Colts sign LB Joe Bachie
Indianapolis announced on Wednesday that the club has signed free agent Joe Bachie.
Bachie, 27, spent the last four seasons with Cincinnati with now-Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo.
He was primarily a special teams contributor for the Bengals, on the field for about 66 percent of the unit's snaps in games played over the past two years. But back in 2021, Bachie did start two games for Cincinnati.
Bachie has played a total of 51 games with two starts for Philadelphia and Cincinnati since 2020.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
2 hours ago
- New York Times
How Bengals' Shemar Stewart has quickly flipped the narrative: ‘You feel his impact'
There was a time when Shemar Stewart couldn't say or do anything right in the eyes of some. A player whom Bengals fans openly admitted they didn't want with the No. 17 pick even before he was selected, the I-told-you-so factor increased exponentially as his contract holdout dragged on over months of public mud-slinging. Advertisement He took aggressive shots at the Bengals' organization, claiming they care more about winning arguments than games. Team owner Mike Brown was calling his situation 'silliness,' and director of player personnel Duke Tobin fired back at the advice Stewart was receiving. Even when the holdout ended three practices into camp, he squirted Gatorade on his face instead of water in the first practice. This past Wednesday, Stewart looped around on a stunt and lost his footing, falling into Joe Burrow's leg, stealing the air from everyone watching and the chill from offensive linemen flying over to fight him. Stewart did the unthinkable: He knocked over Burrow in practice. In the aftermath, he opted not to talk to the media, but instead gather himself and let the incident simmer. He went up to Burrow in the aftermath and offered an apology for the accidental scare. 'He said, 'You know, it's cool, as long as you do it on Sundays, too,'' Stewart said. Stewart used the mistake as a teaching point, and when he blew by Cody Ford at the next practice, he made sure to avoid repeating history. 'Oh, you didn't see me?' Stewart said with a smile. 'I did a little Matrix. I don't want no part of it.' Suddenly, Stewart is saying and doing all the right things. For all the concern about how Stewart would be received given his contentious holdout and only managing 4.5 sacks at Texas A&M, the 21-year-old has flipped the narrative faster than he bends the edge. The tone of having to answer uncomfortable questions about the first-round pick and Tobin saying, 'Shemar needs to get in here,' have given way to unsolicited praise from his defensive coordinator. 'Whether you agree or disagree, or whatever your philosophy is, or whatever your opinion was of Shemar, that player is rare,' Al Golden said. 'Coming out of the draft, somebody that can come off the edge, one play, play in the B gap, two plays later, play in the C gap, set the edge, do multiple things. It's just rare.' Advertisement Inside Paycor Stadium, where the Bengals' staff spent the offseason wishing for a player to show up and add disruption opposite Trey Hendrickson, the days of debate about Stewart feel like long ago. Nearly every practice since arriving, Stewart has popped with a pressure or sack, batted pass or tackle for loss. He's been used inside, outside, even dropping into coverage. He's shown speed, power and a developing repertoire of moves. 'He's doing what he is supposed to do,' rookie linebacker Demetrius Knight Jr. said. 'Be a game wrecker.' Head coach Zac Taylor wouldn't use the word 'surprised' about how fast Stewart went from watching to wrecking. Coming off a season where Hendrickson logged a higher percentage of his team's pressures than anyone in the NFL, it's hard to miss the thankfulness in the tone, though. 'The power, the disruptiveness, there's a lot of words you can use,' Taylor said. 'You feel his impact, and I stand back there and call all the plays so you get an evaluation of people very quickly when you're trying to have success as an offense and drive the ball down the field in practice. You form opinions and evaluations of guys very quickly, and he's a guy that's made an impact on me, I know that.' The impact comes with an assist from defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery. Stewart contorts his face with a look of disbelief when asked if Montgomery has stayed on him. The 21-year-old can't take a rep without Montgomery in his ear. 'Man, oh my God,' Stewart said. 