’s some decisions to be made. I think the way it pans out over the weekend, we’re in a good spot. I think it was better for Elmer [Rodríguez] to throw [Wednesday], and he obviously pitched very well, so he put us in a good spot. That’s really all you can ask for out of a rookie. I think it lines up.
New York Yankees pitcher Cam Schlittler reacts while pitching against the Boston Red Sox in the first inning at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, Thursday, April 23, 2026. JASON SZENES/ NY POST
“We got our guys going against Boston, and it’s an important series. I was fine with it. I think I was going to have a seven-day [gap between starts] no matter what after the Cali trip, anyway, so I guess it’s good to just get that out of the way.”
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said he foresaw just how good the Red Sox were during their last series in Boston, where the Yanks were outscored by a combined 21-9 through the four games.
Having their breakout star pitcher on the mound with a chip on his shoulder, the Yankees hope to keep a hot Red Sox team at bay.
The last time Schlittler faced his hometown team, he gave up five hits over five innings while allowing four runs — but none earned as the Yankees committed four errors on the way to a loss. While that series isn’t in the back of his mind much, Schlittler always has some extra juice for the Red Sox.
“I think it’s just easier [to have that competitive spirit]. Just being from there and the way the fans treated me last year and then into this year, I feel like it’s just easier to get going a little bit,” Schlitter said. “I still respect all the guys over there and everything, but I feel like just being from there makes it easier to kind of be a little more competitive. I don’t really have to search for it as much. It’s just kind of right there in front of me.”
Yes, the White Sox do have a player with positive defensive metrics: Tristan Peters. | Getty Images
Most of the talk about Chicago’s amazing season so far is either about the hitting, which is chugging right along despite some serious slumping here or there. Or even the pitching, which looks like it may be running out of steam (please notice how both references cleverly tie in to old trains). As long as the Savannah Bananas keep furnishing hitters and if management can cleverly find a blister somewhere on Sean Burke so he can get a few weeks of R&R like Davis Martin before the stretch run, both may work out just fine.
That leaves … fielding.
The team’s defense certainly seems to pass the eyeball test with better marks than in recent years, with many fewer bizarre incidents. But should we trust professionally-developed algorithms, or our lying eyes? The algorithms aren’t horrible, but they aren’t impressive, either.
Let’s take a look. For this look, we’ll go with Baseball-Reference. Defense is the category where B-R and FanGraphs are most likely to disagree, because there is some subjectivity to how they value things, but using both all the way through would provide way too many numbers to try to cope with.
Within B-R, we’ll go with the most easily comparable figure, which is Defensive Runs Saved. DRS is created in a way that the league average at each position is zero, so figuring out good versus bad is fairly easy.
And we’ll go by position.
First, a strong point — pitchers Amazingly, at least amazingly if you remember all the pickoff throws to Row Q in recent years, White Sox pitchers score third best in the majors at fielding their position. Yep, they’re at +7 DRS, behind only the Mets and Cubs. There are obviously a whole lot of players involved in this case, so no one or two pitchers get the credit, but the staff as a whole is defending extremely well.
That’s good, because …
Yuck — catchers White Sox catchers have been very good at throwing out runners with larcenous intent, nailing 27% compared to an MLB average of 23%. But that’s where any goodness ends. And boy, is the bad stuff bad.
As a team, they’re 29th, at -10 DRS. Why, you ask?
Well, it may not seem quite as awful as back when Zack Collins was chasing every third pitch back to the wall behind home plate, but the several catchers used by the Sox this year are the runaway leaders in allowing wild pitches. Sure, the pitchers get charged with those, but everything that touches dirt is called a wild pitch these days, and catchers are supposed to block most of those. They haven’t — 60 times they haven’t, five worse than any other team (Angels) and twice as many as the better backstops.
There have been so many different bodies behind the plate, it’s only fair to call it a position-wide problem, not an individual weakness.
The just sorta blah — the infield The infield positions on the South Side share a defensive trait — they’re all slightly worse than average.
