The AL East was the best division in baseball throughout the 2023 regular season.

The two team with the best records in the AL were in the AL East.  Baltimore won 101 games and runner-up Tampa Bay with 99 had 9 more wins than the third-best AL team.

The Blue Jays with 89 wins had the 5^th-best record in the league, the Yankees also had a winning record and the last-place Red Sox won 78 games.

Three AL East teams made the playoffs – and then they went 0-7.

– – –

Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com has a long look at grass vs. turf fields at ESPN.com.  The whole thing is here.  Excerpts below:

FIFA’s financial investment in ensuring the World Cup is played on grass — even in NFL venues that feature turf — raises the issue of the role money plays in the grass vs. turf debate. It’s estimated a natural grass field could cost a cold-weather team $2 million to $3 million per year to maintain, including $400,000 each time it’s replaced, according to a professor of turfgrass research at Michigan State. Turf would cost approximately $1.25 million to install and maintain, according to the Capital Improvement Board, which operates Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Prices, however, vary per market.

There are 30 NFL stadiums, including two shared by two teams, and they are split evenly, with 15 featuring various forms of grass and 15 using different types of synthetic turf. Aside from the improvements in turf technology, the argument against converting all 30 to grass includes the facts that most stadiums are publicly owned, those municipalities often hold events throughout the year, and the cheaper option is turf. There are also disparate weather conditions, and the combination of those factors requires 30 individual cases to determine whether grass, turf or some combination of the two is the most appropriate playing surface.

“We can’t just say ‘hybrid,'” said Jeff Crandall, chair of the NFL’s engineering committee. “We can’t just say ‘grass,’ and we can’t just say ‘synthetic.’ That is not the answer. We’ve got to figure out what particular composition is best given the circumstances involved.”

The NFL says improvements in turf technology have closed the gap on noncontact lower-extremity injury rates and revealed last year that the rates during the 2021 season were statistically even. But as the NFLPA pointed out months later, the gap increased during the 2022 season (.048 per 100 plays on turf in 2022, 0.035 on grass).

NFLPA president JC Tretter said “it shouldn’t be this hard,” and believes it is “pretty obvious” grass would protect players best wherever it is possible.

“We feel the data has proven our point,” Tretter told ESPN. “We feel the player opinion is consistent. There are, really, only two bodies of people that are disagreeing at this point with us: People who manufacture turf, and the NFL. And that’s a frustrating spot to be in.”

This:

Bad grass vs. good turf

Mark Drakos is an orthopedic surgeon at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York and an assistant team doctor for the New York Knicks and the New York Mets. He had a fellowship with the Giants and was on the committee charged with making a recommendation about different synthetic turf surfaces for MetLife Stadium — home of the Giants and Jets — prior to its inaugural season in 2010. Drakos said grass wasn’t an option. The two teams had played on synthetic turf for all but three seasons since they began sharing the old Giants Stadium when it opened in 1976. Drakos wasn’t in the room when the surface was chosen, but he gave his opinion ahead of time. “Me and probably six or seven other doctors were sitting there listening to all these different presentations [from turf companies],” Drakos said. “And at the end, I said, ‘Listen, from a medical standpoint, we should do grass.'”

MetLife stuck with synthetic turf because “natural grass did not hold up for the busy fall schedule with two teams, 20 NFL home games, and the Northeast climate,” according to Helen Strus, VP of marketing and communications for MetLife Stadium.

But then and now, Drakos’ research found grass is best for players’ health, particularly when it comes to ankle and noncontact knee injuries. He said: “The data is pretty conclusive.” He also said turf is stickier and less forgiving, which can cause the foot to catch and send torque up to the knee.

This year, the American Journal of Sports Medicine examined 53 studies, across all sports and levels of competition, published from 1972 to 2020. Twenty-five of them compared foot and ankle injuries on different surfaces, and 32 examined knee injury rates on both synthetic turf and grass. In summary, they found that there are “a higher rate of foot and ankle injuries on artificial turf compared with natural grass on both old- and new-generation turf,” and that “elite-level football athletes” were more predisposed to knee injuries on synthetic turf. The AJSM said there were “a few” studies that sided with turf on overall injury rates.

“The artificial turf industry has been vehement,” said Diana Zuckerman, president of National Center for Health Research, “and they’ve made a lot of money claiming that their product is perfectly safe, and there’s really growing evidence that that’s not true. And it’s clear that even in the most recent types of artificial turf … the accidents are still more likely to occur.”

“Synthetic turf is a highly researched product that communities, athletic departments and sports organizations alike — from youth fields to the professional level — choose due to the consistent playing surface it provides,” said Melanie Taylor, president and CEO of Synthetic Turf Council, the national trade association for the synthetic turf industry. “Every aspect of our fields have been reviewed by independent experts and multi-government bodies.” Out of 30 NFL stadiums, only five are owned by the team’s owner. The rest are owned — and in some cases operated — by local governments or their designees. Some NFL stadiums host more than 200 events per year, most notably domes such as U.S. Bank Stadium in Minnesota and Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

In some cases, teams have said weather conditions make a grass field difficult. In announcing their decision to shift to turf, for example, the Titans said Nashville is in a “transition climate zone” that makes grass difficult to grow in the fall and winter.

