Author: Eternity Lab

This week, Brewers flamethrower and National League Cy Young favorite Jacob Misiorowski will conclude one of the most overpowering, unhittable seasons ever recorded by a starting pitcher.

No qualified starter in modern baseball history has ever surrendered a lower opponent’s batting average than what Misiorowski is allowing now (.159). Take away the shortened 2020 season, and only one starter — Gerrit Cole in 2019 — has ever generated a higher strikeout rate over the course of a full season than Misiorowski’s 38.2% mark this year.  

So, it might seem strange that MLB’s velocity king — whose triple-digit heat has reached as high as 105.5 mph, the fastest ever recorded by a starting pitcher — grew up idolizing a pitcher whose average career four-seam velocity clocked in around 90 mph.

Adam Wainwright, who can count on one hand how many big leaguers have ever told him he was one of their favorite players, was taken aback when I told him that he was Misiorowski’s childhood idol. 

“He might’ve gotten the first 92, 93 mph from me,” Wainwright quipped. “The other 12 are on him.”

As of a month ago, Misiorowski had never met or talked to Wainwright. But as a kid in the Kansas City area with little winning baseball to watch in the early 2000s, Misiorowski was drawn to the St. Louis right-hander — not because Wainwright overwhelmed his competition with sheer force, the way Misiorowski can do, but because he was unflappable.

“The biggest thing was his demeanor on the mound,” Misiorowski told me last month. “Something bad happens, move onto the next pitch. There’s no care, no emotion with it. I took that into just pitching in general. Whenever I give up a home run or something like that, ‘OK, so be it, they got to me, next pitch.’”

That, admittedly, was not always so easy for Misiorowski. 

“They used to tear me up, and I’d get really upset on the mound,” Misiorowski said. “Then I started watching other guys. I kind of thought about Wainwright and his demeanor and just everyone in the past and kind of was like, ‘That’s what I need to do. I need to forget about it.’”

Along with harnessing his control, adding to his powerful arsenal and maturing into his 6-foot-7-inch frame, Misiorowski’s mental growth on the mound is part of the transformation that has helped the raw prospect with elite tools develop into MLB’s most dominant starter over the course of just one year. 

The best pitcher on the best team in baseball leads MLB in ERA, WHIP, strikeouts, strikeout rate and opponents’ batting average, among a litany of categories. 

“Emotionally, he’s in a way better place,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy told me. “I always say, your first year you’re on rollerskates. You don’t feel the concrete on the ground. It’s a little slippery. I feel like he’s taken off the rollerskates. He’s not all the way there. He’s not all the way matured. He’s going to face more adversity. But he’s handled what adversity has come his way pretty darn well.”

‘Unlike Anything You Ever See’

Despite his junior college background, Misiorowski’s stuff was never a question. 

The velocity that “Miz” generated from his long levers was enough to convince the Brewers to spend a second-round pick in 2022 on the gangly right-hander from Crowder College, who would otherwise have been transferring to LSU for his junior season.

(Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)

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In his first full pro season in Milwaukee’s system in 2023, Misiorowski jumped from Low-A to High-A to Double-A, combining to strike out 110 batters in 71.1 innings. Days before Misiorowski’s first Double-A start against the Montgomery Biscuits, his pitching coach, Will Schierholz, saw him throw in person for the first time. The first pitch of the bullpen session clocked in at 98 mph. Then Misiorowski spun a slider at 92. 

“We had some pretty good arms, some major league arms, on that staff, and you’re awestruck when you watch Miz throw up close for the first time,” Schierholz, who’s now a Brewers assistant pitching coordinator, told me. “It’s unlike anything you ever see.” 

In Misiorowski’s last three starts that season, he struck out 29 batters in just 14.2 innings. He’d spike curveballs into the dirt, and opponents would still chase. He’d fire fastballs three feet above the zone, and hitters would still helplessly offer. Many times, they were simply guessing as soon as the ball left his hand. 

“Every time he touched the mound, he knew hitters did not have a chance,” Schierholz said. “If he made his pitch, they didn’t have a chance.” 

The problem, however, was that Misiorowski often didn’t know where the ball was going. In five starts at Double-A that season, Misiorowski walked 16 batters and hit 11. 

“He was always ultra, ultra competitive, it just wasn’t always a consistent mindset on the mound when things maybe didn’t go his way,” Schierholz recalled. “So to see kind of where that’s gone over the last couple years here, to see him have that consistent mindset, calm and collected at all times, that’s come a long way since he came up to Biloxi in 2023.”

(Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)

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As the strikeouts continued to rack up a year later, so did the free passes. Over 79.2 innings at Double-A in 2024, Misiorowski struck out 105 batters, walked 50 and plunked 10. 

When he was promoted to Triple-A that August, the Brewers put him in the bullpen, in part to limit his innings. He clearly had a big-league arm, but his lack of control threatened to make him a reliever long-term. 

“I think that was always in the back of everybody’s head, right?” Schierholz said. “Especially for a guy with that prolific stuff. Just in general, you don’t see starters have the stuff that he has. But I think the thing that always kept all of us optimistic is the arsenal’s deep. He didn’t have a big injury history, and he was still so young that we had time to make sure this played out in a positive way.”

(Photo by Olivia Vega/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

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Misiorowski returned to starting at the beginning of the 2025 season at Triple-A. The control issues lingered, which was part of the reason he was MLB’s No. 68 overall prospect that year and not a top-10 talent. Over a five-start stretch, he struck out 38 batters in 30.2 innings with a 0.79 ERA. But then came four starts in which he combined for 12 walks over 14 innings. 

Still, despite Misiorowski’s volatility, depth issues in the Brewers’ big-league rotation spurred action. They called up the 23-year-old, who did not look overwhelmed by the promotion. 

After just five MLB starts, the last of which was a six-inning, 12-strikeout gem against Clayton Kershaw and the reigning champion Dodgers, Misiorowski was named an All-Star. Some scoffed at MLB’s decision, but he looked deserving of the honor when he threw a scoreless eighth inning in an eventual National League win.

“He’s taken the game straight out of the firehose,” Brewers pitching coach Chris Hook told me. “It was a lot. I thought he did an incredible job for as much as was thrown at him.” 

But adversity beckoned, as it does so often for rookies.

An Early Turning Point

Opponents went from hitting .138 against Misiorowski in the first half to .257 in the second half. Lefties feasted on his slider, his strikeout rate declined, his control and command remained spotty, and the Brewers wanted to be cautious of his workload, considering he had never thrown even 100 innings in a professional season. 

Hook sensed Misiorowski was wearing down, both physically and mentally. 

“The intensity here is higher, and then you’re pitching more often,” Hook explained. “At the end of September, he felt it. It was a lot of strain.”

(Photo by Olivia Vega/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

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After Misiorowski registered a 5.45 ERA in nine starts out of the break, he was moved to the bullpen at the end of the season. He didn’t like the way he was handling himself or how he handled getting hit around. 

So, he thought back to Wainwright. About the mindset. About letting go. 

Then, he rose to the occasion with the lights at their brightest. 