That’s a good result at first base, where most scouts figured Munetaka Murakami would be awful. He’s not. Mune scores a -2 DRS — not good, but not terrible, either. That’s in 789 innings of 1,188 the Sox have played, with the two subs while he was on the IL, Miguel Vargas and Jacob Gonzalez, bringing the score up just one point. Overall, the first base D is right in the middle.
It may be a surprise that second base scores more below average, at -4 DRS, 20th in MLB. Half of that is on Chase Meidroth, who has played all but 90 innings at the position, to the tune of -2 DRS. Meidroth makes some terrific plays (and we may forget the awful ones) but his subs — Sam Antonacci being the key — have racked up -2 in just a handful of games.
Even more surprising may be third base, given that the TV crews constantly say what a great fielder Miguel Vargas is. Turns out, he isn’t. The third base total is -3 DRS, and Vargas is good for 921 innings of the coverage there. What he is really good at is catching the ball — only two fielding boo-boos, second-best in MLB. What he’s really bad at is throwing the ball — eight throwing errors, second-worst in MLB for third basemen.
Then, there’s shortstop. Overall, Sox shortstops score -4 DRS, good for 20th place. Colson Montgomery, who has covered 787 of the 1,188 innings, is even worse, at -6 DRS, ranking last of 18 shortstops with qualified innings according to FanGraphs. He has made only eight errors, only two of those throwing, but comes up short (get it?) on getting to balls. (Being slightly below-average on defense would be perfectly fine for a power hitter destined to knock more than 30 homers, but his recent slump also puts Colson at a just-below-average 98 OPS+ even though OPS tends to favor power hitters, and the strikeouts … well. Too bad it’s too late in the season for another Arizona intervention like the one that saved his career last spring.)
So, every infield position is poor, but none are horrible.
At the extremes — the outfield The three outfield spots cover the gamut in defensive performance, at least as far as DRS is concerned.
Right field is right in the middle. As a team, the Sox score just below average there, at -2 DRS. Most of the action in right these days involves Braden Montgomery, who has handled 576 innings at a completely neutral 0 DRS. He had several predecessors in the spot, none noteworthy. As for Braden, his fantastic arm is unfortunately balanced by a tendency to throw before actually catching a ball on the ground, leading to leakiness.
Center field is the true bright spot of the D. The team scores a +6 DRS, good for seventh in MLB, with Tristan Peters amassing all six runs in his 791 innings patrolling the area. Combine that with his sudden surge in hitting in August, and every team is apt to be sending a bunch of scouts to cover Savannah Bananas games from now on.
As for left, that’s sad, especially for those of us who consider Antonacci our favorite player. The eyeball test hasn’t seemed bad, but the data is very unhappy: -12 DRS in left as a team, last in the big leagues. Most of that isn’t on Sam, but he’s at -5 for 771 innings, which is, to put it bluntly, lousy. We can’t even blame Andrew Benintendi’s defensive incompetence for the problem, because he’s been nailed to the bench for all but 55 defensive innings. Heck, we can’t even say, “At least he’s not as awful out there as Andrew Vaughn was,” because Sam’s even worse — at least worse than Vaughn’s first year, when in a similar number of innings he was only -2 DRS. (Vaughn got much, much worse his second year in the outfield, so we have to hope the same thing doesn’t happen with Antonacci.)
So … It’s unlikely Chicago’s drive to the postseason will be led by fancy glovework, but it shouldn’t be killed by defensive lapses, either. Except maybe behind the plate.
CLEVELAND, OHIO - AUGUST 27: Wide receiver Luke Floriea #81 of the Cleveland Browns scores a touchdown against cornerback Kindle Vildor #28 of the New England Patriots in the first quarter of a preseason game at Huntington Bank Field on August 27, 2026, in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The New England Patriots concluded their preseason with a 37-13 loss to the Cleveland Browns on Thursday night.
With Drake Maye and the Patriots frontline players out again, it was a rough showing from New England’s depth players on both sides of the ball — outside of an early highlight from Kyle Williams scoring on another deep ball touchdown.
Here’s everything that went down in the preseason finale.