'He is the judge, jury and gavel. He is everything.' Montgomery focused on 'working the edges' with Stewart, who spent too much time upon first arriving trying to run through the chest of defenders. He's stayed drilled in on every aspect, from eyes to alignment to where his feet are pointed in his stance. Montgomery is all business, and his business is molding Stewart's 10.0 Relative Athletic Score into a professional edge rusher. Advertisement Stewart immediately learned how much he didn't know about being an edge rusher, but with each day, he's picked up the nuances and turned them into disruption. He's even enlisted the help of holding-in sack king Hendrickson, periodically seen talking through moves with him during downtime at practices. He says he wants to know the secrets and 'I'm squeezing them out, bit by bit.' Here's the video of Trey Hendrickson working with Shemar Stewart today. #Bengals @FOX19 — Jeremy Rauch (@FOX19Jeremy) July 30, 2025 His holdout and refusal to sign the practice waiver during the offseason program led to debate about Stewart's desire to play football and questioning his love for the game. All the details, effort and care for positional detail made those conversations feel silly in retrospect. Watching him from his first practice through 13 sessions and one game, the progression is hard to miss. 'Coming in, it was just all raw talent and just going out and playing,' Stewart said. 'Now, you have to go out there and have technique to go win consistently. The technical part is almost like a different level here. You have to come in every day with the mindset I need to get my technique right, my eyes right, my feet right because all those things work together and help you win.' He's winning plenty. Guard Lucas Patrick was tasked with picking him up on stunts or when Stewart kicks inside in certain packages. Patrick has been in the league for 10 years with three different teams. In a league of athletic specimens, Stewart stands out. 'His play speed is pretty significant,' Patrick said. 'You can tell he's starting to get comfortable. There's not many guys who can get to full speed in two to three steps like him. It's great to practice against, and it's a great guy to work fundamentals and see someone who can move like that because there are very few people on this planet who can cover ground like him at the line of scrimmage.' Stewart looked the part in his preseason debut at Philadelphia, but didn't exactly wreck the game. He pursued down the line in a tackle for loss and had a pressure around the edge. The first big moment of his career could come Monday night in Washington when he'll be featured with the first team. Taylor isn't naming Stewart the starter yet in a murky room theoretically headed by Hendrickson. Former first-round pick Myles Murphy is sidelined with an injury and none of the other edge rushers have popped to the same extent. The writing appears on the wall, even if it's in pencil. 'By no means has anyone arrived after one to four weeks of training camp practice,' Taylor said. 'I now have enough experience to know. We drafted Shemar in the first round, we have high expectations for him, he's going to be a tremendous player for us. Let's see all this play out in the season as guys continue to go, but there's nothing right now showing he's slowing down.' Advertisement You won't find Stewart making claims that he deserves the role, either. No bold claims about his role or braggadocious declarations about plays he's making or I-told-you-so for those who took shots at him during the holdout. Remarkably, Stewart continues to do and say all the right things. 'My goal is to just get better,' he said. 'If I'm the starter, being what I am right now, it's not going to be the best outcome. I just want to be focused on my techniques and doing everything right, and one day I'll be the starter and one day I'll be what I need to be for this team.' That day might be sooner rather than later. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
New York Times
2 hours ago
- New York Times
Brewers series showed where the Reds need to button it up
CINCINNATI — On Sunday, the Cincinnati Reds played a cleaner game than the Milwaukee Brewers and won, snapping the Brewers' 14-game winning streak. The Brewers' overall domination of the Reds continued, despite the Reds taking the final game of the three-game series. Milwaukee has now won 13 straight series against the Reds, 44 of the past 61 games, and 33 of 45 games at Great American Ball Park. Advertisement The Brewers aren't just beating up on the Reds; they've got baseball's best record at 78-45 and have shown that good baseball wins baseball games. Milwaukee's roster doesn't look like anything that would win a fantasy baseball league, but by watching the team on the field, you can see why they win games on the field. To paraphrase something fictional manager Joe Riggins tells his team in 'Bull Durham,' the Brewers throw the ball (their 3.59 ERA is the third-best in baseball), they