In a bulk relief role, Misiorowski recorded a 1.50 ERA over 12 playoff innings. His postseason ended with five innings of one-run ball at Dodger Stadium, where he struck out nine batters in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series. It wasn’t enough to lift his Brewers over the eventual back-to-back champs, but he looked at that moment as a turning point in his career. 

“I went through the struggles at the end of the year, and really was trying to battle through it,” Misiorowski said. “Then, postseason rolled around, had the success, and I kind of brought it into this year, still on that momentum.” 

He demonstrated his ability to control his emotions on baseball’s biggest stage. 

Then he focused on everything else within his control — his body, his arsenal, the strike zone — to ascend into a starting pitching marvel. 

“When you fail, and you’ve been one of the best pitchers on the planet and quickly one of the youngest All-Stars of all time, I’m sure that can take a toll on anybody,” Brewers president of baseball operations Matt Arnold told me. “But he’s a mature kid. He’s grown up to be a man right in front of us, and he’s a guy that you want at the front of any rotation. He’s the best pitcher in the game, in my opinion.”

Controlling His Body

Over the offseason, Misiorowski went to work on building his slender frame, knowing he needed more force and stamina to hold up over the long haul of a season after last year’s dropoff. 

“It was definitely more lower-body focused,” he told me. “I wanted to get my legs as strong as possible. That’s where most of my power comes from.” 

He ended last year around 185 pounds. Crossing the 200-pound mark this winter was a milestone moment. He didn’t stop. He said he came into camp at around 215-220 pounds and is now around 210-215, a 30-pound increase from last year. 

He didn’t change his diet entirely, but he acknowledged there were fewer 3 a.m. visits to Taco Bell with his friends.

“Eating well, eating better,” Misiorowski explained, “not crappy, like I was. Really working on finally maturing into my body.” 

Where does he see the weight helping most now? 

“The biggest is definitely stamina,” he said. “The effort isn’t max effort every time. You can still get to the 100s, and it’s an easier effort compared to last year when I was hitting 100 and it was full go.” 

Of all the improvements Misiorowski has made, it’s the velocity jump that stands out most to Schierholz, his old minor-league pitching coach. What Misiorowski is doing is unmatched and unprecedented. 

(Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)

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Prior to this season, the fastest average four-seamer for a qualified MLB starter over the course of a full season belonged to Noah Syndergaard at 98.9 mph in 2016. Misiorowski is averaging 100.6 mph this year, up more than a tick from a season ago. 

There have been 365 occasions of a starting pitcher crossing the 102-mph mark this season. The Pirates’ Bubba Chandler did it twice. So did Dodgers reliever Edgardo Henriquez, when he was used as an opener. The other 361 times are courtesy of Misiorowski, who has also eclipsed 103 mph 143 times, 104 mph 22 times and 105 mph once. 

A year ago, he threw just 22 pitches over 102 mph, including the postseason. 

“I think we try to lay out plans for the guys, but all the credit goes to him, the work that he put in,” Arnold said. “You gotta want to be great, and I think Miz is exactly that kind of kid. He knew what he needed to do to get better, and he did it himself.”

And now, Misiorowski has a better idea of where his four-seamer is going — even if he’s not entirely sure why.  

Controlling The Zone

Misiorowski’s fastball gets the highlights and acclaim, but arguably the most dramatic and important change Misiorowski made this year has nothing to do with his power. 

He has cut his walk rate down from 11% last year to 6.6% this year, the largest year-to-year drop among all qualified MLB starters. 

But he can’t explain how. 

 (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)

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“I honestly have no clue,” Misiorowski told me. “I wish I could tell you and help everyone out. I honestly have zero idea on how I’m doing it. It’s one of those things I’m looking at like, ‘That number ain’t right.’”

Many of his teammates assumed he must be pounding the strike zone a lot more, but he’s actually in the zone less this year than he was last season. 

That might seem confusing, but his pitching coach has an explanation. 

“You can’t wait him out,” Hook said. “He’s throwing 105 [mph], and it’s like, ‘I gotta go if he’s throwing a strike.’”

“It’s going to be hard to put the ball in play,” Arnold added, “so teams are probably wanting to be aggressive and see if they can hop on something.”

It helps that Misiorowski is throwing a first-pitch strike 8% more this year than last year — also the largest year-to-year jump from any qualified starter this season. 

And it plays into Brewers closer Trevor Megill’s theory. 

“You make one pitch a strike on the corner, then the one off the corner by three inches looks like it’s closer than it is,” Megill told me. 

Misiorowski’s chase rate (35.2%) is up nearly 7% from last season. 

Meanwhile, his whiff rate (37.2%) is the highest among all qualified starters and is also up significantly from a year ago (29.7%) — again, that’s the biggest year-to-year jump for a starting pitcher in MLB. 

Misiorowski’s enhanced ability to harness his stuff has led to shorter innings, longer outings and even a game between him and his pitching coach. 

One time earlier this year, Misiorowski was coming off a 12-pitch frame when Hook issued a test. 

“I said, ‘Hey, can you make it a 10 next?’ He made it a 10,’” Hook recalled. “I said, ‘Can you make it a nine?’ We just like having those challenges inside the game.”

Controlling His Arsenal 

Earlier this year, Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn watched Misiorowski’s fastball up close and followed up with a question. 

Why the hell are you throwing anything else?

“It was funny,” Misiorowski recalled. “But on the flipside, I’m like, ‘I can’t just do that.’”

In some ways, though, Misiorowski has heeded Wynn’s advice.

His four-seam usage is up this year, and no starter in baseball throws their heater more. With a fastball that averages over 100 mph and is responsible for 163 of his MLB-leading 247 strikeouts, you can understand why. 

At the same time, Misiorowski is still adding to his repertoire. 

“It seems to me like he went home and said, ‘You know what, the postseason was fun, I want to get back there again, how can I be a great pitcher and not just a thrower?’” Wainwright said. “That is the nature of how great players mature. That’s the nature of how great players grow in the game. They don’t get comfortable in who they are. They don’t get stuck.” 

Last year, lefties hit .385 and righties hit .267 against Misiorowski’s slider, which averaged 5 mph slower than his four-seamer. The Brewers wanted to find another offering that would create more of a separation in velocity. 

So, Misiorowski added a slower slider with more depth to his arsenal this year, which righties are hitting .188 against. Meanwhile, he turned last year’s slider into his cutter, which lefties are hitting .089 against this season. 

“I’ve gotten a lot of strange looks, strange emotions, from it, just in the fact that the cutter’s kind of closer to the heater,” Misiorowski said. “You get some swings where some guys see the spin, and then they’re like, ‘Oh, shoot, it’s on me.’”

(Photo by Larry Radloff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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In addition to his curveball and changeup, the new additions to his arsenal give opponents more to think about this season beyond his velocity. 

“He kind of does things on the fly a little bit,” Hook said. “I’m not saying he’s a lab kid, per se. He’s naturally gifted, and he’s like, ‘I’m going to do this,’ ‘I can do that,’ and he makes the adjustment.” 