The Patriots lost the coin toss putting the defense on the field first against Dillon Gabriel and the Browns reserves. A third-down defensive pass interference penalty downfield on Kindle Vildor quickly put Cleveland outside the red zone. From there, the Browns needed just four plays to find the end zone. [Patriots 0 : 7 Browns]
Tommy DeVito drew the start for the Patriots with QB coach Ashton Grant calling offensive plays. After quickly working across midfield, DeVito and Kyle Williams struck again as they connected on a 45-yard touchdown down the left sideline. [Patriots 7 : 7 Browns]
The Browns offense quickly got back to work. Rookie Gabe Jacas bit on a zone-read to allow Gabriel to pick up a third-down with his legs, before the left quarterback found a pair of chunk gains through the air over the middle — the second being a 14-yard touchdown. [Patriots 7 : 14 Browns]
New England then went three-and-out on their next possession as a third-down pass was slightly behind and dropped by Lan Larison out of the backfield. New punter Matt Haack then punted away.
Cleveland’s first play of its new drive goes 52 yards on a deep connection to wide receiver Ben Patterson. Multiple Patriots defenders wrap up Gabriel behind the line of scrimmage on third down in the red zone for a registered sack before kicker Andrew Szmyt adds three to the Browns’ column from 35 yards out. [Patriots 7 : 17 Browns]
Nearing the end of the first quarter, seventh-round rookie Behren Morton replaces DeVito at the helm of the offense. But the signal-caller’s first pass attempt of the evening bounces off the foot of tight end CJ Dippre and falls into the hands of the opposing defense.
Second Quarter
As a result, the Browns took over at New England’s 31-yard line. And after a three-play sequence, Szmyt splits the uprights once more. [Patriots 7 : 20 Browns]
Looking for a response, Morton drove the Patriots offense into the red zone, where kicker Andy Borregales made a 26-yard field goal attempt midway through the frame. New England’s quarterback scrambled for a gain of 14 before connecting for 19 more yards with Kyle Dixon, sitting in a zone coverage soft spot, to cross midfield on the drive. [Patriots 10 : 20 Browns]
Starting its response series just past midfield in New England territory after outside linebacker Amari Gainer was flagged for roughing the passer, Gabriel found running back Ahmani Marshall in the flat, who shed a tackle to secure the score. Cornerback Charles Woods allowed two chunk conversions totaling 39 yards prior. [Patriots 10 : 27 Browns]
The Patriots, taking over with just over two minutes remaining until halftime, had Borregales drill a 33-yard field goal with seven seconds left on the clock. A defensive pass interference call that overturned a deep Morton interception set the Patriots up in Cleveland territory before the no-huddle tempo took effect. [Patriots 13 : 27 Browns]
Third Quarter
Opening the second half, Browns defensive tackle Coziah Izzard broke into New England’s backfield, sacking Morton on a first-down snap. The Patriots were forced to punt after the setback, but seventh-round rookie Quintayvious Hutchins brought down the scrambling returner at the two-yard line after he attempted to create extra yardage.
As Taylen Green replaced Gabriel on Cleveland’s following drive, his offense couldn’t overcome the poor field positioning, going three-and-out.
Despite New England quickly regaining possession, a three-and-out of its own sent the ball right back to the opposition. Recently signed punter Matt Haack delivered a 63-yard kick, pinning the Browns at their own two-yard line halfway through the third.
Fourth Quarter
Nevertheless, to end the quarter-long scoring drought, Cleveland running back Davon Booth capped off a nine-minute, 98-yard scoring drive. The ball carrier broke a missed tackle by Patriots cornerback Kobee Minor, easily waltzing into the end zone for the touchdown. [Patriots 13 : 34 Browns]
The Patriots, operating in an even larger scoring deficit, followed with an offensive series that only lasted five plays. Punting from midfield, Haack’s punt sailed to the Browns’ 19-yard line for a fair catch with 12 minutes remaining.
Cleveland’s goal to close out the game is to chew the clock, which it did for five and a half minutes during a nine-play possession, securing three first downs.
New England then attempted to put together a scoring drive, starting from its own 11, but Morton was hit as he threw on a fourth-and-two play, resulting in an interception. The Browns returned the takeaway to the Patriots’ 12-yard line, turning the defensive stop into a successful field goal just ahead of the two-minute warning. [Patriots 13 : 37 Browns]
Morton completed a couple of passes on the final drive of the contest as the clock ran out.
