Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Panthers fans weren’t the only ones showing their excitement for Cam Newton’s return to Carolina.
There was plenty of excitement to be had on Thursday, as the Carolina Panthers did what was thought to be the unthinkable and brought back Cam Newton. The fans, however, weren’t the only ones basking in that glory.
Let’s take a look at some of the day’s best reactions from Newton’s former Panthers teammates, who couldn’t help but spread their love for the move.
The Bears have released their first unofficial depth chart ahead of their preseason opener, and there was plenty to unpack.
The Chicago Bears released their first unofficial depth chart ahead of their preseason opener against the Miami Dolphins. But before the Bears and Dolphins square off on Saturday at Soldier Field, the two will hold a couple of joint practices at Halas Hall.
When looking at Chicago’s first unofficial depth chart, there are some things that aren’t much of a surprise — Andy Dalton being listed as the starting quarterback and the Bears’ top wide receivers listed as Allen Robinson, Darnell Mooney and Marquise Goodwin. But there are also plenty of surprises.
Here’s what we learned from the Bears’ first unofficial depth chart:
The Bears added another speedy weapon on offense in Damiere Byrd. Here’s how Byrd’s addition impacts Chicago’s receivers depth chart.
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The Chicago Bears continue to add more speed and explosiveness to their offense this offseason. Their latest addition is former New England Patriots receiver Damiere Byrd, who inked a one-year deal with the Bears.
Last season with the Patriots, Byrd had career highs with 47 catches and 604 yards. It certainly doesn’t hurt that Byrd is an absolute speedster, who ran a 4.28 40-yard dash in college.
Byrd also brings some experience when it comes to returning kicks on special teams, as he’s returned both punts and kickoffs during his career. With Cordarrelle Patterson leaving in free agency, Chicago has at least a kick returner position up for grabs. And while running back Tarik Cohen has taken care of returning punts, he’s coming off an ACL injury sustained on a punt return, and the Bears might be looking to find someone else to return punts.
But how does Byrd impact the Bears’ wide receivers depth chart? Does his addition likely signal the end of Anthony Miller in Chicago?
This offseason, the Bears have added three wide receivers through free agency and the NFL draft, including a couple of slot receivers, which could certainly indicate that Miller’s time might be done in Chicago. He’s been rumored to be on the trade block, but we’ll see how things ultimately pan out.
Byrd could certainly be that replacement for Miller, especially coming off a career year, where Byrd led the Patriots in receiving yards. He’s another speedy weapon for new franchise quarterback Justin Fields — and Andy Dalton, however long he lasts as the starter.
Behind Allen Robinson and Darnell Mooney, there were question marks at receiver. Which is why the Bears went out and added a pair of experienced veterans in Marquise Goodwin and now Byrd. They also drafted Dazz Newsome in the sixth round, a prospect that has the potential to make the 53-man roster and be a valuable special teams contributor.
Byrd’s addition should also put Javon Wims and Riley Ridley on notice. Assuming Miller stays in Chicago, that would leave just one vacant receiver spot open for Wims, Ridley and Newsome to battle it out. And if Newsome shows something special — with the added special teams value — he could sneak his way onto the roster.
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Twitter had plenty to say about the addition of Damiere Byrd, including how it all but signals the end of Anthony Miller in Chicago.
The Chicago Bears added more speed and depth to the wide receivers room with the signing of former New England Patriots wideout Damiere Byrd to a one-year deal.
The move adds another weapon for new franchise quarterback Justin Fields — and Andy Dalton — and brings some much-needed depth at receiver and even a bit of kick return experience. Oh, and did I mention he ran a 4.28 40-yard dash back in college?
Naturally, Twitter had plenty to say about the addition of Byrd, including how it’s another solid pick-up by GM Ryan Pace and how it all but signals the end of Anthony Miller in Chicago.
Is it 2021 yet?
Week 16 went as expected for the New England Patriots.
