NFC NORTH

MINNESOTA Terez Paylor of YahooSports.com on how the Vikings, who as a sports team need security, are trying to navigate the demands of players and activists with their relationship with the Minneapolis police department (not yet defunded or disbanded). On Tuesday, Minnesota Vikings general manager Rick Spielman called a meeting for the team’s entire personnel department. After all the trauma the state has endured in the wake of the death of George Floyd after a violent encounter with Minneapolis police two weeks ago, Spielman wanted to give his virtual employees a platform to share, speak and learn.   The meeting was emotional, he says, and tears flowed as one scout described the unease he feels whenever he is pulled over by the police during a business trip.   “To sit there and listen to one of our minority scouts tell them that when they travel around this country and they get pulled over … [they think], ‘Is this the last time I’ll have an opportunity to talk to my family?’” Spielman said. “Our white scouts, and our white personnel people that were on there, can’t understand that because they’ve never been in that situation.”   Spielman, who is white, can actually relate as he thinks about one of his adopted sons of color encountering the police.   “When they go out on their own, and one of my sons gets pulled over because he’s driving my wife’s car — a really nice car — and … my son actually has to call home to get my wife on the phone to explain that is our son and that is our car,” Spielman said. “It just tears me apart that we have a society that’s still like that.”   These are the conversations that are being had in a region that is ground zero for the tragedy that has rocked the world by shining a light on racial injustice and police brutality. When something like that happens, it’s no wonder that people tend to turn inward and reflect on what they can do to fix it, and sports teams are no exception. While Major League Baseball’s Minnesota Twins announced Wednesday that they are donating $25 million to racial justice causes in the Twin Cities, the Wilf family, owners of the Vikings, announced a donation of $5 million to social justice causes earlier in the day.   The Vikings weren’t done, as the team’s social justice committee, which was formed in 2018 and is also funded by the Wilfs, also announced the creation of the George Floyd Legacy Scholarship with an establishing gift of $125,000. The scholarship will be given annually to an African-American student headed for college.   “It’s very, very unusual to see ownership and football program do what the Vikings have done, way ahead of what everyone else is trying to do right now,” defensive line coach Andre Patterson said.   Yet, just like America itself, questions still remain for the team in the wake of tragedy. For instance, will the organization follow the University of Minnesota’s lead and sever its relationship with the Minneapolis police department? Will a Viking kneel during the national anthem for the first time this fall? And if he does, will the organization support him?   Spielman and several other Vikings were asked those questions during Wednesday’s 80-minute video call.   Will the Vikings kneel? In 2018, Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said it’s “important” that players stand for the national anthem.   Colin Kaepernick started kneeling during the anthem in 2016 as a protest against police brutality and racial inequality, but no Viking has joined in yet. After a few quiet years on that front with only three players in the NFL regularly kneeling in 2019, the overwhelming outrage that Floyd’s death sparked has led to widespread belief more will kneel in 2020.   “Do I see us seeing more of it? Yes, because I feel like players now are starting to feel heard and people are starting to speak up about issues that are happening in their communities,” said linebacker Eric Kendricks, who was one of the first players to call out the NFL for releasing a toothless statement shortly after Floyd’s death.   @EricKendricks54 .@NFL what actual steps are you taking to support the fight for justice and system reform?   Your statement said nothing. Your league is built on black athletes. Vague answers do nothing. Let the players know what you’re ACTUALLY doing.   And we know what silence means.   But will Vikings players kneel also? Kendricks said it hasn’t been discussed yet.   “We’ll discuss it as a team,” said running back Ameer Abdullah, who kneeled in 2017. Abdullah added that players who do so will likely face less backlash than before.   It’s worth noting that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell softened his stance on kneeling in a statement last Friday, noting that he will encourage players to peacefully protest.   And when asked if that statement will affect the Vikings’ stance on the matter, Spielman only intimated that whatever players end up doing, they’ll likely do it together.   “A couple of years ago when the players were kneeling, our ownership was heavily involved and we talked about it in our social justice committee,” Spielman said. “And with the culture and the type of people we have in our locker room, we’ve always done things as a team. The players decided we lock arms, and that was the way we’d show our solidarity. Since Coach Zim has been here [beginning in 2014], the culture we have built in our organization, we have always worked together as one and hopefully that’s an example out there in today’s society. We shouldn’t be divided, we should be working together as one to achieve the common goal.”   The players who spoke Wednesday revealed that Zimmer expressed empathy for their cause while addressing Floyd’s death in a recent Zoom call.   “It was a big thing because he communicated to us that he doesn’t understand, he is not from the same background, he does not share the same skin, he can’t begin to relate with us,” Kendricks said. “But he hears us and he’s there for us, and if we wanted him to get involved with anything we have going on with the committee, he’s right there with us.”   Abdullah added that Zimmer’s message hit home.   “He humbled himself greatly and said, ‘Man, I don’t understand, maybe I haven’t given this as much attention,’” Abdullah said. “But I know I love everyone in this room, and I’ll fight for every single one of you guys like you were my sons.”   Will the team sever its relationship with police? Shortly after Floyd’s death, the University of Minnesota ended its relationship with the Minneapolis Police Department. The Vikings have not done so, and as such, the first question of Wednesday’s call was about whether it was considered.   “We have opened a dialogue with Chief ‘Rondo’ [Medaria Arradondo] and the Minneapolis Police Department, really led by our players,” Vikings COO Andrew Miller said. “We’re still talking through [it], on a number of different levels, internally and externally. We’re trying to understand the different perspectives people have and trying to make the best decision possible. There’s complexities to any relationship and ultimately we want to do what’s best for our organization and our fans.”   Miller acknowledged that Floyd’s death has highlighted facets of society that are broken, including policing, which has led to systemic racism. As such, several Vikings have continued to have dialogue with Arradondo, and several of them even met with him recently to ask questions about his department’s methods.   “The message we want to continue to put out is, despite issues that may pop up, we don’t think distancing ourselves and not having those hard conversations will be productive to bringing us closer together,” safety Anthony Harris said. “We believe [talking is] gonna be something that bridges the disconnect.”   This is about bridging the gap, not just on the issue of police brutality, but social injustice, too. To get there, people will have to understand each other better, which is why Spielman called the staff meeting that turned emotional Tuesday and Kendricks chose to speak up after the NFL released its first (and ineffective) statement on the matter earlier this month.   “I stand by that decision, and I wouldn’t have done it, honestly, if the Vikings didn’t have my back and we had not already been talking about these issues previously and already had a council devoted to these specific issues,” Kendricks said.   While the formation of the George Floyd scholarship is a good start, he said, the work is far from done for the team’s committee. All hands are on deck, including the Wilfs’, as the football team located in the city where one of the biggest stories of the year rages continues to seek ways to heal a hurting community.   “They’ve been in the meetings interacting with us,” Kendricks said of the Wilfs. “We’ve had open dialogue about the issues that have happened. We’ve gotten a lot closer than any of us could have even thought.   “We’re all putting our heads together and trying to really, really create change. Money can do a lot, but we really have an opportunity to create change, and that’s what we’re going for.”