“There’s been a grass field I’ve played on that was probably worse than a turf field,” Vikings defensive tackle Harrison Phillips said. “It’s not a one-size-fits-all easy thing. I understand it’s a complex issue.”

The difference between injury rates on bad grass versus artificial turf are relatively low, according to Christina Mack, the chief scientific officer of IQVIA, which compiles NFL health data. Mack said the reduction in injuries is in the “low single-digit numbers” in such situations.

“That gets to the heart of the complexity of the issue,” she said.

Some players have noted individual injuries they believe were caused by bad grass. Chicago Bears safety Eddie Jackson blamed the field at Soldier Field for a 2018 ankle injury that cost him two regular-season games as well as the Bears’ wild-card playoff appearance that season. Also in 2018, then-Houston Texans pass-rusher Jadeveon Clowney said an inconsistent pocket of grass in Houston caused a knee injury. The Texans replaced the grass with turf after that season.

Tretter questioned whether some teams are doing everything they can, noting that cold-weather teams in Green Bay, Cleveland and Pittsburgh all have grass fields. The Packers use a hybrid version known as SISGrass, which reinforces the natural surface with synthetic stitching. According to the Packers website, fibers are sewn three-quarters of an inch from each other and seven inches deep, sticking up just under an inch above the ground. They are intended to provide a stabilization for the sand underneath the field, preventing the ground from getting pushed around and becoming uneven over the course of a long season. Also, as part of their operation of Lambeau Field, the Packers typically limit themselves to one non-Packers event on the field per year.

“Guys get really, really frustrated when those teams pitch the idea that it’s too hard to grow grass,” Tretter said. “If you can grow grass in Green Bay, Wisconsin, you can’t tell me in Tennessee you can’t handle it.”

MINNESOTA

With a 1-4 record and WR JUSTIN JEFFERSON heading to IR – is QB KIRK COUSINS going to get traded?  Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com on that and other Purple and Gold subjects:

– The Minnesota Vikings are off to a 1-4 start this season despite an NFL-leading stretch from Justin Jefferson. How much worse could it get now that the wide receiver will miss four games, and possibly more, while on injured reserve with a strained right hamstring?

That’s the question reverberating Tuesday throughout Minnesota, where Jefferson has emerged as one of the league’s best players. Even before news broke of the severity of his injury, ESPN’s Football Power Index (FPI) considered the Vikings twice as likely to earn a top-10 pick in the 2024 draft (41.5%) versus a playoff spot (20.3%). Without Jefferson, and the accompanying advantages his presence brings to other players, the Vikings will be forced at least to consider some existential questions about this season and beyond.

No matter how the Vikings adjust, it will be easier to defend their offense than it had been. Moreover, Jefferson can’t return until after the Oct. 31 trade deadline, and his absence must be seen in the context of the Vikings’ failed effort this summer to sign him to a long-term contract extension. Finally, three prominent starters — quarterback Kirk Cousins, linebacker Danielle Hunter and receiver K.J. Osborn — are on expiring contracts and therefore are potential trade targets.

Let’s consider the short- and long-term impact of Jefferson’s injury as the Vikings try to pull themselves together for a stretch of games that on paper is more forgiving than the one they just completed.

How long will Jefferson be out?

Injured reserve rules dictate he will miss at least four games: road contests at the Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers and Atlanta Falcons along with a home game against the San Francisco 49ers. The earliest he could play is in Week 10 against the New Orleans Saints, but there is no guarantee he will.

Why not?

On Monday, coach Kevin O’Connell made clear the Vikings do not want Jefferson back on the field until he is fully recovered. “We’re going to do what’s best for Justin and make sure we give him the treatment and plan that is a big-picture positive for him,” O’Connell said.

Recovery times from soft tissue injuries vary, but it stands to reason that a receiver with a significant hamstring injury would struggle to maintain effectiveness. The current four-week time frame is best viewed as a function of the minimum duration of an IR stay rather than as an estimate of his recovery process.

Is the fickle nature of hamstrings the only reason for the uncertain time frame?

Frankly, no. Jefferson’s contract remains an unresolved issue. He and the Vikings tried and failed to reach common ground on a contract extension this summer, leaving Jefferson to receive a base salary of $2.4 million this season and $19.7 million in 2024 if there is no agreement before then.

To be fair, Jefferson insisted that his mindset wouldn’t change when talks broke off last month.

“At the end of the day,” he said at the time, “all I can do is play football. And that’s what I continue to do. I know my team. My team doesn’t care about the contract, you know? And I don’t either. I just want to be here for my teammates, play for my teammates and of course get these wins.”

