The Indianapolis Colts still don’t know how long they’ll be without quarterback Carson Wentz, but the team isn’t going to make a panic move even if their starter isn’t ready for Week 1.
According to Zak Keefer of The Athletic, the Colts themselves do not yet know whether Wentz will be ready for Week 1 after undergoing foot surgery, and owner Jim Irsay has indicated that the team will not let Wentz play until they are confident he is 100 percent. However, there doesn’t appear to be much urgency to bring in a stopgap, as all indications are that the team will let either Sam Ehlinger or Jacob Eason hold the job until Wentz is ready to go.
There had been some speculation that the Colts might look into adding a favorite of coach Frank Reich until Wentz is healthy. That seems unlikely. It also doesn’t make sense, as there’s no real need to add a quarterback if Wentz might only miss a couple weeks.
The sense of urgency is further lessened by the fact that one of the Colts’ young quarterbacks seems to be turning some heads in camp. If that continues, the Colts are likely to be comfortable going with him in Week 1 if Wentz isn’t ready.
The Baltimore Ravens brought in Rashod Bateman to provide a dynamic receiving threat, but it may be a while before they get to see their rookie receiver in action.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh announced Thursday that Bateman would undergo groin surgery this week and return “sometime” in September, according to Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic. The Ravens have yet to officially rule Bateman out of the team’s season opener on Sept. 13.
Zrebiec believes the most likely scenario involves Bateman starting the season on injured reserve. That would rule him out for the first three games of the season, setting him up for a debut in Week 4 against Denver on Oct. 3.
This will no doubt be frustrating news for the Ravens, who were really looking forward to pairing Bateman with Lamar Jackson. Bateman starred at Minnesota and the Ravens were impressed enough to use a first-round pick on him. Bateman’s injury will also cost him and Jackson valuable time to develop more of a rapport, which could linger as an issue even after Bateman is healthy enough to play.
Giannis Antetokounmpo’s summer to remember continues.
The Milwaukee Bucks star received a great surprise this week when the team recruited Thierry Henry to give him a congratulatory message. The French soccer legend was Antetokounmpo’s childhood hero growing up.
Check out Henry’s message as well as Antetokounmpo’s awesome reaction:
“I wanted to be him growing up, when I was younger because my dad was playing soccer,” said Antetokounmpo. “I wanted to be him so so bad. But I fell in love with basketball. But this message meant a lot to me, from him.
“Man, a message like this, coming from a legend?” he added. “That’s big, that’s big-time. Thierry, thank you so much if you’re watching this video. Thank you.”
The reigning Finals MVP Antetokounmpo has said before that soccer was his first love growing up. He even showed off his soccer skills in the middle of a playoff game this past season.
Henry’s message is just the latest in a summer of cool viral moments for Antetokounmpo after winning his first NBA championship with the Bucks.
LeBron James and Isaiah Thomas were not exactly the closest of teammates during their time together on the Cleveland Cavaliers. It finally appears though that they are smoking the peace pipe.
James tweeted a message of support for Thomas this week after Thomas scored 81 points at a Pro-Am game in Seattle.
Thomas then responded by tweeting his gratitude back at James, referring to him as “KING.”
“You already know KING!!!” he wrote. “All love killa. This s— don’t stop.”
The exchange is notable as the two had clashed as teammates in Cleveland. Thomas reportedly felt that James talked down to him, and the former All-Star guard was traded after making just 15 appearances in a Cavs uniform. Recent months also saw Thomas take another apparent shot at James.
The timing of this peace offering is probably no coincidence though. Reports suggest that James’ Los Angeles Lakers are considering signing Thomas.
After over four months of inactivity on Twitter, Steve Kerr is offering an explanation for his continued absence.
The Golden State Warriors head coach told reporters on Thursday that he quit Twitter after making an agreement with center James Wiseman. Kerr then found that he was enjoying his hiatus so much that he never came back.
“It actually started as an agreement with James Wiseman,” said Kerr, per Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area. “We were on a road trip somewhere, and I asked James how he was doing. It’s obviously a long season, and he had his ups and downs. We were in a conversation about life in general and I asked him about social media. We started talking about it. I said, ‘What you say we take a break, we both take a break for a few weeks. Get off Twitter and anything else you’re on.’ He said, ‘Yes, let’s do it.’
“I’ve been off ever since, and it’s been bliss,” Kerr added. “Sometimes I feel, I don’t know if responsibility is the right word, but I do feel that it’s good to speak your mind and share articles that you’ve read. Have a presence. But I also feel social media has been really destructive in a lot of ways and divisive in our country. I found when I got off of it that it was kind of a relief.”
Kerr had been a strong voice on Twitter these last few years, commenting on various sociopolitical issues. He had earned himself over 650,000 followers on the social media platform. But Kerr has not tweeted anything since the end of March and also said Thursday that he has no plans to return.
Kerr’s prolonged break from Twitter might actually be for the best. After all, he once had a pretty funny slip-up on the site.
Trevor Bauer’s legal team says the woman who has accused the Los Angeles Dodgers star of sexual assault may have edited images that she claims showed the injuries Bauer inflicted on her.
