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Rich Cimini, ESPN Staff WriterAug 22, 2023, 01:01 PM ET
Close- Rich Cimini is a staff writer who covers the New York Jets and the NFL at ESPN. Rich has covered the Jets for over 30 years, joining ESPN in 2010. Rich also hosts the Flight Deck podcast. He previously was a beat writer for the New York Daily News and is a graduate of Syracuse University. You can follow him via Twitter @RichCimini.
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — New York Jets coach Robert Saleh believes it’s in the best interest of the team to play quarterback Aaron Rodgers in the final preseason game, bad history and injury risk be damned.
“You can’t coach scared, you can’t play scared,” Saleh said Tuesday, confirming that Rodgers will start Saturday against the New York Giants. “You can slip out of your car and have something happen to you. Knock on wood, everyone will be fine.”
Rodgers, 39, who sat out the first three games and hasn’t played in the preseason since 2018, said he was in favor of playing even before Saleh broached the idea.
“There wasn’t much of a conversation with Robert,” Rodgers said. “I think he was a little more nervous I might have said no, but I was already leaning toward asking him to play. So, it was an easy conversation.”
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With the season opener less than three weeks away, Saleh wants Rodgers to get acclimated to MetLife Stadium and its atmosphere before facing the
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Eric Woodyard, ESPNAug 17, 2023, 10:00 AM ET
Close- Eric Woodyard covers the Detroit Lions for ESPN. He joined ESPN in September 2019 as an NBA reporter dedicated to the Midwest region before switching to his current role in April 2021. The Flint, Mich. native is a graduate of Western Michigan University and has authored/co-authored three books: “Wasted, Ethan’s Talent Search” and “All In: The Kelvin Torbert Story”. He is a proud parent of one son, Ethan. You can follow him on Twitter: @E_Woodyard
ALLEN PARK, Mich. — There’s “a good chance” Detroit Lions second-year wide receiver Jameson Williams will miss the remainder of the preseason, according to coach Dan Campbell.
Williams exited Wednesday’s joint practice session with the Jacksonville Jaguars early to enter the locker room after hurting his leg in midstride while running a deep ball route during 7-on-7s. He was grabbing the right hamstring area.
He is already set to miss the first six games of the 2023 regular season for violating the NFL’s gambling policy, so this will likely end his on-field availability. He was eligible to participate in all offseason and preseason activities, including preseason games, before the suspension takes effect at the final roster cutdown.
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“He misses the reps. That’s a chance to get full-speed, full-tilt reps, the timing of the pass game, lining up, all of it. Moving versus press, through the zones … it’s just time on task,” Campbell said Thursday. “So, yeah, there will be a setback with it, but listen, you take it as it comes. I’m not gonna sweat it, as long as he’s willing to continue to grind on the playbook and get it right, we’ll take it as it goes.”
However, Campbell and the Lions staff will look to challenge the ruling on whether they are able to treat the injury while Williams is gone for the suspension.
“Technically, no, but we’re looking into that,” Campbell said.
The Lions were hoping to give Williams a ton of reps during the preseason for live game action. During Friday’s game against the
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Alaina Getzenberg, ESPNAug 12, 2023, 07:18 PM ET
Close- Alaina Getzenberg is a staff writer who covers the Buffalo Bills and the NFL. She joined ESPN in 2021. Alaina was previously a beat reporter for the Charlotte Observer and has also worked for CBS Sports and the Dallas Morning News. She is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley. You can follow her via Twitter @agetzenberg.
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The butterflies aren’t something that Damar Hamlin anticipates going away. And they aren’t new either.
When Hamlin was younger, he would get very nervous before games, so much so that he wouldn’t be able to do anything else. His dad, Mario, told him that it was a good thing to be nervous. “‘You know that mean you care. That mean you ready,'” Damar Hamlin recalled his father saying.
The Buffalo Bills’ preseason opener against the Indianapolis Colts, a 23-19 victory Saturday, marked the 25-year-old’s first football game since suffering cardiac arrest during a regular-season matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals on Jan. 2.
Hamlin said that the first hit — which came on the second of back-to-back blitzes in which he made the final tackle on running back Evan Hull on a fourth-and-1 play in the middle of the first quarter to get the ball back to the Bills’ offense — took a little weight off his shoulders.
But the butterflies before that first hit takes place in a game, which he described as universal for athletes, is something he expects to remain.
