| More international games are afoot: @AlbertBreerNFL’s Peter O’Reilly says the league is considering going to 10 international games, which is the CBA limit, in 2027. He said he doesn’t know yet if the NFL will go to a new country next year, but did reference the idea of going to new cities in coun tries they’ve been to. So what might these new cities be? Barcelona seems obvious in Spain. Sydney in Australia? And the NFL has an office in Brisbane Guadalajara or Monterey in Mexico? Manchester – the NFL at Old Trafford? The NFL has played in Germany in Munich, Frankfurt and Berlin. The biggest stadium in Germany is actually in Dortmund. It’s not a new city, but we think a return to Dublin and Ireland is likely. |
| NFC NORTH |
| MINNESOTAMichael Silver of The Athletic on Vikings blitz-happy DC Brian Flores: In a coaching world full of careful copycats, insecure ladder-climbers and risk-averse yes men, Brian Flores stands out like a shirtless ice fisherman. The Minnesota Vikings’ 45-year-old defensive coordinator is a disruptor, and not a subtle one. Flores’ class-action lawsuit against NFL owners and three specific teams, alleging systemic racism in hiring practices, has the nation’s preeminent sports league on the defensive. His aggressive defensive scheme disturbs the sleep patterns of opposing offensive coordinators and makes their flummoxed quarterbacks see ghosts on Sundays. Devoid of obvious star power, his unit has carried a team with an anemic offense to a 5-0 start. And the most radical thing of all is that Flores, who carries an established reputation as an exacting disciplinarian, has empowered his players to do the heavy lifting. The result is that a scheme built on relentless pressure and unpredictability has become even more fluid — and formidable — as veterans versed in the system make real-time adjustments. “Your natural instinct is to control all of it as a coach,” Flores said in an interview with The Athletic at the team’s training facility earlier this month. “But there are things we just don’t see on the field that they see. I know I have tendencies, just like every play caller has tendencies. (But opposing coaches) don’t know the tendencies of Harrison Smith or Josh Metellus or Blake Cashman.” It’s now common knowledge in NFL circles that facing Minnesota’s defense is football’s version of Squid Game’s “Red Light, Green Light.” “He’s unorthodox — really out of the box — but really efficient,” New York Giants offensive coordinator Matt Nagy said of Flores. “People say, ‘He blitzes,’ but it’s a lot more complicated than that, and he has his own little twist on things that keeps you off balance. “It definitely makes you stay up at night.” The night sweats that the Vikings’ defense provokes have never been more warranted. In his fourth season as Kevin O’Connell’s defensive coordinator, Flores is on a heater that shows no signs of abating. Heading into its Week 6 bye, Minnesota — which hosts the Indianapolis Colts Sunday — ranked in the top five in every major defensive category, including second in yards allowed. The Vikings topped the charts in scoring defense (12.8 points per game), third-down defense, red-zone defense, EPA per play, total EPA, success rate and opponents’ completion percentage. The Vikings have needed every bit of that defensive dominance, too, given their early-season struggles on offense: Earlier in 2026, they became the second NFL team in the last 90 years to win three consecutive games in a season while scoring one or fewer touchdowns from scrimmage during that span. No one on an NFL coaching staff has made a bigger impact in 2026 than Flores, who finished second in the AP’s Assistant Coach of the Year voting two seasons ago, behind current Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson and ahead of five other men who have since gotten head-coaching jobs. Typically, that would translate to the coordinator in question becoming a hot candidate in the upcoming coaching cycle. With Flores, who went 24-25 as the Miami Dolphins’ head coach from 2019 through ’21, it’s a more complicated equation. In the wake of his firing by the Dolphins, Flores, who is Black, filed the lawsuit, which is still being litigated, against the NFL and three teams (the Giants, Denver Broncos and Houston Texans; the Dolphins were later added). His legal team has recently won a series of rulings that would prevent the case from being subject to the closed-door arbitration process, with commissioner Roger Goodell as the arbiter, that the league typically imposes. Last week, a few days after Flores’ conversation with The Athletic, a judge unsealed a report on Flores prepared by the recruiting firm Korn Ferry for the Las Vegas Raiders during a recent coaching search. The report listed strengths and weaknesses that seemed to perpetuate racial stereotypes and contained possible evidence of retaliation. The document listed one of Flores’ strengths as “polished and a good presenter despite growing up in Brownsville, Brooklyn (same as Mike Tyson)” and cited his friendship with a billionaire’s son as having given “him opportunities to socialize and learn how to build relationships with white-collar and upper-class individuals.” It also cited the ongoing litigation as a potential distraction, which Flores’ lawyers have since claimed constitutes retaliation. Flores declined Monday to comment on the unsealed document. Flores, who had multiple interviews for head-coaching jobs after the 2024 (New York Jets, Bears, Jacksonville Jaguars) and 2025 (Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens) seasons, said “there’s no way for me to know” whether the pending lawsuit is affecting his chances. Even if a second chance to run an NFL team never arrives, Flores insists he has no regrets about having stood up for what he believes is right. “I’m always going to do that,” he said. “That’s just a decision that we made, and I say we because obviously my entire family was a part of that. We weren’t going to be able to sleep well if we didn’t.” In the meantime, he enjoys presiding over a defense that has been a nightmare to opponents, especially the quarterbacks forced to match wits with players like safeties Smith and Metellus, linebackers Cashman and Eric Wilson and edge rusher Andrew Van Ginkel. “I have a ton of respect for how he prepares his defense and the stressors he puts on offenses,” said Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff, who declined to elaborate for competitive reasons. One stressor, a longtime Flores staple, is obvious: “I’ve never seen this many blitzes,” said Justin Jefferson, the Vikings’ star receiver. “I don’t think anybody has, in the history of the game.” According to TruMedia, the Vikings are blitzing on 66.5 percent of dropbacks; no team has surpassed even 51 percent since 2009. Sometimes, the threat of the blitz alone is enough to unnerve opponents, especially when last-minute machinations are playing out at the line of scrimmage. “The variety in the way that we do things is what becomes a little bit overwhelming, because you think everything is just an all-out blitz,” Smith said. “And sometimes it is. Some games it won’t be as much, but it might feel like that.” That’s one manifestation of how Flores’ trust in his players — and their ability to make quick decisions aligned with his vision — gives the Vikings an additional edge. And yes, despite the coordinator’s stringent standards, the players seem to be having fun, too. Two years ago, then-Vikings edge rusher Jonathan Greenard referred to Flores as a “players’ coach,” a somewhat stunning depiction given the stigma he acquired while coaching the Dolphins. His brusque leadership style as a head coach turned off many people in Miami’s organization and battered franchise quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s self-belief. But while he may not be warm and fuzzy, Flores is moved by the fact that his current unit’s success is a group effort. Mention someone like Metellus, whose career narrative shifted from unheralded special-teamer to elite defensive weapon after Flores arrived, and the proud coach lights up like a Little League parent whose kid just homered for the first time. “We have a great group,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of guys who’ve been in the system, and there’s a great vibe and great energy, which I think is kind of the secret sauce to playing