Garafolo on latest between QB Kirk Cousins, Falcons 'GMFB'
Will Kirk Cousins play for the Falcons - or start anywhere - in 2025? | Inside Coverage
Yahoo Sports' Jason Fitz, senior NFL reporter Charles Robinson and senior NFL writer Frank Schwab discuss the quarterback's no-show to organized team activities on Tuesday and what it means for his future in Atlanta or elsewhere in the league. Hear the full conversation on 'Inside Coverage' - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen.
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Fox Sports
38 minutes ago
- Fox Sports
Za'Darius Smith: 'Hopefully,' I'm back with the Detroit Lions
Defensive end Za'Darius Smith remains a free agent, but, in the end, he wants to be back with the team that he went to the playoffs with last season, that being the Detroit Lions — who cut him in March. "Hopefully, I can get back to Detroit because the coaching staff and everybody in the front office are great," Smith told USA TODAY Sports. "When I'm there, I feel like a leader and like I can influence the young guys and do great things. Hopefully, I can get back to where I want to be in Detroit." Smith split the 2024 season with the Cleveland Browns and Lions, who acquired him at the NFL trade deadline after suffering myriad defensive injuries, including to star pass rusher Aidan Hutchinson, a 2023 Pro Bowler. In all, Smith finished the 2024 regular season with a combined nine sacks and 35 combined tackles. Smith ranked 21st among edge defenders in pass-rush grade (76.5), 33rd in overall grade (74.7) and 85th in run-defense grade (62.8) according to Pro Football Focus. Now, should Smith return to Detroit, there are some changes on the coaching side, as the Lions lost defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn — who became the new head coach of the New York Jets — and promoted former linebackers coach Kelvin Sheppard to the position. They also have a new defensive line coach in Kacy Rodgers, among many other coaching changes. The 32-year-old Smith, who expressed that he's focused on "getting a ring now and winning a championship," thinks he and Hutchinson could be a special duo off the edge. "I'm still a veteran. He's [Hutchinson] still a young guy. I can help him with a lot of things. He's already great, but as a player, there are some tools that I know that I can help him with," Smith said. "And there are some things as a young guy that he can help me with." Smith, a three-time Pro Bowler, spent the first four seasons of his NFL career with the Baltimore Ravens (2015-18), followed by a three-year stint with the Green Bay Packers (2019-21), one season with the Minnesota Vikings (2022) and a season-plus with the Browns before being acquired by the Lions during the 2024 season. Elsewhere, Detroit re-signed defensive tackle Levi Onwuzurike, defensive end Marcus Davenport and linebacker Ezekiel Turner to one-year deals apiece, while adding defensive tackle Roy Lopez and selecting Ohio State defensive tackle Tyleik Williams with the No. 28 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Last season, the Lions went 15-2 and claimed the No. 1 seed in the NFC before losing to the Washington Commanders in the NFC divisional round. Detroit's defense surrendered 244.0 passing yards (30th in the NFL), 98.4 rushing yards (fifth), 342.4 total yards (20th) and 20.1 points (seventh) per game. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily! FOLLOW Follow your favorites to personalize your FOX Sports experience National Football League Detroit Lions Za'Darius Smith recommended Get more from National Football League Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more in this topic
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
NBA Finals 2025: Myles Turner's patience has paid off with the Pacers after years of trade rumors — 'I'm a loyal guy'
INDIANAPOLIS — Myles Turner showing his value as a do-it-all big in the NBA Finals isn't a surprise. Myles Turner doing it in an Indiana Pacers uniform is the surprise, considering how many times he's been viewed as everybody else's 'missing piece,' constantly in trade rumors. Advertisement Yet somehow he's played the eighth-most games (703) for the team that drafted him — trailing only Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokić, Jaylen Brown, Devin Booker and Jayson Tatum among current players. To put that rarity in further context, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander doesn't fit in that category, after being traded following his rookie year in Los Angeles — and even if he did, he's played a little more than half of Turner's games in an Oklahoma City uniform. All of the aforementioned names have played in the NBA Finals and now Turner, in the last year of his contract with the Pacers, adds to the list. (Grant Thomas/Yahoo Sports Illustration) 'I'm a loyal guy,' Turner told Yahoo Sports recently. 