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As we enter the weekend in the NFL, Las Vegas Raiders star tight end Brock Bowers looks like he might not suit up in Week 5 against the Indianapolis Colts.

Bowers has been battling a knee injury since suffering the issue in Week 1, but he has yet to miss a game because of it. It looked like Bowers was getting better last week after he logged all full practices.

However, our antennas went up on Wednesday, after Bowers only logged a limited session. Then, full panic kicked in after Bowers didn’t practice at all on Thursday.

And that panic has only continued into Friday, as Bowers was just a spectator at practice, which strongly suggests he’s not going to play on Sunday.

“Bowers is not in uniform observing practice,” ESPN’s Ryan McFadden shared, along with a photo of the star tight end in street clothes.

This article will be updated…

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ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — The Texas Rangers’ search for Bruce Bochy’s replacement is centered on Skip Schumaker, a former NL Manager of the Year who has worked in their organization for the past year.

“We have a lead candidate internally that we’re focused on,” Chris Young, the team’s president of baseball operations, said Friday.

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Young acknowledged that he had begun what he would consider a formal interview process, and that there were not yet any external candidates.

“At this point, we haven’t focused there yet,” he said. “Our hope is that we don’t have to.”

Schumaker, a special advisor for the Rangers, was the 2023 NL Manager of the Year when Miami went 84-78 and made the fourth postseason appearance in club history. That was the same year Texas, with Bochy in his debut there, won its first World Series championship.

The Rangers and the 70-year-old Bochy, a four-time World Series champion who was baseball’s winningest active manager, mutually agreed Monday to end his managerial stint. That was the day after Texas finished 81-81 for its second non-winning record since its championship. Bochy was at the end of his three-year contract.

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The Marlins slipped to 62-100 in 2024 after changes in the front office and a roster decimated by trades and injuries. Schumaker and the team mutually agreed that he wouldn’t return for this season.

Texas hired Schumaker last November, a move viewed by many as making him the heir apparent for Bochy. Schumaker remains under contract with the organization through the end of October.

There are seven other MLB teams also looking for new managers. Young wouldn’t say if any other teams had requested permission to speak with the 45-year-old Shumaker about their openings.

When asked if there was worry about Schumaker in relation to those other openings, Young said: “I’m not overly concerned at this point.”

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Before going to Miami, Schumaker was a bench coach for St. Louis, where he played for the Cardinals during their 2011 World Series win over Texas. He played 11 big league seasons with St. Louis (2005-12), the Los Angeles Dodgers (2013) and Cincinnati (2014-15).

Rangers general manager Ross Fenstermaker said while Schumaker lives on the West Coast, he has been very involved with the team in his advisory role.

“He’d spend time with us and many different folks in the front office, add his perspective, his wisdom. He was around and available a lot,” Fenstermaker said. “We probably talked to him every few days, if not daily, throughout the course of the year and bounce ideas off him and get his perspective.”

Bochy has been offered an advisory role in the Rangers front office. He also could be in line for such a position with the San Francisco Giants, though he isn’t a candidate for the managerial opening of the team he led to three World Series titles from 2010-14.

With 2,252 wins, Bochy is sixth among all managers, with the five ahead of him all in the Hall of Fame.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB

In their first postseason appearance since the COVID-19-shortened 2020 campaign, the Chicago Cubs have booked a ticket to the NLDS, thanks to a dramatic Game 3 victory over the San Diego Padres in Thursday’s winner-take-all, wild-card matchup.

The last time the Cubs were in the playoffs, they were managed by David Ross, a celebrated member of their 2016 World Series team: the backup catcher famously carried off the field after the franchise ended its 108-year world championship drought.

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He went from calling games from behind the plate to calling the shots in the clubhouse from 2020-23, but his four-season run as manager came to an abrupt end following the 2023 season. Ross was unexpectedly fired, and president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer went a different direction, hiring the coveted Craig Counsell, who has since guided the Cubs back to October baseball.

Ross told The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal this week that he’s itching for another managerial opportunity in the majors.

“Badly,” he said in a phone interview with The Athletic Tuesday. “It’s an itch that hasn’t gone away.”

In an interview with The Associated Press Thursday, Ross — a 48-year-old Bainbridge, Georgia, native who was a part-time starter for the Atlanta Braves from 2009-12 — said landing the vacant Braves job “would be amazing,” although Ross reportedly didn’t speak extensively about that specific position, as he’s not sure if he’ll be on the Braves’ list of candidates.