good defense. They want to work. They want to put in the time. And so it’s actually very fun to coach these guys.” Flores will never back away from his principles — he values discipline above all else — but, after spending 2022 on Mike Tomlin’s Steelers staff, he seems to have softened his approach. For example, in empowering his players to make checks, he also refrains from lambasting them after the fact if those audibles don’t lead to a successful outcome. “We love knowing that we have the confidence of our defensive coordinator to have that right and opportunity,” said Cashman, a free-agent signee in 2024. “But that’s something that we’ve also earned over the last few years. There’s constant dialogue on the sidelines, and where we’ve been excellent this year is the in-game adjustments. With those adjustments, I feel like Flo and our coaching staff are batting a thousand right now.” Flo’s flow, symbiotically, is a product of his players’ like-mindedness. He and the ones who’ve been in Minnesota for a while complete each other’s schematic sentences. Throughout his time with the Vikings, Flores has encouraged defenders to experiment with last-second scheme tweaks in practice. Last year, as Minnesota slogged through a disappointing season, he ramped up their responsibilities in a significant way. Beginning in December, Flores entrusted Smith, then in his 14th season, with checking to a defensive play call shortly before the snap, typically from a list of predetermined options. The Vikings, who were 4-8 at the time, closed out the season with five consecutive victories, allowing only 52 points during that span. “Down the stretch last year, what Harry was doing, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen it,” O’Connell said. “It was almost like Peyton Manning or Tom Brady going to the line with plays to pull from — kind of like playing the game within the game (against) Dak Prescott or one of these quarterbacks that’s trying to get into the right play. And these players out there have ownership of the call. It’s a total testament to them, to Flo and the staff for being able to recognize a unique group of guys that can make it all come to life.” After contemplating retirement, Smith, 37, re-signed with the Vikings shortly before the start of the regular season. He and Metellus, 28, form one of the league’s most potent safety pairings, with different skill sets (the versatile Metellus has been deployed at virtually every position since Flores arrived) but a shared level of intelligence and grasp of the scheme. “It’s a high-risk, high-reward defense, and even when things go south, we understand that our scars get burned into our heads and help us in the future,” Metellus said. “These offensive coordinators now dress things up so much, and they do so many different things, that as a player you see it better on the field. So (Flores) gives us the tools and trusts us to make the checks.” The upshot, said Metellus, is that opposing quarterbacks get into “scrambled head” mode, sacrificing schematic ambition for simple plays that get the ball out quickly. Van Ginkel, who began his career in Miami when Flores was the Dolphins’ coach and signed with the Vikings as a free agent in 2024, sometimes makes line-of-scrimmage adjustments that further unnerve opponents. “You can see them get frustrated,” he said, “cause we’re not doing what they thought we would. And now they have to adjust to us.” At times, Flores has had to adjust to his players’ sensibilities. He recalled dialing up a blitz late last season on a third-and-25 play, only to have Smith talk him out of it. “He was like, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa — hold on,’” Flores recalled, laughing. “I said, ‘All right, sorry. Reel me in.’ I think that dialogue is always there. That’s part of why I love to coach these guys.” Said Smith: “The cool thing about our defense is it morphs from week to week — series to series, really.” The pliability aligns with the way Flores’ unit has been constructed, with a premium on positional flexibility, unselfishness and a lack of entitlement. “They’re all kind of cut from the same cloth,” Flores said, “in that it wasn’t handed to them.” Prime examples include undrafted defensive tackle Jalen Redmond, who was signed away from the XFL’s Arlington Renegades in 2024; nose tackle Levi Drake Rodriguez, a 2024 seventh-round selection who split his college career between Texas A&M-Commerce and Southwestern Assemblies of God University; and Wilson, who joined the Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2017 and returned as a free agent (after stints with the Philadelphia Eagles, Texans and Green Bay Packers) in 2025. Flores was practically beaming as he rattled off the names of other overlooked Vikings defenders and lauded the abilities of his defensive assistants. “We have a phenomenal staff,” he said. “I don’t want to say that, like, I’m doing too much.” One of Flores’ favorite moments this season occurred in the fourth quarter of the Vikings’ 9-3 road upset of the Bears in Week 2. The Bears had put up 59 points in their season-opening victory over the Carolina Panthers, but Minnesota stifled quarterback Caleb Williams with a pass-rush scheme designed to keep him from getting outside the pocket. Before a pivotal third down, Van Ginkel suggested a call featuring pass-rush stunts that carried a higher degree of risk. “All right, well, let’s run it,” Flores said. The Vikings forced a third-down incompletion, validating the move. “It’s one of those little things that no one would ever know about unless we talked about it,” Flores said. “That’s what we’re all striving for when you’re teaching or coaching. When they have a great understanding of route concepts or the run game or protections, or they make a decision or make a fix because they saw something — I mean, that brings a little tear to my eye.” Will another NFL owner be moved enough by Flores’ success to give him another head-coaching opportunity, even as the legal battle rages on? We don’t yet know the answer — but we can count on a whole lot of disruption in the meantime. |
| NFC EAST |
| PHILADELPHIAJonathan Jones of The Athletic says the NFL is fine with how the Eagles medical staff handled things with QB JALEN HURTS: The NFL has concluded that the process of clearing Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts to play in Week 5 with a superficial blood clot “was handled appropriately,” a league source told The Athletic. The source, speaking to The Athletic on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, said the NFL will not punish the Eagles for their handling of the medical process or for Hurts not being given an injury designation before the game. After further testing, within three days of returning to the U.S., the superficial blood clot had moved. Hurts has since been diagnosed with blood clots in both lungs and has been ruled out for the remainder of the NFL season. Hurts is clinically stable, but he can’t play football while on blood thinners, which his treatment requires. There have been many questions around the Eagles’ handling of Hurts. The NFL has been in regular communication with the team and its medical staff, the league source said. Hurts, the Super Bowl LIX MVP, initially sought treatment for his left calf on Thursday, Oct. 8. According to a joint statement from the team and Hurts’ agent, Nicole Lynn, Hurts told the medical staff he was cleated during the Week 4 game against the Los Angeles Rams. He had further treatment the following day and was cleared to travel. Eagles players and personnel were advised ahead of the trip to London to try to stay awake to remain on Eastern time. The source said Hurts was not told to stay awake specifically because of his medical condition. Allen Sills, the NFL’s chief medical doctor, arranged with Mark Gillett, the Premier League’s chief medical officer, to have Hurts seen at the Cleveland Clinic in London on Saturday night after a team walk-through. That is when the superficial blood clot in Hurts’ calf was first discovered, and the source said the team, staff, doctors and Hurts determined he could play the following day against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Hurts returned to the team hotel around 2:45 a.m. local time Sunday and slept until about 10 a.m. He took the bus to the stadium, then took a nap at the stadium before playing