And let’s not kid ourselves. Jefferson’s long-term negotiating position is unlikely to be affected by lower production that resulted from playing at less than 100% for a portion of this season.

But there are plenty of examples of players for whom a seemingly routine injury became chronic. Consider the Saints’ Michael Thomas, who suffered through three seasons of foot and ankle injuries 2020-22, altering his Hall of Fame trajectory, before returning to form this season.

As ESPN’s Adam Schefter suggested, Jefferson would have limited incentive to rush his return for a lost season. But that doesn’t mean he would sit out games if he were fully healthy.

Are we sure the Vikings want him back as soon as possible?

It’s true that every loss the Vikings suffer will put them closer to the top of the 2024 draft, where they could potentially select Cousins’ successor at quarterback. And it stands to reason that they have a better chance to lose without Jefferson than with him.

To this point, however, we have no evidence that the Vikings are ready to give up on their season. And it should be noted that although they’ve played the NFL’s ninth-most difficult schedule so far, according to ESPN Analytics data, their remaining schedule is the league’s ninth-easiest.

Does that mean they won’t unload veterans at the deadline?

The Vikings will play the Bears, 49ers and Packers before having to make that decision. But even if some in the organization think it would be better for their long-term success, such an admission would be an unprecedented moment in the Wilf family’s 19-season tenure as owners.

The Vikings have never intentionally given up on a season during that time, and the Wilfs’ deep-seated belief in competing for the playoffs every season is one of the primary reasons the team did not tear down its roster upon hiring O’Connell and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah last year.

Why not get a return on veterans who might move on?

Ultimately, that question will be the leverage point of any internal deliberations.

The case of Cousins would be especially complicated. Even if a team stepped up with interest, he could veto any deal because he has a full no-trade clause in his contract. Cousins also has a free path to free agency in March, when he could weigh all offers.

Meanwhile, the Vikings don’t have an heir apparent on their roster. Backup Nick Mullens has been suffering from back stiffness, and rookie Jaren Hall, a fifth-round draft pick, hasn’t shown any indication he is a high-end prospect.

Hunter, Osborn and even left guard Ezra Cleveland — who is also in the final year of his deal — would be easier deals to make. Hunter’s restructured contract prohibits the Vikings from using the franchise or transition tag next spring. As with Cousins, Hunter has a guaranteed trip to free agency if he wants it.

Finally, the decision to draft receiver Jordan Addison at No. 23 this past April suggested they would probably let Osborn depart via free agency.

What will the Vikings do in the meantime?

O’Connell, who calls the Vikings’ offensive plays, will have to deal first with what is likely to be a dramatic shift by opposing defenses that are no longer pulled toward Jefferson. The challenge, O’Connell said Monday, is “how can we continue to activate a lot of things when a lot of our pass game has really been built around so much coverage being deployed to Justin.”

Addison, who leads the league’s rookie wide receivers with three touchdown receptions, is likely to be the beneficiary of increased targets. Cousins issued him a massive endorsement after Sunday’s game, saying: “Jordan is the real deal. We hit on that draft pick. He’s a great player.”

Speaking Monday in the Vikings’ locker room, Addison said he is just starting to get comfortable at the NFL level.

“I still feel like I’m not scratching the ceiling of where I will be in this league,” he said. “Every week I’m trying to improve on something.”

Will it be that simple?

Unlikely. In the immediate aftermath of Sunday’s game, O’Connell touted the depth of a wide receiver group that also includes N’Keal Harry, the New England Patriots’ first-round pick in 2019.

But he also hinted that the offense has enough versatility to shift away from its aerial mentality. With Jefferson in the lineup, the Vikings have thrown an NFL-high 204 passes and have the second-fewest carries by running backs (82).

“The beauty of having [fullback] C.J. Ham and three tight ends and multiple backs is we can reinvent ourselves whatever way we feel is the best way to try to move the ball and score points,” O’Connell said.

So, is the Vikings’ season cooked?

There is a high probability that it is — and that answer would be the same even if Jefferson were healthy. Of the 161 teams that have started a season 1-4 since 1990, 150 have missed the playoffs. The Vikings would be trying to do something that has happened 7% of the time over the past 33 seasons of NFL play.

The real question is whether the Vikings agree, and if so, what they do about it.

Scott Kacsmar says there is only one team, one team, for whom Cousins makes sense for the rest of 2023 and for Week 1 in 2024:

@ScottKacsmar

I’m dead serious here.

There is only ONE team in the NFL where it makes sense to trade for Kirk Cousins during the season.

All I’m saying is if there’s a team who could lock their QB out of the building today and promise Kirk a job in 2024 and beyond, it’s New England above all.

NE is one of the only teams who could cut their QB today and have no regrets. And they’re one of the only teams who could go into 2024 with Cousins starting Week 1.