NFC EAST

WASHINGTON Ron Rivera signals support for those who take a knee during the National Anthem.  John Keim of ESPN.com: Washington Redskins coach Ron Rivera said he felt rushed in Carolina when formulating a response to protests during the national anthem. It made him change his approach this time. But one thing hasn’t changed: his support for players who choose to kneel.   Rivera reiterated that stance on a Zoom conference call with the Washington media Wednesday morning, three days after running back Adrian Peterson said he planned to take a knee during the anthem this season.   Rivera wanted to do more than to just offer support for players who kneel. That’s why, he said, he had not discussed the protests following George Floyd’s death publicly until today.   “I wanted to make sure I got it right,” he said. “I wanted to be very careful ,but at the same time I wanted to have action. I went through a very difficult situation in Carolina where we had this type of situation and, to me, I felt a little rushed going through it. Here, I felt I wanted to make sure I put it into perspective, that we had a plan of action, that we could make sure we listen to our employees, we listen to our players, we listen to our coaches and we have some actionable change.”   In Week 4 of the 2018 season, when Rivera coached the Carolina Panthers, the team signed safety Eric Reid, one of the more prominent voices, along with Colin Kaepernick, throughout the protests starting in 2016. Rivera said they didn’t talk to Reid about his plans for kneeling during the anthem until after they signed him. But, Rivera said, before he discussed it with him he went back and read the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the Oath of Office. Rivera said he did the same thing during the past two weeks.   “Just so I understood everything I needed going into this situation,” he said. “When Eric and I talked, it was an eye-opener for me. It helped me to truly understand what the protest was about. It had nothing to do with our military, nothing to do with our first responders, nothing to do with the flag. It had everything to do with social justice and brutality and police brutality and working to get that corrected. I had no issue with it because of what the Constitution said, what the Bill of Rights talked about, the right to life, liberty… it’s there. It talks about freedoms and the rights we have. It’s their decision; I support it because it’s in the Constitution.”   Rivera is one of four minority head coaches in the NFL. He said he understands the desire to exercise one’s rights.   “When you read the Oath of Office,” Rivera said, “to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, we should be supportive of people’s rights, their right of free speech.”   Rivera also said he talked to a number of people outside the organization for input, from sports psychologists to social activists. He also spoke with multiple people who have ties to the police, including his brother, a retired police officer in San Jose, California. Rivera spoke to the team pastor, Brett Fuller. Also, Rivera’s father served for 32 years in the Army and Rivera has spoken often about the positive impact military life had on him.   “When everything first started a little over two weeks ago I didn’t want to come across as insincere,” Rivera said. “I know, but I don’t. I don’t want to sit there and compare to things I’ve gone through to what the black player, the African-American player, goes through. I wanted to make sure we went through this in a very thoughtful manner.”   To that end, Rivera said the Redskins have created a town hall program led by six members of the organization, including Doug Williams, their senior vice president of player development, and Malcolm Blacken, their senior director of player personnel. Rivera said he wants everyone in the organization, from the front office to ticket sales reps, taking part in these discussions. He said the team has started the Washington Redskins Black Engagement Network, focusing on mentoring, networking and community outreach.   Rivera said Redskins owner Dan Snyder donated $250,000 to help start these programs.   Rivera has addressed the situation with his players via Zoom. He also said he was proud of quarterback Dwayne Haskins, who attended peaceful protests in Washington, D.C. over the weekend, and rookie defensive end Chase Young, who participated in a video of NFL players discussing the protests.   “These past two weeks have been a mix of emotions for myself,” Rivera said. “I’m saddened by how hurt the black community is by what has transpired. I’m also proud of everyone who’s on the right side of the fight against social injustice. I am here to help any way I can in making a difference. Black lives do matter. We cannot be afraid to say it, so I’ll say it again: Black lives do matter.   “Because of how long the peaceful protests have gone on, real change is within our grasp.”