all 62 offensive snaps in the 19-17 loss. The Eagles returned home around 2 a.m. Monday, and Hurts continued to receive treatment for the next two days. On Wednesday, he had a follow-up appointment, and tests revealed the superficial blood clot had moved. Further testing revealed deep vein thrombosis and bilateral pulmonary emboli. “Jalen’s prognosis is very good, and we expect a full recovery,” the team and Lynn said in a statement Tuesday. “We anticipate that he will have the opportunity to resume contact football activities when off the blood thinners. In the meantime, he will remain active around the team and continue to condition. More importantly, we anticipate that he will have no long-term effects.” The NFL has determined the Eagles did not violate the league’s injury report policy either, the source said. The Eagles placed Hurts on the injury report the Friday before the game, but he was not issued an injury designation then or after the superficial blood clot was found. Per the source, because the team determined Hurts would play his normal number of snaps as the starter, a change to the report was not necessary. The Eagles sent Dr. Nick Sirianni out to talk about the medical situation. Connor Orr of SI.com is befuddled. Before us is one of the more complex and possibly controversial medical stories the NFL has seen in years, and, coming to the podium, we have Nick Sirianni, a career football coach with a degree in *checks notes* not being a doctor, from Mount Union College. The guy who, bless his heart and I say this in his defense, couldn’t nail his opening press conference talking about football, having an aggressive mentality and playing together, never mind the one about why the quarterback may have flown home from London with blood clots, or played in a football game with them. We still need to know much more about Jalen Hurts and his season-ending medical condition. What we know for sure, from a joint statement by the Eagles and Hurts’s agent, Nicole Lynn, is that Hurts needs to take blood thinners to solve what is now being diagnosed as a deep vein thrombosis in addition to bilateral pulmonary emboli. According to that statement, the initial diagnosis in London was a left calf superficial vein thrombosis. But what we know for sure is that the person who should have been behind the microphone on Monday was the same one who evaluated Hurts medically and approved both his entry onto the field in Week 5 and a spot on the team plane home afterward. This was woefully unfair to Sirianni, who, while not the ultimate sympathetic figure here, given he’s not the one who may have been suffering from life-threatening blood clots, was chucked outside to create the kind of self-own that dumps lighter fluid onto a story that—just a hunch—everyone at 345 Park and 1 Eagles Drive would prefer went away forever. And if you’re going to tell me that medical professionals don’t normally talk to the media, here’s the landing page for press conferences featuring Rick Burkholder, the vice president of sports medicine and performance for the Chiefs. The same Rick Burkholder who used to work for the Eagles and provide regular press briefings. With player approval, having a member of the team’s medical staff address a particular injury is not a HIPAA violation, which is especially true if the injury stems from something football-related. And if the player’s agent and team issued a joint statement, one would assume there could be a world where Sirianni—again, a coach who once had to be asked by his own quarterback to stop taunting the other team during the Super Bowl—didn’t need to go head-to-head with the most (in a good way) ravenous, combative and no-bulls-taking press corps of any NFL beat in America about a sensitive topic way outside his wheelhouse. Of course it was disastrous. Of course it looked uncomfortable. And the longer we go on this rickety train ride, where an agent seems to be co-steering the narrative of what might be a very serious medical issue along with a head coach (neither doctors!!) the longer this story will remain prevalent in the public consciousness. Before we keep going, a few thoughts that I think are relevant: • The initial report, from the Ringer’s and Netflix’s Tom Pelissero, included an anecdote that Hurts had not slept for 36 hours before playing against the Jaguars and that a medical professional in London advised him not to rest due to the issue. That report was clarified to suggest that Hurts did indeed sleep between his diagnosis and when he played. • After Stephen A. Smith recklessly downplayed Lane Johnson’s desire to focus on his mental health amid his in-season retirement, I remain completely and wholly stunned that Michael Robinson would come out on NFL Network and suggest that Hurts’s blood clot issue was conjured up in an effort to sit out the remainder of what might be a lost season. This is a bit of an aside, but for as much as NFL players talk up a brotherhood, we’ve had Robinson float the idea that superficial blood clots are not serious and Richard Sherman joking about Joey Porter Jr. faking a stomach bug the week before as a contract-negotiation maneuver. This paved the way for former players to openly question Caleb Williams’s toughness for needing a medical cart for his hamstring injury. The amplification of these comments creates a kind of echo chamber that only players have to realistically live in, and disprove by hammering their bodies into oblivion. Engagement is a hell of a drug, man. • What I hoped we would all take from Johnson’s retirement is that it’s O.K. not to continuously risk your well-being to be on the football field just to prove some completely ungraspable or undefinable concept of toughness; that, after you retire from the game, you are left with a body and mind that need to carry you the rest of the way. There is an immense difference between the value of a sport building resilience and potentially playing amid a serious medical situation. • This is purely my opinion: I am not sure what the Eagles would have ultimately gained by sneaking Hurts onto the field knowing he was suffering through a dire medical condition and then parking the franchise quarterback on an airplane to let the condition worsen. Again, doing this knowingly would be one of the most significant medical controversies in NFL history and would require firing an entire medical staff. As Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk noted, demand a reexamination of everything when it comes to the way we treat players. Certainly, there have been high-profile stories of team medical professionals acting negligently, and I am not naive to the fact that a doctor can make a horrible mistake. However, this would represent a multiperson, department-wide breakdown for which I don’t have a reference point. But if this were the case, wouldn’t Hurts’s agent be publicly warring against the Eagles on behalf of her client instead of collaborating on a statement with them? There are so many details about the nuances of the treatment, what was known at the time in London, what kind of testing equipment was available to the Eagles in another country before the team made a decision to play Hurts, and what, ultimately, was passed along to the person or people deciding it was O.K. for Hurts to play. We cannot have this narrative both ways: The Eagles seemed to be preparing for a rebuild and, weeks ago, traded one of their best remaining offensive linemen after the Johnson retirement. They also needed to win a game in the absolute destitute swampland that is the NFC East so badly that they would put a quarterback in a life-threatening situation? And if the answer is “yes,” then what the hell is wrong with us? What are we doing here? Don’t stop until anyone within a country mile of this place is on LinkedIn with a #LookingForWork banner. If the answer is “Hey, it’s more complicated than a few words that can fit into the Twitter box,” then let’s make an effort to flesh it out. Again, these are questions primarily for someone who isn’t Sirianni, who fared just a little better than Bill Belichick relaying the complexities of ideal gas law on Monday. Questions for someone who can provide a detailed timeline. Questions for someone who can do more than point out the obvious, and our only definitive takeaway from Monday: Sirianni is, indeed, not a doctor. A political strategist named