Bill Belichick’s team is dealing with its first season without appearing in the playoffs since 2008. Cam Newton struggled mightily and the talent on the team looks more like a practice squad unit than anything. With Stephon Gilmore’s season-ending injury, it’s easily possible that second-year punter Jake Bailey is the best player who’s healthy and active.
This depletion of talent and motivation led to a tough 38-9 loss to the Buffalo Bills — the second loss of the season to Josh Allen. Stefon Diggs torched the Patriots for 9 catches, 145 yards and three touchdowns.
Everything was ugly for the Patriots and here’s four quick takeaways to sum up the disastrous contest.
How to watch Patriots vs. Dolphins
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The New England Patriots (6-7) hit the road in Week 15 to take on the Miami Dolphins (8-5).
Unlike years in the past, the Patriots have less than a 5% chance to make the playoffs and the Dolphins will likely find themselves there. The Patriots have been sporadic all season and the past two weeks are a perfect example. New England defeated the Los Angeles Chargers 45-0 in Week 13 and lost 24-3 to the Los Angeles Rams in Week 14.
Fortunately for the Patriots, the Dolphins are set to start Tua Tagovailoa instead of Ryan Fitzpatrick. Bill Belichick enjoys every matchup against rookie quarterbacks and has struggled with Fitzpatrick in the past. New England won the first matchup this season against Miami, but this one could be much more challenging.
Here’s how to watch:
New England Patriots vs Miami Dolphins
Sunday, Dec. 20, 1:00 p.m. ET
Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, FL
Live stream: fuboTV (try it free).
CBS
WBZ Channel 4
Ian Eagle (play-by-play)
Charles Davis (play-by-play)
Evan Washburn (sideline)
Sports USA
98.5 The Sports Hub
79 degrees
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It’s safe to say Julian Edelman brings a much-needed energy to the field.
The New England Patriots needed a spark offensively and they might’ve found it.
Julian Edelman returned to practice on Wednesday for the first time since Week 7, where he underwent a knee procedure and was placed on the injured reserve list. The 34-year-old collected 21 receptions for 315 yards in those six games — with a career performance against the Seattle Seahawks with eight receptions for 179 yards.
After 14 weeks of play, Edelman is still the team’s third best receiver in the yards (315) behind Jakobi Meyers (505) and Damiere Byrd (566). His presence has been missed by everyone, but Cam Newton especially. Newton was growing a connection with the veteran and that was quickly taken away.
The Patriots likely won’t make the playoffs, but they can still finish out the final three games with pride. Here’s how three of the Patriots players’ reacted to Edelman’s return, via WEEI.
Gunner Olszewski
I think everybody took note of him. I was talking to him just yesterday, I was telling him, ‘I hope you’re out there.’ It gives us a little spark of energy. It’s Julian. He sets the tone. He’s been set the tone for not on the receiver room, but I think the team, for a long time. Having him out there, I think it brought a little spark back to everybody — a little pep in your step. JE11’s out there. That’s what I told him. I said, ‘It’s awesome having you out there.’
Damiere Byrd
It was great to be able to see somebody like him get back on the field. You never want to see a teammate get hurt. So being able to have him back after a number of weeks is exciting. I know he’s worked his tail off to get back on the field better. So I’m excited to see how he progressed.
Joe Thuney
Jules is a great leader, a lot of energy. So he’s just a great guy to have back. And yeah, I’m glad he’s back.
The Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills and New York Jets are the final three matchups of this unorthodox season.
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The Patriots do not have consistent enough talent at wide receiver.
As the New England Patriots trot through the rest of the 2020 season, it’s no secret that the passing game has been hit-or-miss for the team. Some games, the wide receivers look like the Patriots best positional unit. Other games, the wide receivers disappear. The 2020 season has been full of peaks and valleys for New England’s wide receivers, and the team in general
Even still, offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels has confidence in that unit. Speaking to the media on Tuesday, McDaniels indicated he thought the Patriots have enough talent at wide receiver to be successful and compete at the position every week.
“They work their butt off, and they’re doing what they can do each week to prepare and play their best,” he said. “I couldn’t ask any more of those guys with their attitude and effort and approach. I don’t worry about this, that and the other in terms of weapons and all that. We have enough people here to win, and we’ve got to do a better job of executing and putting those guys in positions to be productive.