NFC SOUTH

CAROLINA The Panthers think that the statue of founder Jerry Richardson could be a target.  David Newton of ESPN.com: The Carolina Panthers have moved the statue of former owner Jerry Richardson from outside the North Gate of Bank of America Stadium to an undisclosed site for what the team called safety concerns amid the racial unrest in the country.   The first portion of the statue, which includes Richardson holding out a football between two larger-than-life Panthers, was placed on a flatbed truck by a crane and covered by a blue tarp.   A team spokesperson said it was unclear whether the removal is permanent. However, it was made clear the statue was being removed and not destroyed.   There have been rumblings on social media that the statue may be torn down as protests continued in Charlotte following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis while in police custody on Memorial Day.   Richardson sold the team to David Tepper in 2018 amid allegations of racial and sexual misconduct that first were reported late in the 2017 season.   “We were aware of the most recent conversation surrounding the Richardson statue and are concerned there may be attempts to take it down,” a team spokesperson said. “We are moving the statue in the interest of public safety.”   The 13-foot statue was presented to Richardson in 2016 as a tribute to the team founder, who brought the NFL to the Carolinas in 1995.   “Mr. Richardson has made no public comments about the Panthers or the NFL since the sale of the team and doesn’t plan to do so now as a private citizen. He has worked to treat all people fairly in his business and personal lives and, like many other Americans, is troubled by recent events in Minneapolis, Charlotte, and around the country,” Richardson’s spokesman, Jim Gray, said Wednesday.   Late in 2017, the team announced it was investigating Richardson for racial and sexual misconduct. That led to an NFL investigation, which resulted in a $2.75 million fine.   This coincided with the sale of the team to Tepper for an NFL-record $2.275 billion. There was a clause written into the sale saying the statue could not be removed from its site.   Safety Tre Boston first joined the Panthers in 2014 when Richardson was the owner and he rejoined the organization in 2019 after Tepper took over.   He has walked the streets of Charlotte in protest of racial injustice because Tepper encouraged players to speak their mind.   He has heard Richardson discourage players from protesting against social injustice all the way back to 2016, when then-San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick first took a knee during the national anthem.   With all that, Boston said, it was “best for the community” to remove the statue.   “For me, the Carolina Panthers, we hold ourselves to a standard,” Boston said on a Zoom conference call Wednesday afternoon. “We hold ourselves with pride. We do the right things.”   Boston wouldn’t say whether Tepper talked to him and other players before removing the statue.   “My guy talks to me a lot,” Boston said with a smile. “He might have and might have not. Hey, man, we’re all in this together.”   Boston feels Tepper is a “friend” when they talk, something he said he never experienced with Richardson, because they never had that close of a relationship.   Instead of judging Richardson and what he stood for, Boston said, “I can say for the things he did not allow us to do, we’re now seeing that wasn’t the right thing.” We remember Richardson’s misconduct with women, but we felt we had to look up the nature of the racial misconduct.  He was ardent in his support of QB CAM NEWTON, which we thought would be a step in the right direction. As near as we can tell, he was accused of using a racial term to describe one of the teams black scouts and asked Newton if he would be getting tattooes while not worrying about TE Jeremy Shockey’s ink.  An NFL investigation did find Richardson guilty of undefined “racism.”

NEW ORLEANS The Saints think they will have a bigger role in the offense in 2020 for TE JARED COOK.  Luke Johnson of the New Orleans Times-Picayune: The story of Jared Cook’s 2019 season was told in two distinct acts.   The opening act, Cook admitted midway through last season, was a disappointment. The New Orleans Saints signed him to a free agent deal after a career-best season with the Oakland Raiders the year before. Hurt by some factors outside his control, Cook barely registered as a blip on the radar in his first six games with his new team.   But then there’s the closing act, the really tantalizing one, and that’s the one the Saints are focused on as they are preparing for the 2020 season. As an organization, New Orleans is fond of talking about its “vision” for players, and Cook’s last eight games of the 2019 season offer a pretty grand vision of what he can be in the Saints offense.   And that player, the one who averaged 19.2 yards per catch in the second half of the season — one of the best marks in the NFL over that span, regardless of position — that’s exactly the kind of player the Saints thought they were getting when they signed Cook, which makes them excited about what’s in store.   “Jared Cook, the sky’s the limit,” Saints tight ends coach Dan Campbell said.    20 days plenty for Saints to see Janoris Jenkins was ‘a great addition’ The possibility of a full season of the Cook that was on display in the second act, this is what the Saints figured they were getting when they signed him. They saw what happened when Cook was finally utilized the way he was supposed to be the year prior in Oakland, when he racked up nearly 900 yards receiving.   “That talent level has been in there,” Campbell said. “(Raiders coach Jon) Gruden was able to pull it out of him, he knew exactly what to do with the guy, and we’re trying to do the same thing. We just know he is a one-on-one nightmare, he is a matchup nightmare for a defense. I don’t know how to cover the guy. I wouldn’t know what to tell them.”   The Saints saw the signs of what could be on the horizon at the earliest stages of last season. With star receiver Michael Thomas holding out for the first couple days of training camp, quarterback Drew Brees appeared to make a point out of building a rapport with Cook in Thomas’ absence.   All the promise of putting a big, fast athlete at tight end in coach Sean Payton’s offense with Brees throwing to him was evident. But they’d all have to wait for the payoff.    Saints’ Michael Thomas turns a $20,000 donation into $2 million to help erase medical debt Cook suffered an injury in training camp that put him on the shelf for a few weeks. He did not share the field with Brees for a single snap in the preseason. The connection they’d worked so hard to establish early in training camp looked rusty when they played live game action together for the first time in Week 1.   Before they could get back on the same page, Brees suffered a thumb injury early in a Week 2 loss to the Los Angeles Rams that knocked him out for five weeks. In the four complete games he played without Brees in the lineup, Cook caught just 11 passes. Then, right as Brees was about to return to the lineup, an ankle injury forced Cook to the sideline for two weeks.   “It did take a little bit to get going; there’s a number of reasons for that,” Campbell said.   It was not the kind of impact the Saints were hoping for. That was saved for the second half of the year.    What does coaching Saints football via videoconference look like? It requires creativity. In the final eight games of the regular season, all with Brees in the lineup, Cook caught 28 passes for 537 yards. His seven touchdown catches in the season’s second half led all NFL tight ends.   In his final four games — including the San Francisco game, in which he was knocked out early with a concussion — Cook turned his 11 catches (on 12 targets) into 246 yards and five touchdowns.   Over the second half of the season, Cook ranked first among qualifying tight ends with 10 or more targets in both yards per reception (19.2) and yards per target (14.1). In fact, Cook was such a dynamic downfield option for the Saints in that stretch that he ranked No. 4 and No. 2, respectively, among all qualifying receivers in yards per reception and per target.   This was a vision being realized.   “To me and to him, to everybody on the offense, that’s what we pictured,” Campbell said. “We pictured a guy that we could put out there, and if you try to take away Mike Thomas and you’re going to try to leave somebody one-on-one with Jared Cook, you’ve got a problem, and we’re going to hurt you if that’s what you want to do.

