Now entering his ninth year in the NFL, Seahawks safety Quandre Diggs is feeling “just right” after his leg injury and contract extension.
Seattle Seahawks safety Quandre Diggs had a brutal finish to his season last year, dislocating his ankle and breaking his fibula in Week 18 against the Arizona Cardinals. The seasoned veteran has managed an impressive recovery amongst immense pressure to return to camp healthy.
“I am just right,” Diggs told reporters last week. “I am just where God wants me to be and for me it is important for me to get out here and be out here with my teammates as much as I can, so for me I am just taking it one day at a time and for me just being blessed and living in the moment for the most part. I got a beautiful family and getting a beautiful opportunity to come out here and be around the guys and be back with my coaches, so it’s really dope.”
Diggs signed a contract extension with the Seahawks in March, keeping him in Seattle for the next three seasons. Now entering his ninth year in the NFL, he isn’t taking his recovery or his contract for granted.
“You can always feel settled, but you can never get comfortable,” Diggs explained. “So for me I’m happy to be here for another three years and at the end of the day you know I still got work to do and still got stuff to prove, so for me you can never just think you are settled in somewhere and think everything is fine and dandy because it’s a business at the end of the day.”
Diggs and the rest of the Seahawks return to the practice field on Monday afternoon.
We rounded up our best gluten-free recipes for soups, dips, donuts, pizza, pies, and more.
Once upon a time, gluten-free dishes were hard to find or else poor substitutes for “the real deal.” Those days are long gone, but you might be surprised to learn what can be made gluten-free these days. We rounded up some of our favorite gluten-free recipes for soups, dips, donuts, pizza, pies, tacos, and more.
The dishes below include the following appetizers, side dishes, main courses, and desserts.
After an ankle sprain in the preseason, #Chiefs’ starting RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire says he feels “100% healthy” ahead of the season opener.
In just a few short days the Kansas City Chiefs will open the 2021 NFL season against the Cleveland Browns at Arrowhead Stadium.
Heading into the game it looks like Kansas City will have their full cast of players available on offense. That includes starting running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire, who suffered a slight ankle sprain during the preseason.
“I feel 100% healthy and right now I’m ready to go,” Edwards-Helaire told reporters on Wednesday.
Edwards-Helaire didn’t play against the Browns during the playoffs last season, as he was also dealing with ankle and hip injuries. Now, behind a newly-rebuilt offensive line, Edwards-Helaire will provide an extra edge for the offense that the Chiefs didn’t have in the divisional round.
In addition to feeling healthy, Edwards-Helaire also feels more prepared for the season than he did last year. Last season’s COVID-19-altered offseason program, threw him into the fire. With a traditional offseason in the same system, he’s feeling much more comfortable.
“Oh yeah, most definitely,” Edwards-Helaire said. “Just really having that off time, my first time being able to have the same offense since my junior year of high school. Every year at LSU was a different offense going into the next season, so this is the first time I’ve actually had the same offense going into the offseason, so I feel pretty prepared.”
An area of his game that Edwards-Helaire sought to improve after his rookie season was the passing game, as a receiver and a blocker. While he’s still chasing improvement, he feels things have been trending in the right direction. He also feels he’s earned the trust of his coaches and teammates, specifically, when working in pass protection.
“Everything was about just trending in the right direction and nobody’s going to be 100 percent perfect at everything,” Edwards-Helaire said. “But I’m confident, EB’s [Eric Bieniemy] confident, Pat’s [Patrick Mahomes] confident, and that’s really the biggest thing. Having Pat standing next to me and really knowing, as far as protection and understanding the scheme, he knows what’s going on, but ultimately, really picking up the guy that needs to be picked up man. Right now, everything’s hitting the nail on the head, so I feel more than confident.”
A healthy, prepared and confident Edwards-Helaire should provide a nice boost for the offense in Week 1. Last season, as unprepared as he felt, Edwards-Helaire opened the year with one of his biggest games. He carried the ball 25 times for 138 yards and one touchdown against the Houston Texans. A repeat performance like that in the season opener would go a long way toward a 1-0 start to the season for Kansas City.
