Trey Lance is one of the most raw prospects in the 2021 NFL Draft class, and the San Francisco 49ers will likely take things slow with the quarterback in his first NFL season. That does not, however, mean Lance will be holding a clipboard the entire year.
Matt Barrows of The Athletic wrote in his weekly mailbag that he expects 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan to design some packages for Lance this season. The plan will likely be to use Lance similarly to the way the New Orleans Saints use Taysom Hill, who can make plays with his legs.
While the Niners envision Lance becoming a pocket passer, Barrows notes that Shanahan has praised the former North Dakota State star for his rushing ability.
“It really makes the defense — if you’re in certain formations — honor 11-on-11 football,” Shanahan told KNBR previously. “Because he is that type of threat, not just with his feet but also the way he runs the ball. He’s very natural at it. He can protect himself. He’s got the size to handle a couple of things. He’s always going to be a threat at any time.”
As of now, it seems like San Francisco’s plan is to keep Jimmy Garoppolo. The veteran is scheduled to make more than $24 million in each of the next two seasons, but he has proven he can win at the NFL level. He should allow the 49ers to remain competitive while Lance develops, which has likely been the plan all along.
It sounds like there is one scenario where Lance could wind up being a backup for two seasons, but most people would be surprised if we don’t see him on the field at all in 2021 and 2022.
Robert Saleh was named the head coach of the New York Jets less than four months ago, and he admitted on Thursday that he is still getting used to being the top dog with his new team.
Saleh, who spent 16 years as an assistant coach in the NFL before landing the Jets job, shared a funny story after the Jets held their first official team practice under him. The 42-year-old said he accidentally took his “normal spot” behind the huddle when the horn blew to signal the end of practice. Saleh was getting ready to “listen to the head coach speak” before it quickly occurred to him that addressing the team is now his job.
Saleh has done things a certain way for nearly two decades, so you can understand why being the man in charge would take some getting used to. If you remember, he also had a funny scare during his first NFL Draft last week.
The Jets are hoping for big things from rookie quarterback Zach Wilson, but many believe going from Adam Gase to Saleh will be the best thing that happened to them this offseason.
The Denver Broncos are viewed as one of the most likely suitors for Aaron Rodgers should the Green Bay Packers decide to trade the star quarterback. Many have wondered why Rodgers would want to play in the same division as Patrick Mahomes, but that may be part of the allure for him.
Rich Eisen said on his show this week that Rodgers is not deterred by the fact that Mahomes plays in the AFC West. The 37-year-old believes Denver would be a good spot for him, and he would embrace competing against Mahomes.
It would probably be more difficult for Rodgers to win in the AFC West than it would if he remained in the NFC North. However, he clearly wants out of Green Bay and reportedly would prefer to play closer to where he grew up in Northern California. The San Francisco 49ers just drafted Trey Lance and the Los Angeles Rams traded for Matthew Stafford, so neither of those teams are in the mix for Rodgers.
Oddsmakers believe the Broncos are the favorite to land Rodgers if the Packers trade him. A report this week gave us an idea of what the asking price would be.
LeBron James is once again sidelined with an ankle injury, and he has not been on the bench with the Los Angeles Lakers since he sat out the end of last Sunday’s game against the Toronto Raptors with lingering soreness. According to Lakers coach Frank Vogel, there is no medical reason for LeBron to be staying away from the team.
LeBron was not on the bench for the Lakers’ last two games against the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Clippers. He is not expected to travel with the team to face the Trail Blazers in Portland on Friday night, either. When asked why after Thursday’s blowout loss to the Clippers, Vogel had an interesting response.
ESPN’s Dave McMenamin reports that LeBron’s absences were considered excused to give him time to “stay off the ankle.” If that is the case, it’s unclear why Vogel didn’t say it.
LeBron is undoubtedly frustrated. He missed roughly six weeks with a sprained ankle before returning, only to experience soreness and have to shut it down again. He is likely doing everything he can to rest and rehab before the playoffs, which is why it was strange that Vogel didn’t just call the absence injury related.
We have already heard some bad news about LeBron’s health going forward, so the last thing the team needs is the media questioning whether the four-time MVP should be joining his teammates on the bench. Vogel’s remark created some awkwardness, at the very least.
Minor leaguer Luis Santana had an incredible night at the plate in the Asheville Tourists’ win over the Brooklyn Cyclones on Thursday, and he was not exactly quiet about it.
Santana went 3-for-5 with two home runs, a double and five RBI in the 11-4 victory. After his second homer, which came in only the third inning, Santana unleashed one of the most ferocious bat flips you will ever see.
That was really more of a bat launch than a bat flip. We haven’t seen a bat flip that crazy since this high schooler celebrated his walk-off grand slam.
Baseball purists will probably say what Santana did was uncalled for, but we’re all for it. As Bryce Harper and some other MLB superstars would tell you, keeping the ball in the park is the best way to avoid watching hitters celebrate like that.
The Toronto Raptors lost another tough game on Thursday night in what has been an incredibly challenging season, and they continued to receive very little support from the “home” fans.
Because of COVID-19 restrictions in Canada, the Raptors have had to play all of their home games in Tampa. There were roughly 2,000 fans in attendance at Amalie Arena on Thursday, and they booed the “home team” during their 131-129 overtime loss to the Washington Wizards. Pascal Siakam said the Raptors have grown used to it.
“We’ve felt like we’ve been on the road all year so I don’t think it’s something new,” Siakam told reporters, via TSN’s Josh Lewenberg. “You kinda get caught like, oh, where are we? But we’re kinda used to it.”
