Player Notes

FLOWERY BRANCH — Falcons safety Jessie Bates III was named the NFC’s defensive player of the week for Week 1 on Wednesday by the NFL.Bates, who signed a four-year, $64.02 million contract in free agency, finished with 10 total tackles, two interceptions, two passes defensed and one forced fumble in the Falcons’ 24-10 win over the Panthers on Sunday.“It was really cool to be able to represent the Falcons, ...

9/5/2023C.J. Stroud is a little ticked off.Not with anybody else. With himself.He’s a perfectionist who’s learning that he’s not going to be perfect. That he doesn’t have to be perfect.Being a quarterback in the NFL isn’t easy. Let alone doing it as a rookie for the Texans, a team that hasn’t had a winning season in three years.He thinks about the passes he should have made in practice. The defenders ...

They’ve long since blown away, but there was a time when the ashes of late Broncos running back Rob Lytle were lying in Lot J at Empower Field at Mile High.It was Lytle who was at the center of the most controversial play in the history of the Broncos-Raiders rivalry. Midway through the third quarter of the 1977 AFC championship game at old Mile High Stadium, the rookie lost the ball at the Oakland ...

At last, the NFL’s regular season is upon us. And after one of the most fascinating offseasons in recent history, with all kinds of comings and goings and highly anticipated acquisitions, we’re about to see how it all unfolds.Whether it’s familiar faces in new places, promising figures on the rise or new kids on the block, there’s no shortage of intriguing players. We’ve zeroed in on 23 whose performances ...

(By Matthew Waltherm editor of The Lamp, a Catholic literary journal, and a contributing Opinion writer) There is no English noun that adequately conveys what millions of fans experience on the eve of the pro football season. Only something like the ancient Greek concept of ataraxia — which literally means the absence of disturbance or trouble but connotes a kind of sublime contentedness — begins ...

There’s a tendency to measure Brock Purdy against those who came before him on the most quarterback-centric franchise in the NFL.I’ve been around long enough to see Joe Montana and Steve Young in practice and in games, quarterbacks who by the time I was around played for 49ers teams with elite rosters and coaches en route to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.But the quarterback Purdy most reminds me of ...

Tom Brady just can’t seem to shake Eli Manning — not even in retirementIn a video posted Tuesday on X, formerly known as Twitter, Brady was answering a question for a new marketing campaign by the NFL.“Do I think the NFL is scripted?” Brady asked. “You think I would really have played along with a script that had me losing to Peyton’s little brother Eli twice in the Super Bowl?”But the Giants whacked ...

Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp remains day to day with a hamstring injury, coach Sean McVay said Monday. Here’s what you need to know:Kupp is visiting specialists in Minnesota to get some clarity on his hamstring.McVay expects to have more clarity Wednesday on Kupp’s status for the Rams’ Week 1 game against the Seattle Seahawks.Kupp hurt his hamstring a few days into training camp in August. ...

The quarterback is creaky. The running game is questionable. The receiving corps is inconsistent. The offensive line is uncertain. The defense is untested.The Rams enter the 2023 season with the league’s youngest team, one of the league’s most depleted rosters, and a brilliant but taxed coach who has been on the verge of walking away.Ah, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel.That light is powerful ...

GREEN BAY − The Green Bay Packers launch a new era in franchise history on Sunday when they visit the Chicago Bears.While the Packers have had a run of Hall of Fame-worthy quarterback play since 1992 with two players, the Bears have started dozens in that time, none of whom will be considered for Canton.So, as the Jordan Love era starts, signaling a renewal at the quarterback position as well as the ...