1906: Future Hall of Famer Eddie Collins made his major league debut for the Philadelphia Athletics, beginning a 25-year career that produced more than 3,300 hits.
1912: Casey Stengel debuted with Brooklyn and collected four singles in a 7-3 victory, launching a career that later led to Hall of Fame honors as a manager.
1920: Representatives of 11 professional football teams met in Canton, Ohio, and formed the American Professional Football Association, which became the NFL in 1922. Massillon withdrew during the meetings; Jim Thorpe was elected the league’s first president.
1931: Boston Red Sox outfielder Earl Webb established a major league record by reaching 65 doubles on the season, a mark he eventually pushed to a still-standing 67.
1941: Stan Musial made his major league debut and doubled home two runs as the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Boston Braves in the second game of a doubleheader.
1947: Jackie Robinson was named The Sporting News Rookie of the Year after breaking Major League Baseball’s color barrier during his historic first season.
1953: Ernie Banks became the first Black player in Chicago Cubs history, starting at shortstop in his major league debut against the Philadelphia Phillies.
1954: Heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano, fighting with a badly split nose, knocked out Ezzard Charles in the eighth round of their rematch at Yankee Stadium.
1955: Brooks Robinson made his major league debut with the Baltimore Orioles, the first game of a Hall of Fame career at third base.
1964: Mickey Mantle recorded both his 2,000th career hit and 450th home run in the Yankees’ victory over Detroit.
1965: Hank Aaron hit two home runs and drove in three runs as the Milwaukee Braves snapped San Francisco’s 14-game winning streak in the Braves’ final win in Milwaukee before moving to Atlanta.
1968: Gaylord Perry struck out nine and threw a no-hitter against Bob Gibson and the St. Louis Cardinals, leading the San Francisco Giants to a 1-0 victory at Candlestick Park.
1983: Cincinnati Reds star Johnny Bench hit the 389th and final home run of his career on “Johnny Bench Night” at Riverfront Stadium.
1984: The California Angels’ Reggie Jackson hit his 500th career home run, reaching the milestone exactly 17 years after hitting his first major league homer.
1993: The expansion Colorado Rockies surpassed 4 million in home attendance during their 71st home date, breaking Major League Baseball’s single-season attendance record.
1996: Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Hideo Nomo threw the first and only no-hitter in Coors Field history, beating the Colorado Rockies 9-0 in one of baseball’s most hitter-friendly ballparks.
2000: Thirteen-year-old Lionel Messi arrived in Barcelona from Argentina for a trial with FC Barcelona, beginning the process that led to his celebrated career.
2000: The Miami Dolphins retired Dan Marino’s No. 13 jersey, honoring the Hall of Fame quarterback’s 17-year career with the franchise.
2004: Barry Bonds hit his 700th career home run off San Diego’s Jake Peavy, becoming the third major league player to reach the milestone.
2011: Mariano Rivera recorded his 601st career save in the New York Yankees’ 7-6 victory over Toronto, tying Trevor Hoffman’s major league record.
2017: Anna Nordqvist won the Evian Championship after a playoff victory over Brittany Altomare, securing her second of three major championships.
2024: Juan Soto hit his 200th career home run and became the eighth major league player to reach the milestone before his 26th birthday as the New York Yankees defeated Seattle.
— USA TODAY Network
This story was created with the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of information gathering, review, editing and publishing. Learn more at cm.usatoday.com/ethical-conduct.
NaLyssa Smith has been ruled out for the remainder of the 2026 season, the Las Vegas Aces announced Thursday. Smith, one of the Aces’ starters and a key part of last year’s championship team, suffered a non-contact left leg injury against the Toronto Tempo on Sunday and left the game immediately.
Smith was the fourth-leading scorer on the Aces’ active roster with 11.7 points per game and was the second-leading rebounder with 6.4 per contest. She was also leading the WNBA in field-goal percentage (63.8 percent). By most advanced metrics, she was the most valuable player on Las Vegas outside the big three of A’ja Wilson, Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray.