The Raptors fell to 27-40 with the loss. They’re four games out of the No. 10 seed in the Eastern Conference, which would put them in the play-in tournament for a shot at making the playoffs. It’s fair to wonder how much better the Raptors would have played if they weren’t essentially on the road all year.
Head coach Nick Nurse is clearly annoyed with the situation, as evidenced by his response when he was asked about the boos on Thursday night. Nurse mentioned how he coached many games in Europe where the home fans booed.
“So I didn’t really notice it tonight. Thanks for pointing it out,” he said. “When you write your season-ending article you can add it to the list of things that went into this weird season.”
Nurse’s response wasn’t surprising, as he has not been in the best mood this week. The coach also slammed a report earlier this week that criticized one of his former assistants.
The Raptors have five games left, with three of them being at “home.” While they are not yet mathematically eliminated from the postseason, they probably can’t wait for the season to end.
Photo: Nick Barden/Wikimedia via cc-by-SA 4.0
MLB fans waited more than a year to verbally abuse the Houston Astros over their cheating scandal, and some of that pent-up energy was released when the 2017 World Series champions faced the New York Yankees this week. Though, apparently at least some fans in the Bronx were unexpectedly censored.
David Taub, a Yankees fan who attended one of the games against the Astros this week, told Sports Illustrated that he showed up to Yankee Stadium in an “Oscar the Grouch” costume. That, of course, was a reference to the Astros banging on a trash can as part of their elaborate sign-stealing scheme. Taub said he was stopped by security when entering the ballpark and informed that he had to ditch the costume.
According to SI, Taub said a security guard told him “our policy changed” and that the Astros had complained to MLB about the behavior of fans in other cities. Taub said he was told MLB asked the Yankees to be a little more strict on fans during the series.
NJ Advance Media’s Brendan Kuty said he was told by a source that the Yankees were not contacted by the Astros before or during their series against them with any complaints regarding fan behavior. Officials from the Astros and MLB commissioner’s office also said they were unaware of any such complaints.
The Astros beat the Yankees in the 2017 ALCS en route to winning a title. It was later discovered that they employed an elaborate sign-stealing scheme during the 2017 and 2018 seasons. There were also suspicions that Houston cheated in 2019 when they again beat New York in the ALCS.
Plenty of Yankees fans still managed to find ways to let the Astros hear it, which you can see here. Still, if the Astros did complain rather than just taking their lumps, that will just give fans another reason to ride them even harder.
The Houston Astros are confirmed cheaters and deserve an asterisk. Send that message by wearing our Houston Asterisks T-shirt! You can buy it here:
Thursday’s media event between Logan Paul and Floyd Mayweather should give a preview to fans regarding what they are going to see if they buy the pay-per-view fight card featuring the men.
Paul and Mayweather are fighting in an exhibition at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla. on June 6. They had a staged encounter in front of the media in Miami on Thursday to build some hype for the fight. They were successful in getting a lot of attention on social media thanks to Jake Paul snatching Mayweather’s hat.
Take a look at this fakeness:
Jake Paul, who is Logan’s brother, is great at being a heel. But he is not the one who is fighting, nor would it matter.
Nobody should get this confused: this will not be a fight. The event is not official; it’s just an exhibition. Mayweather is retired and not looking to get hurt. Paul definitely won’t hurt him. Any conflict between them is completely manufactured.
Mayweather will do with Paul what he did with Conor McGregor: carry the guy for a few rounds to make it look like a fight. Floyd knows to give the fans their money’s worth. He also knows how to do what he does best: get paid the most for the least amount of effort. There’s a very good reason his nickname is “Money.”
Lane Kiffin thinks that Jimbo Fisher made a huge mistake.
Fisher talked a little trash about Alabama to an audience of Texas A&M fans on Wednesday. Fisher said he didn’t need Nick Saban to retire before they could overtake the Crimson Tide. He said they would be able to beat Alabama’s a– anyway.
Saban heard the comments and had a funny response on Thursday.
Kiffin also saw the comments and is not happy about them. He thinks Fisher screwed up by giving Alabama bulletin-board material.
Alabama being motivated thanks to some fuel from a challenger is bad news for all of college football. Fisher just made every other team’s job more difficult. That includes Kiffin’s Ole Miss Rebels, who compete with Alabama in the SEC West every year.
Kiffin is probably telling Fisher “thanks for nothing.” But if anyone can balance things out, it would be Kiffin with the rat poison. Lane better come up with something.
Ole Miss fans! It’s time to jump aboard the Lane Train! This Lane Train shirt is a perfect gift for you or a friend – you can buy it here.
Nick Nurse is pretty upset over some reports criticizing the character and coaching of one of his former assistants.
Indiana Pacers first-year head coach Nate Bjorkgren has come under fire recently. A report on Tuesday said that Bjorkgren’s future is in jeopardy, largely due to his style of coaching and communication.
On Thursday, Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer published a lengthy piece that smeared Bjorkgren, pointing out all his perceived flaws and issues as a coach. One section reported that Bjorkgren acted as a sort of chief of staff for Nurse while working as an assistant coach in Toronto.
Nurse, who is in his third season as the Toronto Raptors’ head coach, responded with disgust. He told reporters that the information shared about Bjorkgren was “100 percent false” and a “bold-faced lie.”
Nurse also questioned any journalism that would allow them to publish such lies.
Bjorkgren, 45, is almost certainly going to be fired after all that has leaked out about him. What’s unfortunate is that the article was not balanced and did not include any support from someone like Nurse. Even one Pacers player had to deny an accusation from the article.