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He is sure, however, about his desire to get another crack at running the show in a major-league dugout.

Ross went 262-284 in his four seasons managing the Cubs from 2020-23. He led Chicago to an NL Central title during the pandemic-affected season, but the Cubs quickly bowed out of the playoffs with a speedy wild-card defeat to the Miami Marlins.

Ahead of the 2023 season, the Cubs committed $300 million to free agents, eying a return to title contention. While Chicago flirted with that kind of success, a September collapse left the club on the outside looking in of the NL wild-card picture.

Ross told The Athletic that he wasn’t contacted for any of the managerial openings last offseason. This time around, there are already more jobs available. The Braves, Baltimore Orioles, Los Angeles Angels, Minnesota Twins, San Francisco Giants, Texas Rangers and Washington Nationals are all looking for new leadership — and the Colorado Rockies and Houston Astros could join that list soon.

There are things Ross would do differently if he got another chance, he told The Athletic.

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“I still had a players’ mentality,” said Ross, who didn’t have coaching or managing experience prior to his role with the Cubs. “I don’t want to yell and scream at umpires all the time. I probably did that way more than I ever expected. I loved umpires when I was catching.”

Ross added, via The Athletic: “You’re trying to fight for players. You’ve got to take some of that emotion out of managing and continue to talk through it with the guys. Fight for your players, but there were some emotions sometimes that got the best of me from a managing standpoint, if I’m being honest.”

Ross also discussed in his interview with The Athletic a greater appreciation for the importance of improved communication with the front office, especially during a rebuild, like the one he was overseeing with the Cubs.

While Ross said he has turned down bench coach opportunities each of the past two offseasons, he’s ready to wear a uniform again — as a manager.

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He’s thankful for his time in Chicago, as a player and as a manager, but he’s also champing at the bit for his next swing.

“I just have a little bit of emptiness from some unfinished business,” he said, via The Athletic. “I loved going to work every day and grinding with those guys.”

The Jets placed running back Braelon Allen on injured reserve earlier this week. Now there’s a better idea of how long his recovery will take.

New York head coach Aaron Glenn told reporters in his Friday press conference that Allen will be sidelined for 8-to-12 weeks. Allen will either have surgery or just rehab the injury, but the timeline is the same either way.

Allen suffered an MCL sprain during Monday night’s loss to the Dolphins.

In his second season, Allen has rushed for 76 yards with a touchdown and caught two passes for 17 yards so far in 2025.

In 17 games last year, Allen accounted for 334 yards rushing with two TDs plus 19 catches for 148 yards with a touchdown.

Finding value in player props is one of the most consistent ways to beat the books. Each week, FTN highlights three props identified by our proprietary model, which simulates every NFL game 10,000 times. Below, you’ll see the posted line, FTN’s projection, and the edge percentage, followed by context on why this prop makes sense. To see all the best props of the week, make sure you visit our prop tool.

Reminder: FTN’s simulation betting model is free to use in Week 5. Check out game predictions, player projections, and matchup stats for all 28 teams who are suiting up this weekend. It’s only free for one week, so make sure you check it out while you can! You can grab an NFL GOAT subscription if you’d like to have access to the model, plus all of our betting tools and analysis, for the entire season!

Prop Bet 1: Jaxson Dart Over 172.5 Passing Yards

-114, FanDuel Sportsbook
FTN Projection: 237
Edge: 29.8%

Jaxson Dart may have thrown for just 111 yards in his debut last week, but he showed impressive signs that better days are to come. While an aDOT of 6.3 yards isn’t high, it’s not as if Dart was throwing all of his passes at or near the line of scrimmage. The Chargers play 2-high coverage 51% of the time, the eighth-highest rate in the league, and Dart was smart to take what the defense gave him underneath. This week he faces a Saints defense that plays the fourth least 2-high coverage, which should open it up for Dart to attack downfield more. Plus he’s going from facing a Chargers defense, the third-best pass defense according to DVOA, to the Saints, who rank 29th. 

Prop Bet 2: Cam Ward Over 17.5 Completions

-102, FanDuel Sportsbook
FTN Projection: 21.4
Edge: 25.8%

Even though Cam Ward is playing poorly right now, he’s had to throw a lot because the team is constantly losing. He’s 15th in the league in attempts, though his efficiency is obviously a work in progress, ranking 27th in completions. The Titans are underdogs by more than a TD, so Ward is likely to be in another negative gamescript. And the Cardinals defense, while mostly good against the pass, has allowed the most completions in the entire NFL this season. Even if Ward struggles again, we expect him to get here purely on volume.