NFC WEST

LOS ANGELES RAMS If the Rams are going to avert a slide in the competitive NFC West, the production of RB DARRELL HENDERSON, a 2nd-round pick last year, will be a key.  Cameron DaSilva of RamsWire.com says he’s good to go after surgery. The Los Angeles Rams have a newfound void at running back in 2020 after cutting Todd Gurley in March. Gurley’s been the leader of the backfield for five years, but the Rams will need to find a way to replace him moving forward.   Darrell Henderson, a third-round pick in 2019, figures to be in the mix for a bunch of touches next season after a quiet rookie year. He’s currently rehabbing an ankle injury that landed him on injured reserve at the end of the year, but he’s doing well.   Henderson shared an update on his ankle during a conference call with reporters Wednesday, saying he’s been at the Rams’ facility rehabbing, which is allowed under the current restrictions set by the league.   “I’m here in L.A. at the facility because I had surgery at the end of the season so I’m still out here rehabbing and taking it day by day and getting better,” he said before being asked how the rehab is going. “It’s going pretty good. I feel great and I’m moving pretty good.”   Henderson said he hasn’t really had a chance to go back home this offseason and has been staying out west for his rehab. He said he might go back home for a week after the Rams’ virtual offseason program ends, but he’s only focused on “making sure I’m back to 100 percent.”   It remains to be seen when training camp will take place, but Henderson sounds confident he’d be a full-go at camp, whenever it does begin.   “Yeah, I’m good to go now. If they were able to practice [now], I’d be out there, no limits,” he said.   That’s an encouraging sign for the second-year running back who will have a chance to compete for the starting job. Rookie Cam Akers and veteran Malcolm Brown will also be in the mix, but Henderson’s explosiveness and speed will surely get him on the field relatively often in 2020.

AFC WEST

KANSAS CITY Praise for QB PATRICK MAHOMES for his decision to move to the forefront in the battle against systemic racial injustice.  Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com: Former NFL quarterback Doug Williams said that it was “very powerful” to see Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes as one of the players in last week’s video demanding the NFL do more to address racial inequality because of the “incredible impact” that Mahomes has had on the league in his short professional career.   Mahomes’ involvement isn’t going to stop with his appearance in the video. Mahomes is involved with voter registration efforts in Kansas City along with other members of the Chiefs organization and he told reporters on a conference call Wednesday that he’s going to keep speaking up because he wants to “make this world a better place, however I can.”   “I’m blessed to have this platform,” Mahomes said, via Nate Taylor of TheAthletic.com. “Why not use it?”   Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said that there have not been discussions with players yet about possible protests during the season and Mahomes said that kneeling shouldn’t be the focus of the conversations being had around the country.   “It’s not about who kneels and who doesn’t kneel,” Mahomes said. “It’s about having the right to peacefully protest and to recognize social injustices are happening and racial inequality does happen every single day.”   As the current Super Bowl MVP, Mahomes is one of the most recognizable players in the game and it’s clear that he plans to use that position to continue pushing to make sure that addressing issues of inequality remain front and center in the league.

LAS VEGAS Third round draft pick LYNN BOWDEN, at the very least, has some friends who are in the drug trade if a DEA raid can be believed.  Paul Guttierez of ESPN.com: A Youngstown, Ohio, home in which Las Vegas Raiders third-round draft pick Lynn Bowden Jr. was staying was raided by Drug Enforcement Agency agents, U.S. Marshals and local police, according to a statement from the DEA on Wednesday morning.   Evidence, including handguns and loaded assault weapons, were seized from the house, sources told ESPN. Although Bowden was present during the raid and handcuffed on the porch during the search, no arrests were made.   “The Raiders are aware of the situation and are in communication with Lynn Bowden Jr,” the team said in a statement. “We will not be commenting further at this time.”   Bowden’s agency, meanwhile, tweeted that Bowden and his son were staying at the house, which belongs to a family relative, and that he “fully cooperated with law enforcement during the search … was released, not arrested and not charged with any crime.”   Later Wednesday, the DEA released a statement saying there have been no arrests or charges from the raid.   “According to Special Agent in Charge Keith Martin … early this morning DEA, with the assistance of U.S. Marshals and local law enforcement officers, executed a search warrant at a residence on Superior Street in Youngstown, Ohio,” the DEA said. “No arrests were made and no public charges have been filed at this time. This is an ongoing investigation and no additional information is available at this time.”   The reigning Paul Hornung Award winner as the nation’s most versatile player and a first-team All-American at Kentucky as an all-purpose player, Bowden is the second Raiders draft pick to find himself in an off-the-field headline in as many weeks. First-round pick Henry Ruggs III, the fastest player in the draft, suffered a cut to his thigh in an accident while helping a friend move; the Raiders anticipate the wide receiver being fine going forward.   Bowden, who played quarterback, wide receiver and running back at Kentucky, is expected to infuse speed and versatility as a running back and punt returner for the Raiders. He was the MVP of Kentucky’s Belk Bowl win over Virginia Tech after rushing for 233 yards, a bowl record for a quarterback. He ran for two scores and threw the winning touchdown pass with 15 seconds to play. What, we ask, is a “family relative?”  Is that a relative of the mother of Bowden’s son?