“Lyss is a soldier,” Wilson said postgame Sunday. “God has his hands on her, and we’re going to continue to be beside her through this whole process.”
The Aces acquired Smith on June 30 last season. She joined the starting lineup one game later, and the team went 21-5 the rest of the way before winning a third title in five seasons.
The team now has a gaping hole at the power forward slot. Head coach Becky Hammon often closes with a small lineup, with either Gray or Jewell Loyd playing the 4 on defense. However, for the rest of the game, Brianna Turner and Cheyenne Parker-Tyus are closer to centers; Turner has offensive limitations while Hammon doesn’t appear to trust Parker-Tyus’ defense. Rookie Justine Pissott seems unlikely to gain a larger role in the rotation, as she has played only 81 minutes in 2026 thus far.
Smith’s absence will be felt most acutely on the glass. Las Vegas struggles to generate second chances without her on the court. The sixth-year forward is an athletic rebounder and has learned to fill the gaps created by defenses focusing on Wilson in the frontcourt.
The Aces have already been granted a season-ending injury exemption for Smith, so they can sign a free agent at a minimum contract to replace her. They were in the running for DeWanna Bonner but lost out to the Atlanta Dream. The deadline has passed for players to be eligible for the postseason if waived by another team, so Las Vegas has to look outside the WNBA for options.
It has already done so this season by signing Mai Yamamoto on July 17 to replace Janiah Barker. Yamamoto has become a key part of the rotation since. The upcoming 17-day FIBA break could be an opportunity for a new player to acclimate to Hammon’s system in Las Vegas.
The Aces are third in the WNBA standings, a half-game ahead of the Dream with the tiebreaker. They have the easiest remaining schedule in the league; all five of their upcoming games are against lottery teams.
It’s unlikely that Las Vegas can move up, as the No. 1 seed is out of reach and the Golden State Valkyries are two losses ahead with only one game remaining against a fellow playoff team. However, the No. 3 seed should be the floor for the Aces, even without Smith the rest of the way.
1919: Cincinnati defeated the New York Giants 4-3 to clinch the first National League pennant in franchise history.
1924: St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Jim Bottomley went 6-for-6 with two home runs and a major-league-record 12 RBIs in a 17-3 victory over the Brooklyn Robins.
1937: Washington, DC’s NFL team played its first regular-season game since relocating from Boston, defeating the New York Giants 13-3 at Griffith Stadium.
1950: The four-time All-America Football Conference champion Cleveland Browns made their NFL debut by routing the defending NFL champion Philadelphia Eagles 35-10.
1960: At age 39, Milwaukee Braves pitcher Warren Spahn struck out 15 and threw the first of his two career no-hitters, defeating the Philadelphia Phillies 4-0.
1973: Buffalo Bills running back O.J. Simpson rushed for 250 yards and two touchdowns in a season-opening victory over the New England Patriots, beginning his march toward the NFL’s first 2,000-yard rushing season.
1975: The Pittsburgh Pirates crushed the Chicago Cubs 22-0 at Wrigley Field, producing the largest shutout victory in the major leagues since 1900. The Pirates’ Rennie Stennett went 7-for-7, becoming the only player since 1900 to collect seven hits in a nine-inning game.
1981: Sugar Ray Leonard stopped previously unbeaten Thomas Hearns in the 14th round at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas to unify the welterweight championship.
1988: Cincinnati Reds left-hander Tom Browning pitched the first perfect game in franchise history, retiring all 27 Los Angeles Dodgers in a 1-0 victory at Riverfront Stadium.
1989: Raghib “Rocket” Ismail returned two kickoffs for second-half touchdowns as No. 1 Notre Dame defeated No. 2 Michigan 24-19 before 105,912 fans at Michigan Stadium.
1992: The first matches of the newly rebranded UEFA Champions League were played, beginning the inaugural season of Europe’s premier club competition under its new name.
1993: Minnesota Twins designated hitter Dave Winfield singled against Oakland’s Dennis Eckersley to become the 19th major-league player to reach 3,000 career hits.