There may be a lack of proven QBs in the NFL right now, but there is a lack of available spots for QBs too. Most teams have major resources (salary or draft capital) tied into a guy.

Like you’re not going to pull the plug on Bryce Young in Week 6 for Mr. 8-8

You tell me which team is going to trade for Cousins.

It’s not the Jets when they got Rodgers on the books and looking to come back next year.

Washington isn’t doing it again.

The Giants paid Daniel Jones.

Bucs are content with Baker. He’d have to get injured before deadline

Hard to be out on Ridder after he just made his 9th start and it was the best of his career.

ATLANTA

The 3-2 Falcons have added WR VAN JEFFERSON in a trade with the Rams.  The Athletic:

The Los Angeles Rams traded wide receiver Van Jefferson to the Atlanta Falcons, the two sides announced Tuesday. Here’s what you need to know:

Atlanta received a 2025 seventh-round draft pick and Jefferson in exchange for a 2025 sixth-round pick.

Jefferson, 27, has eight receptions for 108 yards and no touchdowns this season.

He has played his entire career in Los Angeles since the Rams selected him in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft.

ESPN initially reported the possibility of a trade, but signs started pointing that way when a healthy Jefferson played just two snaps in Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Why L.A. is moving on from Jefferson.

The return of Cooper Kupp from a hamstring injury and the emergence of rookie receiver Puka Nacua and third-year receiver Tutu Atwell are major factors here for Jefferson, who (outside of injuries in 2022) has been a productive contributor to the offense.

Nacua’s historic start to his career vaulted him into the early reads in quarterback Matthew Stafford’s progression, absent Kupp for the first four games.

Jefferson’s best season — also one in which he was healthy — was in 2021, when he had 50 catches for 802 yards. Knee injuries sidelined him through the first part of the 2022 season. Coaches have lauded Jefferson’s long speed and route-running ability and his knowledge of multiple receiving positions, but he has had a relatively slow start to 2023.

Jefferson is a free agent after this season, and the Rams don’t often extend receivers — also a factor in the move. A trade could mean more usage for Jefferson, a positive thing for him in a contract year. In moving Jefferson, the Rams could be looking to add to other parts of their roster. — Jourdan Rodrigue, Los Angeles Rams writer

How he can help Atlanta

Second-year standout Drake London (17 catches, 204 yards) is the only Falcons wide receiver with double-digit catches this season. Mack Hollins has nine for 143 yards. KhaDarel Hodge has four for 45, and Scotty Miller has two for 10. And that’s it for wide receiver production in the offense.

So there’s plenty of room for a player who has a history of success. The Falcons are far from the most pass-happy team in the league but have been searching for more balance in coach Arthur Smith’s third year. — Josh Kendall, Atlanta Falcons writer

DENVER

Sean Payton was caught snapping at QB RUSSELL WILSON after he was stripped of the ball late in Sunday’s game.  It turns out it wasn’t so much about the fumble, as about the read by Wilson that led to the linebacker overwhelming him.  Parker Gabriel in the Denver Post:

Broncos coach Sean Payton on Monday downplayed a sideline interaction with Russell Wilson after a game-sealing fumble from the quarterback against the New York Jets on Sunday afternoon.

Trailing 24-21 but only roughly 20 yards from field goal range in the final minute of the game, Wilson tried to escape the pocket to his left as Quincy Williams bore down on him as a free blitzer.

Instead of Wilson escaping, though, Williams knocked the ball out of his hand and Bryce Hall scooped it up and returned it for a touchdown.

As Wilson came off the field, Payton removed his headset and gestured with his hands toward the veteran quarterback.

 “I don’t think I was that animated,” Payton said Monday. “Every attention to exchange or discussions I have with Russ (gets talked about).I just wanted to make sure he knew the linebacker was a free rusher, so it wasn’t as big of an exchange or big deal I think maybe as some may have thought.”

Payton earlier said the Broncos had a five-man protection and so Williams, the weak-side linebacker, was unaccounted for. Therefore, if he blitzed, Wilson should have had a hot receiver to throw to quickly.

“I thought we could have been a little stronger at tackle,” Payton said. “The pocket got collapsed a few times. (Wilson)  made some things happen, and yet with the zone coverage we were seeing, those immediate throws or progressions were slower because of the coverage. So cleaning that up and understanding where we are in the pocket is going to be important.”

LAS VEGAS

Diana Russini of The Athletic says the Raiders are shopping for an EDGE with the departure of troubled CHANDLER JONES.

• The Raiders have been busy making calls around the league looking for a pass rusher since releasing Chandler Jones. They are looking for a player-for-player swap and may not want to give up too much.

CLEVELAND

The Browns have a new back-up QB.  Sanjesh Singh at YahooSports.com:

The Cleveland Browns are dealing with a quarterback dilemma ahead of their Week 6 clash against the 5-0 San Francisco 49ers.