Prop Bet 3: Joshua Palmer Over 14.5 Receiving Yards

-120, BetMGM
FTN Projection: 43.9
Edge: 23.5%

Despite having just 16 targets this year, Palmer is still a key piece of the offense. He runs 60% of the routes, third among WRs on the team. This game is expected to be high scoring, with an over/under of 49.5. In this explosive offense, Palmer can take one catch 15-plus yards, making this line too low for a full-time player. 

Track Every Pick in Real Time

This article is just the start. FTN subscribers can:

FTN’s NFL Betting Resources

Final Thoughts

NFL betting is about finding small edges that add up over the course of the season. FTN’s Bet of the Week is just one example of the actionable insights our model delivers. Lock in this week’s best bet, and check back every week for the next free NFL best play.

Myles Garrett has seen many quarterbacks behind center for the Browns since the club selected him at No. 1 overall in 2017.

Maybe Dillon Gabriel will be the one who sticks.

Gabriel, a third-round pick in this year’s draft, will make his first start on Sunday when Cleveland plays Minnesota in London. Having been around the 24-year-old quarterback in practice since the offseason, Garrett told reporters of his positive impression of Gabriel on Friday.

“I mean, he just runs the offense like this is his offense,” Garrett said in his press conference. “And that’s all you can ask for from any quarterback. He comes out, smile on his face, chest out, gives the call, and it looks like he’s been doing it for years — the way he manages the offense.

“So, I’m looking forward to him doing the same thing on Sunday.”

Gabriel has made two appearances in mop-up duty so far this season, completing 3-of-4 passes for 19 yards with a touchdown.

We’ll see how Gabriel and Cleveland’s offense fares against a Brian Flores-coached defense on Sunday morning.

‘Credit to the boy’ Arteta on Lewis Skelly’s England call-uppublished at 13:38 BST

13:38 BST

Arsenal v West Ham (Sat, 15:00 BST)

Arsenal

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta spoke aboht Myles Lewis-Skelly’s inclusion in England squad: “Coming from someone like Thomas [Tuchel], who I know very well, for him to describe Myles in that way is credit to the boy, family and everybody who has been a part of of his education.

“Myles has probably not played as many minutes as he would have liked, but he is professional in the way he has been engaging with his team and he gives you the possibility to count on him.”

He was asked if he has spoken to the England camp about managing Bukayo Saka’s minutes, only recently coming back from injury: “Not yet, but we always talk Thomas and I. From my side, we give him feedback on where players are and we learn on reflect on how the camp has gone.”

In mid-September, as Paige Bueckers took the runway for “The Jennifer Hudson Show,” the Dallas Wings star showed off some moves while making her way down a tunnel as staff sang her name, clapped and danced in unison. Toward the end of it stood Cathy Engelbert.

“I bet I’m the last person you thought you’d see on this cool spirit tunnel,” the WNBA commissioner told a surprised Bueckers as Engelbert handed her the league’s Rookie of the Year award. Before Bueckers continued down the hall to make an appearance on the daytime talk show, she and Engelbert hugged.

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A couple of weeks later, WNBA players and coaches have not embraced Engelbert as much — and they have been vocal about their discontent.

Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier called out Engelbert and the league office Tuesday, saying the WNBA has the “worst leadership in the world.” She read a two-page prepared statement two days after the Phoenix Mercury eliminated the Lynx in Game 4 of the semifinals.

Collier aired private conversations she said she had with Engelbert regarding why prominent young players such as the Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark, Chicago Sky’s Angel Reese and Bueckers earned “so little for their first four years,” even though they’re “driving massive revenue for the league.”

“Her response was, ‘Caitlin should be grateful she makes $16 million off the court because without the platform that the WNBA gives her, she wouldn’t make anything,’” Collier said Engelbert told her. “And in that same conversation, she told me, ‘Players should be on their knees, thanking their lucky stars for the (11-year, $2.2 billion) media rights deal that I got them.’”

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In response to Collier’s comments, Engelbert said in part she was “disheartened by how Napheesa characterized our conversations.”