I disagree with the sentiment that the Patriots have enough wide receivers to win. New England needs a true top wide receiver.
When you look at the Patriots receiving production, Damiere Byrd leads the team 566 yards and a touchdown. The next biggest producer is Jakobi Meyers who has caught 42 passes for 505 yards. Those two have been great producers in the receiving game, but they are not true wide receiving threats. N’Keal Harry is the next biggest producer at the position with 277 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Have the receivers play better in recent weeks? Sure, they have been able to offer some sort of offense. Is it enough to win football games? No, it is not. They have not been consistent enough throughout the season.
Harry is still struggling to find his groove in his second year, while Byrd would be better suited as a third wide receiver. He does have talent and speed, but his skill set does not lend itself to top wide receiver material.
The same is true of Meyers. He has what himself in a position to have a great year partly because of him standing out in an inexperienced group of wide receivers. He is not necessarily a player I would consider a top-tier wide receiver. He is a good wide receiver, but not one that can take over a ballgame consistently.
As for right now, the Patriots do not have enough wide receivers to win. They have a lot of good wide receivers that could fit better in complementary roles. There is nothing wrong with being a complementary wide receiver, but the New England Patriots definitely need a clear-cut top wide receiver if they want to win consistently. Right now, they do not have the horses to do so.
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Cam still has room to grow within this offense.
The New England Patriots’ offense has been historically tricky for skill players to learn.
Wide receivers, running backs and tight ends have all became frustrated and couldn’t stick with the team because of the difficulty of the playbook. Those difficulties are heightened to a completely different level when the person learning the playbook is also the commander of it. Tom Brady held the quarterback position down for 20 seasons, with intricate knowledge of every crevice the playbook carries.
Cam Newton, on the other hand, has been with the team through 13 weeks this season and still has some knowledge to obtain. The 31-year-old told reporters that he’s still learning this playbook as he goes.
“Honestly, I think what drives me is knowing that I have yet to play my best football,” Newton said, transcribed by WEEI. “Do I know certain things? Yes. Do you know how people are going to play you? No. And this game, I have always said it, it comes down to reacting and when that play is called – when Josh [McDaniels] gives the play call – that 40 seconds that you have to call the play, it really comes down to how do you react faster than the defense to executing.
Newton’s problem this season has been consistency and the Patriots don’t know what they’ll get on a weekly basis. It’s something he’s still working on.
“Have I done it consistently? Not to my liking, but I am getting there,” Newton continued. “It’s just a learning curve. It’s just learning each and every day in the famous words of a quote from Game of Thrones, ‘You know nothing, Jon Snow.’ That’s been my mentality each and every day. Just try and stay open-minded and learn as much as I possibly can because it may be some things and I understand how Josh works and it is so unbelievable to work with him because he makes so much in-game adjustments that you have to always to stay on your Ps and Qs because you will always say, ‘We went over that one time this week, coach. You can’t call that.’ That’s not how Josh works. He’s all about reacting to however the defense — whatever the defense gives him and you have to be ready to go and execute at a high level.
“With that being said, as far as adversity, as far as success, as far as what my expectation is, it never will change. I know that I don’t know enough and there’s also a side of me where I can say I came a long way in this system, but I am still learning. I think that is my [character] that each and every day I know that I have yet to play my best football and I am getting more and more comfortable all under the graces of obviously Dolla Bill [Bill Belichick], Mickey Ds [McDaniels] and coach Jedi [Jedd Fisch].”
Newton’s had stretches where he’s looked like the team’s future and stretches where he could be benched for Jarrett Stidham for the season. He’s on a one-year deal and these next four weeks will tell a lot about his future in New England.
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Fantasy football wavier wire claims and targets ahead of NFL Week 12.
Fantasy football has hit crunch time of the regular season and now, more than ever, a waiver wire pickup could make all the difference for your team.
With that, here are seven wavier wire claims to make in fantasy football ahead of Week 12:
