DENVER — You could count on one hand the number of times Sean Payton seemed relaxed in his Friday news conferences last season. Maybe one finger. Like the middle one.

That is what made Friday interesting and further proof of his comfort level with his second Broncos team entering its first game of the season. He entertained questions, both ...Read more

CHICAGO — Black-and-white photographs and grainy videos are all you ever see of Sid Luckman.

The greatest quarterback in Chicago Bears history, who retired in 1950 after leading the team to four NFL championships, played in an era so far removed from today’s game, it’s impossible to compare him to any modern QB, much less one of our own. ...Read more

Sometimes a team will make a trade knowing they are giving up a good player with the idea being, “Let him be good someplace else.”

Ultimately, that’s how they felt about No. 1 wide receiver Amari Cooper. They let him be good someplace else, and on Sunday in Cleveland it’s apt to bite them in their smug faces. If Cooper goes off and ...Read more

NEW YORK — The Jets acquired Haason Reddick in late March to help bolster their pass rush.

But they will be without the two-time Pro Bowler in the season-opening game against the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football.

Reddick, who has been holding out looking for a new contract, has still not reported to the team facility. When asked ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Every leader in every business hits a crossroads. In that regard the Los Angeles Rams' Les Snead is no different. It's how he decides which way to go that sets him apart — and perhaps there's a lesson in that for all of us.

At the season opener against the Lions on Sunday night, for the first time in a decade, Los Angeles will...Read more

Joe Burrow has a new haircut. You might have seen it. The Cincinnati Bengals quarterback has gone bleached blond. Why? Burrow said he was bored. Said he was in the mood for something different.

You know what would be something different? A healthy Joe Burrow for a full 17 games and the postseason. That didn’t happen in 2023. The Bengals ...Read more

RENTON, Wash. — In Mike Macdonald's 37 years — an age that makes him the youngest head coach in the NFL in 2024 and the youngest in Seahawks history — the one constant has been football.

"Actually my first memory is throwing a football," he said in August following a training-camp practice.

He paused, trying to recall more vividly that ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Some 55 hours before his 12th NFL season, Travis Kelce walked into a crowded media room at the Chiefs’ practice facility that had been waiting for his arrival.

He’d been here, in a similar room, for the first time more than a dozen years earlier, a teleconference introduction of a third-round draft pick that came ...Read more

MIAMI — You never forget your first love, so it is often said. For many or us, that first love was sports.

That one magical year that made us smitten. A certain player, maybe. A championship season. A memory that never left. That one team that was, is, interwoven in your life’s timeline. The team that helped raise you and never left you. ...Read more

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Christian McCaffrey insisted Friday his calf is feeling “much better” and his Achilles is “not a concern for me,” even though he has remained limited in this week’s practices leading into the 49ers’ season opener Monday night.

Any doubt in his mind if he will play against the New York Jets at Levi’s Stadium...Read more

SÃO PAULO, Brazil — Why?

The question is as difficult to ignore as the traffic here in South America's largest city. It hangs in the air like the smoggy veil of wildfire smoke that has shrouded the sky for much of the week.

It has been stated openly by players and muttered privately by staffers. The two head coaches have mostly ignored it. ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Mike Riley can laugh about it now — that time his starting quarterback fought his teammate.

As Riley, the then-Chargers head coach recalled it, the team was on its way to its fourth consecutive loss. The Chargers failed to score a touchdown in a road game against the Oakland Raiders. Chargers safety Michael Dumas, who Riley ...Read more

BALTIMORE — The AFC championship game rematch between reigning NFL Most Valuable Player Lamar Jackson and defending Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes brought in a huge national television audience.

The host Kansas City Chiefs’ thrilling 27-20 win over the Ravens on Thursday night was the most-watched NFL kickoff game ever, according to NBC, ...Read more

NEW YORK — Brooklyn’s Brian Flores is returning on Sunday to the site of the alleged “sham” head coaching interview that he received with the Giants more than two years ago.

On the surface, the Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator will simply be drawing up pressure packages to try to outsmart Brian Daboll’s offense in their season ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — Much of that Russell Wilson excitement from last week when he formally was named "QB1" by Mike Tomlin has dissipated. Sure, Wilson could receive treatment on his problematic calf — he declined to say if it's the right or left — and wake up Sunday ready for action in Atlanta.

But it's looking more and more likely the Steelers ...Read more

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Make Jalen Ramsey the latest to receive a lucrative contract extension from the Miami Dolphins.

Ramsey and the Dolphins agreed to a three-year extension. The deal is worth $72.3 million, according to NFL Network, to make him the NFL’s highest-paid cornerback once again. It includes $55.3 million guaranteed.

The $24.1 ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — With the uncertainty surrounding the Steelers' quarterback situation on Sunday in Atlanta, the seemingly real possibility that Russell Wilson's debut with the team could be delayed due to a lingering calf issue, general manager Omar Khan made a wise move by ensuring Pat Freiermuth will take the field with a contract extension ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Ravens showed a lot of heart in a 27-20 season-opening loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday night at Arrowhead Stadium, but that desire takes a team only so far in the NFL.

The Ravens need to get more out of their playmakers on both offense and defense to go deep into the postseason. Kansas City will, which is ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — Buyer beware: I had Kenny Pickett pegged as a "breakout player" last season.

He turned out to be a breakdown player.

That said, I'm mostly excellent at predicting Steeler seasons. So is everyone else, of course. It's not exactly nuclear physics. They'll win about nine games and either barely make or barely miss the playoffs — ...Read more