Collier went on to blast Engelbert, the league’s approach to the ongoing collective bargaining agreement negotiations and the game’s officiating.

Her coach, Cheryl Reeve, received a Game 4 suspension and $15,000 fine for charging onto the court late in Game 3 and criticizing the officiating after Collier suffered an ankle injury, a source with knowledge of the fine told The Athletic. Collier missed the final game.

“So if this is what our league wants, then OK, but I want to call for a change in leadership at the league level when it comes to officiating,” said Reeve, who has been Minnesota’s coach for 16 seasons. “It’s bad for the game.”

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Two other coaches — the Fever’s Stephanie White and the Las Vegas Aces’ Becky Hammon — supported the league’s longest-tenured coach. And they, too, were fined, $1,000 each, according to the source.

“Our leadership’s ability to being held accountable is to suppress everyone’s voices by handing out fines,” said Collier, the Women’s National Basketball Players Association vice president. “I’m not concerned about a fine. I’m concerned about the future of our sport.”

Engelbert is in her seventh year as commissioner. The big question is whether the 60-year-old will remain in her position after the current CBA negotiations. The CBA expires on Oct. 31.

The league has grown exponentially under her watch, with record ratings and attendance, a major media rights deal and expansion, but there have also been controversies and player complaints. Here’s a timeline of some notable moments during Engelbert’s tenure.

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July 17, 2019: Engelbert is hired as the WNBA’s first commissioner nearly two months into a regular season in which the league expected to lose $12 million. She came from Deloitte, where she spent 33 years, including the previous four as CEO. The league, which began play in 1997, had not made a profit to this point, and the Players Association was discussing issues related to compensation, travel and marketing, as it planned to opt out of the CBA at the end of the season.

Jan. 14, 2020: The league and WNBPA announce a WNBA player marketing agreement designed to keep star players in the U.S. during the offseason to promote the league year-round, instead of playing overseas. Top players are eligible to earn up to $250,000 in league marketing deals.

Jan. 17, 2020: The CBA was signed two months before the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown, saving the “Wubble” season, and the average cash compensation for players exceeded six figures for the first time. Six months later, the regular season began, with games being held at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., where the Seattle Storm won the title in October.

Aug. 4, 2020: When Atlanta Dream players and others wore T-shirts endorsing the Democratic opponent of Dream co-owner Kelly Loeffler, Engelbert initially said Loeffler would not be forced to sell her stake. Loeffler, a Republican Georgia senator, criticized the Black Lives Matter movement earlier in the summer. Her opponent, Raphael Warnock, won the January 2021 runoff contest, and a month later, Loeffler and her co-owner sold the Dream.

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Aug. 26, 2020: Engelbert supported the league’s postponement of three games as part of a protest after police shot Jacob Blake, a Black man, in the back seven times in Kenosha, Wis. “We are running a very player-first agenda,” she told ESPN.

Feb. 3, 2022: The WNBA announced a $75 million capital raise, the largest amount in a single investment round for a women’s sports league. Engelbert said the money would be used for player marketing, fan engagement, brand elevation, human capital and consumer touchpoints. The group of investors included WNBA and NBA owners, as well as Nike, Michael Dell and former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

July 10, 2022: Kelsey Plum was named the WNBA All-Star Game MVP after scoring 30 points to tie a then-All-Star record, leading Team Wilson’s win over Team Stewart. But it was the tiny trophy Engelbert handed her afterward that players and fans mocked. The following year, the trophy grew in size.

Oct. 5, 2023: The league announced that the San Francisco Bay Area would be home to its 13th franchise, its first expansion team in 15 years. Seven months later, the team owned by the Warriors’ Joe Jacob and Peter Guber would be named the Golden State Valkyries. They began play this season, becoming the first expansion team to reach the playoffs in its first season.

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May 16, 2024: Two days after the season tipped off, the WNBA said teams across the league would start using charter flights to travel for every game with a few planned exceptions. Players had called for private air travel for years, and with the league committing $25 million per year for the 2024 and 2025 seasons, they no longer had to deal with long security lines and frequent coach travel, which isn’t ideal for tall athletes.

May 23, 2024: Canada got the first WNBA franchise outside the U.S., as Toronto will be the league’s 14th team. “Women’s sports has arrived,” declared Toronto billionaire Larry Tanenbaum, whose Tempo will start competing in 2026. The team also plans to host games in Vancouver and Montreal.