Tim Murtaugh weighs in on the Eagles getting pilloried when the NFL (and most independent doctors) say they followed every possible protocol and precaution: The @Eagles put on a masterclass of how to completely bungle a crisis. According to the NFL, they did everything exactly right in handling Jalen Hurts’ condition, playing status, and travel. But you’d never know it because the team hoarded all of its info and let bad info take its place in the public sphere. That thing about Jalen Hurts staying awake for 36 hours? Apparently not true, but the Eagles never spoke up so there are a ton of people—some in media—who still believe it. If the team and Hurts have indeed been on the same page all the way through the ordeal, you would never know it from the team’s public statements. They allowed the idea to grow in the public that Hurts was pitted against the Eagles leadership on whether he would play in London or travel home, because the club never established its own version of events. I know there are certain details they can’t reveal for legal or medical privacy reasons, but they let speculation in media become fact because they did nothing to control the flow of the story. A complete fiasco that could have been mitigated if they’d just given it a little effort. They did nothing. For a small fee I could have helped them. |
| WASHINGTONThe Commanders lost WR TERRY McLAURIN Monday night. Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com: Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin’s knee injury looked bad on the field Monday night and head coach Dan Quinn confirmed the worst at a press conference on Tuesday. McLaurin will miss the rest of the season with a torn patellar tendon. McLaurin will have surgery to repair the injury. McLaurin had a 27-yard catch before the injury on Monday and 15 catches for 230 yards and a touchdown in five games this season. He also missed seven games last season while dealing with a quad injury, but had played in every game over the previous four years. The Commanders have McLaurin under contract for two more seasons, but his future with the team could be impacted by the level of offseason changes that go on in Washington. If things don’t get better after a 1-4-1 start, those changes could be significant. |
| NFC SOUTH |
| NEW ORLEANSGM Mickey Loomis understands why owner Gayle Benson is getting restless. Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com: Saints owner Gayle Benson said last week that the team’s performance has not been acceptable. Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis says he gets it. “I understood where she’s coming from, and I think every once in a while we all need to be a little uncomfortable. That’s OK,” Loomis said today in Paris, where the Saints will play on Sunday. Asked about building a winning team, Loomis acknowledged it hasn’t happened. “We haven’t done that yet, have we? This is an outcome-based sport, and it’s not good enough yet.” Still, Loomis says the Saints’ process is good, even if the results haven’t been. “I like the direction we’re going,” Loomis said. “We’re a young, developing team and we have to recognize that. I recognize that. We’ve got a young coach 22 games into his career. That’s where we’re at.” Saints quarterback Tyler Shough is showing promise, in Loomis’s opinion. “It all starts with the quarterback and I think we’re all excited about him,” Loomis said. “There’s still a lot of development. He’s 13 or 14 games. He hasn’t even started a full season yet.” Despite a 2-4 start, Loomis still believes this Saints team can win. “We didn’t get the outcomes that we were expecting or wanted, but they were there ready for us to take them. One of the things about a young team is they have to learn how to win, and we’re in that process.” |
| NFC WEST |
| LOS ANGELES RAMSAnd, K BRANDON McMANUS will be the Rams’ 3rd kicker of the season. This from NFL.com: K Brandon McManus is being signed, NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo and Ian Rapoport reported. McManus will play his 13th NFL season after spending nine years with the Broncos, one with the Jaguars and two with the Packers, whom he played for most recently from 2024-2025. McManus and Matt Prater tried out Tuesday after the Rams placed kicker Blake Grupe on injured reserve and cut kicker Harrison Mevis last week. |
| AFC WEST |
| KANSAS CITYShawn-Michael Duggar of The Athletic looks at RB KEN WALKER III as he gets ready to return to the city of the team that didn’t want him: As Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider spoke in front of a crowd of more than 50,000 at the team’s Super Bowl 60 championship trophy presentation at Lumen Field last February, he tried to make a joke. “To Ken Walker being the MVP, let’s go,” Schneider started. “He tried negotiating with me five minutes ago; it was weird.” A few awkward moments followed. Behind Schneider, Seahawks play-by-play announcer Steve Raible laughed; the players sharing the stage did not. Over Schneider’s left shoulder, Ken Walker III, who rushed for 135 yards in Seattle’s win over the New England Patriots three days prior, smiled politely. “Anyway,” Schneider continued, attempting to recover. “M-V-P! M-V-P! M-V-P!” The crowd joined in. Walker shook his head slowly, the slight smile still plastered on his face. Afterward, he responded on Instagram: “Must’ve been da liquor he drinking cuz I never said dat.” Schneider later called the ill-fated attempt at humor “a panic moment.” There were no serious discussions — on that day or any other — about Walker returning to the team that used a second-round draft pick on him in 2022. Walker’s postseason performance put him in such high demand that he effectively priced himself out of Seattle, which didn’t make a contract offer ahead of free agency, according to league sources not authorized to speak publicly about the matter. It might not have mattered, anyway. The Kansas City Chiefs, as it turns out, were very serious about Walker, making him one of the league’s highest-paid running backs with a three-year, $43 million contract. Their investment is paying off. The 26-year-old Walker has rushed for a league-high 665 yards and six touchdowns despite only playing five games. He’s on pace for over 2,000 yards on the ground and ranks second among running backs in scrimmage yards (760) and touchdowns (eight). Walker is the current betting favorite to win Offensive Player of the Year, and his Chiefs are 5-0, one of three remaining NFL unbeatens. Their next opponent? Walker’s old team. He is just the fourth Super Bowl MVP to change teams the following season, and the first since 2002. Of the more than 500 players who changed teams in the offseason, none has made a bigger impact — or left a larger void — than Walker. He has used a stellar showing on the NFL’s biggest stage as a springboard into stardom, and he’s rejuvenated the Chiefs offense in the process. Meanwhile, Seattle’s offense seems stuck in the mud without its former star. “He’s the MVP of the NFL right now,” ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky, an MVP voter, said on “The Pat McAfee Show” Monday. “If MVP voting was happening today, I would vote for Kenneth Walker.” The night before his first game as a Chief, Walker ate dinner on his couch while watching a home movie curated by his social media manager and videographer. In it, his younger brother, Kenneth IV, told him to “be that dog.” His cousins called it “surreal” to watch him run onto the field every week and said his work ethic from childhood on up “has inspired our entire family.” The message from his father, Kenneth Jr.: “You was an MVP before you was MVP, in my eyes.” Walker was first exposed to the game as a 4-year-old in Memphis who got upset when Mom told him it was time to go home after watching his uncle play. As a young man, he spent countless hours working out and training with his father. At times, he hated it. But, looking back, “It got me to where I’m at now,” Walker said this offseason. (Kenneth Jr. doesn’t like crowds, so the Super Bowl was the first time he saw his son play an NFL game in person.) “I can’t let my pops down,” Walker said in an interview with The Athletic. “I just got to continuously grind. And I remember how it was growing up when I wrestled, baseball, basketball, whatever I did, he was there to make sure I was the best at it. So, I’m gonna continuously put