Aug 28, 2014; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Indianapolis Colts helmet on the field against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports
Indianapolis Colts star DeForest Buckner is ready for changes after the team’s shocking elimination from playoff contention, and he had a brutal assessment of the team’s performance.
Buckner admitted that he anticipates there being changes after Sunday’s loss to the New York Giants, which ended the team’s playoff hopes. The veteran defensive tackle added that he expects changes to be made in the offseason as a result, and some of them will have to be “uncomfortable.”
The defensive lineman did not mince words about the performance, as he said the team had collectively “s–t the bed” in their 45-33 defeat.
Buckner might not even be calling for changes as much as he simply sees them as inevitable. This marks the fourth consecutive season the Colts have missed the playoffs, and for their hopes to end with a loss to the lowly Giants is particularly unacceptable. The criticisms of the team have escalated as a result, and someone will likely pay the price, be it coach Shane Steichen or general manager Chris Ballard.
For Buckner, the worst part is that he has been in this exact spot before and said the same things at that point, too. He will really want the Colts to get this right, because he absolutely will not want to do it again.
Gonzaga’s men’s basketball team had a very close call over the weekend.
NBC Los Angeles reported this week that the FAA is investigating a near-disaster that occurred on the tarmac of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on Friday. A charter flight carrying Gonzaga’s team had just landed and was taxiing to the gate when a departing Delta passenger plane very nearly collided with it.
Viral video has also emerged of the incident. In the video, an air traffic controller can be heard yelling, “Stop! Stop! Stop!” as the Delta flight narrowly clears Gonzaga’s team plane and successfully takes off.
Gonzaga’s plane had just landed from Spokane, Wash. as they were in town to play UCLA at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif. the next day on Saturday. The game proceeded as scheduled with UCLA defeating Gonzaga 65-62.
The Bulldogs remain in Southern California as they play on the road at Pepperdine on Monday before returning home to host the University of Portland on Thursday. At 9-4, Gonzaga, still led by longtime head coach Mark Few, currently ranks No. 19 in the nation.
The Minnesota Vikings got some good news regarding running back Aaron Jones.
Jones rushed for 47 yards on 12 carries in Minnesota’s 27-25 win over the rival Green Bay Packers on Sunday night. But Jones left the game late with what coach Kevin O’Connell said was a quad contusion.
On Monday, O’Connell told reporters that Jones should be able to participate with the team throughout the week. That suggests Jones will be available for the team’s big Sunday night showdown against the Detroit Lions.
Additionally, the Vikings got good news on the status of linebacker Pat Jones’ knee.
With Jones out during the fourth quarter, Cam Akers received six carries and Ty Chandler had five carries in the game. That was Chandler’s biggest workload since Week 3.
The Vikings are 14-2 and a half-game ahead of the Lions in both the NFC North and NFC overall. The teams will play in Week 18 with both the division and top seed in the conference on the line.
Jan 11, 2020; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel against the Baltimore Ravens in the second quarter in a AFC Divisional Round playoff football game at M&T Bank Stadium. Photo Credit: George Walker IV/The Tennessean via USA TODAY NETWORK
There has been a big change to the status of Mike Vrabel.
Vrabel is regarded as one of the top head coach candidates for this cycle of hires. Until Monday though, he wasn’t able to interview with teams about their vacancies. But that has changed.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Vrabel’s consulting agreement with the Cleveland Browns expired on Monday. That change makes Vrabel eligible to begin interviewing for jobs with other teams.
While candidates who are currently coaching other teams are prevented from interviewing for vacancies until after their season ends, that preclusion does not affect Vrabel, who is not currently coaching.
Vrabel has been regarded as the top head coach available, and he has been listed as the heavy favorite to land one current vacancy.
The Chicago Bears, New Orleans Saints and New York Jets have all fired their head coaches this season, which means they can begin interviewing candidates now if they want.
Vrabel, 49, was the head coach of the Tennessee Titans from 2018-2023. He went 54-45 over that span and made the playoffs three times, including a run to the AFC Championship in 2019. The Titans have gone 3-13 this season under new head coach Brian Callahan. They had five winning campaigns in seven seasons under Vrabel and were never worse than 6-11.
Jan 20, 2019; Kansas City, MO, USA; New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft watches from the sidelines before the AFC Championship game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
The New England Patriots are on the verge of securing the first overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, and one longtime analyst believes they should use it to execute an insane offseason plan.