July 24, 2024: The league announced a landmark 11-year media rights deal, worth an average of $200 million a year, with Disney, NBC and Amazon Prime. The package will broadcast more than 100 regular-season games each year. Engelbert said “these agreements allow the league to continue to build a long-term and sustainable growth model for the future of women’s basketball and sports, which will benefit WNBA players, teams and fans.”

Sept. 9, 2024: Engelbert took heat for comparing the Clark-Reese rivalry to that of the Boston Celtics’ Larry Bird and Los Angeles Lakers’ Magic Johnson during CNBC’s “Power Lunch.” She said: “It is a little of that Bird-Magic moment, if you recall from 1979, when those two rookies came in from a big college rivalry, one White, one Black. And so we have that moment with these two.” WNBPA executive director Terri Jackson said Engelbert’s response was a missed opportunity because “there is absolutely no place in sport — or in life — for the vile hate, racist language, homophobic comments and the misogynistic attacks our players are facing on social media.”

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Sept. 13, 2024: After the CNBC interview, Engelbert apologizes to players for not addressing the abusive rhetoric they sometimes face. In a letter obtained by ESPN, Engelbert wrote to players that she was asked a question about rivalries and the dark side of social media and race. “My answer missed the mark and I’m sorry. I regret that I didn’t express, in a clear and definitive way, condemnation of the hateful speech that is all too often directed at WNBA players on social media.”

Sept. 18, 2024: The WNBA awarded Portland a franchise, 22 years after the Fire folded. Engelbert called it “the latest milestone in Portland’s rich history of iconic basketball moments.” The team, which is owned by Lisa Bhathal Merage and Alex Bhathal, owners of the National Women’s Soccer League’s Portland Thorns, is the WNBA’s 15th and will begin play in 2026.

Oct. 10, 2024: Engelbert announced that the league will extend the 2025 regular season from 40 games to 44 and its finals will move from a best-of-five series to a best-of-seven.

June 30, 2025: The WNBA announced that Philadelphia, Detroit and Cleveland are getting franchises, putting the league at 18 teams by 2030. Engelbert left the door open for Houston to get a team again, saying the city “would be up next, for sure.” The Houston Comets, who won the league’s first four championships, disbanded in 2008 after the team’s owner couldn’t find a buyer.

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July 1, 2025: Clark criticized the pay structure  comparing what a team earned for winning the Commissioner’s Cup to the Finals. “You get more (money) for this than you do if you’re the (finals) champion,” the guard said during a teammate’s locker room Instagram livestream after the Fever beat the Lynx to claim the Commissioner’s Cup and the $500,000 purse that is split among the winning squad’s players. “Someone tell Cathy to help us out.”

Sept. 30, 2025: After Collier slammed Englebert’s leadership, the commissioner released a statement. “I have the utmost respect for Napheesa Collier and for all the players in the WNBA,” she said. “Together we have all worked tirelessly to transform this league. My focus remains on ensuring a bright future for the players and the WNBA, including collaborating on how we continue to elevate the game. I am disheartened by how Napheesa characterized our conversations and league leadership, but even when our perspectives differ, my commitment to the players and to this work will not waver.”

(Top photo: Wendell Cruz / Imagn Images)

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

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Spain boss Luis de la Fuente has named his latest squad for World Cup qualifiers against Georgia and Bulgaria and named Lamine Yamal on his roster.

There’s been tension between club and country after Yamal returned from the latest international break with an injury and missed four games for Barcelona.

However, Yamal is in the squad – along with Barcelona team-mates Pedri, Ferran Torres, Pau Cubarsi and Dani Olmo – and looks set to feature in the upcoming games.

Here’s the squad for the two matches:

Goalkeepers: Unai Simon, David Raya, Alex Remiro

Defenders: Alejandro Grimaldo, Marc Cucurella, Pau Cubarsí, Dani Vivian, Robin Le Normand, Marcos Llorente, Pedro Porro, Dean Huijsen.

Midfielders: Rodrigo, Dani Olmo, Mikel Merino, Martin Zubimendi, Aleix Garcia, Pedri, Alex Baena and Pablo Barrios.

Forwards: Mikel Oyarzabal, Ferran Torres, Yeremy Pino, Lamine Yamal, Samu, Jorge de Frutos and Jesús Rodríguez.

Spain’s first game is against Georgia on October 11th in Alicante, with the second match due to take place three days later in Valladolid.