Watch Rob Gronkowski and Venus Williams dance with the Laker girls

Rob Gronkowski put on a show at halftime of the Lakers game.

Patriots fans have been anxiously waiting for retired tight end Rob Gronkowski to announce his return to football with the team ahead of the playoffs, but Gronk announced this week that he has other plans. Instead of potentially suiting up for Super Bowl LIV in Miami, Gronkowski will be hosting a music festival on South Beach. He told ESPN on Tuesday that he’s still not ruling out an eventual return to football, but taking one or two years off “could possibly be the case.”

On Tuesday night, Gronk was in Los Angeles for the Thunder-Lakers game, and the joined tennis icon Venus Williams and James Corden for a halftime performance with the Laker girls.

 

[opinary poll=”will-rob-gronkowski-return-to-the-nfl_fo” customer=”forthewin”]

Stephen Hauschka lands on PFF’s Team of the Week

Buffalo Bills K Stephen Hauschka lands on Pro Football Focus Team of the Week.

Good thing the Bills didn’t act rash in regard to kicker Stephen Hauschka.

After missing two kicks including a potential game-tying kick from 53 yards in Week 10 against the Browns, Hauschka has landed on Pro Football Focus‘ Team of the Week a week later.

Hauschka was a perfect 3-for-3 on place kicks and 4-for-4 on extra-point attempts against the Dolphins in a 37-20 win in Week 11. Hauschka’s first kick was from 51 yards after missing his last five attempts from 50 yards or longer prior to that.

His other attempts were converted from 34 and 21 yards.

Of Buffalo’s 37 points, Hauschka accounted for 13 of them.

In terms of his overall season, Hauschka is ranked as PFF’s 18th best kicker in the NFL after his early-season struggles.

[lawrence-related id=49019,48964,49005,48968]

2020 NFL mock draft: Panthers pick Alabama CB at No. 18 overall

Diggs (6-foot-2, 207 pounds) has totaled four interceptions and 12 pass breakups since the start of the 2018 season.

The Panthers have a couple of solid starting cornerbacks in James Bradberry and Donte Jackson. They’ll have to pay Bradberry a whole lot of money to keep him around in 2020 and beyond, though. It’s possible they’ll try to go in another direction and find a cheaper alternative.

In a new 2020 NFL mock draft from our friends at Draft Wire, that’s what they do. In Luke Easterling’s lasted three-round mock, Carolina picks Alabama cornerback Trevon Diggs at No. 18 overall.

“The Panthers are likely to lose a big, physical corner in James Bradberry to free agency, which makes Diggs the perfect replacement here. His size, length and ball skills would be a fantastic fit, giving the Panthers a cheaper alternative to re-signing Bradberry.”

Let’s take a look at the tape.

Diggs vs. South Carolina

Diggs vs. Ole Miss

Diggs vs. Texas A&M

We think the Panthers are probably more likely to give Bradberry a big extension, but if they don’t, Diggs is a strong alternative. Even if they keep Bradberry around, an argument could be made that they need more depth at cornerback in any case.

Diggs (6-foot-2, 207 pounds) has totaled four interceptions and 12 pass breakups since the start of the 2018 season.

[lawrence-related id=613315,612539]

[vertical-gallery id=614348]

The head coach we spoke to is confident …

The head coach we spoke to is confident that Hammon remains in line to become the league’s first female head coach but not necessarily with the Spurs. There is a belief that Popovich may step down after he coaches the U.S. national team at the Tokyo Olympics next summer. Hammon will be under consideration for the job and with San Antonio closer to rebuilding than contending she could grow with the team. The other theory is that the Spurs would look to hire someone – male or female – with previous head coaching experience.

You have a player option for next …

You have a player option for next season, but it appears you love it with the Warriors. Willie Cauley-Stein: I love the guys. I love the environment. I love the city. And I haven’t been in a city like this. It’s all new and energizing in a way. And there is a lot of opportunity to grow in life, period, not just hoops. And that all comes from just being around these group of guys and the group of coaches, the atmosphere around the city.

The Athletic spoke to three current …

The Athletic spoke to three current coaches on the condition of anonymity and they — two assistants and one head coach — provided a few theories on why Duncan and not Hammon coached the Spurs on Saturday. One assistant with ties to the Spurs reasoned that “San Antonio is struggling and didn’t want to create a story now where the coach becomes a bigger story than the team. That’s not the Spurs way.” Of course, the case can be made that Popovich has been bigger than the entire franchise for quite some time.

Willie Cauley-Stein: In Sacramento, …

Willie Cauley-Stein: In Sacramento, they put a tag on me that I wasn’t invested or I didn’t care about hoops like that. A lot of stuff that this platform exited out. You can’t go to one coach or one trainer in that facility and say I don’t work hard. But that’s one thing that they used to say. ‘Oh, he don’t work hard enough, blah, blah, blah.’ Dude, you don’t know how hard I’m working. So, that was like the biggest thing for me was the clout that this team has. The championship. Got wins. But most importantly, they get it. They get it from a perspective that some teams can’t even get close to touching. 
 If I wasn’t invested in hoops, I would not come to the Warriors. The stage is too hard. Everybody’s looking at this. If I didn’t really like hoops, I’m going to go get a bag somewhere else. A little pretty bag.