“When I’m feeling those nerves and I’m feeling those emotions, it just means I, it means I love, I really love this,” Hamlin said, whose first play back was a kickoff. “I love this, like, I want to be here. I want to play, I want to do good. I want to be one of the greats. I want to be remembered as somebody who, you know, stood for something and who made a difference when I was out there on the field.”
Hamlin said he was able to manage his emotions going into the game through his preparation, doing extra work during the week, including extra tackling, but on the field, he played without hesitation, saying, “You put yourself at risk by hesitating.” He said he was feeling the emotions of his return all at once during the day, but that he has people around him who have helped his mindset.
Hamlin, who has been a full participant at practice since early June during OTAs, played both special teams and safety in his first game back with 20 defensive snaps on the second-team defense and four special teams snaps (about one quarter of play in total). He didn’t exactly have a quiet return to game action. The third-year safety recorded three tackles in the game, each met with a loud cheer from the crowd when his name was announced in the stadium.
His return, which Hamlin described as “another milestone” and a “step in the right direction,” was hailed by head coach Sean McDermott as “remarkable.”
“It’s a true sign of a young man’s courage and obviously everyone who helped him get to this point,” McDermott said. “I know there was a football game going on out there today, but I mean truly remarkable display of courage and strength and faith. I had a chance to communicate with Damar a little bit last night, and he assured me he was ready to go. So, he trusts his preparation and God. I think that shows a lot about who he is.”
McDermott said that the meeting with Hamlin on Friday night was to check in with him and to emphasize the support that he has and that there was no pressure from McDermott to play in the game. Throughout Hamlin’s return, the team has emphasized to Hamlin and publicly that it is going to go at his pace from both a mental and physical perspective.
Extra caution still remains, however, from those who care for him with McDermott, who had his first game as the Bills’ defensive playcaller, taking advantage of a brief thunderstorm delay to the pregame warmups to talk to the team doctors and to make sure there would be eyes on Hamlin.
“I was just kind of sitting near [the doctors], I said, ‘Hey, you’re going to watch him, right? Extra close today.’ They assured that they would,” McDermott said. “It’s hard for me to do that. I certainly watch him when I can, but I know he’s in good hands with those docs, as well.”
Hamlin was ready to go and easy to spot with his red arm band and gloves on a day that he described as “super fun,” but he acknowledged the plethora of emotions that he felt and continues to feel. He made a guest appearance early in the game, running from the sideline to celebrate with his longtime friend from the Pittsburgh area and former Pitt teammate, cornerback Dane Jackson, when Jackson caught an interception on the first defensive series of the game.
“It was great to see him back out there,” Jackson said.
While there were requests for Hamlin’s jersey after the game, including from former Bills wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie, this one had to go to his mom, Nina, who was in the stands. Hamlin described her as “my backbone my entire life,” while his dad, Mario, and 8-year-old brother, Damir, were back home at Damir’s football game with Mario coaching. Damar Hamlin checked in during his own game to see how his brother’s Sto-Rox Little Vikings football team, was doing — it won 7-0.
Next for Hamlin is a preseason game in his hometown against the Steelers next Saturday, but before he gets to that, the next milestone is pretty simple: “Practice tomorrow.”
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Josh Weinfuss, ESPN Staff WriterAug 9, 2023, 04:42 PM ET
Close- Josh Weinfuss is a staff writer who covers the Arizona Cardinals and the NFL at ESPN. Josh has covered the Cardinals since 2012, joining ESPN in 2013. He is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America and a graduate of Indiana University. You can follow him via Twitter @joshweinfuss.
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Arizona Cardinals running back Marlon Mack, who signed with the team on Friday, will miss the rest of the season with an Achilles injury, coach Jonathan Gannon said Wednesday.
Mack, 27, suffered the injury to his left Achilles midway through Tuesday’s practice and did not return. He tore his right Achilles early in the 2020 season, when he was with the Indianapolis Colts.
Gannon was Indianapolis’ defensive backs coach that year as well.
“Terrible,” said Gannon, when asked how he felt about Mack’s injury.
Gannon declined to go into the conversations he’s had with Mack since the injury.
After his first practice with the team on Saturday, Mack said he hoped to show the Cardinals enough to make the 53-man roster and that he felt like a “deer” on the field with fresh legs.
After his first five seasons with the Colts, Mack spent last season with the San Francisco 49ers and the Denver Broncos, totaling 185 rushing yards and a touchdown in eight games.
Overall, he’s rushed for 2,568 yards and 21 TDs in six seasons. He’s also caught 65 career passes for 547 yards and three more scores.