AFC SOUTH

TENNESSEE QB RYAN TANNEHILL has been listening to his teammates.  Erik Bacharach of The Tennessean: In 2016, when former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick began kneeling during the national anthem before NFL games as a way to peacefully protest police brutality and racial injustice against black people, wide receiver Kenny Stills told quarterback Ryan Tannehill a story.   Stills, then Dolphins teammates with Tannehill, told the quarterback that he and his father once were ripped out of a car “for no reason – they weren’t even speeding – and left on the side of the road,” Tannehill recalled on a conference call Wednesday. “I can’t imagine being put in that situation.”   “I think the unfortunate thing about it is if you’re a white person, you don’t have to deal with it on a daily basis, and you’re not put in those situations. It’s easy to just go about your life and not recognize it and not realize how big of a deal it is, how many people it affects on a daily basis. And I think with this push (the Black Lives Matter movement), I think more and more people are having an awakening to the reality of the situation and how deep it really is, how many layers of injustice there are to it with the court system and policing and just on a day-to-day basis.”   Four years after his initial conversations with Stills, as protests continue to rage around the country, Tannehill is taking advantage of his platform as a white quarterback in the NFL.   On May 27, two days after George Floyd died after a Minneapolis police officer pinned him down with a knee to his neck, Tannehill took to Twitter to say, “What happened is completely unacceptable,” before attaching the hashtag #JusticeForFloyd.   On June 6, Tannehill took to Instagram to say, “We stand with the black community in the fight against systematic racism, police brutality, & oppression. … It will not happen overnight but I will fight for change.”   Tannehill said Stills provided him with resources – books like Michelle Alexander’s “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness” – to help educate himself on the topic.   Four years later, Titans wide receiver A.J. Brown, in a comment he posted in response to an Instagram question about Tannehill, said his quarterback was “in my messages. On the phone. … It’s him trying to understand our side of things.”   Dialogue, Tannehill said, has been an important part of his education. He said he was part of a conversation with the Titans offensive skill position group recently where they were able to share what they were thinking and feeling.   “It’s really shocking just what guys have been through,” Tannehill said. “Almost every single black guy that I’ve played with that is on the team right now, we’ve had a ton of conversations. They’ve all dealt with something at some point, whether it’s with the police or another interaction of just blatant racism. It’s sickening to me that they have to deal with that type of thing, and I want it to change.” – – – Tannehill, who said he’d have conversations with teammates about coming to a decision about potentially kneeling during the national anthem this season, said, “the fact that they (the NFL) weren’t proactive is disappointing, that they didn’t jump on board initially, is disappointing.”   His Titans teammates appreciate his outspokenness.   “There were a lot of people that didn’t come out and say anything about it,” inside linebacker Rashaan Evans said. “He’s shown a lot of courage. … People are watching. Not only people, but players in the locker room.”   Tannehill has Stills and others who have helped “open (his) eyes” to thank.   “You go from kind of being naive to the situation because of the privilege,” Tannehill said, “to my eyes kind of got open to it. It was really kind of a shock to me. … I think my views have definitely changed. When the kneeling first started to happen, it was a bit of a shock, I guess, because it hadn’t been done before. It was such a big thing, and I think that’s the point, right? A protest has to be able to get attention, spark conversation and inspire change. I think I had to get past the fact that it wasn’t about the flag. It wasn’t about the anthem. It wasn’t about our country. It was about the injustice and raising awareness and getting people’s attention. I think once I got past that fact, I could really support it.”

AFC EAST

NEW YORK JETS When there is action again, LB C.J. MOSLEY is good to go.  Kevin Patra of NFL.com: C.J. Mosley should be good to go heading into training camp.   The New York Jets’ highly-paid linebacker told reporters Wednesday that he’s been cleared for all activity and expects to fully participate in training camp, per Brian Costello of the New York Post.   Mosley underwent groin/abdominal surgery in December. In January, the linebacker expected to be ready for offseason workouts. After those have been shelved due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he’ll have even more time to prepare for training camp — whenever teams are permitted to begin holding them — in July.   Mosley suffered the groin injury late in Week 1 after compiling six tackles, scoring a touchdown on an interception and recovering a fumble. The Jets defense suffered without him the rest of the way. The 27-year-old attempted to return in Week 7 but looked like a shell of himself and was shut down the rest of the season, ultimately undergoing surgery.   A healthy Mosley would go a long way to helping improve a Jets defense that struggled at times in 2019.