Along with a lower walk rate, Misiorowski’s strikeout rate is up 6.2% from last season and is the highest in MLB. He won’t win the triple crown — Phillies ace Cristopher Sánchez has three more wins than him — but he leads the sport in both ERA and strikeouts, despite ranking 23rd in innings pitched. 

His triple-digit heat combined with better control and command certainly help, but so does the tweak in his repertoire. He’s also gaining a better feel for game-planning and why his catchers are calling for certain pitches in certain situations. 

“At the start of the year, we were definitely more, ‘Whatever you think, let’s just roll with it. You’re obviously seeing something that’s working,’” Misiorowski told me. “And it’s gotten to the point where it’s like, ‘OK, I’m kinda seeing it too. I understand where you’re going with this.” 

‘This Guy Is Built For This’ 

More often than not, though, he relies on his catchers to help him navigate a game, as William Contreras did during his 15-strikeout, one-hit, complete-game shutout on 95 pitches against the Phillies in June. 

Contreras also helped Misiorowski work around trouble two months later, when the pitcher made his return to the mound at Dodger Stadium for the first time since the NLCS. 

(Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

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A year ago, Misiorowski was stupefied watching Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman sign his jersey at the All-Star Game. In some ways, he’s still that wide-eyed kid, pinching himself about his new reality. 

“I don’t think that will ever get to a point where it’s just normal,” Misiorowski told me. 

Only now, he’s starting to gain the poise of the idols he grew up watching. 

The day before his start on Aug. 15, Misiorowski’s newfound confidence was on full display when he gave away his attack plan against Ohtani. 

“He knows what I’m going to do: I’m going to throw a heater,” Misiorowski vowed. “Good luck. Here it is.”

Sure enough, he followed up on those words by attacking Ohtani with six straight fastballs in his first at-bat, all over 102 mph, to induce a popout. But it’s what Misiorowski did in his final at-bat against Ohtani that exemplified why he is so much more than the novice flamethrower he was a year ago. 

After three straight singles off Misiorowski in the fifth inning, Ohtani stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and one out. This time, at Contreras’ behest, Misiorowski switched it up. He got a swinging strike on a curveball, a called strike on a four-seamer, then sent Ohtani back to the dugout swinging through a slider. 

“He’s thinking more like a pitcher,” Contreras told me, “and not just wanting to throw hard.” 

(Photo by Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images)

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One batter later, Misiorowski used the slider again to fool Freddie Freeman on a strikeout and escape the threat. He pumped his fist and let out a scream before returning to the dugout. 

As he attempts to follow Wainwright’s lead with his composure on the mound, he’s not losing himself in the process. 

“That part of his game hasn’t changed, which I’m happy to see,” Schierholz said. “That’s part of what makes him special, is the competitiveness and pitching with emotion, as long as he continues to rein it in and keep it in control.”

The Brewers are counting on that as they rumble toward the best record in baseball for a second straight season, this time hoping their Cy Young favorite can help them author a new ending to their franchise’s winningest chapter.

“Obviously, it’s a different animal when you get into October,” Misiorowski said. “But it’s going to be exciting, and I think we have a team that can make a run at it.”

“This guy,” Hook added, “is built for this.”

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If Week 1 brought everything we love about football, then Week 2 brought us the thing we dislike the most about the game: injuries. 

Three promising young quarterbacks suffered injuries that appeared to be season-altering the moment they happened in Week 2. The news on Caleb Williams since he suffered the hamstring injury in the Chicago Bears’ loss to the Minnesota Vikings has been promising, but Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels could be out for an extended period of time and New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart is done for the season. 

Of course, in the short term, the injuries mean that at least two of those teams will be playing backup quarterbacks. But there are also long-term concerns surrounding the Week 2 injuries, particularly with Daniels and Dart, as the futures of both the Commanders and Giants largely hinge on those respective players.

So, we asked people around the NFL what they thought about those injuries and what future concerns they might have about Williams, Daniels and Dart. Here’s what we learned. 

Scout: Teams Doomed If They Have To Play Backup QBs Long-Term

Ralph Vacchiano: One NFL scout told me, “My heart sank” when Bears quarterback Caleb Williams went down with what looked like a serious hamstring injury on Sunday afternoon. And he added, “I couldn’t believe it” when, a few hours later, Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels went down with an elbow injury too.

And when Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart was on the ground holding his injured knee, the scout texted me, “Holy s—! Another one? What is going on?” 

Good question. 

It was a weekend of carnage for young, talented NFL quarterbacks and a potentially devastating one for three teams–particularly the Commanders and Giants, who lost their franchise quarterbacks for the season. All three will put on a brave face and say they’re confident in their backups. 

But the truth is, they all know what they lost.

“The days of Steve Young backing up Joe Montana are over,” the scout told me. “There just aren’t that many good quarterbacks anymore, and the ones that are good don’t last long on somebody’s bench. What you’re looking for in a backup nowadays is a guy who can keep you afloat for a couple of games, maybe a month.

“But nobody wants to play most of the season with their second guy.”

Jameis Winston will start at quarterback for the Giants with Jaxson Dart out. (Photo by Brooke Sutton/Getty Images)

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For proof, he pointed to the Giants and Commanders, who will now turn to Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota, respectively. They are both 32 years old, so theoretically still in their prime. And they also happened to be the first two picks of the 2015 draft.

“They were stars,” the scout told me. “They had all the ability in the world. Everybody loved them. But it’s [11] years later now. They had their chance and showed they couldn’t do it — not on a consistent enough basis. With their ability, if anyone thought they could lead a team for a full season, they’d be a starter somewhere, believe me.

“But they can’t do it.”

So what’s the outlook for teams who have to play the rest of the way with their backup?

“All they can do is hope,” the scout told me. “You slim down your offense. You lean on your running game. You coach them to just not make mistakes, if that’s even possible. But it’s a downgrade in both cases. And we all know you just can’t afford a downgrade at quarterback. This isn’t replacing a corner or a guard. The position is too important to not have your No. 1 guy.”

Ralph Vacchiano: The Chicago Bears quarterback was one of the brightest emerging stars in the NFL before his painful hamstring injury knocked him out on Sunday. It’s still not clear how long Caleb Williams will be sidelined.

But at least one scout thinks that, even without him, they’d be fine.

“That’s really a running team anyway,” the scout told me. “Williams obviously adds a lot to that, but so much of it is Ben Johnson’s creative scheme. I’m not saying they’d go to the Super Bowl without Caleb. But I think they can ride those two running backs (D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai) to the playoffs behind that offensive line.”

One scout thinks the Bears will be OK without Caleb Williams thanks to players like D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

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Another scout told me that he even had some faith in the Bears’ backup quarterbacks — either Tyson Bagent, who is recovering from a concussion, or Case Keenum.

“I trust Ben Johnson more than most coaches to find what they do best and make them successful,” the scout told me. “He’s the one that made Jared Goff into a star in Detroit. He salvaged Caleb Williams after his rocky rookie season. I’m not saying [Bagent or Keenum] are Goff and Williams. They’re obviously not.

“I’m just saying they’re in very good hands.”

Eric D. Williams: A little over two years into his NFL career, Daniels has already missed time due to knee and hamstring injuries, and he’s also dislocated his left elbow twice.