Deshaun Watson reportedly did not practice Monday due to a right shoulder injury that sidelined him for Week 4, though the Browns’ recent bye week still might not have supplied him enough time to get healthy.

If Watson can’t go on Sunday, the Browns will pivot to P.J. Walker over rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson, The OBR’s Brad Stainbrook reported Tuesday, citing sources.

Walker also is on the Browns’ practice squad, so he’ll need to be elevated should Watson be ruled out. Once a player has three elevations, they have to go through waivers before being eligible to re-sign to the practice squad.

The 28-year-old Walker has yet to appear in a game this season. Thompson-Robinson got the nod in Week 4 against the Baltimore Ravens, but he couldn’t get anything going in the 28-3 home loss where he completed just 19 of 36 passes for 121 yards with no touchdown passes and three interceptions. He also was sacked four times.

A product of Temple, Walker has just seven starts to his name since his first appearance as a Carolina Panther, where he played from 2020 to 2022.

Five of those starts came last season during the Panthers’ quarterback carousel. In all six appearances last year, Walker totaled 731 passing yards while completing 63 of 106 passes for three touchdowns and three picks.

If Walker does start, it’ll be a tough task at hand against a 49ers defense that is ranked No. 1 in points allowed (13.6), No. 3 in yards per pass allowed (5.0) and No. 5 in opposition interceptions thrown percentage (3.98 percent), among other statistical categories.

PITTSBURGH

A Scott Kacsmar note:

@ScottKacsmar

Since 2021 the steelers have a 21-17-1 record despite to have a point differenciel of over -100 I believe…They won almost every close game and when they lose this is often by blowout!

HOUSTON

You might think the Texans would trade QB CASE KEENUM, who currently sits third on the depth chart behind C.J. STROUD and DAVIS MILLS.  But you would be wrong according to Diana Russini of The Athletic:

• The Texans have received calls from teams looking for a veteran quarterback, but I was told Case Keenum is not available because Houston relies on his experience and veteran leadership in its quarterback room.

INDIANAPOLIS

The amazing physical specimen that is QB ANTHONY RICHARDSON has already had two injuries.  The latest one is sending him to IR.  Myles Simmons of ProFootballTalk.com:

The Colts will officially be without quarterback Anthony Richardson for at least four games.

Indianapolis has placed Richardson on injured reserve with the shoulder injury he suffered during Sunday’s victory over Tennessee, the team announced on Wednesday.

Head coach Shane Steichen confirmed this week that Richardson has an injury to the AC joint in his right shoulder. The quarterback’s reported recovery timeline has been four-to-six weeks.

Now that Richardson is on IR, we know he’ll miss games against the Jaguars, Browns, Saints, and Panthers. He’ll be eligible to return for the team’s Week 10 game against the Patriots in Germany. But Indianapolis could elect to keep him sidelined through that game because the team has a bye in Week 11.

The Colts host the Buccaneers in Week 12 after the time off.

After being outscored 72-3 in two weeks, Bill Belichick says Patriots will “start over”

Richardson has started four games this season but also suffered multiple injuries. This year’s No. 4 overall pick, Richardson has completed 59.5 percent of his passes for 577 yards with three touchdowns and an interception.

Gardner Minshew is expected to take over as the team’s quarterback while Richardson is out. Minshew has appeared in all five games this season, starting the team’s win over the Ravens. He’s completed 68.7 percent of throws for 553 yards with two touchdowns and no picks.

NEW ENGLAND

Scott Kacsmar indicts GM Bill Belichick:

@ScottKacsmar

2018: Patriots draft RB Sony Michel (1.31) instead of Nick Chubb (2.35)

2019: Patriots draft WR N’Keal Harry (1.32) instead of Deebo Samuel (2.36)

2022: Patriots draft WR Tyquan Thornton (2.50) instead of George Pickens (2.52)

Imagine an offense with Chubb, Deebo, and Pickens.

And don’t tell me this is only hindsight. They were literally 2-4 picks apart at the SAME POSITION the Patriots drafted.

Robert Kraft seems to be letting people know that he would have no problem jettisoning Belichick from both jobs.  Cody Benjamin of CBSSports.com:

Bill Belichick is widely considered the greatest head coach in NFL history. But that doesn’t mean his job is safe with the Patriots. Frustrated over New England’s struggles since Tom Brady’s departure in 2020, team owner Robert Kraft is not opposed to dismissing the longtime coach if things don’t soon improve, according to The Athletic.

“There’s a school of thought that suggests Bill Belichick has earned the right to go out on his own accord, that the architect of the greatest dynasty in NFL history can coach in New England as long as he chooses,” Jeff Howe reports. “Kraft doesn’t subscribe to it.”