With both the Las Vegas Raiders and New York Giants losing on Sunday, the Patriots have moved into the No. 1 spot in the current NFL Draft order. New England will now host the Buffalo Bills in Week 18. A loss in that game is hardly a given, as the Bills have nothing to play for and will likely rest most of their starters.
But if the Patriots do secure the No. 1 pick, most people assume they will trade it. They already appear to have their quarterback of the future in Drake Maye, who has flashed serious potential as a rookie this season. FOX Sports 1 analyst Nick Wright believes there is a scenario where New England will use the top pick, however.
In what he described as a “a not totally insane scenario,” Wright suggested in a post on X that the Patriots should draft Shedeur Sanders with the first overall pick. New England could then trade Maye for a top-five pick and use that pick on Travis Hunter. Wright wonders if the Patriots would then be able to hire Deion Sanders to keep the Colorado trio together.
There are many, many reasons Wright’s scenario is farfetched. For starters, Maye has already shown he can play in the NFL. The same cannot be said for Shedeur. Deion has also repeatedly insisted that he has no intention of leaving Colorado, even with his son entering the draft.
Also, while some people feel Jerod Mayo is in over his head with the Patriots, there has been no real indication that Robert Kraft intends to fire the coach after just one season.
Patriots fans have come up with a much more realistic four-step offseason plan than the one Wright laid out. If New England winds up with the No. 1 overall pick, a trade seems inevitable.
Apr 22, 2023; Boulder, CO, USA; Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders during the first half of the spring game at Folsom Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Deion Sanders called out those who believe he has a preference for where he wants sons Shedeur and Shilo to land in the 2025 NFL Draft.
The Colorado coach called out “multiple idiots” who have made claims about where he wants his sons, particularly Shedeur, to land in the NFL. Sanders said the comments “totally aren’t true,” and if he has something to say about Shedeur’s landing spot, he will say it directly, even adding that he personally knows NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
Sanders has consistently sought to distance himself from the narrative that he wants to steer his sons to certain teams. On the other hand, he played a role in starting that narrative in the first place. The reality is he does not exactly have a ton of say in where any of them land unless he is willing to go to some extreme measures.
Shedeur Sanders is in the running to be the first pick in the draft and may have his own preferences. After Sunday, however, that may not be possible anymore.
Mar 7, 2022; Sacramento, California, USA; Sacramento Kings guard De’Aaron Fox (5) warms up before the game against the New York Knicks at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Sacramento Kings guard De’Aaron Fox responded Monday amid ongoing rumors that he helped force the team’s firing of head coach Mike Brown.
Fox has been cast as a culprit in Brown’s controversial firing in a number of reports, with some suggesting the star guard and Brown did not see eye-to-eye. The latest came from former NBA guard Lou Williams, who said in an appearance on FanDuel’s “Run It Back” that he heard there was “pushback” after Brown supposedly singled Fox out publicly and privately. That supposedly left the Kings in a position where they had to choose between siding with Brown or star players like Fox.
Fox responded on X, denying that there had been pushback behind the scenes and disputing that he ever went to management about Brown.
“There was never any push back about anything. This narrative of us butting heads or me going to management saying anything is bulls–t. So you can run with that if you want to,” Fox wrote on X (profanity censored by LBS).
Much of the controversy around the Brown firing has come from the way the Kings handled it. Fox presumably had nothing to do with that, even if he and Brown were sometimes at odds.
Fox is averaging a career-high 26.3 points per game this year, so his stats did not suffer under Brown’s guidance. Unfortunately for him, he is being cast as the villain among many who believe the coach got a raw deal.
Oct 26, 2024; East Hartford, Connecticut, USA; Connecticut Huskies head coach Jim Mora watches from the sideline as they take on the Rice Owls at Rentschler Field at Pratt & Whitney Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images
Jim Mora had an excellent season third season at UConn, and the head coach has a warning for rival programs that have interest in his players.
In a pair of social media posts on Monday, Mora threatened to “expose any program and coach” that violates NCAA rules by tampering with Huskies players. Mora said coaches from other programs have already done that in the wake of UConn’s 27-14 win over North Carolina in the Fenway Bowl on Saturday.
“A simple note to the schools and coaches that have blatantly broken @NCAAFootball rules by tampering with our players in the last 24 hours. We do know who you are, we will pursue all avenues to hold you accountable,” Mora wrote in a post on X. “We are excited that we’ve built a program where coaches have to cheat to beat us and we will protect that program. Think hard before you tamper with our players. #justgettingstarted.”