Daniels showed his full potential early, leading the Commanders to the NFC Championship Game and earning Offensive Rookie of the Year after being selected second overall by Washington in the 2024 draft.

Jayden Daniels was arguably viewed as the league’s most promising QB after the 2024 season, but his career has been riddled by injuries since. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

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But since then, Daniels has struggled to stay on the field. With two years left on his rookie deal, Daniels is contract extension eligible at the end of this season. And with franchise quarterbacks making north of $55 million annually, Washington general manager Adams Peters will have a tough decision to make on how to handle Daniels’ contract demands moving forward.

“The most conservative approach for them is to – even though the market will increase – wait until after Year 4, when he has proven that he can stay healthy and is indeed the future of the franchise at quarterback,” an NFL contract negotiator told me. “The key there is that they’d be willing to pay more after Year 4 (compared to the lower amount they would pay after Year 3) in exchange for getting more comfortable during Year 4 that he’s worth the investment.

“A more aggressive approach would be for them to still extend him after this season at a top-tier QB contract value, but with contract structuring that mitigates the risk of them paying a bunch of money to a QB who can’t stay healthy.”

The contract negotiator went on to say that, understanding Washington’s negotiation history, the Commanders will more likely take the conservative approach.

Ralph Vacchiano: The Commanders were surely devastated when Jayden Daniels suffered a dislocated elbow on Sunday, just like the Giants were crestfallen when Jaxson Dart suffered an injured knee.

But neither team could have been surprised.

That’s because both young quarterbacks suffered through a list of injuries last season, too. Daniels suffered a knee sprain, a hamstring injury and a dislocated elbow last year that all kept him out of nine games last season, and that’s after playing through a rib fracture as a rookie. And Dart missed 2,5 games with a concussion, and ended up in the medical tent several times for hits to the head.

Jaxson Dart missed multiple games due to a concussion last season. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

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All injuries are not the same, but there’s an axiom in the NFL that “hurt guys get hurt.” And that’s something both teams will have to consider as they ponder futures with quarterbacks who have gotten hurt a lot. 

“Look, you don’t give up on these guys,” an NFL executive told me. “They’re too talented for that. But you have to think about it. Both of them are going to want huge contract extensions over the next couple of years. How much do you want to invest? And maybe with them you have to be real sure about the rest of your quarterback room. Maybe upgrade your backup and make sure you have a young, developmental guy on your roster just in case.” 

“You probably just have to bite your lip and cross your fingers,” a scout told me. “There are probably 20 other teams that would take Daniels or Dart, even with the injury risk. All you can do is hope they stay healthy.

“Also, this should warn both teams to heavily invest in their offensive line.”

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What exactly is going on with Aaron Judge?

Following a three-month absence due to a stress fracture in his first rib, the New York Yankees superstar outfielder returned to action earlier in September but quickly went back on the injured list with a calf injury. Now, Judge and his manager, Aaron Boone, are offering up conflicting timelines on when the three-time American League MVP could be activated.

Here’s everything we know about Judge’s calf injury and potential return date:

 

Judge initially felt pain in his rib when trying to make a diving catch during an April 26 game against the Houston Astros, but the five-time Silver Slugger played through the discomfort through May 31.

Ultimately, Judge was placed on the injured list on June 5. Prior to going on the shelf, Judge had totaled 17 home runs and 38 RBIs, while posting a .248/.375/.533 slash line.

 

Judge returned to the Yankees’ lineup on Sept. 8. However, he was placed back on the injured list retroactive to Sept. 17 after suffering a right calf strain.

Over the seven games he played in his return from the injured list, Judge totaled one home run and three RBIs, while posting a .174/.208/.304 slash line. The injury, and his performance, made FOX Sports’ Deesha Thosar question the lack of a rehab assignment for Judge, who came right back to the majors from the IL.

 

The Yankees’ skipper revealed on Sept. 22 that he doesn’t expect Judge to be with the team during the American League Wild Card Series (Sept. 29-Oct. 1).

“We’re planning on him not being a part of that [the Wild Card Series], but we’re also at the time of the year where you hear all the time with injuries, you give ranges two to four weeks, four to six weeks,” Boone said about Judge.

Aaron Judge has played in just 66 games this season. (Photo by Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)

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“The range is for a reason, and we’re at a point of the year where obviously we push it a little bit if that was in play, but that’s a week away. I’m not expecting it, but I’m not ruling it out either.”

 

Then, on Sept. 23, Boone asserted that Judge was dealing with a “moderate” calf strain.

Meanwhile, the eight-time All-Star told ESPN that his “plan” is to return for the Wild Card Series and also pushed back on Boone’s claim about Judge’s calf strain being “moderate” prior to the team’s Wednesday night victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.

“Everybody’s ‘moderate’ is a little different. I think your ‘moderate’ is a little different than my moderate, and so on and so on. Yeah, I don’t know why he used those words, but like I said, I’m trying to come back as soon as I can,” Judge said.

Judge also expressed he wants to attempt to play right field, should he return.

 

The Yankees (91-67) are locked into the No. 1 AL wild-card seed and will host either the Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox or Cleveland Guardians in a three-game series at Yankee Stadium from Sept. 29-Oct. 1.

Should New York win the best-of-three wild-card series, it would face the No. 1-seeded Tampa Bay Rays in the AL Division Series, which begins on Oct. 3.

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The question itself wasn’t directly about any public criticism Josh Hoover has faced this season. After Indiana’s 38-0 rout of Western Kentucky over the weekend, the Hoosiers’ starting quarterback rattled off the throws he felt he had missed, and a reporter wondered if having a quarterback who is willing to take ownership and acknowledge his mistakes makes a coach’s job easier. 

That’s when Curt Cignetti stepped in to defend him.

“I think there is too much scrutiny of Josh Hoover right now,” Cignetti told reporters this week during a press conference. “Unfair scrutiny.”

Cignetti was likely responding to some of the social media reaction surrounding his quarterback. No matter how good a team is — and Indiana is 3-0, having outscored its first three opponents 145-16 — there will always be fans and pundits nitpicking, comparing and looking for ways a team should be better. That’s the nature of sports. Win a national championship, and the future standards can become too high to meet.

Josh Hoover runs the ball against Western Kentucky in Indiana’s Week 3 shutout win. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)

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“Three years ago, nobody knew who Indiana’s quarterback was,” former Indiana coach and current Big Ten Network analyst Gerry DiNardo told me. “Now, not only do they know, they’re an expert about him.”

Hoover transferred to Indiana from TCU in the offseason as one of the most coveted quarterbacks in the transfer portal. He presumably knew what he was getting into when he signed up to replace Fernando Mendoza, who had just led Indiana to its first national championship, won the Heisman Trophy and was selected No. 1 overall in the NFL Draft.

It’s incredibly rare for the next man up to replicate everything his predecessor accomplished. 

Oklahoma came close under then-coach Lincoln Riley, when Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray won back-to-back Heisman Trophies, and Jalen Hurts followed with a Heisman finalist finish. But that kind of succession is the exception, not the rule.

“I’d be surprised if Josh came there thinking that because Fernando won the Heisman, ‘That’s my next step,'” DiNardo said. “I think we’re too realistic to think that.”