A healthy Tua with a full offseason? The NFL better watch out.
Former Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was drafted No. 5 overall in the 2020 NFL draft. While many believed he would remain on the sidelines for his rookie season to fully heal from a devastating hip injury, he did not.
Tagovailoa started for the Miami Dolphins in the latter half of the 2020 season, and that decision is still questioned by fans and analysts for various reasons.
In 2019, Tagovailoa’s final collegiate season was cut short due to the aforementioned hip injury that required surgery–some believe it could have been career-ending.
The Hawaiian quarterback sensation has suffered various injuries, including his knee, ankle, wrist and shoulder.
A popular narrative is that he’s injury prone. Well, he’s looking healthy from any and all injuries in this latest training video, which shows Tagovailoa running at full speed, making sharp cuts and quickly stopping mid-run.
The Seattle Seahawks have one of the healthiest rosters of their season heading into the wild-card game against the Los Angeles Rams.
The Seattle Seahawks issued their final injury report of the week and it’s the shortest it’s been all season heading into the playoffs.
Only two players appeared on the list, cornerback Shaquill Griffin with a hamstring injury and defensive tackle Jarran Reed with a sore oblique. Both players are questionable to play Saturday against the Rams in the wild-card round.
Coach Pete Carroll gave an update on Griffin and Reed during his Thursday press conference after the walkthrough.
Griffin, who did not participate in practice, should be ready to go on Saturday.
“It’s not related (to the previous hamstring injury), it’s just a little bit tight,” Carroll told reporters. “We just want to give him a day.”
As for Reed, he was limited in practice and should be good to go as well.
“He practiced today and he did fine,” Carroll said. “We kind of managed him as he got through it to make sure that we’re doing the right thing, and we feel like he made it through and he’s ready to go.”
Kickoff against the Rams is set for 1:40 p.m. PT on Saturday at Lumen Field.
Alabama wide receiver Jaylen Waddle could be targeting the SEC Championship this upcoming Saturday as a return date from his ankle injury.
Alabama lost one of the most explosive players in college football, and a key piece to their lethal offense when Jaylen Waddle suffered a fractured ankle on the opening kickoff against Tennessee in October.
The Crimson Tide survived, winning every game without Waddle, and introduced some young stars such as Slade Bolden and Jahleel Billingsley.
While they have been playing well, it doesn’t mean they won’t welcome back a healthy Waddle – and that’s what Saban may have on his hands.
In a video posted to Instagram by fellow wide receiver DeVonta Smith, Waddle can be seen moving around, smiling without a walking boot.
Is he back? What does this mean for Alabama? What does this mean for Florida?
No definitive answers can be given just yet, but these are definitely good signs.
The video can be seen below, and it does contain explitive language.
Okafor is back healthy in the nick of time for the Kansas City Chiefs.
When the Kansas City Chiefs signed Alex Okafor back in 2019 they had envisioned him as a complement to Frank Clark. For the majority of that season, that’s exactly what he was until he suffered a season-ending pectoral injury. So far in 2020, Okafor has seldom been available to play due to two separate hamstring injuries. Injury has been the story of his career in Kansas City.
The veteran defensive end recently returned from injured reserve, feeling healthy and refreshed. He saw his first action in his return against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 11, playing 22 snaps. On Friday, Okafor spoke to the media, voicing his frustrations while sidelined by the various injuries.
“It’s just frustrating, man,” Okafor told reporters. “Going over the past two years, the injuries have been frustrating, but all you can do is look forward. I’m healthy, we’re 9-1, who wouldn’t want to be in the position I’m in? That’s what I’m looking at. Our defense, we’re still getting better. There’s plenty of opportunity for me to come in and help this defense and that’s what I’m looking forward to. I’m looking forward and I’m just moving forward as well.”