Bauer has been accused of assault by a woman with whom he had two sexual encounters earlier this year. The woman was granted an ex parte restraining order, and Bauer’s team is fighting to have a permanent restraining order denied. In new court documents that were obtained by TMZ, Bauer’s lawyers say that photos the woman provided in her request for a temporary restraining order in June “appear to be edited or filtered in a manner to give a misleading or false impression of her injuries.”
Bauer’s lawyers also claim there are text messages and emails from the accuser to her friends that indicate she was not assaulted and simply wanted to end Bauer’s MLB career. They point to the fact that the woman said in a text message after filing for the restraining order that she hoped Bauer would “offer me major cash then make me sign an nda.”
In a statement issued last week, Bauer’s attorneys reiterated that the two sexual encounters between Bauer and the woman were consensual. They also said the accuser omitted key messages in her attempt to obtain a restraining order.
“Relevant and previously omitted messages from the woman were attached as an exhibit to a routine motion to strike a so-called expert the Petitioner has proposed to testify on the issue of consent,” the statement read. “Second, while Mr. Bauer has stated from the outset that the two encounters he had with this woman were wholly consensual, he unequivocally denies the allegations in her affidavit regarding both of their encounters. The woman’s statements are highly inaccurate and not reflective of what occurred during their two meetings, as the woman’s own text messages with Mr. Bauer and others clearly attest.”
Bauer’s representatives previously provided text messages to Larry Brown Sports that they say help prove the pitcher’s innocence. You can see those screenshots here.
Bauer has been on paid administrative leave for several weeks now, calling into question whether he will pitch again this season.
The Los Angeles Dodgers won the sweepstakes to land Max Scherzer at the trade deadline, but they’re going to have another fight on their hands if they want to retain him once he hits free agency.
According to MLB Network’s Jon Heyman, the Los Angeles Angels may be a “big player” for Scherzer in free agency. The team looked into acquiring him at the trade deadline despite their status as fringe contenders, and their interest does not appear to have faded.
Scherzer had a strong preference to play on the West Coast when he was traded, so the Angels would fit geographically. However, the Dodgers are definitely closer to competing for World Series titles if that’s one of Scherzer’s main priorities.
Several other teams had trade interest in the 37-year-old Scherzer. It will be intriguing to see if any of them rekindle their interest in free agency as well.
Damian Lillard has been the subject of trade rumors for much of the offseason. But the Portland point guard made clear on Thursday that he is not headed to the Los Angeles Lakers anytime soon.
Someone on Twitter wrote that they bet Lillard would end up on the Lakers by the time the season began. The tweet seemed to be somewhat of a joke because of all the players the Lakers have landed this offseason. Lillard responded to the tweet by saying he would “bet a million” against it.
Lillard has made clear this offseason that he wants to see improvement from the Trail Blazers. He is not ready to leave the team, but he has certainly put them on notice.
The 31-year-old has been with the Blazers since being drafted by them No. 6 overall in 2012. He has made six All-Star teams and carried them as far as the conference finals. There actually seems to be a different team that is trying hard to land Lillard.
The NFL announced this week that officials have been instructed to be more vigilant with taunting. Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh will likely stress that to his players, but there was at least once instance last season where he felt his opponent deserved to be disrespected.
Harbaugh was asked on Thursday about the NFL’s emphasis on taunting penalties. He brought up how his players stomped on the Tennessee Titans’ logo last season, and he said he wasn’t upset with them for that.
Ravens players stomped and celebrated on the midfield logo at Nissan Stadium after they defeated the Titans in the playoffs last season. They were simply returning the favor after the Titans did something similar to them in their previous two meetings, which is why Harbaugh wasn’t bothered by it.
Titans players gathered on the Ravens’ midfield logo at M&T Bank Stadium prior to kickoff when the teams met during the regular season last year. That led to Harbaugh getting into it with Malcolm Butler (video here). Harbaugh then snubbed Tennessee coach Mike Vrabel and refused to shake his hand after the game. The Titans had pulled the same stunt before the two teams met in the playoffs two seasons ago.
Harbaugh and other coaches around the NFL will do what they can to make sure their players avoid taunting penalties this season. But when the Ravens play the Titans, all bet might be off.
Tom Brady has already defied everything we thought we knew about the shelf life of an NFL player, and we have bad news for his upcoming opponents — the Tampa Bay Buccaneers star feels better than he has in over a decade.
Brady told reporters at training camp on Thursday that he feels better than offseason than he has in 14 years. The primary reason for that is that he is not wearing a brace or sleeve on his knee.
Brady tore his left ACL in 2008 and always wore some sort of brace after that. He then played through a torn MCL last season, and that injury is one that had been bothering him for quite some time. After undergoing surgery this offseason, the 44-year-old feels even better than he did at this time a year ago.
Brady threw for 4,633 yards with 40 passing touchdowns last season. He led the Bucs to a Super Bowl win and doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon, especially if his knee is in better shape now than it has been in nearly 15 years.
The Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski Tampa party continues! Treat yourself or a friend with this great Tampa Fiesta shirt. You can buy it here.