myself in positions to be the best that I can.” He was named the top running back in college football after transferring from Wake Forest to Michigan State for his junior season in 2021, rushing for 1,636 yards and 18 touchdowns. He was the rookie of the year runner-up in 2022 and topped 1,000 rushing yards in two of his first four seasons but flew slightly under the radar, never earning a Pro Bowl nod or a spot on one of the Associated Press’ All-Pro teams. Although he was a four-year starter in Seattle, Walker split time with Zach Charbonnet throughout the 2025 season, often ceding third-down and red-zone touches to the 2023 second-round pick. Charbonnet logged 37 fewer carries in the regular season but played more offensive snaps than Walker, who balanced his frustrations against being a good teammate. His goal was to win, and he and Charbonnet are close. Walker recalled multiple late-night talks with his father at the beginning of last season, “helping me through all that sh–” and encouraging him to stay positive. Walker focused on the variables in his control — practice habits, recovery, sleep schedule, diet — but playing time was out of his hands. While he led the team with 1,027 rushing yards in 2025, Charbonnet outscored him 12 touchdowns to 5. Then Charbonnet tore his ACL in the divisional-round win over the San Francisco 49ers. Walker became the Seahawks’ bell-cow back out of necessity, racking up 313 yards and four touchdowns over three games, including the Super Bowl MVP performance. Charbonnet was on Walker’s mind “a lot” during that playoff run. Walker wrote his injured teammate’s jersey number on his wrist for the Super Bowl and intended to flash it in the end zone after a fourth-quarter touchdown run that was called back due to a penalty. But after the season ended, Walker had no interest in returning to an offense that limited his opportunities. “Things ain’t work out how I was expecting it to, and that’s all right,” Walker told Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio in May. “It worked out for the team. But yeah, (I knew) sometime during the season, and then we get to free agency, you pretty much know you weren’t going to be there.” Walker didn’t sign with the Chiefs solely for the money. He wanted to feel wanted. He feels that in Kansas City, in a scheme that leans on his big-play ability, and in Hall of Fame teammates who want to feed him the ball. “The belief they have in me … It’s great to be in this position,” Walker said. “That means a lot, and then they show it, so it means that much more.” Walker’s return to Lumen Field in a “Sunday Night Football” matchup magnifies the spotlight on Seattle’s offseason priorities. At 3-3, his former team is struggling to run the ball, and the offense is in such a rut that coach Mike Macdonald was recently asked whether he’s considering a quarterback change, potentially benching Sam Darnold, who helmed the Super Bowl champs last year. (Macdonald voiced his support for Darnold despite seven interceptions over four games.) Seattle’s rushing attack is among the least-efficient in the league. After Walker signed with Kansas City, the Seahawks added free agent Emanuel Wilson on a veteran minimum salary, then used the No. 32 overall pick on Notre Dame’s Jadarian Price, who had 140 yards rushing in three games before going on injured reserve with a chest issue. Walker has outproduced the Seahawks’ entire running backs corps (539 yards, three touchdowns) despite playing one fewer game. Sunday night’s Ken Walker Bowl may very well turn out to be a case of immovable object versus unstoppable force. By both traditional and advanced metrics, the Seahawks’ defense is one of the best in the league at keeping the opposing ground game in check, not allowing a running back to reach 100 yards since Week 8 of the 2024 season. Walker, averaging 133 rushing yards per game, will try to buck that trend. While previewing the matchup during halftime of “Football Night in America” on Sunday night, NBC’s Maria Taylor noted Walker’s return to analyst Mike Tomlin, the former Steelers coach. “I bet you Seattle wishes they had him,” Tomlin said. “Life was a heck of a lot easier for Sam when he was turning and handing that ball to Kenneth Walker.” |
| AFC NORTH |
| PITTSBURGHQB AARON RODGERS has been re-united with an old friend in the wake of receiver injuries for the Steelers. The AP: Marquez Valdes-Scantling is back with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers signed the veteran wide receiver to their practice squad Tuesday ahead of a trip to Paris to take on the New Orleans Saints. Valdes-Scantling, 32, spent a portion of the 2025 season in Pittsburgh, catching 10 passes for 80 yards and a touchdown in five games before adding three receptions in a first-round playoff loss to the Houston Texans. Pittsburgh is in need of help at wide receiver after Michael Pittman Jr. and Roman Wilson were both put on injured reserve in the past week, leaving little experienced depth behind DK Metcalf and rookie Germie Bernard, who combined for 22 catches in a comeback win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. The Steelers are Valdes-Scantling’s third team in less than two months. He was released by the Dallas Cowboys in late August then signed with the Los Angeles Chargers in September, catching two passes for 22 yards in three games before being released last week. Valdes-Scantling has a history with Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers going back to their time together with the Green Bay Packers. Valdes-Scantling had 123 receptions in four seasons with the Packers from 2018 to 2021. |
| AFC SOUTH |
| TENNESSEEWhoa! An explanation for the sudden release of DT JORDAN ELLIOTT involves a gun. Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com: On Tuesday, the Titans abruptly released defensive tackle Jordan Elliott without elaboration as to the “incident” that sparked the move. Multiple reports indicate it was a serious situation that could have gotten a lot worse. Austin Stanley and Easton Freeze of AtoZSports.com and Aaron Wilson of KPRC in Houston report that Elliott went to his car to get his gun following an altercation on October 15. Via AtoZSports.com, the Nashville Metro Nashville Police Department said on Tuesday afternoon that no reports had been filed regarding the incident. Wilson’s report adds more details. Per Wilson, Elliott and tackle JC Latham argued after a play. Elliott was then told to leave the practice field. Elliott reportedly went to the players’ parking garage to get his gun from his car. Titans defensive tackle John Franklin-Myers de-escalated the situation. It’s unclear whether he actually got the gun and brought it back to the practice field. Presumably he did; if Franklin-Myers had simply stopped Elliott from going to his car, that likely wouldn’t have been enough to prompt the Titans to cut Elliott. Via Wilson, the whole thing was captured by surveillance cameras. Elliott, 28, had signed a two-year, $8 million contract in the offseason. A third-round pick of the Browns in 2020, he spent four years in Cleveland and two in San Francisco. He played last year for Titans coach Robert Saleh, during Saleh’s second, one-year stint as the San Francisco defensive coordinator. After appearing in the first five games of the 2026 season, Elliott was inactive for Sunday’s win over the Colts. The Titans eventually decided to cut Elliott five days later, and the entire situation had been kept under wraps until the Titans released Elliott without explanation. It’s unclear whether the league was informed of the incident. It would have been prudent, if not mandatory, for the Titans to promptly contact the league office, both to inform them and to seek advice on how to proceed. |
| THIS AND THAT |