1996: Paul Molitor collected his 3,000th career hit and became the first major leaguer to reach the milestone with a triple.
2000: Switzerland’s Brigitte McMahon won the women’s triathlon at the Sydney Games, capturing the first Olympic gold medal awarded in the sport.
2000: Chicago Cubs star Sammy Sosa hit his 50th home run of the season, becoming only the second player in MLB history to reach 50 homers in three consecutive years.
2004: NHL owners locked out the players after the collective bargaining agreement expired, beginning the labor stoppage that ultimately wiped out the entire 2004-05 season.
2007: Tiger Woods won the Tour Championship by eight strokes at East Lake and captured the inaugural FedEx Cup championship.
2007: Jim Thome hit his 500th career home run in dramatic fashion, delivering a two-run, walk-off shot in the ninth inning of the Chicago White Sox’s 9-7 victory over the Los Angeles Angels.
2007: The Phoenix Mercury defeated the defending champion Detroit Shock 108-92 in Game 5 of the WNBA Finals, winning the first championship in franchise history as Cappie Pondexter earned Finals MVP honors.
2018: Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw six touchdown passes in a win over Pittsburgh and set an NFL record with 10 touchdown passes through his team’s first two games of a season.
— USA TODAY Network
This story was created with the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of information gathering, review, editing and publishing. Learn more at cm.usatoday.com/ethical-conduct.
LAKE FOREST, ILLINOIS - JULY 29: Caleb Williams #18 of the Chicago Bears looks on during Chicago Bears Training Camp at Halas Hall on July 29, 2026 in Lake Forest, Illinois. (Photo by Geoff Stellfox/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Chicago Bears held their second joint practice of training camp, closing out the camp season, with the Tennessee Titans Thursday, at Vanderbilt Health Football Center, a roughly two-hour, padded session against Robert Saleh’s Titans two days before Saturday’s preseason finale at Nissan Stadium (5 p.m. CT). It was hot, physical, and chippy. From the Bears’ side the day split cleanly: the offense — especially Caleb Williams and the tight ends — won the first half; Tennessee’s defense and first-round receiver Carnell Tate won the second after Chicago lost both starting corners for stretches. Ben Johnson framed the week as “another controlled test” link against an “attacking front” designed to meet the Bears at the line of scrimmage — a different problem than Joe Burrow and the Bengals. This is the last chance for the Bears to evaluate position battles and get both the offense and defense ready for a season that will kick off in less than two weeks, and where the Bears will face their first test of the season against the Carolina Panthers.
On a very hot day in Nashville, Caleb Williams got off to a hot start according to CHGO’s Adam Hoge, noting Caleb had six straight completions and was 9 of 11 overall for that period. Hoge also reported that Caleb spread the ball around to eight different receivers.
Caleb Williams on 🔥 to start practice vs Titans. Six straight completions and 9 of 11 overall. The incompletions were a throwaway and a drop.
Ball being spread around. Eight different receivers have caught a pass from Caleb.
Ben Arthur (FOX, covering the Titans) described the tape: Williams hit Rome Odunze in stride off an RPO, stepped up and found Cole Kmet on a shuffle pass, and ripped a dart into a tight window outside the numbers.
Red-zone work was even better for Chicago. The Tennessean’s live blog had the Bears scoring six touchdowns in 12 combined red-zone snaps across first, second, and third units. Caleb threw two red-zone scores in one period, including an out to rookie WR Zavion Thomas and a play-action shot to a wide-open Kmet. D’Andre Swift scored in the red zone and was part of a trick play: handoff, pitch back to Williams, downfield to Kmet. Johnson had said before practice that Swift looked as good as he has at this point of any year — vision, bounce, cut-up timing. That showed up today in the practice with the Titans.
Ben Johnson continues to embarrass Titans. Calls another trick play. It works.
Swift tosses it back to Caleb Willams who finds wide open Colston Loveland
The tight-end room was the most consistent Bears’ weapon of the day. Colston Loveland drew praise from Titans reporters on the other sideline (“looks legit”; “big, tall, fast, and very good”). He had a highlight after a Swift-to-Williams lateral and a YAC spin for a chunk gain. Rookie Sam Roush, working later units with Case Keenum, caught a deep ball and an end-zone score for “big plays” according to Nick Moreano of REKAP, in the 11-on-11 period. agreed that Johnson’s pre-practice line on Roush still applied after the session: flashes that get a staff excited, consistency not there yet, which is expected for a rookie tight end.