There is a silver lining to Okafor’s injury troubles this season. He returns to the team as fresh as can be, which could prove to be important as the depth at the position has taken hits throughout the year. Most recently, the team lost Taco Charlton for an extended period of time with an ankle fracture.
“Yeah, absolutely,” Okafor said. “You know how it is, you get to this point of the season and it seems like everybody is missing a few pieces. Especially along the offensive and defensive line. For this team to be able to pick up a healthy piece within myself, I think it’ll be an advantage for us and an advantage for me. I’ll be able to go longer and be fresher towards the end and I think that’ll be huge for me.”
In this upcoming game, Okafor knows the importance of getting pressure on the quarterback. In 2019, during one of his final games prior to his injury, Okafor secured a key sack, holding Tom Brady and the Patriots to a field goal. It doesn’t matter that Brady is with a new team, he knows that pressure can is the only thing you can do to affect him.
“It’s everything,” Okafor said. “You have to get pressure in the middle of the pocket. I think the whole NFL knows that. Tom Brady is the GOAT. He’s the best quarterback that has ever played this game. The only way to affect him is to push through the middle. We know that, everybody else knows that. Now, we’ve got to get it done.”
In the end, Okafor is happy to get back out there with his teammates. He won’t dwell on the past and he’ll make the most of his opportunities moving forward no matter what the future holds for him in Kansas City.
“I’m happy with the opportunity I have,” Okafor said. “I can help this D-line and I can help this team and that’s what I plan on doing.”
Okafor can help execute that plan beginning on Sunday with a big game against Brady and the Bucs.
For the first time in years, Clark feels healthy and fresh heading into the season.
Kansas City Chiefs DE Frank Clark didn’t get off to the start that he wanted to with his new team in 2019. He was stymied by a neck injury, which prevented him from making a big impact with the Chiefs early on in the season. This year, things are different for Clark, who revealed to reporters on Thursday that he’s feeling the best he has in years.
I am feeling better, you know,” Clark said. “Like I said, our staff here did a great job and just me coming back in from our offseason and just figuring out, you know, getting everything corrected in order so that I could start this season off fresher than I did last year. Also, just getting through camp, I started off camp a little sick but was able to come back midway playing and finish out camp strong and just get my feet under myself and that was my goal just to start the season healthier than I had started the past previous years. You could say dating back about three years ago, seems like I started every season with a different injury. You know whether it was an elbow, or whether it was a neck or whether it was, this or that, it was just something different and just to start this season off and continue to go into the week strong and to be out there with my guys, it’s just dope man. Seeing my results and being able to just be out there and competing and talk my stuff like I do.”
Clark felt healthier and he also looked it too during Thursday night’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers. He was quicker off the ball and racked up the second-most pressures on the night, with five pressures against the Texans. He hasn’t done any specific work to improve in that area, just relying on the fundamentals and work ethic first instilled in him back when he was a Michigan Wolverine.
“No, I’ve been working on my get off and just doing different stuff like that for my whole career really,” Clark said. “I kind of picked up the habit back in the day. I had a defensive coordinator in college, Greg Mattison, he kind of coached my position as well and he kind of taught me a lot of things just throughout the course of a practice. Your hips get locked, your hips get tight from you being on the field working in between reps and stuff like that. So, I do stuff like that just to stay loose, constantly just training my mind, training my body, that repetitive muscle memory just getting off the bar and just staying on top of those things like that.”
Like fellow defensive leader Tyrann Mathieu, Clark was pissed off following Thursday’s win over the Texans. He knows that they need to tighten things up on defense, even in garbage time.
“That’s the word because you pride yourself on stopping the run, finishing the game strong as a defense,” Clark explained. “And I feel like we stopped the run, for the most part, let a few at the end of the game get away. Deshaun (Watson) had a few scrambles as we were rushing the passer when the game was obviously in our hands. But you know, just finishing games, we gave up two touchdowns, I believe in the fourth quarter, when the guys were – we had them held to seven points at that point, and just finishing the game, finishing drives, not let them have extended drives where you can get off the field on the first series, and then you let them extend them, then it stands to a touchdown, stuff like that. We had some good signs, no penalties on defense, stuff like that. So there were some good signs. . . .”