Belichick’s all-time achievements aren’t in question. With six Super Bowl wins, an NFL-record 31 career playoff victories and 330 regular-season wins, few have come close to matching his run atop the Patriots, which began in 2000. But New England hasn’t won a postseason matchup since 2018, when the team advanced to Super Bowl LIII against the Rams, and has gone just 25-25 since Brady, his future Hall of Fame quarterback, left for the Buccaneers in 2020.

“Kraft likes to remind people he grew up as a Patriots fan during the organization’s darkest days,” Howe writes. “But that doesn’t mean he has patience to endure more of them. On multiple occasions in recent years, he has lamented the team’s lack of a postseason victory in the post-Brady era. … Kraft has grown frustrated, if not downright angry, over this shortage of success.”

– – –

A big game for New England this week – and QB MAC JONES will start against his former OC Josh McDaniels in Vegas.  Mike Reiss of ESPN.com:

Mac Jones remains the New England Patriots’ starting quarterback.

“Yeah, we’re not making any changes,” coach Bill Belichick confirmed Wednesday morning.

The Patriots (1-4) visit the Las Vegas Raiders (2-3) Sunday and by sticking with Jones — who is in the midst of a two-game slump in which he was pulled from both games in the second half — Belichick is essentially declaring to his players that he still believes the 2021 first-round pick gives the team the best chance to win.

Belichick had said Monday that personnel changes across the entire roster were under consideration, which he would explore later that day.

The Patriots’ top backup is Bailey Zappe, who the team had waived Aug. 29 before bringing him back on the practice squad. Five-year veteran Will Grier is the No. 3 option and was signed off the Cincinnati Bengals’ practice squad on Sept. 23.

Belichick has repeated multiple times in recent days that every player and coach has to perform better, making it clear it isn’t solely on Jones. But the quarterback’s decision-making and mistakes have been at the forefront of the Patriots’ primary issue: Their 10 turnovers are tied for the third most in the NFL.

New England has been outscored 72-3 in losses to the Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints — the worst two defeats of Belichick’s head-coaching career — and Jones has had three turnovers returned for touchdowns. He also had two other interceptions and a poor pitch on a running play that led to a lost fumble.

On Tuesday, offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien said he expected Jones to start against the Raiders, acknowledging Jones’ recent dip but also “glimpses” of what the offense could be.

“He’d be the first to tell you that there’s things he has to do better, whether it’s obviously take care of the ball, maybe read the route better, or get us into a better play. But it’s a collective effort,” O’Brien said.

How bad have things been for the Patriots’ offense?

They rank last in points per game and their 0.85 points per drive would be the worst of any team since the 2006 Raiders (0.77), according to ESPN Stats & Information research.

They’ve gone 34 straight drives without an offensive touchdown and 24 consecutive drives without a point scored, the latter of which is the longest single-season streak by any team since the 2008 Browns (31 straight).

It’s been a sudden turnaround for Jones, who after three games seemed to be turning a corner while working under O’Brien, who had been hired in the offseason. At that point, Jones was 81-of-125 for 748 yards, with five touchdowns and two interceptions.

Inconsistent play along the offensive line hasn’t helped Jones, nor has a wide receiving corps that ranks near the bottom of the NFL in terms of creating separation, according to NFL Next Gen Stats, which Belichick acknowledged in part Wednesday when he said: “We all need to focus on what each of us needs to do … we all need to do a better job — the coaching staff, the head coach, the players, all of us.”

NEW YORK JETS

The Jets are signaling a willingness to ship out WR MECOLE HARDMAN who literally thinks he is a space cadet.  Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com:

The New York Jets are looking at options for wide receiver Mecole Hardman, including a potential trade, league sources told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler on Tuesday.

Hardman, 25, was inactive Sunday and has not been in the plans despite signing a one-year, $4 million contract with upside to $5.5 million.

The Jets have had to adjust their offense since quarterback Aaron Rodgers suffered a torn Achilles after just four plays in his debut for the franchise. With Zach Wilson at quarterback, the team has been averaging 182.2 passing yards through five games and is leaning heavily on the running game, led by Breece Hall.

Hardman has just one catch for 6 yards in four games this season. He has played just 24 snaps, including two on special teams.

Hardman expressed frustration with his role last week in an interview with ESPN.

“I’m probably the best in the league in space,” Hardman said. “Maybe [the coaches] see something different. I’m just waiting for the opportunity to present itself. I think when I was in K.C., I proved that I was probably the most dangerous guy on the jet sweep or whether it be on the end around or on the screen. I think I proved year-out that I was that guy that you had to worry about doing that.”

Asked if he had asked the coaches why he’s not more involved, Hardman said, “There’s been conversations. It’s just more so just comfortability, I believe. So, we just have to keep working and see what happens.”

The Jets signed Hardman on the same day they traded Elijah Moore to the Cleveland Browns, but they billed Hardman as the replacement for Braxton Berrios, who already had been released in a salary cap move. Berrios, who eventually signed with the Miami Dolphins, was known more as a “gadget” receiver with the Jets. As it turns out, rookie Xavier Gipson has been used in that role.