hit the ball (their .259 batting average is the second-best in baseball) and they catch the ball (their .712 defensive efficiency is fourth-best in baseball). They also have 135 stolen bases, the second-most in the game. The team that made fewer mistakes came out on top in all three games against the Reds. In the first game, failure to turn a double play and an error at second base by Gavin Lux extended innings for the Brewers to erase a seven-run deficit. Saturday, it was a ball misplayed by Noelvi Marte in right field and errors by Elly De La Cruz and Jake Fraley that aided the Brewers' victory. Sunday, though, the Reds played the 'clean' baseball manager Terry Francona has talked about all season, and it was the Brewers who made the mistakes. They had a runner thrown out stealing, had a costly error in the ninth, and got the lead runner thrown out at third base in the 10th inning on a sacrifice bunt attempt. The Reds have the pitching and have upgraded their defense this season, especially at the trade deadline with the addition of third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes. Still, De La Cruz's 17 errors lead the majors, even if he can make some plays others don't. The Reds also have 13 outfield errors, tied for the eighth most. They are playing more controlled baseball than they did in their 'creating havoc' style in 2023, which leads to fewer outs on the bases, but also fewer opportunities created and less pressure on the opposing team. The Reds still trail the New York Mets in the NL wild-card race, having lost ground with their series loss. They can stay in the hunt for the third wild card, but they'll need to do something they struggled with this weekend against baseball's best team — play clean baseball. Before Sunday's series finale against the Brewers, the Reds designated outfielder Jake Fraley for assignment and called up outfielder Will Benson from Triple-A Louisville to take his spot. While Fraley left Saturday night's game after he hyper-extended his knee in the 10th inning, allowing the go-ahead run to score, Francona said Fraley checked out OK and wouldn't have been DFA'd if he were headed to the injured list. Instead, the decision on Fraley came down to not playing short-handed in a crucial part of the season. Catcher Tyler Stephenson is dealing with a sore thumb on his left (glove) hand, which is why Jose Trevino caught Sunday afternoon's game following his start Saturday night. Advertisement Fraley, 30, was hitting .232/.332/.387 with six home runs. In his four seasons with the Reds, Fraley hit .260/.336/.421 with 38 home runs, but he's struggled to stay healthy. He was making $3.125 million this season. Fraley would've been eligible for arbitration for the final time this offseason, and with a surplus of left-handed-hitting outfielders, he was a likely non-tender candidate. 'I think the idea (was) giving Jake a chance to play where maybe he thinks he deserves to play, which I understand. (It) is maybe better than him sitting the bench here.' Fraley came over to the Reds as part of the deal that sent Jesse Winker and Eugenio Suárez to the Seattle Mariners before the 2022 season. 'I don't think there's ever an easy (cut), regardless of how guys are,' Francona said of Fraley, a popular figure in the Reds' clubhouse. 'You're making decisions that alter their life, and it's a big deal. We take it that way. Not that I needed an excuse to lose sleep last night, but you do, because you think about it the whole time.' Hayes came to Cincinnati with a stellar reputation as perhaps the game's best defensive third baseman. In his two-plus weeks with the Reds, he's outperformed that reputation. Saturday night, with the tying run on third base in the eighth inning, Hayes made yet another great play, squashing a squeeze bunt attempt by Caleb Durbin by charging from third base, bare-handing the ball and uncorking a perfect, off-balance throw to first base. It's the kind of play that Brewers manager Pat Murphy has seen too many times from Hayes as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates, and one he said he expects to see more of with the Reds. 'Hayes was great tonight,' Murphy said following Saturday's Brewers victory. 'He's been overshadowed because of (Nolan) Arenado, but you want to talk about an incredible defender.' Advertisement Murphy called the Reds' move to acquire Hayes a shrewd one. 'He's showing what he can do offensively,' Murphy said after Hayes not only hit a home run but also a game-tying double in the 10th inning Saturday. 