Cignetti’s willingness to push back on expectations and defend Hoover, though, stands out. His comments hit the news cycle quickly, and this became somewhat of a viral moment entering the fourth week of the season. 

“I always like to see when a coach comes to the defense of his players, because quarterbacks obviously deal with way too much credit and way too much blame,” Garrett Gilbert — who was supposed to be the next great quarterback at Texas following Vince Young and Colt McCoy — told me. 

“It was difficult for me during my time at Texas, not just being the guy who came after Colt, but just expectation in general is tough for a young kid to deal with.”

As a freshman, Gilbert was famously thrust into the 2009 national championship game between Texas and Alabama after McCoy was injured on the fifth play. A former five-star recruit and the No. 1 quarterback prospect in Texas, Gilbert had appeared in 10 games that season. But stepping into that moment was an impossible task, and it turned into a long night for the Longhorns. Gilbert was named the starter the following season as a sophomore, but after struggling to win games, he eventually transferred to SMU, where he finished his college career before becoming a sixth-round pick in the 2014 NFL Draft.

Gilbert was 19 when he followed McCoy, a Heisman finalist and Texas legend. Hoover is 23 and has years of starting experience as he leads Indiana into the post-Mendoza era — that’s the reality of college football in the transfer-portal world. But Hoover’s age and track record don’t necessarily make taking over for Mendoza any less daunting.

Gilbert struggled with the attention. He read the local newspaper and said he checked ESPN after good games and bad ones to see what people were saying about him. He joked that, back then, Instagram was simply a place to look at pictures your friends posted. Now, it’s a meme-driven culture that can be unforgiving to anyone — let alone a college quarterback whose every mistake becomes public fodder.

“I can’t imagine being a kid in today’s day and age and seeing and dealing with that stuff,” Gilbert said.

Former SMU coach June Jones talks with quarterback Garrett Gilbert in 2012. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images)

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When it comes to blocking out the noise, Gilbert will never forget a conversation he had with former SMU coach June Jones early in the 2012 season. It was Gilbert’s fourth game with the Mustangs, and he had thrown five interceptions in a 24-16 loss to TCU. The next day at practice, after the team finished wind sprints, Jones pulled Gilbert aside on the field.

“I was thinking, ‘Oh, here we go again,’” Gilbert said. “But June said, ‘This is your team. You could throw 100 interceptions, and it’s still going to be your team. You’re our guy. So let it go and go play.’

“That was a very freeing moment for me that maybe I hadn’t experienced. Not that I didn’t feel like it was my team at Texas when I was the starting quarterback, but I think I put a lot of pressure on myself. And June said that to me, and this is 14 years ago now, and I’ll never forget it. And from that point on, I played well because he had given me the confidence.”

Hoover’s situation isn’t the same, of course. He has completed more than 72% of his passes, thrown 10 touchdowns without an interception, and he has the second-best passer efficiency rating in the country. He faced backlash before the season even began after his former TCU coach, Sonny Dykes, publicly highlighted Hoover’s previous turnover rate.

Cignetti came to Hoover’s defense then, noting that when Hoover arrived at Indiana, he met “his two new best friends: great defense and a really good run game.” 

“I think maybe there’s a chance that’s what happens behind closed doors every day at Indiana,” Gilbert said of Cignetti instilling belief in his players. “He’s a fiery individual, but it’s clear to me that he has his players’ backs whenever it matters.”

Cignetti said he saw Hoover miss just one throw on the tape from Indiana’s game against Western Kentucky because “we did a bad job picking up the blitz at running back, and he had a guy in his face.” Other miscues were partly due to bad route running, and Cignetti said they had to hash some of that out as a staff.

He concluded with: “I’m glad he’s our quarterback.”

Curt Cignetti runs with his Indiana team onto the field before playing Howard in Week 2. (Photo by Jeffrey Brown/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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After the 2024 season, Mendoza didn’t arrive at Indiana from Cal as a superstar — but developed into one. During the Hoosiers’ historic 2025 run, he threw 41 touchdowns with six interceptions and had five games in which he threw more touchdowns than incompletions, including two College Football Playoff games.

“He had his Heisman moment against Penn State, but before that, he was just a guy,” DiNardo said, referencing Mendoza’s memorable game-winning drive to keep the Hoosiers’ undefeated season intact. “I was there for camp, and he was great — a nice kid, a good interview and all that. But nobody was talking about him winning the Heisman Trophy. I mean, it’s insane.”

Expecting Hoover to be Mendoza 2.0 is unreasonable. But he can still accomplish great things and win a lot of games.

“I think the answer is probably as simple as be yourself,” Gilbert said when asked what kind of advice he might give Hoover or another player in a similar position. “Fernando is a perfect example of that. He became this lovable guy that his entire team respected and had so much success. And I think the reason he’s been able to do that is by being himself.

“You go back to before me, Colt was stepping in, and how could he possibly be Vince Young? The answer is, he can’t. Being yourself and trusting what got you to that point can make such a big difference.”

MORE CFB

Joel Klatt on Arch Manning being ‘okay’, Florida vs. Ole Miss, Colorado | FULL INTERVIEW | The Herd

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Quarterback injuries were unfortunately the theme of NFL Week 2.

Hopefully this week’s theme is that our NFL Week 3 best bets cash in.

Here’s where I’m putting my money.

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The Packers have had a bad habit of blowing late, double-digit leads, but last week they flipped the script. Down 17-7 in the fourth quarter, the Packers rallied to beat the Jets 20-17 in overtime and now host the reeling Falcons, who have yet to run a play from inside the red zone this year. I think the Packers win by a touchdown.

Hill’s Pick: Packers -4.5

The Chargers are being left for dead after a brutal 0-2 start and a vicious schedule that lies ahead. But the summer line was Bills by 1.5, now it’s up to 7.5. A downgrade for the Chargers is warranted, but a 6-point adjustment seems aggressive. The Chargers are desperate and getting 7.5. I think they’ll bounce back with their backs against the wall and at least keep this game close.

Hill’s Pick: Chargers +7.5

Maybe it will never happen. Maybe the Jets will never intercept another pass again. But if they do, I will be there holding a bet slip on it! All of 2025, the Jets failed to record an interception, and now through two games in 2026, they are without one once again. However, head coach Aaron Glenn knows opposing quarterback Jared Goff very well from Glenn’s time as the Lions’ defensive coordinator and I think they can finally end the streak and force Goff into a miscue.

Hill’s Pick: Jared Goff Over 0.5 Interceptions

Chiefs’ quarterback Patrick Mahomes has heard for a couple of years now about how his skills may be declining and he doesn’t throw the ball down the field as well or as often as he once did. In Week 2, Mahomes answered some of those questions, throwing for 382 yards in a win over the Colts. I look for him to continue to put up big numbers this week against a helpless Dolphins defense. 

Hill’s Pick: Patrick Mahomes Over 235.5 Passing Yards

The 2–1 Cleveland Browns? I’m not sure who wins what is a very difficult game to figure out. But the Browns are home getting 2.5 points and have shown the roster is perhaps better than perception — despite the obvious concerns at quarterback. 

