Tag: NFL

“That’s a good looking haircut,” Siciliano said.

“Fantastic haircut,” Monken replied. “Unfortunately led me to miss the head coaches picture, but it does look pretty good.”

Per Monken, the itinerary originally had the photo scheduled for noon, but was moved up, leading to his confusion.

“They moved the picture up,” Monken said. “I guess that’s the price of missing a meeting, where most of everybody was in the meeting but me. But I did get a nice haircut out of it.”

Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay was also missing from the photo, something Monken appreciated so as he wasn’t the only one missing in action.

“I was ready to go. I was like, ‘Don’t we have to go to the picture?’” he said. “They were like, ‘No, we took it 20 minutes ago.’”

Though the nail-biting string of four straight losses buried the Bucs, the team’s travails began in November when Tampa started a skid of seven loss over its final nine games.

Quarterback Baker Mayfield‘s play dipped significantly. Though he didn’t miss a game, he was playing with an injured shoulder. Mike Evans, who is now with the San Francisco 49ers, played in just eight games. Running back Bucky Irving, wide receiver Jalen McMillan, offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs and line mates Luke Goedeke and Cody Mauch, along with defensive lineman Calijah Kancey and cornerback Jamel Dean were among the long list of Bucs who missed significant time.

Add all that up with six losses decided by six points or less and one could surmise Bowles hardly holds sole blame for the Buc’s frustrating season. Still, since he took over for the retiring Bruce Arians before the 2022 season, Bowles has had just two winning seasons in four years and only reached double-digit victories and earned a playoff win once.

“I’d say as a franchise, everybody’s goal is to win the Super Bowl every year,” Glazer said. “That’s your hope, but only one team does win the Super Bowl every year. In any given season you’ve got to look at the season, look at how things went, look at where the franchise is at, look at the totality of the situation as year in and year out. That’s how you evaluate things. Last season started out great – didn’t end so well. Obviously, we were disappointed, obviously our fans were disappointed, but there’s a little more to it.

“Every team has injuries, but there were significant injuries last year at significant positions. There were a lot of close games down the stretch that didn’t go our way. But we’re trying to build a championship team. You can try and throw a dart every year – or you can try and build a Super Bowl winning team. We feel like we had a great team and we’re constantly building, building, building – adding to the foundations that we have.”

Provided the Buccaneers are a healthier lot than they were a season ago, they’re still very much likely to be viewed as favorites in the NFC South again.

It was a stunning division loss in Week 15 to the Atlanta Falcons that led to the usually stoic Bowles’ frustrations boiling over postgame.

The veteran coach joked about the memorable news conference earlier this week on Good Morning Football.

“Sometimes you get pissed and it’s gotta come out,” he said. “It has to come out. It came out more calmer in the press than it did in the locker room. But g–d— it, I care.”

The fight and the desire to win aren’t in question with Bowles and his Bucs.

However, one has to believe a second season in a row short of playoff success could put Glazer in the position to make another difficult decision regarding Bowles’ future. For now, though, Bowles has the sturdy support of Buccaneers ownership.

“If you look at our roster, if you look at our team, I think we are great in a lot of spots. But like a lot of teams, you have to add,” Glazer said. “So obviously, ultimately the head coach is the one who this falls at his feet, but I know Todd’s very respected in the locker room and nobody wants to win more than Todd.”

More than a decade ago, Jadeveon Clowney was the No. 1 overall pick, taken atop the 2014 NFL Draft by the Houston Texans.

During this decade, however, Clowney has become a fixture on the NFL.com Top 101 free agents list, having emerged as a preeminent pass rusher for hire.

Among his half-dozen stops since leaving Houston in 2018 was with the Baltimore Ravens.

Clowney seems open for a return and the face of the franchise, Lamar Jackson, is all for it.

“Definitely,” Jackson responded recently on social media when asked if he wanted Clowney back in Baltimore.

The question was posed in light of recent Clowney comments in which he expressed his fondness for the Ravens organization and his desire to return.

“They take pride in their defense,” Clowney told KPRC 2’s Aaron Wilson recently. “I enjoyed the locker room. The guys that was in the locker room was an extremely fun group of guys. A lot of leaders was on that team, a lot of guys that respect the game of football.

“They got a lot of good guys that I can relate to in that locker room. I’ll definitely be open to going back to Baltimore, playing with Lamar Jackson now. It was a great time for me.”

Now 33, Clowney’s time with the Texans ran from 2014 through 2018, earning three straight Pro Bowls over his final three seasons with the club. Thereafter, Clowney has begun a winding NFL journey, having played in both conferences, five divisions and for six teams, with a 2021-2022 run for the Cleveland Browns standing as his only multiyear stay.