'It's always kind of been my calling card, I wanted to finish what I started. Of course it is flattering for teams to see your value, want you to be part of your system. But I wanted to do it where I was drafted.' Advertisement He's been with the Pacers long enough to play with former mainstay Paul George and Monta Ellis on those squads from a decade ago. A few years later, he was on the teams that featured Domantas Sabonis and Victor Oladipo, when Oladipo looked like the next great shooting guard. He's played under Frank Vogel, Nate McMillan, Nate Bjorkgren and, now, Rick Carlisle. 'He's extremely loyal. He has a great ability to focus on what's important,' Carlisle said Tuesday. 'Over the years, I think all players that are really good players, at some time or another, likely have their name involved in trade rumors. Whether it's leaked by another team, whether it's somebody that just is throwing stuff on the wall, creating content, whatever it is.' It was the pairing with Sabonis that highlighted the Pacers' need to get rid of one big man, just like the Sacramento Kings had one point guard too many — thus creating a natural trade partner in the 2021-22 season. By then Turner had already had his name linked to any and everybody. Advertisement 'It was a lot of things. You know, my first initial emotions was, you feel a little rejected,' Turner said to Yahoo Sports. 'You feel like your value doesn't hold the same weight you thought it did, but then you start to learn it's just part of a business.' But the Pacers chose Turner over Sabonis, and acquired Tyrese Haliburton in a deal with the Kings. Even though Turner was hurt at the time — he missed the second half of that season with a stress reaction in his foot — the deal shifted Turner back to center and gave him a true point guard. It was impossible to predict, though, that the Pacers, who won just five games after that trade deadline, would be laying the groundwork for a conference finals run two years later and a trip to the Finals this year. Advertisement '(It took) a lot of patience,' Turner said. 'I wouldn't call it waiting my turn, but just staying down. Just doing things the right way and letting the rest take care of itself. 'So I think when the trade happened, it was that final piece that allowed me to step into my natural position.' Perhaps because only so much NBA bandwidth is attributed to the Pacers, it's easy to forget Turner represents everything teams want in today's bigs. Can you stretch the floor? Check, he's a 40% 3-point shooter on nearly six attempts a game. Can you defend in space and at the rim? Check, check, he's led the league in blocks twice and is averaging 2 per game this year. Are you also strong enough to finish at the rim? Check, check, check. The numbers may look modest to some — 15 points, 5 rebounds and 2.2 blocks in this playoff run — but everyone can see his value. Advertisement 'We constantly are sending each other clips of how we can be better in pick-and-roll, how I can help him, how he can help me, whatever the case is,' Haliburton said. 'We get along really well. I think that that has given us a lot of success.' Haliburton laughed, thinking about Richaun Holmes being the first big he played with in Sacramento. 'I always thought in my career I was going to be best with a guy who plays above the rim and a pick-and-roll threat,' said Haliburton, who estimates he's thrown maybe 'three alley-oops' since he's played with Turner. "Now having experience playing with Myles so long, I feel like he unlocks a lot of what I do. 'It's been an interesting dynamic to play alongside him. Myles is not going to catch a ton of lobs. ... It's different. Our league is different. He's a pop guy more times than not. When he does roll, he does open things up for me, as well. It's been a lot of fun.' Advertisement Even this series is different with the Oklahoma City Thunder playing a lot of one-big lineups, pitting Turner against Chet Holmgren or Isaiah Hartenstein. He's solid enough where he can't be moved around in the paint. His step-back, off-the-glass 3-pointer in Game 1 was critical in the Pacers completing an improbable comeback, and perhaps they'll need more. But Turner is careful about wanting to do too much. 'Continue to be myself, do the things that got me here,' he told Yahoo Sports. 'There's no need, once you get to the Finals stage, don't switch things. You keep doing all the little things that make you effective in the first place.' Advertisement To Carlisle's credit, he wanted no part of the talk about Turner going anywhere as a free agent, and it seems like the Pacers will be aggressive in trying to keep him this summer. 'I haven't heard his name in rumors lately,' Carlisle said, somewhat annoyed. 'I don't know what you're talking about. Unless you're talking about free agency, we're not going to get into any of that. There's a fine, so I'm going to avoid that.' Carlisle has preached the Finals being 19 days long, so Turner won't admit to too much looking ahead to free agency, either. 'I'm looking forward to the next days in front of me. And once I get there, I'll be there,' Turner said. 'It's idle time between games, so you can't look to the future too much.'