Hill’s Pick: Browns +2.5

This feels like a typical Steelers game that they ugly up, keep close and either win or lose by a field goal to cover the 3.5-point spread. But I can’t do it. The Steelers looked alarmingly inept last week, losing 20-3 in New England and now face a Bengals squad that looks to be much improved defensively.

Hill’s Pick: Bengals -3.5

It appears that the defending champs are still very good at football. The Cardinals were a trendy upset pick last week and tied with the Seahawks 7-7 before the Seahawks scored the final 24 points to win 31-7. With the Commanders forced to turn to back-up QB Marcus Mariota, I expect the Seahawks defense to dominate. 

Hill’s Pick: Commanders Team Total Under 16.5 points

These are two teams with high expectations after winning their respective divisions last year. The loser here will be facing some early anxiety that comes with a 1-2 start. While the Patriots haven’t been overly impressive thus far, I’ll take them getting 3 points in what figures to be a very close game between two squads that are evenly matched.

Hill’s Pick: Patriots +3

This will be a battle of former first overall picks but 10 years apart, as Jameis Winston and Cam Ward are the quarterbacks for this one. I’ll go Over the 39.5. The Giants defense looked shaky Monday night against the Rams, and Winston is notorious for being ultra aggressive and creating big plays to the good and the bad.

Hill’s Pick: Over 39.5 Total Points Scored

These are two 0-2 teams both in desperate need of a victory. The Colts lost to the Ravens and Chiefs, which are two respectable losses. But I’ll go with the much superior defense here and back the Texans.

Hill’s Pick: Texans -2.5

The Cardinals were the surprise team of Week 1, but Week 2 showed why expectations for them were quite modest heading into the season. I expect the 49ers to light up the scoreboard and quarterback Brock Purdy to continue his strong play.

Hill’s Pick: Brock Purdy Over 236.5 Passing Yards

Minnesota Vikings at Tampa Bay Buccaneers with quarterback Kyler Murray making his return, look for Justin Jefferson to have a big day against the Buccaneers’ secondary. That unit struggled against a much less prolific passing game last week in a loss to the Browns. 

Hill’s Pick: Justin Jefferson Over 68.5 Receiving Yards

The Raiders look to start 3-0, but even with their surprising play early on, I think the Saints at home are the bet here, laying just a field goal. 

Hill’s Pick: Saints -3

For all the talk that the Cowboys would be improved defensively, it hasn’t shown up on the field just yet. In a battle between two elite quarterbacks, I expect plenty of points, which we’ve all come to expect from Cowboys’ games.

Hill’s Pick: Over 52.5 Total Points Scored

This was very nearly the Super Bowl matchup last year, but neither team made it and now they meet up several months later. I like Rams’ running back Blake Corum Over 48.5 rushing yards. Corum is averaging 67 yards per game through two weeks, and his backfield competition, Kyren Williams, lost a fumble last week. Corum should continue to see plenty of opportunities.

Hill’s Pick: Blake Corum Over 48.5 Rushing Yards

It looks like veteran quarterback Case Keenum may be getting the nod for the Bears on Monday night. The third-stringer is the next man up after injuries to Caleb Williams and Tyson Bagent. I think both teams will rely heavily on the run game in this one, and I look for a low-scoring start early on.

Hill’s Pick: 1st Half Under 21 Points

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When college football Week 4 odds hit betting boards across the country Sunday, it was perhaps a bit surprising to see No. 21 Florida as a 2.5-point home favorite over No. 4 Ole Miss.

More surprising, the Gators quickly moved to -3 and -3.5.

“But the public is disagreeing with that sentiment,” Caesars Sports head of football trading Joey Feazel said, noting plenty of interest in the fourth-ranked Rebels.

Bookmakers and sharp bettors serve up their insights on that matchup and more in college football Week 4 betting.

This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners. If you sign up or place a wager, FOX Sports may be compensated. Read more about Sports Betting on FOX Sports.

Masses On Ole Miss

Ole Miss is coming off a huge home win in Week 3. The Rebels blew all of a 24-7 first-half lead, then barely held on for a 32-24 victory as 3-point home underdogs vs. LSU.

Meanwhile, Florida gave away most of a 17-point, fourth-quarter edge at Auburn, winning 44-39 as a 2.5-point favorite.

Ole Miss certainly had the more impressive win. But this week, the combination of Florida at home and Rebels’ running back Kewan Lacey (shoulder) being questionable convinced Caesars to open the Gators -2.5.

The public loves Trinidad Chambliss and Ole Miss. (Getty Images)

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Florida moved to -3 in short order and has toggled between -3/-3.5 multiple times. On Wednesday night, it’s Gators -3.5 (-102) for a 3:30 p.m. ET Saturday kickoff.

“Despite that line movement, it’s a little reverse action. Most of the action we’ve seen is on Ole Miss,” Feazel said.

Florida and Ole Miss are both 3-0 straight up (SU) and 2-1 against the spread (ATS).

College Football Rocks On FOX

On Friday night, it’s a battle of Big Ten unbeatens. However, one is just a little more respected by oddsmakers than the other.

And by a little, I mean a lot.

No. 5 Indiana, the defending national champion, is a 21-point home favorite vs. Northwestern (2-0 SU and ATS). That’s actually down from Caesars’ opener of Hoosiers -22.5, perhaps in part because Indiana (3-0 SU/0-3 ATS) hasn’t covered this season.

Last year, Indiana went a perfect 16-0 SU/10-6 ATS and covered in three of its four College Football Playoff victories.

But the public isn’t going to lay off a team that hasn’t lost since the first round of the 2024-25 CFP.

Can Curt Cignetti keep his Hoosiers hot for another week? (Getty Images)

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“It’s really what we’re expecting so far, mostly Indiana action,” Feazel said, while noting he anticipates plenty more betting for this 8 p.m. ET kick on FOX. “This game should drive a ton of action, despite it not appearing to be very competitive.

“People like Indiana and they like Curt Cignetti. The need here is gonna be for Northwestern to hang in there and keep it a lower-scoring game.”

Saturday’s Big Noon Kickoff on FOX is even more of a mismatch, by oddsmakers’ estimates. At DraftKings Sportsbook, Ohio State is a 26.5-point home favorite vs. Illinois, down slightly from a -27.5 opener.

Even with that big number, it’s all Buckeyes so far at DraftKings, with 82% of spread bets/77% of spread money on Ohio State.

On-Campus Sharp Side

College football betting expert Paul Stone got there last week on Louisville -1.5, as the host Cardinals topped SMU 41-31. This week, he’s most intrigued by a Big 12 matchup: Oklahoma State vs. West Virginia, at 7 p.m. ET Saturday on FS1.

Oklahoma State (2-1 SU and ATS) shockingly lost at Tulsa in Week 1 but even more shockingly beat visiting Oregon in Week 2.

Still, Stone is more impressed by West Virginia’s 3-0 SU/2-1 ATS start. 

After struggling to a 4-8 record last season, West Virginia was a consensus pick to again finish in the bottom half of the Big 12 this season.