In 2023, he joined Jackson and the Ravens, appearing in 17 games for the first and only time in his career, tallying 15 starts, a career-best 9.5 sacks, 43 tackles, six pass breakups and a pair of forced fumbles.

Coming off a formidable 8.5-sack campaign for the Dallas Cowboys in 2025, Clowney is of the mind that he’s still ready and raring to wreak havoc off the edge, which would come opposite Trey Hendrickson. In perhaps the offseason’s biggest story, the Ravens’ agreed-upon trade with the Las Vegas Raiders for Maxx Crosby was nixed by Baltimore.

Hendrickson admitted he had expectations of playing opposite Crosby. Perhaps having another Pro Bowler join the Ravens pass rush wouldn’t be too bad.

That’s the usual for me,” Clowney said after a training session. “The usual, all season. Come in, stand on my grind. I got a lot left in the tank. I don’t know if other people know that, but I know that, I can continue to prove that to people and go out there and show people I’m going to do that.”

Pollard, who had 104 yards against Saleh’s Niners in Week 14, produced 1,082 rushing yards (4.5 yards per carry) in 2025, the veteran’s second consecutive 1,000-yard season with the Titans and fourth of his career. Spears, on the other hand, was hampered by injury out of the gate, finishing with 547 scrimmage yards in 13 games played.

Love appears to be a weapon that could help the Titans offense turn a corner. The 6-foot, 214-pounder is a three-down back with elite playing speed that can produce big plays, a skill set evidenced by his 4.36-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine.

Adding a playmaker like Love could also do wonders for Titans quarterback Cam Ward, whose Year 2 development will be a priority for the club in 2026.

While Saleh was adamant that Tennessee should be looking to add a game-changer at any position at No. 4, the defensive-minded coach was quick to point out that those kinds of prospects aren’t necessarily exclusive to offense.

“Edge rushers are playmakers, too,” Saleh said. “When you are drafting that high … you are looking at: Who can change the game in one play? And, edge rushers can change the game in one play. Love is a very talented young man and he can change it in one play. There’s receivers who can change it in one play.

“Right now, we need guys and we need to develop guys currently on our roster who can change the game in one play and when you are looking at all these guys from a consistency standpoint, who can flip the game on its head? Edge rushers can close it, and skill guys can end it.”

Either way, Tennessee is leaving no stone unturned as it pertains to its first-round pick. The Titans brought in Love for a Top 30 pre-draft visit and have also done the same for a few top pass-rushing prospects, including Texas Tech’s David Bailey, Miami’s Rueben Bain Jr. and Ohio State’s Arvell Reese.

What Tennessee ultimately decides to do remains to be seen, but it’s an intriguing spot in the first round that could shake things up if the Titans do indeed go with one of the top offensive prospects.

An expertly coiffed, buttoned-up Shanahan participated in NBC’s Super Bowl coverage from a set inside Levi’s Stadium prior to the start of Super Bowl LX and handled the duties well, but as he explained it, there’s plenty left for him to achieve. His coaching flame is far from extinguished, and after he led an injury-riddled 49ers squad to a 12-5 finish and an upset playoff victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Wild Card Weekend in 2025, his mind is only trained on one occupation.

At 46, Shanahan is close to passing legendary coach Bill Walsh on the all-time list for games coached in 49ers franchise history. If all goes according to plan, Shanahan will clear the Pro Football Hall of Famer before the end of September this season. He’s enjoyed plenty of success, leading the 49ers to five double-digit win seasons, five playoff appearances and two trips to the Super Bowl.

His team lost both in heartbreaking fashion, fueling his fire even more.

Despite these realities, it was fair to wonder if Shanahan could burn out and turn to television. Walsh once did so, leaving the 49ers after their triumph over the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl XXIII and joining NBC as a broadcaster alongside the late Dick Enberg before returning to coaching with Stanford in 1992.

Recency played a part in such a conclusion, too. As soon as Mike Tomlin stepped down from his post as Steelers coach in January, many believed his next move would place him in front of a camera with a microphone in hand. He’s reportedly since signed with an agency, a signal he will at least consider a career in broadcasting after 19 years in Pittsburgh.

Thanks to some employment moves, multiple high-profile broadcasting jobs are coming available for the NFL’s network television broadcasting partners. Matt Ryan left CBS Sports to become the president of football for the Atlanta Falcons, while Michael Vick left FOX to take over as coach at Norfolk State, clearing room for at least two new faces.

Neither will include Shanahan, at least not the foreseeable future. While he enjoyed his time with NBC, he’s also embroiled in a rivalry with his NFC West foes, including fellow former Washington assistant Sean McVay, the Super Bowl-winning coach of the Rams.

Plenty of road remains in front of Shanahan. The offramp to broadcasting can wait.