'I think (Francona) will get a ton out of him, and I think he's an incredible pickup for the Reds. It hurts my heart that they did that. You want to talk about my heart? When I heard they signed Hayes … I love the player.' My dad's favorite writer was Lewis Grizzard, the longtime Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist. I remember him getting every new Grizzard collection of his columns and breaking it open right away to read and laugh and laugh and laugh. This was before my family had any connection with the state of Georgia. I'd go on to Grizzard's beloved University of Georgia and get a deeper understanding of what UGA meant to Grizzard and vice-versa. That's a long intro to say that I think Reds fans probably feel a lot like Grizzard after the 1984 Georgia-Georgia Tech football game, a 35-18 Tech victory over a ranked UGA team at Sanford Stadium. Grizzard penned what I believe to be the greatest sports column ever written — not for its prose, but for the sheer audacity to turn it in and sum up the feelings of hundreds of thousands in eight words: RT @JenBrettAJC: The great @ajc columnist Lewis Grizzard filed column from heaven after yesterday's #GTvsUGA game. — UGA Libraries (@ugalibs) November 30, 2014 'Frankly, I don't want to talk about it.' This was a week that saw the Reds go .500, continue their streak of avoiding sweeps, take a series from a first-place team, watch their deficit in the NL wild-card race shrink, and see an impressive return from their Opening Day starter. And then the big, bad Brewers came to town and left it like, well, Sherman left Atlanta. The Reds leave for a three-city, nine-game road trip to face the Los Angeles Angels and Arizona Diamondbacks before finishing with three games back in Los Angeles against the Dodgers. Advertisement That's not the only three-city, nine-game trip left on the schedule, as the team will go from San Diego to Sacramento to St. Louis next month. The last trip is to the house of horrors that is American Family Field in Milwaukee. The only bit of respite from the schedule is that the team's next three Thursdays are scheduled off days. However, if the Speedway Classic taught us nothing else, it's don't count your off days before they hatch. • LHP Wade Miley (left flexor strain) returned from his rehab assignment after his start Friday for Double-A Chattanooga. Miley gave up a run on a homer in 1 2/3 innings Friday, with two strikeouts and two walks, but reported soreness Saturday. • RHP Rhett Lowder (right forearm strain/left oblique strain) was scheduled to throw a bullpen on Sunday. • Triple-A Louisville (53-67): In this week's Sal Stewart update, the infielder went 8-for-22 with a pair of homers and eight RBIs, including two in Sunday's loss. His first RBI came in the first with a single off rehabbing Chris Sale. Stewart is hitting .324/.397/.627 with six home runs and 13 doubles in 27 games at Triple A. Between Double A and Triple A, Stewart is hitting .311/.382/.513 with 16 homers and 32 doubles. • Double-A Chattanooga (60-49): RHP Trevor Kuncl recorded his Southern League-leading 18th save in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader sweep. Kuncl, 26, signed as a minor-league free agent last year. He's appeared in 36 games for the Lookouts and is 2-0 with a 1.83 ERA. Hitters are batting just .199 against him, and he has 39 strikeouts in 39 1/3 innings with 15 walks. • High-A Dayton (35-75): RHP Tejay Antone, who underwent his third elbow surgery in April 2024, made his full-season debut this week, appearing in two games for the Dragons. Antone pitched a scoreless inning with a walk and a strikeout on Wednesday, then threw 1 2/3 innings Saturday, allowing a hit and a walk, hitting a batter, but striking out two without giving up a run. Advertisement • Class-A Daytona (55-59): CF Kyle Henley went 3-for-5 with a double and a walk-off single in Sunday's 8-7 victory over Fort Myers (Twins), extending the Tortugas' winning streak to eight. Daytona is 26-22 in the second half and in second place in the Florida State League East Division standings. St. Lucie (Mets) won the first half and has a seven-game lead on the Tortugas in the second half, while the Tortugas lead Palm Beach (Cardinals) by 2.5 games. Because St. Lucie won the first half, the second-half playoff spot goes to the team with the next-best winning percentage in the second half. Eighteen games remain in the second half. (Top photo of Austin Hays: Katie Stratman / Imagn Images) Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
New York Times
2 hours ago
- New York Times
WNBA power rankings: Golden State Valkyries aiming to make history