As for the upcoming matchup with the Los Angeles Chargers, Clark is familiar with their new QB Tyrod Taylor. He’s well aware of the type of damage he can do in the ground game and will put an emphasis on discipline.
“He’s a veteran, so he understands systems, he understands blitzes and schemes, and he’s very familiar with of course, different players within our team. I’ve played him when I was back in Seattle, I played him a few times when he was in Buffalo. Even now, even with the Chargers, he’s always been known as an elusive quarterback. If you let him get on the run and allow him to get comfortable in the direction in which he likes throwing, he’s going to make some completions, he’s going to make some big plays. You’ve seen, what was it last week, you watch on film, you watch from his past, if you don’t do a disciplined job rushing the passer on the edges containing the passer on the inside, getting the inside push up the middle and forcing him to bubble or force him to make tough decisions and stuff throws over – you want to force him to make those over the middle. His strength, just throwing to the outside and really throwing those quick routes and stuff over the middle, so you know it’s going to be key for our inside and for our edges and defensive line as a unit to keep him contained.”
Clark, like the rest of the team, has his eyes on another Lombardi Trophy. He knows that he’ll have to take things one week at a time to get there and containing an athletic QB with veteran savvy is the next challenge that he’ll face. Rejuvenated and energized, Clark sounds ready to attack that challenge with the same type of ferocity and effort that we saw to end the 2019 season.
Former Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa tells the media about his relationship with veteran QB Ryan Fitzpatrick and how he’s helping him.
Former Alabama star quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is getting adjusted to his new life as an NFL signal caller with the Miami Dolphins. Part of the adjustment is getting acquainted with the incumbent quarterback, Ryan Fitzpatrick.
Despite being the No. 5 overall selection in the 2020 NFL draft, Tagovailoa is not expected to immediately start for the South Florida franchise. This is due to his hip injury from last November, and it also allows him more time to establish a presence within the team and learn the playbook.
While he may be No. 2 on the depth chart, he has already been a focal point for Dolphins fans and NFL fans, alike.
During Thursday’s virtual media availability Tagovailoa showed up wearing a Fitzpatrick jersey and had high praise for the veteran traveling quarterback.
Will Manso, the Sports Director for WPLG in Miami posted a clip from the online press conference that showed Tagovailoa discussing his relationship with Fitzpatrick.
The 2018 Heisman finalist talks about recently meeting Fitzpatrick’s family for the first time via FaceTime. He commends the 37-year old quarterback for being a family man and a leader.
A funny anecdote within the story tells of Fitzpatrick forgetting to introduce Tagovaioa to two of his six children.
“To me, it’s kind of mind boggling how down to earth he is,” Tagovailoa says. “It’s one of those things where this guy gets it. I don’t know what it is, but he gets it. The saying goes true. it says, ‘if you want to get somewhere fast, you go it alone, but if you want to do it with purpose, you bring people with you.'”
Tagovailoa also praises Fitzpatrick for supporting and “promoting” himself and Josh Rosen.
You can watch the full clip below.
Tua Tagovailoa on his relationship with Ryan Fitzpatrick and meeting Fitzy’s big family recently. pic.twitter.com/Gem4FSi7Ug
There’s no telling when Tagoavailoa will make his NFL debut. Videos have been posted of him participating at full speed with no limitations in Dolphins training camp, which is a good sign that he’s on schedule to appear in-game during the 2020 season.
Dr. Warner Greene is a senior virologist at the Gladstone Institutes in California, he gives his take on if CFB in 2020 will be safe.
The Coronavirus pandemic has left the mass public with a lot of questions regarding when the United States will return to some sense of normalcy. One aspect of everyday life that many in the past never questioned was if there will be a college football season.