Hardman came to the Jets from the Kansas City Chiefs. He played in eight games for the Chiefs last season, catching 25 passes for 297 yards and four touchdowns. He also rushed for 31 yards and two touchdowns. He missed the final nine regular-season games and the Chiefs’ divisional round playoff game with what the team called a pelvic injury. He returned to catch two passes for 10 yards in the AFC Championship Game but sat out Super Bowl LVII.

Hardman joined the Chiefs as a second-round draft pick in 2019. His best season came in 2021, when he set career highs with 59 receptions and 693 yards.

THIS AND THAT

THE GREAT DEBATE

QB AARON RODGERS has media heads exploding again.  Mike Florio:

Aaron Rodgers was joking last week when he called Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce “Mr. Pfizer.” Rodgers also wasn’t joking.

There was an edge of disdain and derision in the term that Rodgers used. When the subject came up during this week’s visit with Pat McAfee and company, it was clear that Rodgers had a strong anti-vaccine (or, as some — like me — would say, anti-science) viewpoint lurking behind the effort at levity.

Rodgers started by responding to Kelce’s reference to Rodgers as being aligned with Johnson & Johnson in the “vaxx wars,” given that Rodgers plays for the team owned by J&J heir Woody Johnson. It was the first time Rodgers publicly addressed the indirect link to one of the Big Pharma companies that he believes have commissioned the sports media to vilify him for his anti-vaccine rhetoric. (I’m still waiting for my check.)

“It’s fascinating,” Rodgers said of the reaction to his coining of the “Mr. Pfizer” moniker. “I mean, the triggering, though. Was that not incredible last week? People getting absolutely triggered? Listen, you know, like I saw some of it. I love — I mean, the Johnsons have been great to me. So I don’t mind you calling me ‘Mr. Johnson & Johnson.’ Woody and Christopher and their families, they’ve been great. I don’t play for the Johnson & Johnson corporation, I play for the New York Jets. So I mean, you know, I made a tiny little joke about a guy shilling for a, you know, potentially — it’s not potentially, but it’s a you know corrupt company and everybody kind of loses their minds over it.”

Although it’s not easy to discern it over the laughter in reaction to Rodgers’s failed effort to stop himself from saying it, he definitely called Pfizer a “corrupt company.”

Later, Rodgers challenged Kelce to debate the subject of vaccines in a public setting.

“Well, there’s a lot of propaganda out there,” Rodgers said. “Lot of propaganda out there. Listen, you know, Mr. Pfizer said he didn’t think he’d be in a vaxx war with me. . . . This ain’t a war, homey, this is conversation. But if you wanna have some sort of duel, debate, have me on the podcast, come on the show. Let’s have a conversation.

“Let’s do it like in John Wick IV, right? So we both have a second, right? So somebody to help us out. I’m gonna take my man RFK, Jr. . . . And he can have, you know, Tony Fauci or some other Pharmacrat, and we can have a conversation about this.”

Jokes aside, Rodgers’s viewpoint is clear. He’s anti-vaccine. Anti-science. That’s his business. If he doesn’t want to take shots that protect him from certain conditions and/or limit their effects, so be it. But it’s not helpful for his own brand of propaganda to be used in an effort to persuade those who might truly need a vaccine or two to get it.

We’ll see whether Mr. Pfizer agrees to debate Mr. Johnson & Johnson, and whether it’ll be a vehicle for giving RFK, Jr., who is now running for president as an independent, a platform for pushing the anti-science agenda against “Tony Fauci or some other Pharmacrat.”

Regardless, while it all may have seemed like a joke last week, there’s something far deeper going on here. We’ll perhaps see how far and how deep it all goes, if Mr. Pfizer accepts Johnny Ivermectin’s challenge.

This:

@mikefreemanNFL

Aaron Rodgers is embarrassing himself on the McAfee show and no pushback at all from McAfee.

Freeman wrote this last week at USA TODAY

Aaron Rodgers is a fool.

This isn’t easy to say but it’s been established for years now. When this week he called Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce “Mr. Pfizer” he was again dressing himself in a clown suit, with the floppy shoes and red nose, and yes, again, his words are potentially dangerous.

Rodgers joins a loud and equally foolish right-wing chorus that has attacked Kelce, and for once, those attacks have nothing to do with Taylor Swift. The attacks have been vicious and lacking in facts and they do something else. They portray Kelce as someone who is spreading death when he is actually doing something to help save lives.

Kelce and his mother, Donna, launched a new campaign with Pfizer, encouraging people to get their flu shot along with the latest COVID-19 vaccination. Yes, Kelce is likely being paid well by Pfizer, but encouraging people to stop the spread of a deadly disease is (checks notes) a good thing. Only a fool would believe it isn’t. Or a legion of fools.