| MOCK DRAFTGilberto Manzano of SI.com provides us with this Mock Draft. Plenty has changed since my last mock draft. There are still many good quarterback options, but it’s tough to name the No. 1 prospect at the position. For a while, many viewed Texas’s Arch Manning as that player, but he’s regressed this season and may no longer be viewed even as a first-round pick. He now has a strong chance to return for a fifth collegiate season—probably with a different program in this scenario. The same goes for Oregon’s Dante Moore, who hasn’t played in the past month due to a concussion. Sometimes it’s best to declare for the draft when the iron is hot. That could be the case for Oklahoma State’s Drew Mestemaker, but he lacks some in starting experience playing for a “Power 4” team after transferring from North Texas. That uncertainty could lead teams to be patient with their quarterback needs and prioritize the defensive talent at the top of the 2027 draft, which will be held in Washington D.C. on April 23–25. However, not everything has changed. Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith is still the best overall player in this class, and it’s increasingly likely that he’ll be the top pick in April. Let’s get to my mock draft 3.0, but my first that goes two rounds deep. Draft order courtesy of Tankathon. ROUND 1 1. Los Angeles Chargers (0–6): Jeremiah Smith, WR, Ohio State For years, the Chargers have made notable additions to aid Justin Herbert, from using first-round picks on tackles Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater, to hiring coach Jim Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel. But Herbert still has zero playoff victories and his team continues to regress on the field. Perhaps Smith, a generational talent, can revive Herbert’s career and finally get him on the winning track. He’s a 6’3″, 223-pound menace downfield with a rare combination of size and speed. Smith has drawn comparisons to Julio Jones—he’s that good. Smith is well on his way to capturing the Heisman Trophy, with 52 catches for 984 yards and 12 touchdowns. 2. Miami Dolphins (0–5): Drew Mestemaker, QB, Oklahoma StateMestemaker has benefited from a limited sample size, having been a collegiate starting quarterback for just over a year. Opposing defenses will get a better read on the North Texas transfer as the season progresses. Still, it’s hard to overlook Mestemaker’s upside and his similarities to Josh Allen. The Dolphins would probably be wise to keep Malik Willis as a bridge quarterback to give the inexperienced Mestemaker an opportunity to learn from the sidelines. The 6’3″, 215-pounder has thrown for at least 300 passing yards in five consecutive games. 3. Tennessee Titans (1–5): Colin Simmons, edge, TexasSimmons could miss time with an ankle injury, but he’s already proved enough to be a top-five pick in the draft. He’s a weekly disruptor, and the numbers don’t lie. He has generated a whopping 31.5 sacks in his two-plus seasons with the Longhorns. Maybe he’s not as big or as athletic as the next edge rusher in this mock, but no one at his position matches his motor. The 6’3″, 246-pound Simmons would flourish under Robert Saleh’s guidance. 4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1–5): Dylan Stewart, edge, South Carolina This would be a gamble for the Buccaneers because of Stewart’s incident earlier this season. The SEC suspended him for one game after he argued with coaches on the sideline and threw a punch at an Alabama player. To make matters worse, Stewart missed the first two games of the season with a back injury and hasn’t shown he can deliver consistent production (only 5.5 sacks in the past season and a half). He has ideal size at 6’5″, 245 pounds and possesses elite athleticism, which might be enough for a team to roll the dice on him this early in the draft. 5. Washington Commanders (1-4-1): Leonard Moore, CB, Notre DameThis would be a dream scenario for Washington, which desperately needs help on the back end of the defense. Moore seems to be the safest defensive prospect in this class. He has the size (6’2″, 197 pounds), athleticism and coverage skills to be a shutdown outside corner for years to come. All eyes will be on what Moore does against Miami’s Malachi Toney in their Nov. 7 showdown in South Bend. 6. New York Jets (2–4): Will Echoles, DT, Ole Miss (from Dallas)With the quarterbacks struggling to stand out, the Jets should use one of their three first-round picks on a blue-chip defensive prospect. There will be enough QBs to choose from later on. In this spot, it should be about repairing a defense that lost Quinnen Williams and Sauce Gardner less than a year ago. Echoles, who stands at 6’3″, 309 pounds, is a well-rounded interior defender who can alter game plans as a polished run stopper and talented pass rusher. 7. Philadelphia Eagles (2–4): Trevor Goosby, OT, TexasThe Eagles won’t rush to find another quarterback despite Jalen Hurts’s health concerns. Again, this class has plenty of QB depth, and Philadelphia has bigger problems on the offensive line. The team just traded offensive lineman Cam Jurgens to Baltimore, and right tackle Lane Johnson recently retired. The 6’7″, 325-pound Goosby can be an immediate starter and an impact player for the next decade. 8. Houston Texans (2–4): Jordan Seaton, OT, LSUThis is a no-brainer for the Texans and a great chance to land one of the top two tackles. Expect to hear fierce debates about who’s the better prospect between Goosby and Seaton as we get closer to the draft. They’re both very good, but Seaton offers more athleticism as a 6’5″, 307-pound agile lineman. Seaton can take over Houston’s right tackle spot, which has gone back and forth between Braden Smith and Trent Brown this season. 9. New York Jets: Charlie Becker, WR, Indiana (from Indianapolis)I didn’t expect Becker to be available this late, but many of the teams picking early couldn’t afford to pass on the surefire defensive prospects. After getting Echoles at No. 6, the Jets can now splurge on offense and give their incoming franchise quarterback an attractive receiving corps, which includes Garrett Wilson and rookie Omar Cooper Jr. Becker waited for his opportunities playing behind Cooper last year, but hasn’t looked back since his sensational playoff performances that came out of nowhere last season. He has 39 catches for 694 yards and eight touchdowns this season. Becker can do it all with size (6’4″, 209 pounds), reliable hands and an expansive route tree. 10. Arizona Cardinals (2–4): C.J. Carr, QB, Notre DameI think Carr might be the fourth-best quarterback in this year’s class because he doesn’t stand out physically with average size (6’2″, 215 pounds) and arm strength. But scouts consider him the safest QB option because of how well he reads defenses. Coach Mike LaFleur just spent three seasons working with Rams coach Sean McVay, who values accuracy and high-level decision making before and after the snap. Carr, who has completed 66.8% of his passes for 1,639 yards, 16 touchdowns and only one interception, could hit the ground running and run LaFleur’s scheme efficiently. 11. Projected trade with Cleveland Las Vegas Raiders (3–3): KJ Duff, WR, RutgersI had to project at least one trade for this mock draft, so here it is. Seeing the Raiders select a wide receiver isn’t that surprising, but maybe many expected to see Cam Coleman go here. He’s a fine option, but what Duff can do at his size (6’6″, 225 pounds) is hard to find. He’s being called the next Mike Evans due to his massive catch radius and knack for coming down with contested catches. Duff has 42 receptions for 741 yards and nine touchdowns. 12. New Orleans Saints (2–4): Chris Cole, LB, GeorgiaTaking an off-ball linebacker here is early. But fast and physical linebackers are making a comeback. For example, Arvell Reese and Sonny Styles were top-seven draft picks in April. Expect more teams to covet sideline-to-sideline playmakers such as Cole, who stands 6’3″, 234 pounds. He has 40 total tackles, 8.5 for loss and 2.5 sacks. 13. New York Jets (2–4): Trinidad Chambliss, QB, Ole MissThe ultra-confident Chambliss could be the signal-caller the Jets need to get back on track. He has plenty of big-game experience starting for Ole Miss the past season and a half. He seems to rise to the occasion and rarely wavers from attacking the middle parts of the field. He lacks size at 6’0″, 205 pounds, but he has plenty of zip on his throws and excels at creating on the fly. He has completed 67.6% of his passes for 1,676 yards, 14 touchdowns and four interceptions. 14. Atlanta Falcons (2–4): Ashton Hampton, CB, ClemsonHampton has made it a habit of shutting down No. 1 wide receivers this season, including Toney. He could be the missing piece to a revamped Atlanta secondary that recently drafted safety Xavier Watts (2025) and cornerback Avieon Terrell (’26). Hampton could eventually replace A.J. Terrell Jr. as the team’s top outside corner. 