Eagles head coach Doug Pederson confirmed on Monday that middle linebacker Jordan Hicks broke a bone in his hand while on his honeymoon earlier this summer, an injury that required a “minor procedure.” Hicks will be limited to start training camp.

“He’s a veteran player, understands his role, I’m not going to rush him out there and try to reinjure that thing,” said Pederson, who stated that he doesn’t expect his linebacker to miss any time.

Hicks’ injury reportedly occurred while getting out of a pool during his honeymoon in Greece in late June.

Hicks missed half of his rookie season in 2015 with a torn pectoral muscle. He also dealt with significant injuries at the University of Texas, including a torn Achilles, a hip flexor and a fractured foot.

Hicks, 25, was able to play all 16 games last season and established himself as a foundational piece of the Eagles defense. He had 85 tackles, five interceptions, a sack and 11 passes defenses while manning the middle for defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz. His five interceptions led the team and were the most among NFL linebackers. He now has seven picks in 24 professional games.

Pederson added that wide receiver Jordan Matthews could be limited in the early stages of training camp as well as he continues to deal with knee tendinitis.

“I’m not concerned. I know Jordan’s work ethic, I know the type of person and player that he is, and we’ve just got to stay on top of it, obviously,” Pederson said. “He’s been rehabbing all spring, all summer … just another one that we’ll monitor as we go.”

Matthews, 25, suffered what was termed a bone bruise in his left knee during training camp last August. He was hobbled by various injuries throughout the season, including a sprained ankle that he suffered in late November. He was also sidelined for much of the spring. Nelson Agholor received the bulk of his reps in the slot and really stood out.

Paris Saint-Germain’s triggering of Neymar’s €222-million release clause has left the Brazilian forward with a headache-inducing conundrum over his future, says his former Santos colleague Andre.

Barcelona fans were given faint hope that Neymar had committed to staying in Catalonia when teammate Gerard Pique posted a picture of them together on Instagram, accompanied by the caption: “He stays.”

Related: Pique posts picture with Neymar, claims Brazilian will stay at Barcelona

A source apparently close to Neymar then told ESPN FC that he had “no idea” why Pique shared the image, with recent accounts claiming Neymar’s father had held successful contract negotiations with Paris Saint-Germain on his son’s behalf.

“I cannot speak for him,” Andre told L’Equipe about the possible world-record transfer, with translation from ESPN FC. “It is a complicated negotiation process and there is a lot of money at stake in something like this. In any case, Paris is a great city and if he goes there, he will love it, that is certain.

“I know that he has a massive headache because of this right now. It is not an easy decision. In Paris, he will be surrounded by his friends. That does not mean he is uncomfortable at Barca though. On the contrary, he actually feels very good there. Because of that, his choice has been made even harder.”

(Photo courtesy: Action Images)

In addition to the location and potentially monumental pay packet tempting him northwards, Neymar may also be keen on being the face of PSG. Since the club was taken over by a Qatari consortium in 2012, big-name players have arrived in the French capital, but none of the notoriety of Neymar. He’s an undoubted commercial success wherever he lands, and the Brazilian wouldn’t have to out-sparkle the likes of Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez to put himself in the reckoning for the greatest individual prizes in the game.

“I think it’s absolutely no coincidence that this speculation has emerged shortly after the news that Messi has signed a new contract with Barcelona,” South American football expert Tim Vickery mused to BBC Sport last week.

“How will it end? I have my little idea but honestly, you can never be 100 percent sure in modern football,” Andre continued. “We are talking about a potentially historic transfer and negotiations to match with enormous amounts of money in play, so we cannot predict an outcome.

“As for me, I can say nothing. I cannot speak for him. It is up to Neymar to announce whether he will go there (to PSG) or not.”

In what some were touting as his last game for the Blaugrana, Neymar scored twice in his side’s 2-1 defeat of Juventus at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Saturday.

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Bruce Arians knew what was coming when he approached the podium in the bowels of University of Phoenix Stadium for the first time this training camp.

It was the first time the Arizona Cardinals coach was formally addressing the local media after revealing in his recently released book that he was diagnosed with kidney cancer last December and had surgery in February to remove part of the organ. The questions, regardless of whether he tried to curb them or not, were bound to come.

On Thursday afternoon, he tried to get ahead of the story and then move on from it.

“Welcome back, guys,” Arians began his news conference. “Yes, I’m healthy. Let’s get that s— out of the way right now. All that is behind me and I’m very, very fortunate to have a great doctor and can’t wait to get started.”

The first question was about why he kept the cancer a secret.

Arians explained that he had hid the cancer diagnosis from his team because he didn’t want to be a distraction with three games left. He was diagnosed on Dec. 15, three days before the Cardinals hosted the New Orleans Saints in their home finale. He coached Arizona to a 2-1 record after the cancer diagnosis.

For better or for worse, football has entered the era of the Video Assisted Referee (VAR) and for Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, the introduction of this new refereeing technology has him wondering what could have been.

Wenger is a man who has never shied away from looking back at his and his club’s past mistakes. And when asked by Arsenal Player to name a few failures VAR would have prevented, Wenger highlighted a few moments in Arsenal’s history that could have gone differently if video replay was implemented at the time.

“I would choose Barcelona’s equaliser (by Samuel Eto’o) in the 2006 Champions League final because it was offside, and we were 1-0 up with 30 minutes to go. That’s the trophy I miss here, you know, so that is for me the most important one.

“The second one I would choose is the second yellow card for Robin Van Persie at Barcelona in 2011, because this was the moment we were qualified against a very strong team, and it was a very difficult decision to accept – it basically killed our chances.

“After that maybe I go to a more recent decision – against Bayern Munich when Laurent Koscielny was sent off for a penalty when (Robert) Lewandowski was offside. That just comes to my mind now but maybe I forget many, many, many, many more.”