West Virginia quarterback Michael Hawkins has thrived so far in the Mountaineers’ offense. (Getty Images)

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However, the Mountaineers are off to their first 3-0 start since 2018, largely due to the play of quarterback Michael Hawkins. The transfer from Oklahoma found a home in Rich Rodriguez’s offense, which emphasizes a mobile quarterback who can use his legs in the running game.

Hawkins accounted for five touchdowns (three rushing, two passing) in West Virginia’s 38-27 neutral-site victory over No. 25 Virginia last week.

Stone likes the Mountaineers as 1.5-point home favorites vs. Oklahoma State.

“Oklahoma State turned a lot of heads with its victory over Oregon a couple of weeks ago,” Stone said. “But I look for Hawkins & Co. to get the job done in Morgantown. I think West Virginia wins by a field goal or more.”

   Oh, Say Can You SEC

It’s just a massive Saturday in the SEC. Ahead of Ole Miss-Florida, top-ranked Texas meets Tennessee at noon ET.

The Longhorns (3-0 SU/1-2 ATS) have the signature win of the season so far, with their 21-point rally to beat Ohio State 24-23 in Week 2. Meanwhile, The Vols (3-0 SU/1-2 ATS) face their stiffest test by far, having been double-digit favorites in their first three outings.

Caesars Sports opened Texas as a 5-point favorite, and interestingly, the line quickly tumbled to -3.5. But it rebounded nearly as quickly, returning to Texas -5.5 by Monday, with Feazel noting sharp play on the Longhorns -4.5.

However, by Wednesday night, the Longhorns fell back to -4 once again.

Books are expecting big bets coming in on the Texas-Tennessee matchup.

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“Some wild movement thus far for this SEC matchup,” Feazel said. “We expect to see some larger Texas wagers as we get closer to Saturday’s kickoff. This should be our biggest-action game of the early kickoffs.”

Also in the SEC, No. 23 Texas A&M (2-1 SU and ATS) visits No. 10 LSU (2-1 SU/1-2 ATS) at 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday. The Aggies are coming off a huge upset loss to Kentucky, 31-21 as 16.5-point home favorites.

And as noted above, the Tigers fell at Ole Miss 32-24. But Caesars’ risk room rightly deemed the Tigers’ setback a much more quality loss than A&M’s, and the point spread shows it.

“Texas A&M has been very inconsistent and is desperate for a win. But our look-ahead line [last week] was LSU -5.5, and it’s moved up to LSU -8.5,” Feazel said. “It’s not lopsided quite yet. But we’re gonna have more coming in on LSU.

“We’re gonna need Texas A&M to come through and keep this close.”

   B1G Battles

Saturday brings a couple key Big Ten matchups, as well: No. 17 Iowa vs. No. 18 Michigan at 3:30 p.m. ET, and No. 20 Oregon vs. No.  12 USC at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Michigan (3-0 SU/2-1 ATS) is pretty fortunate to be unbeaten at this point. Still, Caesars opened the Wolverines -4.5 vs. the Hawkeyes (3-0 SU/2-1 ATS), and the line was Michigan -5.5 on Wednesday night.

The more interesting market might be the total, which is a tidy 38.5. That matches the opening number, down from the 39.5 high Sunday but up from the 37.5 low Monday.

“It’s a classic Big Ten matchup. We anticipate a low-scoring game, with this being one of the lowest totals on the board,” Feazel said. “We’re seeing two-way action on the total and a little more action on Iowa.

Bryce Underwood and the Wolverines are lucky to still have a perfect record. (Getty Images)

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“On paper, Michigan probably shouldn’t be undefeated. Come game time, I think we’ll need Michigan to win and not cover.”

Oregon opened as a 2.5-point road favorite vs. USC, and the Ducks advanced to -3 by Monday.

“This Oregon team is desperate after the loss to Oklahoma State,” Feazel said. “It’s mostly Oregon money coming in, on the spread and the moneyline.”

So Caesars could well be rooting for USC at home. But that’s not the biggest concern in a game with a total of 62.5.

“We’re seeing a lot of Over money, which is not a surprise. The sharper side is on the Under,” Feazel said. “With these two high-flying offenses, the bigger need is gonna be a lower-scoring game.”

I Like Big Bets And I Cannot Lie

Feazel noted above that some major wagers are expected to land on Texas. But Tennessee took the first big play on Saturday’s SEC clash in Knoxville.

A customer put $76,900 on Vols moneyline +175. If Tennessee pulls the outright upset, then the bettor banks $134,575 profit, for a total payout of $211,475.

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The 40-40 club has a new member.

By stealing second base in the top of the first inning of the team’s Thursday afternoon home game against the Miami Marlins, Chicago Cubs superstar center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong became the seventh player in MLB history to record a 40-40 season (40 home runs and 40 stolen bases).

Crow-Armstrong is the third player in four years to accomplish the feat, with Los Angeles Dodgers two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani (2024) — who actually had the first-ever 50-50 season — and Atlanta Braves star outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. (2023) being the other two. He’s also just the fourth player this century to have a 40-40 year, with Alfonso Soriano doing it for the Washington Nationals in 2006.

The 24-year-old Crow-Armstrong, a 2025 Gold Glover recipient and an All-Star in each of the last two seasons, entered Thursday leading the National League in home runs (45), runs scored (119), slugging percentage (.577), OPS (.949), OPS+ (157) and wins above replacement (9.8).

He also entered the day with 107 RBIs and a .280/.373/.577 slash line, while having posted 16 defensive runs saved in center field. At present, Crow-Armstrong’s 9.8 WAR is tied with third baseman and Hall of Famer Ron Santo (1967) for the fourth-highest in a single season by a player in Cubs’ history.

Chicago acquired Crow-Armstrong from the New York Mets at the 2021 MLB trade deadline as part of its return for Javier Báez.

Crow-Armstrong and the Cubs are currently in possession of the No. 2 NL wild-card seed at 87-71.

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Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr. “definitely” sees himself playing at some point this season.

When that is, even Porter doesn’t know, though he didn’t rule out making his 2026 debut on Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals.

The fourth-year pro sat out each of Pittsburgh’s first two games. Coach Mike McCarthy held him out of the opener against the Atlanta Falcons, which McCarthy said was his decision. Porter then watched a loss in New England to the Patriots last weekend from the sideline because of back pain.

All of it has been set against a backdrop of stalled contract negotiations between Porter and the club. The son of former NFL linebacker and Steelers assistant coach Joey Porter Sr. is entering the final season of the four-year rookie deal he signed in 2023 and wants a raise that makes him among the highest-paid players at his position.

Pittsburgh general manager Omar Khan has said repeatedly the team “loves” Porter, but the two sides were unable to come to terms on a new contract and any talks about an extension won’t begin until the offseason, if they’re even held at all.

“I know you guys are tired of it, and I am too,” Porter said Thursday. “So … I mean all my emotions already came and went.”

Porter, who hasn’t allowed a touchdown as a primary defender since 2023, denied reports that he asked for a trade. He called the inability to sign an extension “old news” and is focused on trying to get healthy.