THIS AND THAT

AN EXPANSION DRAFT Bill Barnwell of ESPN.com spent a lot of time formulating protected lists for each team, then imagining who might be available in an expansion draft for a 33rd team. You can read his pain-staking analysis here, but below are the rules and the players he drafted and his summary of the team:   I love a good expansion draft. It has been 18 years since the NFL last expanded by adding a franchise in Houston, but while organizations have moved across the country since then, we’ve yet to see any serious consideration paid toward adding teams to the 32-squad setup. The biggest reason, of course, is money: NFL owners already have to split their massive revenue streams with 31 other teams, and that would be shared further if the league added one or two teams.   On the other hand, by adding two teams, the NFL would be able to add an additional game for television each week without having to concede any more money to its players. With the Texans paying $700 million as a franchise fee in 2002, Forbes estimated in 2012 that new franchises would pay between $1 billion and $1.5 billion. With Forbes now suggesting the average NFL franchise is worth $2.8 billion, the cost for a franchise fee could be north of $2 billion per team. In a league that has made repeated overtures toward the international market to fuel future growth, could London and Mexico City eventually be the 33rd and 34th NFL teams?   Let’s try to see what one of those teams might look like if the league decided to expand overnight, following most of the rules from the Texans’ expansion draft.   The rules of the expansion draft When I last did this exercise in 2016, I followed the 2002 rules as closely as possible. That was in March, though, before the draft and free agency. As we sit here in June, I’ll have to make some slight changes to the rules to account for the different timing. It won’t materially impact the players each team makes available, although a few veterans on questionable contracts were released to the open market when they would have been made available to our expansion team.   All 32 teams have to make five players available in the expansion draft, and only one of those players can have 10 or more years of NFL experience. The crucial difference for this draft is that every player nominated must have played at least one snap for their team in 2019. This eliminates any 2020 draft picks or undrafted free agents. It also means players who missed the entire season via injury, such as Alex Smith, can’t be left exposed. Punters and kickers can’t be included, and I’ll limit myself to a maximum of two players off any one roster.   For each team, I chose the five players I felt each team would be most comfortable losing as part of an expansion draft. In some cases, those were players who were already on the fringes of making their respective teams. In other cases, I picked players whose contacts would be considered a burden their old team would love to escape, even if it meant losing a veteran contributor.   Our new franchise has to pick 30 players or acquire contracts equal to 38% of the salary cap, which is just over $75.3 million. While teams normally have to deal with salary-cap acceleration if they cut or trade a veteran in the middle of a long-term deal, they won’t have to do that here. The expansion team will be able to pick up the remainder of their contracts, including all the remaining bonus proration and guaranteed money. In the end, we signed 31 players and spent a total of $72.8 million, which comes in at just under 37% of the salary cap. We have most of a starting lineup, although we’re desperately thin at offensive tackle and could use a safety or two. The roster is already full with six wide receivers, although I suspect guys like Dulin and Doss would be competing for roster spots.   Would this team be good? No, of course not, even after you added a full draft and a couple of free agents to the roster. It would take years for this organization to blossom, and it was a different era of roster-building and development when the Jaguars and Panthers made playoff runs in their second seasons. In terms of adding some competent players and special-teamers while mixing in a few high-upside players, though, I like what we’ve built here. Here are all 31 of my picks:   Results From The Expansion Draft   PLAYER                              POSITION TEAM   SALARY Jacoby Brissett                       QB         IND       $21,375,000 Josh Rosen                             QB         MIA      $2,169,796 Darrel Williams                       RB           KC        $755,000 Kerrith Whyte                         RB           PIT       $675,000 Ashton Dulin                          WR           IND       $675,000 Keelan Doss                          WR           LV        $675,000 Trent Sherfield                       WR           ARI       $753,334 Robert Foster                        WR           BUF      $750,000 Tyrell Williams                       WR           LV        $11,100,000 Keke Coutee                          WR          HOU     $932,256 Adam Shaheen                        TE          CHI       $1,880,626 Luke Willson                          TE                         SEA   $887,500 Jason Vander Laan                 TE           NO       $750,000 Joshua Miles                          OT           ARI       $693,644 Jermaine Eluemunor                 G           NE        $2,133,000 Andrew Norwell                          G          JAX      $12,000,000 Tyler Larsen                              C          CAR     $2,116,668 Brett Jones                               C          MIN      $840,000 Bruce Hector                          DT                         PHI     $750,000 Cortez Broughton                    DT           LAC      $694,505 Justin Ellis                              DT          BAL      $887,500 Kyle Peko                              DT                        DEN    $825,000 Deatrich Wise Jr.                   DE            NE        $2,278,140 Nate Orchard                           LB          WAS    $887,500 Olasunkanmi Adeniyi             LB                          PIT     $755,000 Luke Gifford                            LB          DAL      $676,666 Donte Deayon                         CB           LAR      $825,000 Anthony Averett                       CB          BAL      $915,249 Parry Nickerson                      CB           JAX      $750,000 Rashaan Gaulden                  CB            NYG     $750,000 J.T. Hassell                               S          CLE      $675,000

