Texas Tech's Joey McGuire says football has been business as usual through Sorsby gambling saga By SCHUYLER DIXON AP Sports Writer The Associated Press FRISCO, Texas
FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire said it has been business as usual in the football operation through the turmoil surrounding the Brendan Sorsby gambling saga.
The 54-year-old Texas native credited the school's leadership and boosters when asked at Big 12 media days on Tuesday how he has managed an offseason he couldn't have imagined in his younger coaching days.
“We’ve all been in this together,” McGuire said. “I have good mentors, and I have a very strong football team. If you would walk into that building from right now, or even January, any point of this saga, the football side of it, you wouldn’t think that anything was wrong, different.”
McGuire again defended the school's support of Sorsby, including the plan to let him play even after the Cincinnati transfer admitted he placed bets on Indiana games when he was a freshman with the Hoosiers.
Sorsby played the past two seasons with the Bearcats before joining the defending Big 12 champion Red Raiders on a lucrative deal for his name, image and likeness.
The QB ultimately abandoned a legal effort to regain his eligibility after the NCAA suspended him for gambling, and has said he will wait until next year to enter the NFL draft .
Texas Tech, which went 12-2 last season, stood behind Sorsby when he went to rehab over his gambling and after he sued the NCAA to regain his eligibility .
“I’m not going to ever change that I’m going have my players’ backs,” McGuire said. “It’s really easy to tell a mom or a dad that you’re going to be there to help their son grow into the man they’re supposed to be, and then all of a sudden, whenever adversity hits, or something like the situation we had, that you turn your back on them.”
McGuire said he talked to Sorsby in the past couple of days, and Sorsby is working out in the Dallas area, where he played in high school. McGuire said he expects Sorsby to make occasional trips to Lubbock and that he will have access to the school's athletic facilities.
“My biggest thing why I want to be there is because I have addicts in my family,” the coach said. “Some of them are no longer with us. But the biggest thing for me right now is he continues to get help so there’s no relapse and he can be the person and the player that he’s meant to be.”
Tight end Terrance Carter Jr. said he stayed in touch with Sorsby through the offseason after their relationship blossomed in just a few months together.
“When we found out he was going into rehab, I sent him a quick text, ‘I love you, bro,’” Carter said. “We still text a lot to this day. So I can say our relationship is strong. It’s more than just football for me. So just being there for my brother, that’s all I can do.”
Hammond could end up as Red Raiders' starting QB
Quarterback Will Hammond started twice and came off the bench once for an injured Behren Morton before tearing the ACL in his right knee last season.
McGuire said Hammond could be ready for the season opener Sept. 5 against Abilene Christian, but it's possible the Red Raiders could wait until the third game Sept. 18 against Houston.
Without the knee injury, Hammond might have been the projected starter this season, and Carter said he was confident in the quarterbacks regardless of Sorsby's status.
That's not to say Sorsby's former teammates were indifferent toward his fate.
“Coach McGuire always preaches about the ‘what’s next’ mentality,” center and captain Sheridan Wilson said. “This is just, unfortunately, just another ‘what’s next’ moment. It breaks my heart, obviously. It breaks a lot of people’s hearts because that’s a friend of ours. We’d love to have him on the team, but at the end of the day, we’re still chasing the Big 12 championship. We have to move on.”
While Texas Tech officials were widely criticized over the possibility of Sorsby playing for the Red Raiders after admitting to gambling on his team's games at Indiana, McGuire said fellow coaches were supportive behind the scenes.
Some of the criticism came after Texas Tech posted a video in which president Lawrence Schovanec, athletic director Kirby Hocutt and McGuire tried to explain their reasons for supporting Sorsby.
“Some of the statements we made, we were making them to Red Raiders,” McGuire said. “I was not going to change the public opinion across the board. What we were trying to explain in any video or anything like that was to get our fan base and our boosters and our alumni to understand exactly what we were trying to do. We owed it to them. And really that’s the only people that we owed it to.”