Pittsburgh selected Porter with the No. 32 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft out of Penn State. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images)

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The Steelers to a man have defended him throughout the process, and the secondary could certainly use his 6-foot-2 frame on Sunday when Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and unbeaten Cincinnati (2-0) visit.

“This game I’d really like to come back for considering [Chase] is on the opposite side,” Porter said. “Yeah, you know, it’s always a good matchup with the Bengals and what they got over there, their talent. And I always want to sharpen iron on iron.”

Asked if he felt his conditioning was good enough to see the field against Cincinnati, Porter shrugged.

“I don’t know,” Porter said. “We still got two more days to practice. … I just know I did everything today and it went smooth. So we’re going to just keep working.”

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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By the time Cody White caught his second touchdown pass Sunday, they knew who he was.

The Las Vegas Raiders receiver, a 27-year-old practice squad call-up with more tackles than catches in his first six years in the NFL, was the surprise star of their 26-14 upset over the Chargers in Week 2. When he made a diving catch in the end zone for his first score Sunday, CBS’ TV broadcast put up a graphic showing receiver Corey Rucker, a teammate who is on injured reserve.

“I saw the CBS [graphic], saw that fantasy football didn’t have me, the Madden [snub]. I don’t think anybody was ready for me to go for two touchdowns like I did,” White told me over the phone.

CBS had a smiling headshot of White ready when he got open and uncovered in the end zone for a second touchdown, and friends who had trouble finding him in fantasy football a week ago can now see him as a potential waiver-wire add like anyone else. And for a player who’d scored just once in the NFL before Sunday, he came prepared with a pair of celebrations as well.

“I’ve been in the league for seven years, so I know how hard it is to get to the end zone, so I want to go in there and have some fun,” White said. “I think I found the first one on TikTok, and then the second one is just the Ronaldo and I pulled my lightsaber out like it was Star Wars.”

The Raiders might be the biggest surprise of the NFL’s first two weeks, first beating the lowly Miami Dolphins but then going to Los Angeles and beating a Chargers team most saw as a likely playoff team. White might be as unlikely a success story as his team is, too. He was cut by the Seattle Seahawks on cutdown day in August after earning a Super Bowl ring last season. He landed on the Raiders’ practice squad under head coach Klint Kubiak, who had him as Seattle’s offensive coordinator last year.

“From what I’ve seen, all the guys are buying into what Klint is selling, and the culture we’re trying to build here,” White said.

White, long and lanky at 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, showed enough in two weeks of practice that he was elevated to play in the Raiders’ opener against Miami, and he had three tackles on special teams, one a touchdown-saving stop on a 79-yard kickoff return that earned him a game ball from coaches. He reverted to the practice squad after the game, but had been told early enough in the week that he would be elevated again that he was able to make sure his parents could fly in and attend the game, along with his brother Jordan, who lives in Los Angeles.

White played only seven offensive snaps — his bread-and-butter is still on special teams, where he has more career tackles (15) than catches (11) —but still managed to catch touchdowns on two of them. The Raiders can elevate him one more time from their practice squad, but after that, they’ll have to move to add him to the 53-man roster if they want to play him again.

“He’s just the same guy that I knew last year,” Kubiak said after the game. “I’m really proud of him. … When his number’s called, he’s making the plays and obviously makes us have to make decisions.”

His three years at Michigan State — including leading the Spartans with 66 catches, 966 yards and six touchdowns in 2019 — were also the last three for Mark Dantonio, who has enjoyed following White’s career in his retirement.

“He’s hung in there, and when he’s given an opportunity, the guy makes plays,” Dantonio told me. “Very smart player, good-natured, good teammate. Tall, big, makes the tough catch and will battle you for the ball. That catch radius, long arms. He was a great player for us, and it’s no surprise that he’s still in the NFL, and hopefully this verifies that for him.”

Cody White had a standout career at Michigan State before playing for six NFL teams since his career started in 2020. (Photo by Adam Ruff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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White’s father, Sheldon, played six years in the NFL as a cornerback and has worked the last 30 years in NFL and college personnel offices, the last four with the Steelers. So Cody understands the business of the NFL, and his path to the end zone Sunday wasn’t an easy one.

White went undrafted out of Michigan State in 2020, and when he reported to his first training camp with the Chiefs, he took his physical, picked up his helmet and was promptly told to turn in his playbook as he was being cut. He signed with the Giants and was cut within a week, signed with the Broncos and was cut within two weeks, all in the same preseason.

Then he spent a year on the Steelers’ practice squad, all of 2021 on Pittsburgh’s active roster, and just five games in three years before he found a role with Seattle in 2025, even scoring a 60-yard touchdown. He went on injured reserve in late December last year, but was part of a Super Bowl championship team.

“Just that resilience, the never-give-up mentality,” White said. “Being on four teams my rookie year, now I’m in Year 7 and still able to contribute and make plays on Sundays, to help my team get wins. I love the game of football, and my mom and my dad taught me growing up to never give up, that if you start something, you have to finish it. Here we are now.”

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England would be making a mistake by trying to replicate Spain’s successful style of play in a bid to win major tournaments, winger Anthony Gordon said ahead of Saturday’s match between the European giants.

Gordon is well-placed to discuss the qualities of Spain’s World Cup-winning players, given he now trains daily with many of them — like Rodri, Lamine Yamal, Pedri and more — following his offseason move to La Liga champion Barcelona.

“They’re definitely built different,” Gordon said. “So I’m not sure we can ever get that.”

(Photo by Pablo Rodriguez/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images) –>

Long-held doubts over England’s ability to end the men’s team’s long wait to win a European Championship or World Cup returned over the summer when England squandered a lead — earned by a goal from Gordon — by conceding two late goals to lose 2-1 to Argentina in the World Cup semifinals.

Speaking at England’s training base this week, Gordon said he might never get over the defeat that has prompted questions over whether England’s players have the quality to control these high-pressure games like the Spanish can. That’s because England became ultra-defensive after taking the lead — Gordon was replaced by a defender, Ezri Konsa, in a telling substitution by coach Thomas Tuchel — and allowed Argentina to seize the initiative in the final half-hour.

So, Gordon was asked, couldn’t England just be more like Spain?

“I think culturally, it’s not just that tournament or that game where we couldn’t control a game,” he said, referring to the Argentina loss. “England, as a nation, we don’t have that strength like the Spanish, where we control games like they do. It’s not in us.

“It’s not in the English DNA,” Gordon added, “and it’s probably something I’ve only realized to that extent from playing in Spain now. Because I think we, as English players, are educated the same way as the Spanish players. We know how to keep possession but it’s the decision-making of certain players in Spain, which it’s just not a natural thing. I even look at some of the decisions they take on the ball sometimes and think, ‘I’m not sure how you’ve seen that.’”

(Photo by Peter Joneleit/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) –>

Gordon believes England might have to pursue its own course, rather than trying to imitate Spain.

“We can definitely get better,” he said, “or maybe go the other way and really play to our strengths, which is to play physical, play direct football, and on the counter-attack.”

Spain’s trip to play England at Wembley Stadium is its first match as world champion and marks the start of the teams’ Nations League campaign.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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