THE RE-STARTS Even in a bubble in a part of the country minimally influenced by Wuhan Covid-19, there are NBA players who are fearful about playing in August.  Their concerns come from two sides – being held prisoner in a bubble is unduly restrictive, but they still might be infected in the bubble.  Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com: As a faction of NBA players hold conference calls to discuss uncertainty about restarting the season in the Orlando, Florida, bubble, the NBA and National Basketball Players Association are agreeing on a plan that would allow players to stay home without consequences, sources told ESPN.   There were 40 to 50 players on conference calls over the past 24 hours discussing a number of concerns centered on the restart in Orlando, but there has been no formal petitioning to the NBPA from any group wanting out of the 22-team resumption, sources said.   As players have started to come to terms with the restrictive and isolated nature of the Orlando bubble — including no visitors until after the first round of the playoffs, nearly seven weeks after the opening of mid-July training camp — there has been increased dialogue about the prudence of restarting the season for a number of players, especially those on non-championship contenders, sources said.   Executives and coaches around the NBA have had significant concerns about how players will adapt to an environment unlike any they’ve ever experienced and how those hurdles could impact the sustained competitive drive for teams. Many have worried, too, especially on teams that aren’t title contenders, whether some players will start to seek avenues to bypass the resumption altogether.   Players are citing a number of concerns, including family situations, the inability to leave the Disney World Resort campus, the coronavirus pandemic and the implications surrounding the emergence of social justice causes in the country, sources said. Participants in Orlando — including players — will not be allowed to leave the bubble environment without a 10-day quarantine upon their return to the Disney grounds, sources said.   Players with medical issues that might put them in high-risk categories could seek an independent examination to learn whether they would be excused from participation, sources said. Even those told that they’re fit to play would be allowed to bow out of Orlando, but without pay for the final eight regular-season games, sources said.   Players deciding against the Orlando resumption would not be paid for missed games, sources said. The league started withholding 25% of players’ paychecks on June 15 because of the force majeure provision in the collective bargaining agreement that will repay teams for canceled games.   Players who decide against participating in Orlando could be replaced by a substitution player, sources told ESPN. The NBA plans to allow replacements for players who test positive for the coronavirus or suffer injuries, sources said. Those players who are replaced become ineligible for the rest of the 2019-20 season, sources said.   The NBA and NBPA have been working around the clock this week to finalize the terms of the restart. They hoped to have a term sheet and a health and safety protocol guide available to teams and players this week, sources said. – – – The NHL plans on sending 12 teams to each of two “hub” cities in late July.  Here is a discussion on which two might emerge from a gang of 10.NBCSports.com has a story that actually posted before the unrest in Minneapolis: Which two potential hub cities would be the best options for the NHL?   James O’Brien, NHL writer: I’m going to rule out Canadian cities because … frankly, Canada is (broadly speaking) taking a more cautious approach. That’s positive for the greater good, but not those who want to hand out a 2020 Stanley Cup. That said, if the NHL was willing to comply with 14-day quarantines and the like, that would be a different ballgame.   But I’ll go with two cities in the U.S. to try to be more realistic.   My choices: • Las Vegas, NV • Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN   Look, you’re not going to find “perfect” options. But, after looking at the CDC’s listings for states/jurisdictions with the least and most infections, Nevada and Minnesota seem like decent bets. Of course, a lot can change in a few weeks, which is the timeline Gary Bettman discussed while pondering potential “hub cities.”   Personally, I’d be weighing safety far and away more than other factors, which is why I leaned (tentatively or not) toward Las Vegas and Minneapolis/St. Paul. In all honesty, the low infection rates of places like North Dakota make me wonder if ND really does rank among the best options. But oh well?   I’ve said this before, and I’ll probably repeat it some more: the NHL’s going to really need to show some finesse in threading the needle of actually pulling this off.   Sean Leahy, NHL writer: I agree with James on the Canadian options. Given the current government mandates, if the NHL wants these two hub cities decided on in the next few weeks, I can’t see Edmonton, Vancouver or Toronto having the time to appease the league’s desires.   The one clear front-runner is Vegas, for obvious reasons. Hotel capacity, transportation, rinks, low COVID-19 case rates. The Nevada summer heat is one worry I have, which will give Dan Craig and his team plenty of work to do to ensure the sheets are up-to-par.   Columbus or Pittsburgh would make sense if you want that East/West mix for TV. If the schedule is going to be something similar to the NCAA basketball tournament, the Columbus/Pittsburgh side would start their games at noon ET and we’d have hockey all day with the Vegas games ending the night.   Both have key factors in their corner: multiple ice sheets, hotel proximity, and have been flattening the curve when it comes to COVID-19 cases.   Jake Abrahams, Managing Editor, NHL content: From the outside, it would seem the top considerations for hub city destinations are the COVID-19 conditions, and whether the infrastructure is sufficient to execute a tournament of this scope. The former is a variable that involves expert opinion and decision making, so I won’t attempt to weigh the cities based on that. The latter is something the league had time to evaluate before it announced the 10 candidates, so one would assume that all the “finalists” meet whatever minimum standard is required to host.   My initial thought from the very beginning was that Las Vegas should be a lock, and the details of what that might look like were described in a recent report from The Athletic. Vegas seems uniquely equipped to create the most controlled environment for these purposes. That’s got my first vote.   With that in mind, my second hub city choice is Pittsburgh, for a few reasons:   First, geographical balance is important considering that, at least at the very beginning, there figure to be several games per day across the two sites. This Olympic-style format would work best on TV if there were staggered start times to accommodate audiences in every time zone. That rules out Los Angeles and Vancouver.   Second, it’s unclear to what extent the US-Canada border situation will influence the final decision, but given where things stand at this exact moment, it seems more practical to have both sites in the US. That rules out Edmonton and Toronto.   That leaves Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Minneapolis/St. Paul, and Pittsburgh. I’ve got no good reason for picking Pittsburgh except: why not give a carrot to the team that has to go up against Carey Price (who was the overwhelming choice for best goalie in this year’s NHLPA Player Poll) and the Montreal Canadiens (who effectively had a zero percent chance of making the playoffs when the season paused)?   There you have it. Las Vegas and Pittsburgh. The Marc-Andre Fleury bowl. – – – The PGA TOUR returned in Texas today in a tournament without fans. Baseball, which should be as far along, is still mired in a discussion about money.  