New York Giants safety Jabrill Peppers (ankle) returned to practice on Wednesday as the team begins preparations for the Dallas Cowboys.
Through four weeks of the 2020 season, games are averaging a record 51.3 points per game, the highest total in the Super Bowl era. This will be another week of solid fantasy play from the quarterback position, so much so that streaming options such as Teddy Bridgewater (Panthers), Daniel Jones (Giants) and Philip Rivers (Colts) project to outscore more established fantasy performers such as Deshaun Watson (Texans) and Carson Wentz (Eagles). START: Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Panthers: He’s the best streaming option during the first week of byes as Bridgewater gets a matchup against an Atlanta defense that allows the most fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks by a considerable margin.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed Tom Brady in the offseason hoping the six-time Super Bowl champion quarterback could help them end a 12-year playoff drought and capture the biggest prize of all. ”To join a team and to be embraced the way that I’ve been embraced – it’s been amazing for me,” Brady said. ”(I) just enjoy every minute of it (and) I take that responsibility being a quarterback, being a leader (and) being a captain – I take those not lightly.
Sources confirmed to ESPN that “a verbal blowup at practice” occurred two weeks ago, with one source telling ESPN’s Dianna Russini that the incident was when former coach Bill O’Brien “lost the team.”
LAS VEGAS - You got to hand it to Bryson DeChambeau. He put his money where his mouth is. One year ago, DeChambeau looked a small throng of journalists in the eye as he was getting set to leave the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open and vowed he would transform his body to a level not seen before. RELATED: Inside the big-hittinng group of DeChambeau, Champ & Wolff "I'm going to come back next year and look like a different person. You’re going to see some pretty big changes in my body, which is going to be a good thing. Going to be hitting it a lot further," DeChambeau said after finishing T4 in his title defense at TPC Summerlin. At the time the comments brought with it plenty of eyerolls. A sense of - here goes crazy Bryson again - was most certainly permeating through some of the golf world. But the doubters are - at least right now - eating their words. Because "hitting it a lot further" is an understatement. And he's combined raw power with some pretty impressive accuracy - at least enough to win the Rocket Mortgage Challenge by three and the U.S. Open by six. At the end of the 2018-19 season DeChambeau boasted a Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee mark of +0.421 and a driving distance average of 302.5 yards. A year later he put up a season where his SG: Off-the-Tee led the TOUR at +1.039 and led driving distance at 322.1 yards. Exactly one year to the day from his comments, on Tuesday evening at the TPC Summerlin range, DeChambeau had to move 40 yards behind his playing competitors on the range. He is now some 40 pounds heavier and noticeably bulked up. And he was hitting the ball into a residential area where thankfully some TOUR equipment trucks were parked to take the brunt instead of some houses. "I watched Happy Gilmore a little while ago and just re-inspired me to try and hit it as far as possible," he quipped Wednesday. Well even after moving back on the range DeChambeau was threatening those in the trucks. It immediately evoked thoughts of Adam Sandler's character hitting balls from his grandmothers lawn into the distance and smashing into a house some 400 yards away. When the movers don't believe what they saw he replicates it, knocking a person out of the second story window he just broke. DeChambeau thankfully wasn't injuring any innocent bystanders. But he was intimidating his fellow competitors who could see and hear the massive drives whistling over their heads. He's already won at this course but now he will attack it from all new places. He says he can potentially go after four of the par 4's off the tee and of course easily reach all of the par 5s in two. "There will be holes where I’m going to try and drive them, get it up as close to the green as possible," he confirmed right before heading out for his Pro-am on Wednesday. "It’s just fun having a 7-iron go 220. That’s unique. And 4-iron, 265. There will be holes where I had to hit 3-wood and now I’m hitting 4-iron off the tees. "At the same point in time it’s about putting, chipping, wedging. You still got to do everything else really well. So if I play well, ball strike it well, and putt well, I think I’ll have a good chance again. Love this golf course." DeChambeau was already a multiple time winner on the TOUR and a former U.S. Amateur champion. He didn't need to make change, certainly not drastic change, if he didn't want to. But his personality demands he chase perfection even though cerebrally he knows it's unattainable. Getting closer to it though is not. Prior to the transformation he hadn't contended well at majors. Now at just 27, he is a seven-time TOUR winner with a U.S. Open trophy in his house. The PGA Championship in August was his first top 10 in a major (T4) and his performance at Winged Foot last month to win by six was potentially a game-changer for the sport in general. It was there after his win he flouted the next move - using a 48-inch driver to bring even more distance into play. He immediately set to work on testing and while he is not ready to unveil it in his first event since the U.S. Open triumph, it is likely to come out at the Masters in November. "I won’t unveil that until Augusta," he confirmed. "(But) I’m looking forward to trying to put in a 48-inch driver and see what that can do for the golf course and what opportunities it will present for me. "It’s going well. I think there is a lot of, I don’t know, I guess you could say advantages to having a 48-inch driver and being able to put it in play and keep it in play. So working on that. Still need to get some things worked out, but so far it’s been pretty amazing." Indeed the entire year long transformation has been amazing. And with DeChambeau you can count on the fact there will always be more to come.
Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Alec Cabacungan won't be at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open to provide a little extra motivation for defending champion Kevin Na this week. But the charismatic 18-year-old who suffers from osteogenesis imperfecta, more commonly known as brittle bone disease, certainly made a lasting impression on Na when the two renewed acquaintances prior to last year's tournament at TPC Summerlin. RELATED: More on RSM Birdies Fore Love Cabacungan, who wants to be a sports broadcaster, interviewed Na that Wednesday and showed the PGA TOUR veteran some video of his breakthrough win at the tournament in 2011. Fast forward to Sunday and a hard-fought battle with Patrick Cantlay that Na won on the second playoff hole. The win was Na's second in Las Vegas, his adopted hometown, and the fourth of his TOUR career. And Na says talking with Cabacungan about his 2011 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open victory helped give him the kind of confidence he needed to win. "He motivated me that week that I could do it again," says Na, who fired a career-low 61 in the third round. In addition to the 500 FedExCup points and $1.26 million Na earned last year, he also led the week's RSM Birdies Fore Love competition. That means he got a bonus of $50,000 to give to the charity of his choice, and it certainly wasn't a hard decision. Na and his family, which includes wife Jullianne and their two children, decided to give the money to Shriners Hospitals for Children for OI research. The genetic disorder affects between 20,000 and 50,000 people in the United States. But meeting just one of those had a particular impact on Na. "One, it made sense because I won the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open," he says of the donation. "And meeting Alec and getting in to learn about that disease was the reason why." Jim Smith, Imperial Potentate of Shriners International, says Na's donation makes a big difference in the mission of the organization, which has a network of 22 non-profit hospitals nationwide. "Our donors, whom we depend on, have helped us treat more than 1.4 million children from over 170 countries," Smith says. "We are humbled by Kevin's generosity." Cabacungan is one of those children. He has been a patient at the Chicago Shriners Hospital since he was two months old, receiving therapy and treatments designed to build stronger bone mass. In his short 18 years on earth, Cabacungan has undergone 12 surgeries and broken more than 60 bones. Patients with OI can break bones by doing something as innocuous sneezing or coughing, as well as falling down. Despite the many obstacles he's faced, though, Cabacungan is known for his bubbly personality and his infectious smile. "He's a happy guy and has a lot of good energy," Na said. Cabacungan is essentially the face of Shriners Hospitals for Children, too. Since he was 14 years old, he has appeared in commercials broadcast nationwide to raise the profile of the facilities that work with children with neuromusculoskeletal conditions and burn injuries, as well as other healthcare issues. The sports-minded teenager, who loves to play wheelchair basketball, makes appearances around the country. Cabacungan has been profiled on CBS's "Sunday Morning" and joined one of his idols, Ernie Johnson, along with NBA greats Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley and Shaquille O'Neal on TNT's "Inside the NBA" in 2017. And one year ago, Cabacungan was at TPC Summerlin, trying his interviewing skills out on Na, who responded by showing the teen his signature move of walking in the putt. "I know his dream is to become a sports announcer, and I hope his dream comes true," Na said. On Sunday, though, Na was living his own dream. "It’s always nice to play in your hometown, but to win on top of that, it was very special," Na says. "And to have my family there to celebrate together on 18 was a special moment. "And to be able to donate to Shriners made it even better."
Astros manager Dusty Baker isn’t ruling out the possibility of Zack Greinke starting if the ALDS against the Athletics is extended.
Start your Stars? Josh Norris dampens expectations for five names ahead of Week 5, including Joe Mixon against the Ravens. (Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports)
OK, we got that out of the way. Now don’t expect Tom Brady to bring it up if he chats with Nick Foles before Tampa Bay’s game with Chicago on Thursday night.