You may have missed some of the things that have been said about Kelce in recent days and they are staggeringly ignorant. It remains shocking that in the 21st century people behave this way but here we are.

As Kelce’s relationship with Swift has enthralled millions of people, his becoming an advocate for vaccines has caused him to also be a target for extremists.

“What will break his heart first: His new relationship with Taylor Swift or the COVID shot…They’re both in the business of breaking hearts,” said Turning Point Founder Charlie Kirk. He added: “I find it rather repulsive, to be perfectly honest, that a supposedly alpha male person like Travis Kelce is pushing a vaccine toward a demographic that doesn’t need it.”

“I challenge Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, to show me the medical evidence why he, at the age of 33 physically fit, needs a Pfizer’s Covid vaccine shot,” wrote Fox News contributor Leo Terrell. “Travis show me the medical evidence. Stop lying to the American people.”

These are all lies of course.

Rodgers joined in on the buffoonery on The Pat McAfee Show. Saying that the Jets’ 23-20 loss was a moral victory, Rodgers added: “…We hung with the champs and that our defense played well, and Pat (Mahomes) didn’t have a crazy game. And Mr. Pfizer—we kind of shut him down. He didn’t have his crazy impact game.”

I’ve talked before about the transformation of Rodgers. I didn’t know Rodgers well but we’d chat at his locker during training camp and there was never a trace of any of this. He always appeared smart and open minded. I genuinely liked him.

I still don’t think Rodgers understands the power he wields. No, one individual isn’t responsible for all of the misinformation. Even someone as popular as Rodgers. But there are people who look at Rodgers and believe he knows more than even the people who dedicate their lives to studying vaccines and infectious diseases. Rodgers appears smart on these topics and speaks with authority on them. It’s ignorant authority but it’s authority.

Dr. Peter Hotez, one of the world’s experts on vaccinology, and vaccine misinformation, said it’s unclear the impact one person can have when spouting misinformation. But he worries about something else.

“It’s difficult to say, or ascribe, the negative impact to any single individual,” Hotez told USA TODAY Sports. “In the case of high profile professional athletes, I worry that their strong anti-vaccine or anti-science viewpoints become the face of the franchise or the league. In the case of the NBA, I know they worked hard to overcome some strong views expressed by specific individuals. I don’t know if the NFL has attempted to do the same.”

This is why Rodgers’ views are a problem. He is the face of the Jets and one of the faces of the league. The NFL, in fact, remains a target of misinformation goons.

Just minutes after Buffalo Bills defensive back Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field last season, extremists were attempting to link what happened to him being vaccinated for COVID.

“This is a tragic and all too familiar sight right now: Athletes dropping suddenly,” wrote Kirk on X at the time. His post was viewed millions of times.

“Everybody knows what happened to Damar Hamlin because it’s happened to too many athletes around the world since COVID vaccination was required in sports,” said former Newsmax correspondent Emerald Robinson. That tweet was also viewed millions of times.

These were lies, too. Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest caused by a blow to the chest he took during the game.

McAfee has served as a conduit for Rodgers’ vaccine misinformation. There has rarely been any pushback. McAfee apparently doesn’t see it as his place to correct Rodgers. If McAfee did, he’d likely lose access to Rodgers, who is notoriously thin skinned.

So here we are. One of the most popular athletes of our time, a Super Bowl winner, a former quarterback for a storied franchise, and a current quarterback playing in the most high profile market in the nation. Mocking someone who is asking people to get flu and COVID shots that could save lives.

This is where we are. It’s all so foolish.

THE GOODELL EXTENSION

The expected new deal for The Commish, remains expected, but is not executed.  Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com:

Nothing is done until it’s done. And NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s contract extension is still not done.

According to Mark Maske of the Washington Post, the expectation continues to be that it will be done.

“That’s going to get done,” an unnamed source told Maske. “Roger wants to be there until the spring of 2027.”

“You just know it’s going to get done, and you don’t worry about it,” another unnamed source told Maske. “Do the owners still want him? The answer is yes. Does Roger still want to be there? The answer is yes. It’s no problem.”

But it’s still not done. And it’s not expected to be done in time for next week’s ownership meeting.

And, again, nothing is done until it’s done. For Goodell, the ticking clock builds his leverage. The owners need Goodell, and they have no viable Plan B in place in the event he would decide to walk away.

In April, Goodell addressed his contract status with a surprisingly blunt willingness to move on, if a deal isn’t done before the current deal expires.

“The good news is I love the job and I love what I’m doing,” Goodell said. “We have talked about an extension and we’ll work towards that. If that’s possible, then great. If not, I’ve been really fortunate to be in this job.”

There’s no real reason to think a deal won’t get done. But something is keeping it from being finalized. Unless and until the NFL is willing to let Goodell walk, the NFL won’t get him to budge on whatever the final sticking point(s) might be.