Lee Igel of SportsMoney offers his advice. Owners and players understandably want what they see as their fair shares of a $10-billion-a-year enterprise. But the attention to ironing out all the economics is creating complexities. And that is happening at a moment in time when the pandemic is forcing people to realize how important simplicity is in their daily lives—hand washing, mask wearing, and social distancing can keep people healthy. At both home and work, even with all of the available technology, the fundamentals matter.   A century ago, when the Spanish Flu pandemic crossed the country, big league baseball was being played in stadiums that were little more than sandlots with some seating wrapped around them. Thirty years ago, following decades of stadium development that had led to cookie-cutter designs, Baltimore Orioles team president Larry Lucchino and vice president Janet Marie Smith envisioned a ballpark that fused traditional elements with modern amenities. What became Oriole Park at Camden Yards brought the spirit of the game back to people who enjoyed it, whether they were watching in person or on television.   During the past several years, MLB has been getting zinged over declining attendance and viewership numbers. According to Gallup polling research, less than 10% of adults consider baseball their favorite sport to watch. Among them, the average age is 57-years old, which is the oldest viewing audience in pro sports. Yet, participation in baseball and softball has been increasing by more than 50 percent during the past five years—the span of time since MLB and the United States Conference of Mayors launched their “Play Ball” initiative, which focuses on making baseball accessible to everyone by bringing basic programs into communities across the country.   Like most sports, baseball started out being played on sandlots. It needs that throwback mentality brought into the negotiations to return to play in 2020.   The two sides in the labor dispute are attached to their classic positions. Like people in any organization, it’s tough for them to relinquish stances on issues that should have been worked out long ago. But they aren’t going accomplish playing a 2020 season if they don’t start letting go of prioritizing economic issues, especially in a world that is right now primarily concerned with social issues.   The COVID-19 pandemic and anti-racism protests are changing public perceptions about American society. They are shaping the “new normal.” Meanwhile, the highest level of America’s “national pastime” is conducting business as though nothing has changed.   If the two sides don’t reach agreement by next week, it is possible that MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred will wield his power to mandate a shortened season of at least 50 games. In that case, each player would receive a prorated salary that amounts to about 33% of his full-season salary. A player could sit-out if he chooses to do so, forfeiting salary and service time. Coming to terms that way is a lose-lose proposition for the league and the players.   To make the situation into a win-win, league and player negotiators might think about making a call to the bullpen. They should bring in a third party arbitrator—maybe one that they both dislike. There is research that suggests two parties in the middle of a disagreement can work better and quicker to resolve their differences when they both agree that the arbitrator’s attitude is disagreeable.   Overall, if MLB and the MLBPA intend to resolve their differences enough that a season can be played, they need to get the game away from the negotiating table and bring it back to the ballpark—and fast. The fundamentals are where they can have success. In this moment, baseball needs to be less revenue sharing and more “The Sandlot” or “Field of Dreams.”   The name of the game for MLB and the Players Association has to be to keep it simple, respond to the times, and stop negotiating for the future. They need to go to a neutral mediator to get a deal done quickly, so that “greed” does not become the adjective people use when thinking about baseball. On Wednesday, Commissioner Rob Manfred implies that the worst that will happen will be a drastically shortened season that he can impose that will set up playoffs.  Baseball’s “medical experts” fear a pronounced second wave around election time says Manfred that precludes pushing the season back.  Ken Davidoff of the New York Post: Rob Manfred pulled a Joe Namath on Wednesday.   With his sport dragged down by an ugly battle over dollars, the Major League Baseball commissioner assured the game’s remaining fans that they’ll get their fix soon enough.   “We’re going to play baseball in 2020. One-hundred percent” Manfred told the MLB Network’s Tom Verducci, shortly before baseball’s annual amateur draft. “If it has to be under the March 26 agreement, if we get to that point in the calendar, so be it. But one way or the other, we’re playing Major League Baseball.”   That March 26 agreement, completed on what was supposed to be Opening Day before COVID-19 messed up everyone’s plans, gave the commissioner the right to unilaterally call for a season of any length as long as the players receive their prorated salaries. In discussions with his MLB Players Association counterpart Tony Clark, Manfred has floated the idea of scheduling a season as thin as 50-or-so games, contending that his owners can’t afford to play any more contests without paying fans while giving players their full daily income.   Since the March deal also mentions a good-faith commitment to play as many games as possible, the union could file a grievance if it believes that commitment has not been honored.   However, for all the turbulence Manfred has encountered with the PA during his time as commissioner, he greatly prefers to find common ground. To that end, he said on Wednesday, “I remain committed to the idea that the best thing for our sport is to reach a negotiated agreement with the MLBPA that plays as many games as possible for our fans.”   The PA tendered the most recent proposal, an 89-game regular-season schedule with full prorated pay that would conclude on Oct. 11 and therefore extend the playoffs through November, on Tuesday. Manfred said, “We will be making a response to the proposal. We’ll make a counterproposal shortly. It will be a proposal that once again moves in the players’ direction in terms of the salary issue, and we’re hoping it’s a proposal that will elicit reciprocal movement from the players’ side, that they’ll get off the 100-percent salary demand and recognize that 89 games in this point in the calendar and in a pandemic is just not realistic.”   MLB’s previous two offers actually were pretty similar to one another, with different presentations of near-identical sums — and both of those resemble the numbers of a 50ish-game season at prorated pay.   Asked why an 89-game season isn’t realistic, Manfred said, “The primary reason is our medical experts are telling us we should be finishing earlier, not later, because of the risk of a second wave of the pandemic. I think you also have to take the logistics into account. We have commitments to our broadcast partners to provide content at particular points in the calendar, and just up and deciding we’re going to provide it two weeks later is problematic.”   Manfred added: “I don’t want to be responsible for the additional health risk with going later in the fall. The risk to not completing the season. The disaster that that would be. I think the most prudent course for everyone is to follow the advice of the experts on this one.” Notably, coronavirus numbers are currently spiking in important baseball states like Arizona, California and Texas.   As for the other medical situation, the safety-and-health regulations that will cover having a baseball season during a pandemic, Manfred said, “We’re very, very close on the medical protocols. We provided the MLBPA with our last proposal a comprehensive response to all of the comments that they gave us on the health protocols. We agreed or made a responsive suggestion to each and every issue they raised and I believe we really are close on those issues.” We would suggest that baseball feels pushback about how viewed its regular season would be in October with playoffs in November.