You will be hard-pressed to find anyone in the NFL world who keeps it real like Jeff Saturday does. And the former player-turned-interim coach-turned-analyst did just that this week when he discussed the upcoming game between the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants.
Saturday didn’t mince words on ESPN’s “First Take” on Wednesday when discussing the Week 4 “Thursday Night Football” competitors, saying the Giants have “no chance” of beating the Cowboys.
To be fair, his comments were more about Dallas needing to get its act together than New York being non-competitive.
“This is a massive game for the Cowboys,” he said. “They’ve got a tough schedule coming [up] after this. Especially division opponents — they need to beat this team up and show who they are.”
To Saturday’s point, Thursday’s matchup really is a big measuring stick for Dallas. Dak Prescott’s team is 1-2 to start the season after being embarrassed by the New Orleans Saints and too slow to start against the Baltimore Ravens. With games against the Steelers, Lions and 49ers coming up on the schedule, the Cowboys will have to be hungrier than ever against the Giants or their season could quickly go off the rails.
The expectations aren’t as high for New York, which also sits at 1-2. However, the Giants are coming off of a 21-15 win against the Cleveland Browns where Daniel Jones threw for 236 yards with two touchdowns and — miraculously — didn’t get intercepted once.
The bottom line is that a loss for the Cowboys would be nearly catastrophic, while a loss for the Giants would simply be another bump in a season that is expected to have plenty of them. Saturday clearly expects the Cowboys to treat the game as such and answer the call.
Kickoff for Thursday’s game at MetLife Stadium is 8:15 p.m. ET.
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Vikings injury updates: Jordan Addison, Dallas Turner, Ivan Pace, T.J. Hockenson
The Vikings are hopeful that they’ll get most or all of the three key players who missed last week’s game — Jordan Addison, Dallas Turner, and Ivan Pace Jr. — back for this Sunday’s NFC North showdown against the Packers at Lambeau Field.
“They’ll all be day-to-day this week, optimistic and hoping we can get them some good preparation and have a chance to have those guys,” Kevin O’Connell said on Monday. Speaking to reporters again on Wednesday, O’Connell said he expects that trio to participate in the Vikings’ walkthrough — which they will hold instead of a traditional practice — but mostly shut down questions and deferred to the injury report, which will come out later in the afternoon. “As far as today, we’ll be kind of pulling the tempo back a little bit,” O’Connell said. “Each one of those guys will be on their own plan of attack to see where they are throughout the week. ..
. I believe they will (participate in walkthrough), yes. But as I said, we’ll keep you guys posted via the injury report.” Addison (ankle) has missed the last two games, but there seems to be a real chance he returns this week in Green Bay. O’Connell told KFAN’s Paul Allen on Tuesday that the Vikings “should get” Turner (knee) back this week. Pace (hip/ankle) also has a chance to play after missing just one game. We’ll know more as the week unfolds. O’Connell was also asked about tight end T.J. Hockenson, who is eligible to return to practice next week and could potentially make his season debut in Week 5 against the Jets in London (though the Vikings’ Week 6 bye may factor into the decision). Hockenson began the season on short-term IR while recovering from January surgery to repair his ACL. ”
He’s doing great,” O’Connell said. “Hoping to get T.J. up and rolling as soon as possible. He’s done everything we’ve asked, he’s itching to get out there, he’s asking great questions in meetings, he’s helping with that tight end up group. I’ve felt a leadership role from him throughout his whole rehab. He’s been totally present, almost to the point where … you forget sometimes that he’s not out there until you kick the ball off.”
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Steve Kerr makes stunning admission about Klay Thompson
Klay Thompson physically left the Warriors as a free agent in the 2024 offseason. But the sharpshooter may have spiritually checked out at some point during the 2023-24 season. Warriors head coach Steve Kerr has admitted that Thompson displayed “signs” of wanting to leave the franchise last season. “Yeah, there were signs,” Kerr told
“The TK Show” recently. “Obviously, none of us knew what would happen, we all wanted him to stay. I wanted Klay to be a Warrior for life — it felt like the right thing for us. But you never really know what the right thing is for someone else, only that person knows. And I think by the end of the year, I think Klay knew, for his own sake, that he wanted to leave.” Kerr also expressed happiness for his longtime teammate for joining the Mavericks, predicting that Thompson will get “a lot of open shots” playing alongside Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. It’s worth noting that Thompson never truly committed to staying in Golden State in interviews leading up to his free agency. During an April 8 chat with Draymond Green, he said he would “prioritize mental health” in free agency over loyalty or familiarity with a situation.
