Tag: play

REPORT: Jaylen Waddle may return for national championship

Alabama receiver Jaylen Waddle injured his ankle on Oct. 24 against Tennessee, he was thought out for the season but might face Ohio State.

The Alabama Crimson Tide lost one of their most important pieces midway though the 2020 season when junior wide receiver Jaylen Waddle suffered an ankle injury that required surgery.

While Waddle’s injury hurt the Crimson Tide, it did not slow them down on their path to the national championship, which they will play for on Jan. 11 against Ohio State in Miami.

Rumors have swirled regarding his return. Fans were hopeful he would be back for the SEC Championship, then the Rose Bowl, neither of which he was active for.

AL.com’s Matt Zenitz reported today Waddle will return to practice tomorrow, a good sign that he could be a factor in the fight for championship No. 18 for Alabama.

There’s no official word from the program whether he will participate in the game, but more information should become available as he returns to the practice field.

Report: Matthew Stafford ‘preparing to play’ vs Titans

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport is reporting that Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford is “preparing to play” versus the Tennessee Titans in Week 15.

“It’s why no one ever wants to rule him out…”

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport is reporting that Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford (ribs/thumb) is “preparing to play” versus the Tennessee Titans in Week 15.

When Stafford went down in Week 14, it looked eerily similar to when he went down in 2019, when his season ended with a back injury. Initial reports suggested it was possible for him to play but “too early to tell”. When reports surfaced of a rib cartilage injury, most were preparing for the worst.

Despite missing a week’s worth of practices, interim coach Darrell Bevell insisted there were no conversations surrounding shutting him down.

Stafford has a history of being able to play through injuries, and reports have been consistently positive that the chances of him playing were real. Now we know there was some fire to those smoke signals, and Stafford will once again play through a painful injury.

“You guys have seen it,” Bevell said. “You guys have covered this team way longer than I have been here, and you know what he’s done and what he’s played through. So I’m not putting him past (playing).”

As far as being prepared to play without practicing, this is something Stafford proved he could do earlier this season when he was forced to miss all of Week 9 practices due to a close contact COVID-19 situation, but he still was able to suit up against the Vikings that Sunday.

The competitor is Stafford is alive and well.

Big Ten members confident presidents, chancellors will approve plan to play football in 2020

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published by Jeff Potrykus of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and has been republished in full below. MADISON, Wis. – For the first time since the Big Ten shut down all fall sports on Aug. 11, people …

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published by Jeff Potrykus of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and has been republished in full below. 

MADISON, Wis. — For the first time since the Big Ten shut down all fall sports on Aug. 11, people familiar with the decision have transitioned from hopeful to confident the league’s football teams will play in 2020.

Those people told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel they expect the Big Ten’s Council of Presidents and Chancellors will vote to start the season, with the target date Oct. 17.

The Council of Presidents and Chancellors voted, 11-3, last month to shut down all Big Ten fall sports because of concerns over the coronavirus pandemic.

Ohio State, Nebraska and Iowa were the three schools that voted to play.

Nine votes will be needed to reverse the original decision, and Wisconsin is expected to vote yes this time.

The people who spoke on the condition of anonymity reiterated that reliable, rapid testing has played a critical role and helped turn the tide in the favor of trying to play this year.

[lawrence-related id=23318]

Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez has consistently talked about the importance of such tests, beginning with a Zoom session on Aug. 11.

The Big Ten’s medical subcommittee on Saturday made a formal presentation to the league’s presidential steering committee, which features presidents/chancellors from eight schools.

The 14-member Council of Presidents and Chancellors is scheduled to briefed Sunday on the medical updates.

The council could approve the plan Sunday or Monday.

An Oct. 17 start date would be critical for Wisonsin because Alvarez, the chairperson of the Big Ten’s return to competition task force, announced Wednesday that the football and men’s hockey workouts were being shut down for two weeks.

Alvarez said on his monthly radio show that, according to head coach Paul Chryst, Wisconsin would require only three weeks of prep time to play an opener.

An Oct. 17 start would allow Big Ten teams to play eight games in a nine-week window, with a league title game on Dec. 19.

The College Football Playoff field is scheduled to be revealed on Dec. 20.

[lawrence-related id=23290]

Voting to play football this fall would cap a month that has brought tumult, dissension and embarrassment to the league since commissioner Kevin Warren announced the shutdown.

That announcement, which included an eight-paragraph statement and generic comments by Warren on the Big Ten Network, came six days after Big Ten officials revealed a 10-game schedule, featuring only league games.

The lack of transparency in announcing the shutdown, as well as Warren’s disappearance for nearly a week, led fans from Ohio State, Penn State, Nebraska and Iowa to release letters demanding specific answers.

Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields started a petition on Aug. 16 requesting the league reverse its decision. More than 250,000 people joined the petition by the next day.

Questions lingered about whether the Council of Presidents and Chancellors held a formal vote or if Warren drove the decision to shut down fall sports.

Warren responded on Aug. 19 by releasing a more detailed explanation of the decision but that did little to satisfy parents, players and coaches from several schools.

A group of eight Nebraska players filed a lawsuit on Aug. 27 seeking a reversal of the league’s decision and President Donald Trump became involved on Sept. 1 when he spoke to Warren before visiting Kenosha.

[lawrence-related id=23250]

Ohio State coach Ryan Day on Thursday released a statement on Twitter blasting the lack of communication from the league since the original decision.

He is final line was blunt:

“Our players want to know: why can’t they play?”

Approving the plan to start up football will be a critical step, but Big Ten teams could face issues trying to deal with COVID-19.

SMU, TCU, Virginia Tech, North Carolina State, Baylor, Oklahoma State, Virginia and Tulsa are among the teams that have been forced to postpone games already this season.

The league’s football coaches and athletic directors understand the road ahead could be rocky but they are convinced they’ll be able to take that first step on Oct. 17.

[lawrence-related id=23311,23281,23268,23047]

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis pushes for college sports to play this fall

DeSantis said many student-athletes are safer on campus and in the structured environment that football provides than otherwise.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published at USA TODAY Sports and has been republished in its entirety below. 

With the Mid-American Conference canceling its football season this fall and Big Ten presidents voting against playing in the fall, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is still hopeful that other Power Five conferences will be able to play.

“The Big Ten college presidents may have a little different sense of this. I think the Southeastern Conference, ACC, most of those institutions want to play because I think they see how important it is for the well-being of their student-athletes,” DeSantis said Monday on Fox Sports Radio. “I’m 100 percent in favor of it.”

Speaking with host Clay Travis, DeSantis endorsed the #WeWantToPlay movement, championed by Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence, which calls for the major conferences to take steps to ensure games can be played this fall.

DeSantis said many student-athletes are safer on campus and in the structured environment that football provides than they would be otherwise in regard to coronavirus.

“Very few of the folks in that cohort are becoming seriously ill,” he said. “Just because you test positive, most of these athletes really never actually end up getting ill.”

However, the long-term effects of the novel coronavirus are not fully known. A recent study found about a quarter of young adults were still not back to their normal health weeks after contracting the infection.

DeSantis said he not only wants to see football played on college campuses this fall, but at high schools across Florida as well.

“Keeping kids out of school and denying them the ability, those who want to to play sports, those are going to have long-term ramifications,” he said. “You’ll be dealing with problems I think for society for years and years to come.”

He said he plans to go to a lot of high school games this fall to show his support. Noting that Florida has already conducted a NASCAR race with limited fans in the stands, as well as hosting the NBA’s bubble, DeSantis said the return of sports is important for the country as a whole in getting back to normal.

“You see everybody else is playing — the NBA, Major League Baseball … the PGA (Tour) … soccer is playing — there’s no reason we can’t play high school and college athletics,” he said. “It’s very, very important.”

[lawrence-related id=20271,20144,20130,20100,20085]

Broncos QB Drew Lock told Courtland Sutton what route to run on 1st TD pass

Before he threw his first touchdown pass in the NFL, quarterback Drew Lock told wide receiver Courtland Sutton which route to run.

Broncos quarterback Drew Lock made his NFL debut on Sunday and threw his first touchdown pass to wide receiver Courtland Sutton, a 26-yard toss that was caught with one hand by the talented receiver.

Lock later threw another touchdown pass to Sutton and Denver went on to beat the Chargers 23-20. After the game, Sutton revealed that Lock told him what route to run for the duo’s first score of the game.

“You know what’s crazy, Drew actually told me — I wasn’t supposed to run that route,” Sutton said. “Drew told me to run it, which I was happy that he told me to do, because I’m not going to go off-schedule.

“But him telling me to do it, it was awesome, and it was cool to be able to get a touchdown from him and get us rolling, get his confidence going and get the momentum on our side.”

Broncos coach Vic Fangio explained during his Monday press conference that the play was “tagged” with multiple options. Lock “had the ability to change the route,” the coach said. It turned out to be the right decision — thanks in large part to Sutton’s brilliant catch.

“Amazing is not even a good word for how great of a catch that was,” Lock said Sunday evening. “He’s been making plays left and right for us and I think he is a top receiver in this league without a doubt.”

[vertical-gallery id=628662]