Whether it be Alabama, LSU or Clemson, some of the most noteworthy college football programs seem to have already had players affected by the virus.
Numbers of those infected are growing everyday across the country, and that is paired with a rising number of deaths due to the Coronavirus.
What can college football programs do in order to ensure the safety of their players, coaches and countless other staff members that are involved in keeping everything in motion behind the scenes.
Photo credit: Jake Crandall
Dr. Warner Greene, MD, Ph. D, is a senior virologist at the Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco, California and a Senior Investigator with a focus on HIV Cure Research. He is also self-admittedly, a bigger college basketball fan than he is a college football fan, Stanford to be specific.
Dr. Greene has spent over 25 years focusing on HIV, however has recently had to shift his laboratory focus on researching the Coronavirus.
A common argument, when discussing COVID-19, is that younger people in good health, who contract the virus, won’t suffer any adverse health effects. Dr. Greene claims that young people, like those that would be playing college football, aren’t immune to those dangerous effects of the virus.
“While young people, in general, have this sense that they can handle this, I think some of that false security is prompting some of the social behavior of young people,” says Dr. Greene. “They are not completely immune to the adverse effects of this virus, and they certainly can serve as transmitters of the virus to people who clearly are at higher risk.”
Transmitting the virus to those at higher risk is an issue often overlooked when discussing the return of collegiate athletics. While the athletes will more than likely not suffer greatly from contracting the virus, what about those at higher risk?
“The fact is that most young people will handle the virus fine, they may have minimal symptoms or just moderate symptoms,” says Dr. Greene. “But the greatest risk that they pose is the transmission of the virus to more susceptible people. In general, that’s a people of a greater age.”
Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports
The CDC states that people in their 60s and 70s are at a higher risk of severe illness from contracting the Coronavirus. Alabama’s head coach, Nick Saban, will be turning 69-years old during the 2020 college football season, therefore, he is at a high risk of severe illness if contracting it from just one of his asymptomatic, seemingly healthy, players.
The NBA recently announced they will be resuming their season with players and staff under strict quarantine, or a “bubble,” at Disney World in Orlando, Florida to ensure the health and safety of everyone involved. Why can’t colleges do that?
The care and attention student-athletes require are from people that can’t be quarantined along with them, such as teachers, multi-sport trainers, conditioning staff and more. Whereas at the professional level, each team has their staff dedicated to working solely with their limited number of athletes.
So what can collegiate programs do to play and practice in a way that won’t put everyone at risk?
Dr. Greene believes that if there is a college football season, it will be played without fans in the stadium.
He also argues that the only way for programs to keep everyone healthy is for teams to invest in testing. The virologist’s golden question is: “Can you keep your college team healthy?”
“The only way to do that is to be frequently testing, almost on a daily basis, testing members of the team, so that you can immediately remove someone that’s infected and their immediate contacts, but almost in real time,” says Dr. Greene. “That’s the only way to try and keep the team as healthy as possible. And even that may not be perfect.”
The ability to test for the Coronavirus on a daily basis is now available, the testing machine Dr. Greene has at his facility cost upwards of $50,000 and can produce results in minutes. The prices can vary, but this is a rough estimate of one investment programs will have to make if they want football.
At the end of the day, he believes that the universities will have to make their own decisions on playing in 2020.
“I think every university’s going to have to make their own calculations on that,” says Dr. Greene. “We have not yet learned how to effectively live with this virus. We now understand that you can’t open up your society when viruses are still rampant within the community. You cannot stop wearing mass, we cannot stop social distancing. It’s a balance between the quality of life, the economy and the virus.”
To boil it all down, the most important thing a program or university can do is test for the virus, among other important safety precautions.
“The only way forward is it depends upon testing, otherwise you are going to have a lot of sick athletes and your’e going to have a lot of potentially sick coaches.”
Alabama is set to start their season on Sept. 5 against Southern California, a place that has seen a rising number of cases, in Dallas, Texas, which is considered to be one of the country’s newest hotbeds for the virus.