15. Projected trade with Las Vegas Cleveland Browns (4–2): Darian Mensah, QB, Miami (from L.A. Rams)The Browns get their quarterback despite trading back from No. 11. It’s strange to call the Browns an ideal landing spot, but this could be one for Mensah, with Cleveland having an impressive young group of skill players, including rookie receivers Denzel Boston and KC Concepcion. Coach Todd Monken also has had plenty of success with the offense in the short amount of time he’s been there. The extremely accurate Mensah (80.8 completion percentage) could be the right point guard to guide this ascending offense. The 6’3″, 205-pound signal-caller has thrown for 1,764 yards, 18 touchdowns and one interception. 16. Seattle Seahawks (3–3): Cam Coleman, WR, TexasColeman’s mini slide ends with the current defending champions, who will not be picking 32nd in mock drafts any time soon. With how much the Seahawks have relied on Jaxon Smith-Njigba this season, it’s clear the they need another weapon for Sam Darnold. Coleman has the athleticism and size (6’3″, 204 pounds) to be a difference maker on the perimeter. The Auburn transfer has 20 catches for 336 yards and six touchdowns. 17. Cincinnati Bengals (3–2): Greg Johnson, G, Minnesota The Bengals have had better blocking for Joe Burrow this season, but they can’t pass on Johnson, the massive 6’6″, 325-pound versatile lineman who has played guard and center this season. His length and superior strength make him a polished blocker in the pass and run game. Burrow would benefit for years to come if Johnson is in the lineup. 18. Baltimore Ravens (4–2): Jamari Johnson, TE, OregonWith Isaiah Likely having joined John Harbaugh in New York, the Ravens have been down a playmaker this season. Johnson can immediately fill the void and take the Lamar Jackson–led offense to the next level. The 6’5″, 257-pound Johnson is a matchup nightmare, and his high upside was on full display in a 119-yard performance against USC on Sept. 26. Johnson has 17 catches for 224 yards and two touchdowns. 19. New York Giants (3-2-1): Nick Marsh, WR, IndianaThe 6’3″, 213-pound Marsh hasn’t gotten as much attention as Becker, but scouts have taken notice of what he provides as a blocker. It’s a good sign that the Michigan State transfer has embraced doing the dirty work for coach Curt Cignetti, but he’s also flashed as a talented pass catcher (32 catches, 585 yards, seven TDs). Marsh’s skill set seems perfect for a Harbaugh team. 20. Carolina Panthers (3–2): Jadan Baugh, RB, FloridaThe Panthers might have other needs, but Bryce Young appears ready to take off, and this offense could use some more juice in the backfield. Additionally, coach Dave Canales doesn’t get enough credit for his productive rushing and blocking scheme. This is an ideal landing spot for the dominant and versatile Baugh, who can run between the tackles with his 6’1″, 225-pound frame and create in space with his exceptional vision and footwork. Baugh has 135 carries for 763 yards and 13 touchdowns. 21. Detroit Lions (3–2): Devan Thompkins, edge, AlabamaThe USC transfer has made the most of the extra attention he’s gotten from playing next to Yhonzae Pierre at Alabama. He’s bigger than most edge rushers (6’5″, 300 pounds) and knows how to use his size and strength to his advantage. He’s a polished pass rusher who could end Detroit’s long search for a serviceable No. 2 opposite Aidan Hutchinson. Thompkins has three sacks and one forced fumble. 22. Pittsburgh Steelers (4–2): Dante Moore, QB, OregonIt’s been a rough season for Moore, who has missed time due to a concussion sustained against USC last month. He probably would have been better off financially entering the draft in April, but a hit to his draft stock could be better for him in the long run. He wouldn’t be starting from scratch with the Steelers, who have a sturdy foundation. The 6’3″, 206-pound Moore has an impressive résumé as an excellent pocket passer. He’ll need to improve under pressure, but there’s plenty of upside NFL teams won’t ignore. 23. Denver Broncos (4–2): Trey’Dez Green, TE, LSUThis isn’t my first time mocking Green to the Broncos. I want to see this pairing, mainly because of how much the athletic Green could help Bo Nix on the field. Nix is a rhythm passer who needs more playmakers. Green, the 6’7″, 244-pound former basketball player, can help in various ways. But Green hasn’t played since sustaining an ankle injury against Ole Miss last month. 24. New England Patriots (4–2): Kade Pieper, G, IowaThe Patriots have invested heavily in improving their offensive line, but the unit doesn’t seem set. Pieper can provide interior stability and may also offer some positional flexibility, after Iowa strongly considered moving Pieper to center before Cael Winter did enough to prevent the shuffling. The 6’4″, 290-pound Pieper has an impressive mean streak that aids him in the running game. 25. Jacksonville Jaguars (4–2): Xavier Gilliam, DT, TennesseeGilliam is one of the biggest breakout stars after having very little attention from scouts heading into the year. He has the body type of a nose tackle (6’2″, 305 pounds), but his athleticism gives him upside as a pass rusher. Gilliam has drawn comparisons to Seattle’s Byron Murphy II. Gilliam has five sacks and two forced fumbles. 26. Cleveland Browns (4–2): Ellis Robinson IV, CB, GeorgiaThe Browns go defense here after getting their quarterback at No. 15. Robinson can hold his own on the outside against the nation’s top receivers. He welcomes man-to-man coverage and often leans on his physicality. The 6’0″, 180-pound Robinson had four interceptions last season and has one this season, along with five passes defensed. 27. Dallas Cowboys (2–4): A’Mauri Washington, DT, Oregon (from Green Bay)The Cowboys need better edge rushers, but the defense can’t afford to take on more project players. It needs immediate results. Washington can do that playing next to Quinnen Williams. The best defenses lately have had plenty of interior defensive line depth. Not many players of Washington’s stature (6’3″, 319 pounds) can explode the way he does once the ball is snapped. 28. Chicago Bears (4–2): Yhonzae Pierre, edge, AlabamaPierre tends to have quiet stretches, but he has plenty of upside due to his athleticism and size (6’3″, 251 pounds). Pierre, with 3.5 sacks this season, can put it all together at the next level. The Bears desperately need more game changers on defense. 29. Buffalo Bills (5–1): Sahir West, edge, UCLAWest is getting more attention each week. Teams will likely fall in love with his intensity and motor. Even when he appears outmatched against a double team, he can break free because his energy is unmatched. The 6’3″, 279-pound pass rusher is the best player on UCLA’s dominant defense. West has 22 total tackles and two sacks this season. 30. Minnesota Vikings (5–0): Arch Manning, QB, TexasManning’s season has been dreadful. Similarly to Moore, Manning would have been better off declaring for the 2025 draft last April. Sometimes having too much tape can be a bad thing. Clearly, Manning and the Texas coaching staff have been out of sync when it comes to making adjustments. However, NFL teams won’t forget about the upside Manning flashed in the final two months of last season. Expect one team to take a chance on him early. Perhaps Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell will roll the dice on the 6’4″, 222-pound signal-caller. It’s not a given that Kyler Murray is the long-term option after a sluggish start for the offense, and he could also be a bridge quarterback for a year or two. Manning has completed 63.9% of his passes for 1,295 yards, 11 touchdowns and five interceptions. 31. Kansas City Chiefs (5–0): Trevor Lauck, OT, IowaThe Chiefs have quickly bounced back from their down year in 2025, but injuries have forced a few shifts on their offensive line. Kansas City will likely add more dependable blockers such as Lauck, an excellent pass protector thanks to his elite upper-body strength, savvy hand movement and tenacity on the field. But the 6’5″, 315-pound Lauck will need to improve as a run blocker. 32. San Francisco 49ers (6–0): KJ Bolden, safety, GeorgiaThe undefeated 49ers have seen returns on the defensive investments they have made the past few years. Still, they have ways to go before being viewed as a finished product on that side of the ball. Bolden’s versatility could add another element to this unit. The 6’0″, 195-pound Bolden could be a Day 1 lock thanks to his coverage skills and athleticism to play closer to the line of scrimmage. |