It's beginning to feel a lot like the postseason. The WNBA has less then one month before the start of the playoffs, and the intensity kicked up a notch last week. Whether it was teams recognizing how little time is left to solidify playoff positioning or the aided boost of Rivals Week matchups, more games than usual were hotly contested for a full 40 minutes — and not just those involving the Seattle Storm. Advertisement Dallas and Indiana went down to the wire, with the Wings eking out a one-point win in Indianapolis, though the long-awaited first pro matchup between Paige Bueckers and Caitlin Clark will have to come in 2026. Dallas was on the other end of that story later in the week, making a frantic comeback against Los Angeles at home but falling short as Bueckers' buzzer-beating 3-pointer rimmed out. The Aces picked up perhaps their first signature win of the season in a rivalry bout against the New York Liberty, even if the absence of Breanna Stewart denied fans an iconic Stewart versus A'ja Wilson showdown. New York lost another heart-breaker in another finals rematch to Minnesota in its next game, while Las Vegas followed up its victory with a nail-biter in Phoenix, stealing an inbounds pass with less than four seconds to play to secure the win. BIG-TIME STEAL 🤝 BIG-TIME BLOCK Final seconds was all THA #POINTGAWDDDDD 😤 Presented by @ring // #ALLINLV — Las Vegas Aces (@LVAces) August 16, 2025 The Mystics played postseason spoiler against both the Fever and the Sparks, and Indiana responded by posting the biggest comeback in franchise history. Kelsey Mitchell tied a career-high with 38 points as the Fever erased a 21-point deficit against Connecticut to keep their tenuous hold on a playoff spot. And the Storm simply cannot play a normal game. After losing six games in a row — five by four or fewer points — Seattle finally seemed to reverse its curse by coming back from five down with three minutes to play in Vancouver. But the Storm fell right back into old habits in their next game against Phoenix, losing by three. As Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve said following the Lynx's win over the Liberty, these games are the reason you play, but they are also exhausting. They bring out the best and the worst in their participants. With three weeks still to go before the postseason, perhaps teams need to dial down the passion and save some energy before the playoffs tip off. It seems unlikely that the excitement can maintain at this pace all the way through the finals. In a 44-game season, the Valkyries had a pretty good chance of breaking the all-time wins record for an expansion team, previously set by the Detroit Shock in 1998, which was the WNBA's second season. The Shock won 17 games in a 30-game campaign, but they didn't make the playoffs in a 10-team league as only four teams qualified. Golden State has a great chance to become the first expansion playoff team, and the Valkyries could best Detroit's expansion win percentage by winning seven of their final 10 games. Advertisement However this season ends, Golden State's play, particularly on defense, already deserves plaudits. The Valkyries enter the home stretch with the league's second-best defense, surrendering 76.8 points per game. They have the best opponent field-goal percentage. Their switching and occasional zone defenses deter drives and prevent kick outs, and they concede the fewest shot attempts in the paint. Golden State brings opponents into the muck, and the Valkyries thrive in that slow pace. The set-up of the expansion draft suggested that Golden State wouldn't pluck away any high-usage players or potential stars. But so many of their expansion selections have thrived in bigger roles, like Veronica Burton, Kayla Thornton and Cecilia Zandalisini. All of them might have been marginalized had they remained on their title-contending teams. With the Valkyries, they get to spread their wings and show off the playmaking, toughness and shot-making that their previous clubs saw in shorter stretches. With the rapid pace of expansion, perhaps more players will get the chance to level up like Golden State's role players. But it might be that the Valkyries' story is unique, that this type of debut won't come around very often, and its success should be celebrated for its rarity. Seattle has suffered some crushing losses in the past two weeks. Conceding three 3-pointers in 29 seconds probably isn't even among the top three most disappointing sequences of that time period, but that doesn't make it any less special for Rhyne Howard. After missing a month for injury and getting ejected in her first game back, what a way for Howard to return to her All-Star form. Her nine-point flurry extended Atlanta's lead to 14 points to end the third quarter en route to the Dream's sixth consecutive win. With five 3-pointers that night, Howard tied Tiffany Hayes for the most 3-point makes in Atlanta's franchise history, a record Howard would eclipse and claim as her own one game later. Howard is now 57th all-time in league history in 3s in just her fourth season. Advertisement The Dream take the