In the second half of the practice, the Bears were taught to remember the Titans (you come here for the news and coverage, you stay for the Dad jokes). Adam Hoge noted the “good response” by the Titans defense during a long team period in which they were better in coverage and got more pressure on Caleb. Also said that that the Titans did not like Tyson Bagent going to make a tackle on an interception. Williams finished a two-minute drive around the 20 with 12 seconds left and threw an interception to Tony Adams intended for Loveland. Titans 1s also sacked him and forced incompletions in the period after the break.
Good response by the Titans defense in a long 28-play team period. Tightened up coverage and got a lot more pressure, making things more difficult for Caleb. Would say the Titans definitely won that period.
Things got chippy too, especially after Tyson Bagent went to make a…
Chicago arrived today in Nashville short on the defensive line. Dan Wiederer of the Athletic reported that Gervon Dexter (hamstring or trade negotiations – hard to say which) and Austin Booker (groin) did not travel. Then both starting corners left early. Jaylon Johnson hurt his right arm on a run play in 11-on-11, lost his helmet and pads, stayed on the sideline next to DBs coach Al Harris, and kept chirping. Tyrique Stevenson favored his right leg after a collision with Tate / a red-zone breakup, left with trainer Andre Tucker, then returned with the starters. While Johnson took off his pads and did not return to the field, he stayed on the sidelines. Cam Lewis gave the defense its best moment: an interception of Cam Ward on a throw behind TE Gunnar Helm. Malik Muhammad broke up one would-be Tate touchdown. Otherwise, with Johnson out and Stevenson in and out, Tate feasted. Luther Burden III traveled and did individual work only while still easing back from a groin injury; he stayed vocal on the sideline. A hit on Titans WR Wan’Dale Robinson, later identified as having been delivered by Xavier Woods, was called “cheap” by Saleh in the post-practice interview. It cleared both benches and sent Robinson off for a concussion evaluation.
There seemed to be a consensus among both Bears and Titans beat reporters that the Bears had the advantage early in practice but that the Titans got the best of the Bears in the later period. Jim Wyatt, senior writer for the Tenessee Titans, thought that the Titans “held their own” against a “good football team” in the Chicago Bears at practice today. He also thought that former Chicago Bear, now Titans backup, Mitch Trubisky had a solid day with a 19-26 performance. AtoZ’s Kole Noble said it most directly from the Chicago beat: the Titans “seemingly won the day,” with plenty of Bears positives still on the field. Chris Kwiecinski and Devan Kaney of FOX 32 sounded the most Bears-optimistic voice among the reporters covering the practice, writing that Williams was the catalyst and that “the Bears’ offense was winning the day over the Titans” – but that assessment was before the practice break. All in all, while the Titans seemed to get the best of the Bears in the second half of the practice, both teams seem to have come away with positives, despite the jawing and occasional fisticuffs, and despite the scare with the injuries to Johnson and Stephenson, and the hit on Robinson, both teams seem to have come away relatively healthy.
Some other news of note, nuggets, if you will:
Swifty of the Swift Sports Network indicated that Caleb thinks that only Braxton Jones and Theo Benedet are left in the left tackle competition.
Caleb seems to think its only a two man competition at Left Tackle right now – Braxton Jones & Theo Benedet
In the same vein, Brad Biggs of the Tribune observed that the Bears were very vocal with the Titans throughout practice today:
Some players came together after last series for starters in team drills. Luther Burden, who is not doing team drills, got into some jawing with Jeffery Simmons and Jermaine Johnson. Size advantage: Titans.
NaLyssa Smith has been ruled out for the remainder of the 2026 season, the Las Vegas Aces announced Thursday. Smith, one of the Aces’ starters and a key part of last year’s championship team, suffered a non-contact left leg injury against the Toronto Tempo on Sunday and left the game immediately.