| NFL HAS FIELDS IN STITCHES ALL OVER THE WORLDA stitch, or thousands, in time saved the game in Rio and is saving the game in Paris. Judy Battista of NFL.com: Papa Turf had seen Copacabana Beach only from his hotel room. He had spent more time managing a rehab effort at the stadium than sleeping. But when Tyler Loop’s walk-off 56-yard field goal — kicked from the edge of the NFL logo — snuck inside the left upright to give the Baltimore Ravens a last-second victory over the Dallas Cowboys in Rio de Janeiro last month, it wasn’t just the Ravens who were happy with the result. “Honestly, [I was] feeling like that was a perfect way to end an exciting game,” said Nick Pappas, the NFL’s field director, who was hoping “field czar” would stick as a moniker instead of the “Papa Turf” sobriquet bestowed upon him by a league executive. Pappas was watching Loop from the far end zone, not caring which team won, only that nobody would have to talk about the grass afterward. “To see it end on a play where the cleat-to-surface interaction is so critical, on a long, important kick, was added validation that my decisions and efforts throughout the process were the right ones.” That kick ended a weekslong odyssey through once-in-a-generation rain during what was supposed to be the dry season, the busy local soccer schedule, cargo flights from the Netherlands, hurried processing through Brazilian customs, a crash course in agronomy for the media and a round-the-clock, maddeningly slow stitching of the field by Zamboni-like sewing machines to render the field a nonfactor. Loop’s sure footing on the final kick came on the part of the field that was at the heart of the frenzied repair. “I thought overall the field held up well,” Ravens coach Jesse Minter said after the game. “I didn’t see a bunch of plays where guys were falling down or anything like that.” The NFL did it all again for next Sunday’s game in Paris, albeit without the late-night drama and transcontinental logistics. Pappas and the NFL had the benefit of time to get the Stade de France field ready for the Saints and Steelers, an important difference from Brazil, where Pappas had to cut off the field-sewing process to leave enough time to paint the yard markings and team logos. Grass maintenance is such a niche discipline that very few understood just how unusual and aggressive a decision it was to stitch up a field with a game just days away. “Probably only people who are in the turf industry would maybe have the insight to say, ‘You’re stitching on a game week, huh? That’s interesting,'” said Pappas, who oversees all the NFL’s playing surfaces. The challenges for Rio and Paris were both climate related: historic rain in Rio and record heat during the European summer, when the field for Paris was being grown at a farm in Italy. The solution was the same — a decades-old technology that involves stitching synthetic fibers into a grass field, creating a hybrid field that provides better footing for players. That Rio would need extra management was not a surprise to Pappas or the NFL. Rio’s famed Maracanã is used heavily by local soccer clubs. In 2024, when the NFL first played in Sao Paolo, slipping was an issue. It’s not unusual in the United States for stadiums to be resodded after a rainy game or heavy usage that causes damage. But in Brazil, the sod farm that could supply a new field for Maracanã was also in the rainy zone, so the grass that would have been needed to resod was also sopping wet. Resodding was out. “I never felt like the field in Rio was like a disaster. I never felt it was going to fail. I didn’t think that we were ever going to have to have the conversation of, can we play there.” Pappas said. The NFL has canceled games because of poor field conditions — in 2016, the Hall of Fame game was canceled and a 2018 Monday night game was moved out of Mexico City to Los Angeles — but those were considered black eyes, Pappas said, to be avoided at all costs. The NFL declined to provide a precise figure on its investment in the field preparation process, stressing that its focus is on getting it right. The situation was less dire for Paris’ Stade de France. The NFL had intended to put down a hybrid field that was being grown at a farm in Milan, Italy. But that field — a synthetic carpet with soil and seed added, so that the natural grass grows into the carpet — wasn’t flourishing because of the extraordinary heat in Europe. So, in early September, Pappas pivoted. The NFL had a natural grass plot from that same Milan farm laid in the stadium. Last week, it was stitched to reinforce it. There have been just a handful of soccer matches on the field in the last few weeks. The relatively light use of the Stade de France made the process easier because there were breaks in the stadium usage that allowed the NFL to install its field. In Rio, Pappas made the decision to stitch the field about 12 days before the Sept. 27 game, but the NFL didn’t have control of the field until a week before the game. “There’s not a whole lot any of us can do,” Dr. John Sorochan, the NFLPA’s field consultant, said. “The actual triaging doesn’t happen until right after they take over control.” The union would prefer the league get control of stadiums earlier, to maximize how much the fields are managed. It is an issue the NFLPA could raise during negotiations with the league as the NFL seeks to expand its slate of international games. As is, the NFL negotiates directly with the stadiums for game and field-control timing. Pappas must also navigate local federations who have their own concerns about what kind of field will be left behind after the NFL leaves. In Melbourne, for instance, the stadium replaced the field after the Rams and 49ers played, in anticipation of a big Australian rules football match. Eleven days before the Rio game, the hulking stitching machines used for the project were loaded onto a cargo plane in the Netherlands, bound for Rio. Stitching fields is not new — the technology has existed since the late 1990s — although it is more common in European soccer leagues than in the United States. One example of a stateside reinforced natural grass surface: Green Bay’s Lambeau Field. The machines landed in Rio on Sunday, a week out from the game. By Wednesday afternoon, they were through customs in Brazil — “Maybe the fastest anything has ever gone through customs legally in Brazil,” Pappas said — and they were at the stadium by 9:30 p.m. Wednesday night. By midnight, stitching had begun, with little more than three days to go until game day. The overgrown sewing machines have bobbins of fibrous yarn. A needle drives the thread directly into the ground, creating a hybrid field from a grass field. The goal is to drive the fiber below the height of the grass. In spots where the grass is worn away, the fiber is visible. It might be unsightly, but those fibers protect the existing grass and create additional traction. For players, the field still feels and plays like fully natural grass. Stitching a field is numbingly methodical. The needles are driven into the ground, and then the machines move up 2 centimeters and repeat the process, over and over. It takes about two hours to go 100 yards. In Rio, there were two machines and four operators — one per machine, working in two 12-hour shifts. With the very limited time available in Rio, Pappas decided to stitch the middle of the field, which was the most worn. The area from the top of the numbers on one side of the field to the top of the numbers on the other side, a bit outside the hash marks, was stitched, so that the NFL’s biggest players, who dig their cleats in at the line of scrimmage, would be on the reinforced area, as would the kickers. The stitching continued unabated for about 31 hours — nobody was getting much sleep by then — ending around 9 a.m. on Friday morning, just enough time to paint the field markings and let the paint dry. After Loop’s kick went through, and the exhaling was over, the focus turned almost immediately to Paris. With plenty of time to spare, the entire field at the Stade de France was stitched last week, readying it for Sunday and finally sewing up the NFL’s painstaking month of turf first aid. “It is,” Sorochan said of the painstaking work, “like watching grass grow. |