Over 13 NFL seasons, Gilmore established himself as a shutdown corner capable of erasing any receiver lined up across from him. His career peaked in 2019 when Gilmore led the NFL with 20 passes defensed and six interceptions, earning All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors to line up alongside the most coveted award: 2019 Defensive Player of the Year.

A year earlier, Gilmore played a pivotal role in a Patriots defense that was a statistically middling unit but came together at the perfect time in Super Bowl LIII, shutting down the high-powered Los Angeles Rams in a 13-3 triumph on the sport’s grandest stage. In that contest, Gilmore shined, finishing second in tackles (five), forcing a fumble and intercepting Jared Goff in New England’s red zone late in the fourth quarter to shut down the Rams’ best and last chance to tie the game.

Like many Patriots near the end of the Bill Belichick era, Gilmore saw his time in New England end unceremoniously during the 2021 season when the Patriots couldn’t agree to terms with Gilmore on an extension and instead traded him to his hometown Carolina Panthers in exchange for a sixth-round draft pick. Gilmore struggled through a quadriceps injury for much of that season before returning on Halloween, appearing in eight games (three starts) and earning his fifth and final Pro Bowl selection while with the 5-12 Panthers.

In his final few seasons, Gilmore bounced around as a mercenary, spending one season each with Indianapolis, Dallas and Minnesota. After spending 2025 out of the league, the 35-year-old Gilmore decided it was time to hang up the cleats that helped him rise to fame.

Gilmore’s pro career began as a first-round pick of the Buffalo Bills out of South Carolina in 2012, and he quickly established himself as an effective cornerback who only grew with each passing year. He finally received his deserved recognition in his fifth and final season in Buffalo, earning a Pro Bowl nod in a season that saw Gilmore record 12 passes defensed and five interceptions (then a career-high mark). Gilmore’s time in Buffalo preceded the Bills’ rise to prominence, but when new coach Sean McDermott arrived and the Bills decided they’d prefer to move on from the former first-rounder, a division rival with years of experience playing against Gilmore was happy to scoop him up.

The rest is history, a storybook career that can officially be closed with Thursday’s news.

Mendoza didn’t run or perform any of the other testing drills, but he did weigh in at a very sturdy 236 pounds – 11 pounds more than he weighed at the combine just over a month ago. That’s quite notable when you consider how late Indiana’s season ended, with the Hoosier’s National Championship victory over Miami on Jan. 19, with Mendoza having a shorter window to prepare for the draft.

It appears that Mendoza isn’t only preparing for the draft but also for his rookie season in the NFL and the yearlong grind that comes with being a highly drafted quarterback.

“A lot of trainers, a lot of coaches talk about the rookie wall. That once you finish playing January 19, you go straight into training and you go all the way to next February, hopefully,” Mendoza told Lewis after the workout. “But … I love football. I’ve never burnt out. I’m never going to hit a rookie wall.”

Mendoza said he rested for a week after the Miami game and then buckled up for the long haul.

“In early February, (I started) training, lifting, running. All those things are fun to me and I find great pride and satisfaction in those activities anyways,” he said. “… There was a little bit of an itch to get back. But part of performing is also resting, so I had a very calculated rest regimen.”

The workload and added weight didn’t appear to hinder him. Following a protracted warmup that saw Mendoza getting loose with dozens of throws, he was ready to go. Mendoza appeared to stick closely to his 56-throw script, which relied heavily early on shorter timing throws, to nine different receivers.

Once the action began, Mendoza threw with excellent tempo and pace. He completed his first 23 throws before WR E.J. Williams let a slant pass glance off his hands. About halfway through his script, Mendoza had arguably his one off-target pass, which was a slight overthrow on a “go” route. The only other ball that hit the John Mellencamp Pavillion turf was another drop, this one by TE Riley Nowakowski.

There were a handful of deeper attempts that were arguably underthrown, but it was an impressive display of accuracy nonetheless. NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah was impressed with the effort.

“To me, there were three things he accomplished today,” Jeremiah said. “No. 1, he showed up. That’s pretty much what he needed to do. No. 2, he’s in phenomenal shape. You really can tell he’s added that weight, (he’s) close to 240 pounds. And No. 3, he threw the ball as well as you saw him throw it on tape

“(There was) a lot more under center, so you got to see some of that as well. If you had objectives in this thing, I think those were the three and he accomplished all three.”

Mendoza’s accuracy – even in the sterilized environment of a pro day – stood out to NFL Network’s Bucky Brooks.

“I love the fact that the ball was consistently in the strike zone,” Brooks said. “We talk about in these workouts when you don’t have a defense on the field, you don’t necessarily want to see the ball on the ground, but more importantly, I want to see it consistently on the facemask. He did that and he delivered a bunch of different ranges, a bunch of different throws.

“Touch, timing, anticipation – he did all that. It’s exactly what you want to see in a pro day workout.”

Now we wait to find out if the Raiders agree.