Former NCAA assistant coach Jim Sutrick replied to Mora’s post and said he retired last year because of the transfer portal issues. Mora said the problem needs to be addressed.
“Not sure how we fix it, I do know we don’t ignore it. We will expose any program and coach that violates @NCAAFootball @NCAA rules by Tampering with our players. It makes players anxious, it puts a dent in the lessons parents have taught them about honesty and integrity. I’m 100% for the Portal and NIL/Rev Share. I’m 100% against grown men cheating the rules and teaching players horrible Life lessons,” Mora wrote in a follow-up post.
The NCAA winter transfer portal window for undergraduate players officially closed on Dec. 28. That means any player that intended to enter the portal had to submit their paperwork by Saturday night.
Mora’s issue seems to be that coaches and recruiters from other programs have contacted UConn players since the window closed in an attempt to convince them to leave Storrs. The next transfer portal window runs from April 16 through April 25.
Some have called for the transfer portal window to close later, which would allow players to make decisions after playing in their respective bowl games or playoff games. We saw that have an impact on a quarterback with a huge program recently.
Mora went 9-4 with UConn this year after going 3-9 last year and 6-7 in his first year in 2022. The former Atlanta Falcons head coach signed an extension with the Huskies on Saturday.
UConn is the type of football program that does not have the resources to keep up with the top programs in the country. Mora clearly feels the NCAA needs to do more to help protect programs like his.
Oct 2, 2022; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; New York Jets helmets on the sidelines against the Pittsburgh Steelers during the second quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
The New York Jets are planning to interview at least one former Super Bowl champion for their head coach vacancy.
Ron Rivera will interview with the Jets this week, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports.
Since Rivera is not currently employed by another team, the Jets are permitted to interview him before the conclusion of the regular season.
Rivera, 62, was fired by the Washington Commanders last January after four seasons as their head coach. While Rivera helped the team win a division title in 2020, he went just 26-40-1 overall (.396) with no winning seasons produced.
Prior to his time in Washington, Rivera had a much more successful stint as head coach of the Carolina Panthers from 2011-19. He led the team to the playoffs four times and a Super Bowl appearance in 2015. Rivera was named AP NFL Coach of the Year in 2013 and 2015.
The Jets are planning to cast a wide net in their search for a new head coach. A notable favorite for the job has already emerged, but New York’s brass probably will not be making a quick decision.
Jun 10, 2024; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo walks to the microphones for to hold a press conference at minicamp at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports
The New England Patriots suddenly have a lot at stake in their final game of the regular season, and most fans want to see Drake Maye finish the year on the bench. There is a chance that could happen.
Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo was asked on Monday if the team has given consideration to resting Maye for their Week 18 finale against the Buffalo Bills. Mayo did not rule it out and said “everything is in consideration.”
“I would say right now everything is in consideration and we’ll see how the week goes. … It’s the last game of the season and we have to look forward,” Mayo said, via ESPN’s Mike Reiss. “It’s a journey. It’s trying to be present and win this football game, but we have to look out the front windshield and where we want to go.”
Maye had a couple of injury scares during Saturday’s 40-7 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. The rookie quarterback left for a concussion check following a huge hit to the head on New England’s first drive of the game. He was eventually cleared to return. Maye took another hit to the head while sliding in the second quarter, but he remained in.
Since Maye has a tendency to scramble and open himself up to hits, the Patriots could sit him in Week 18 and claim they are simply protecting the No. 3 overall pick’s health. However, they could have much bigger motives.
After both the Las Vegas Raiders and New York Giants won on Sunday, the Patriots now have the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. If they beat the Bills, they could even fall out of the top four. Mayo will be motivated to win amid the recent criticism he has faced. The players will likely feel the same.
But ownership and the front office almost certainly want a loss. The Patriots appear to have their quarterback of the future in Maye, so they do not need the No. 1 pick. Securing that pick would put them in an excellent position to trade back a few spots, stock pile more draft picks, and still secure an impact player. There is no question that a loss in Week 18 is better for the franchise overall.
Patriots fans have laid out a four-step plan that they believe can turn things around in a hurry for the team. That plan starts with a loss to the Bills, who will be resting their starters. New England’s best chance of losing might be to sit Maye.