Miami Herald
an hour ago
- Miami Herald
Why Jaelan Phillips' injury history has prepared him for a critical 2025 season
The last couple of years have been rather rough for Jaelan Phillips. After a solid, two-year start to his NFL career, the Miami Dolphins edge rusher suffered a ruptured Achilles that prematurely ended his 2023 season in Week 12. Then, after an arduous rehab, Phillips returned at the start of 2024 — only to play four games before safety Jordan Poyer flew into his leg against the Buffalo Bills, tearing his ACL. Most people would have contemplated retirement, succumbing to the sadness of back-to-back major injuries. Phillips, however, isn't most people. The biggest hurdle was 'finding the balance of obviously being locked in, staying on top of the recovery but also giving myself a little bit of grace and a little bit of break,' Phillips said Wednesday. 'Obviously I went through a lot these last couple of years so I felt like I needed to take a little bit of time to kind of regather myself and then it allowed me to come back with a lot more clarity and focus and motivation.' With both the ACL and Achilles healed, Phillips will look to complete his first full season since 2022. The timing, however, cannot be better as 2025 will be a contract year for the five-year veteran. And as much as this could be considered 'put up or shut up' time, Phillips' only worry is what happens between the two lines, a point of praise for coach Mike McDaniel. 'If you can't control injuries, you have to be disciplined enough not to think about it and think about your technique and fundamentals,' McDaniel said Wednesday. 'We have the appropriate person for that challenge in Jaelan Phillips.' Added Phillips: 'I'm definitely just trying to stay focused. That's all you can do — stay present, stay focused. Because obviously, it's a big year and so it's not like I'm going to ignore that fact but at the same time, I can't do anything about six or seven months from now.' Adversity, however, is nothing new to Phillips. In late 2018, the edge rusher medically retired from the University of California, Los Angeles Bruins, citing a plethora of concussions and other injuries. Phillips subsequently transferred to the University of Miami where, following a year off, he returned to the football field in 2020. 'I think I went through a lot and experienced a lot in my time at UCLA and transitioning over to Miami,' Phillips said in Jan. 2022. 'So I think that's really taught me a lot about how I want to carry myself and what impact I want to have on this world. So for me, just understanding that it's way bigger than myself and it's bigger than any on-the-field or off-the-field accomplishment I can do.' The Achilles injury seemed to provide similar clarity as 'it helped me recenter myself as a person.' 'It's just another good reminder of even when you think you've overcome adversity, something's always going to come,' Phillips said, explaining that the rehab gave him the chance to develop 'relationships' that he usually wouldn't be able to due to the intensity of the NFL schedule. 'It's just very humbling, very sobering.' Such a mindset earned him praise from fellow edge rusher Bradley Chubb who rehabbed with Phillips as the former recovered from a devastating knee injury. 'He's a warrior,' edge rusher said. 'I like to surround myself with like-minded people and I feel like I'm a warrior in terms of how I handle adversity and he's the same puts his head down and he might have a bad day or two but it never affected how he approach the work, how he approached the task.' A healthy Phillips could give the Dolphins one of the most elite defensive fronts in football. The trio of edge rushers — Phillips, Chubb and Chop Robinson — combined with defensive tackles Zach Sieler and Kenneth Grant on the inside would be a nightmare for opposing offensive coordinators nightmares in 2025, something that certainly has him and coaches alike smiling. 'It would be exciting,' Phillips said. 'Chop has been having a hell of an OTAs. His improvement from last year to this year is so noticeable. It's insane, especially if you know the nitty gritty of it. I'm really proud of Chop and really excited to see how he's going to keep progressing. Obviously Bradley looks great. I feel really good so that's going to be fun.'