second-most 3-pointers in the WNBA but have only two rotation players who convert them at an above league-average rate: Allisha Gray and Te-Hina Paopao. Howard's efficiency has taken a dip in 2025. However, her volume is important to Atlanta's overall offensive philosophy. Howard creating a clean look over the outstretched arms of Gabby WIlliams — which she did twice against the Storm — is a skill unto itself. When Howard makes at least four 3s, the Dream are 8-2. Los Angeles has made a spirited rise through the standings since falling to 5-13, going 11-5 since then with wins over New York, Indiana and Seattle to get back in the playoff picture. But it's hard to imagine a team that is so disconnected on one end of the floor actually appearing in the postseason. The Sparks' run has been entirely fueled by their offense. They have the second-best offensive rating in the WNBA behind Minnesota since the All-Star break, but they also have the worst defense during that stretch, even worse than the Chicago Sky's 1-10 during that time. It's sometimes unclear what they're trying to accomplish. The goal of a defense should be to take away something, even if that means opening up opportunities elsewhere. L.A. concedes open 3s and allows easy access to the paint. The Sparks are bad on the defensive glass and give up the most second-chance points in the WNBA. The only reason they don't foul more frequently is that they often aren't even in position to make contact. Against the Liberty this week, L.A. repeatedly allowed Emma Meesseman to get switched onto a guard, duck into the post and power her way through whichever Belgian teammate (Julie Allemand or Julie Vanloo) had the misfortune of defending her. New York kept running the same action, and the Sparks didn't adjust until the fourth quarter. All of L.A.'s three opponents this week shot at least 50 percent from the field, peaking with Washington at 59.3. For reference, the Mystics came into Sunday making 44.2 percent of their field goals. The Sparks only managed 15 rebounds in the loss to Washington, displaying a startling lack of force for most of the game. L.A. games have become must-watch because of how many points both teams score. The Sparks defense provides minimal resistance, and the only way their offense could be better is if it were playing against their defense. It's a fun formula, but it won't get them to the playoffs until the defense tightens up. Salaün's rookie season has had stark highs and lows, but she seems to have settled into a groove in August. The Golden State roster has had its least amount of turnover in the past few weeks; the only transaction it has made in the past month is signing Kaila Charles to a series of seven-day contracts. That has clarified individual roles, especially for the rookie Salaün. She is making 44 percent of her field goals and 39 percent of her 3-pointers during August, and is turning the ball over much less frequently. What a third quarter from Janelle Salaun [image or embed] — Steve Jones Jr (@ August 11, 2025 at 10:25 PM Salaün is excelling next to her new starting frontcourt partner Cecilia Zandalisini; the pairing has a plus-14.3 net rating with their combined shooting providing a challenge for defenses. Their spacing allows runways for Burton and Tiffany Hayes to attack the basket, and they're defensively interchangeable with good size for the three and four. Advertisement Coach Natalie Nakase said at the start of the season that one of the challenges of leading the Valkyries, a team of career role players, was getting them to realize that they had to score when a play was called for someone. They weren't just an option or a decoy for someone else; the responsibility would fall to them. Salaün has taken that challenge to heart and is shooting the ball with confidence. An honorable mention goes to Madison Scott, who joined the Mystics this week and was already in the defensive closing lineup in her first game. Despite trading away Brittney Sykes, the Mystics remain in the playoff picture, only one half-game behind the Storm for the eighth and final spot in the postseason with the tiebreaker in hand. Whether Washington wants to make the playoffs or retain a lottery pick is an open question, but now that the Mystics control Seattle's first-rounder (via the Sykes trade), a win Sunday could improve the Storm pick by knocking it into the lottery. Then again, if Washington were truly interested in manipulating the outcome of the Seattle pick, it would have benefited the Mystics to lose to the Sparks yesterday. Either way, this is a return game for Sykes to Washington after she requested a trade, and the grass hasn't exactly been greener on the other side. Plenty of intrigue. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