As such, he didn’t truly backtrack on a statement like several stars over the years who committed to a franchise only to renege. Some of those examples include Irving leaving the Celtics in 2019 or DeAndre Jordan leaving the Clippers in 2015. To Thompson’s credit, he remained a pro throughout the 2023-24 season even while coming off the bench for the first time since his rookie year. The Washington State alum supported then-rookie Brandin Podziemski — who took his role in the starting unit — and refused to view his new role as a demotion. Still, Thompson’s career in the Bay ended on a sour note as he went 0-of-10 from the field in the Warriors’ season-ending loss to the Kings in the play-in tournament. Perhaps that final flameout was meant to be.
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Buccaneers HC seems to disagree with Baker Mayfield about loss to Broncos
Shortly after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers suffered a surprising 26-7 home loss to the previously winless Denver Broncos in Week 3, Tampa Bay quarterback Baker Mayfield suggested that the Buccaneers didn’t do a good enough job of preparing to face a hungry opponent. During a SiriusXM NFL Radio appearance, Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles offered a different theory for why his club looked so flat over the weekend. “I feel like when we have bad practices, we play better,” Bowles explained, according to the JoeBucsFan website. “…I thought we had some decent practices going forward [last week], and we didn’t play that way. So you just got to write it off as a bad loss and we gotta focus on next week.” Somewhat interestingly, Bowles isn’t the only noteworthy member of the Buccaneers who seemingly disagrees with Mayfield.
According to ESPN’s Jenna Laine, star wide receiver Mike Evans said the Buccaneers had a “great week of preparation” leading up to Sunday’s disappointment. Fellow receiver Chris Godwin noted he felt the loss was simply an example of the “any given Sunday” nature of the NFL. “There’s so much parity,” Godwin said. “Like regardless if a team is 0-2 or not. It’s a long season. If we were just like throwing in the towel after one loss, like what kind of people and what kind of a team would we be? So we’re gonna go back to work, and we’ll be back here fighting next week.”
Many star players who were with the Philadelphia Eagles when that club endured an embarrassing 32-9 wild-card playoff loss at Raymond James Stadium in January will again feature for the 2-1 Eagles when they play at the 2-1 Bucs this coming Sunday. As of Tuesday afternoon, DraftKings Sportsbook listed Tampa Bay as a 2.5-point home underdog for that matchup. Considering how poorly the Buccaneers played against the Broncos, it appears as if Bowles may want to go out of his way to ensure his players have at least one lousy practice before the final Sunday of September arrives.
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Packers share encouraging details on Jordan Love’s recovery process
The return of Jordan Love to the field is getting closer and closer. On Wednesday, the quarterback was a limited participant at practice just like he was last week, but it seems like the situation is more positive by the day. “We’re building it up for sure. Every day is a little bit better,” Jordan Love said after practice. The quarterback pointed out that he is definitely moving better, and mentioned that he was “pretty close” to playing last Sunday against the Tennessee Titans — a good indication about what can happen next Sunday, when the Packers face the Minnesota Vikings in the first divisional game of their season.
Head coach Matt LaFleur corroborated Love’s point. “I think he’s making progress,” LaFleur said, beyond the usual theme of stating he was limited. Jordan Love suffered an MCL sprain in week 1. While the initial prognostic indicated he would miss three to six weeks, on Friday it will be three weeks since the injury occurred in Brazil, so the recovery timeline would be respected. Injury report Matt LaFleur said that first-round rookie guard Jordan Morgan was the only player of the 53-man roster who did not practice on Wednesday. He suffered a shoulder injury against the Indianapolis Colts, but the silver lining is that the Packers elected not to place him on the injured reserve, meaning that he can get back before missing four games.
The list of limited participants was a long one, though. Cornerback Jaire Alexander (quadricep), defensive tackle Kenny Clark (toe), left guard Elgton Jenkins (rest), tight ends Tucker Kraft (shoulder) and Luke Musgrave (quadricep), center Josh Myers (shoulder), wide receiver Jayden Reed (calf/quadricep), right tackle Zach Tom (quadricep), and cornerback Carrington Valentine (ankle). Valentine returning to practice is good news, since he missed the game against the Tennessee Titans because of an ankle injury.
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