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Cornerback Rasul Douglas agrees to a 1-year contract with the Commanders, AP source says By STEPHEN WHYNO AP Sports Writer The Associated Press
Veteran cornerback Rasul Douglas has agreed to terms with the Washington Commanders on a contract for next season, according to a person familiar with the deal.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Monday because the contract had not yet been signed.
Douglas, who turns 31 on Aug. 29, returns to the NFC East after beginning his NFL career in the division with Philadelphia. A third-round pick in 2017, he helped the Eagles win the Super Bowl in his rookie year.
With Washington coming off a season in which it ranked last in the league on defense, general manager Adam Peters has been active in adding talent on that side of the ball. Douglas is the latest addition after signing safety Nick Cross, cornerback Amik Robertson, edge rushers Odafe Oweh and K’Lavon Chaisson and linebacker Leo Chenal and drafting Sonny Styles with the seventh pick.
Douglas played in 15 and started 13 games for the Miami Dolphins last season, finishing with two interceptions and 62 tackles. He made previous stops with Buffalo, Green Bay and Carolina after leaving Philadelphia and has played in 146 career games, counting the playoffs, since turning pro.
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Teammates of Travis Kelce and others around sports attend his wedding to Taylor Swift By STEPHEN WHYNO AP Sports Writer The Associated Press NEW YORK
NEW YORK (AP) — JuJu Smith-Schuster was there. So was Cooper Kupp, fresh off winning the Super Bowl.
NFL players and other prominent sports figures made up part of the star-studded crowd for Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift's wedding at Madison Square Garden on Friday.
Kareem Hunt was one of Kelce's many current or former Kansas City Chiefs teammates spotted in New York ahead of the wedding, which was expected to also be attended by Kelce's retired Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl-winning brother Jason , San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle and others from football, golf and beyond.
Soccer even had a presence, albeit in the form of “Ted Lasso” actor Jason Sudeikis, himself a big Chiefs fan.
The wedding is taking place at the home arena of the NBA’s New York Knicks and NHL’s Rangers. Swift attended Game 4 of the NBA Finals there, sitting courtside as the Knicks pulled off the biggest comeback at that stage of the playoffs in league history by rallying from down 29 to beat San Antonio.
MSG has been the site of some iconic sports moments since the current version opened at this location atop Penn Station in 1968.
The Knicks won their first NBA title there in 1970, when Willis Reed famously returned from injury to spark their Game 7 victory against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Joe Frazier beat Muhammad Ali there in the first of the legends' three boxing matches against each other, the “Fight of the Century,” in 1971. Ali won the rematch in '74.
The Rangers ended their 54-year championship drought at the Garden in 1994, defeating the Vancouver Canucks to win the Stanley Cup.
Kelce is a three-time Super Bowl champion with Kansas City and a four-time AP All-Pro selection at his position. Jason was a seven-time All-Pro center who helped Philadelphia win the Super Bowl in the 2017 season.
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Lions looking at options at cornerback after releasing Terrion Arnold as he faces felony charges By LARRY LAGE AP Sports Writer The Associated Press
The Detroit Lions seemed to be prepared to potentially play without Terrion Arnold , putting the cornerback on the field with backups during minicamp in mid-June.
And suddenly, Arnold is a former player for the franchise.
Detroit released Arnold on Monday, the same day a Florida judge set his bail at $1 million as he faces eight felony charges tied to allegations he orchestrated the abduction and beating of three men.
The move leaves the Lions with eight players they list as cornerbacks on the roster, including three players with a combined 164 games of starting experience in the NFL.
D.J. Reed , Rock Ya-Sin and Roger McCreary will likely compete to start when the season kicks off in September.
The team is hopeful Ennis Rakestraw, who was drafted in the second round two years ago, can contribute after missing last season following shoulder surgery and being limited to eight games as a rookie due to hamstring and ankle injuries.
“We still got Reed,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said in March, months before the team cut ties with Arnold. “We like (Rakestraw) coming back. I know it’s unproven right now, but, he’s had a good offseason to this point. We got Rock (Ya-Sin) and McCreary.
"We’ve got some things there.”
Some notable cornerbacks are still available in free agency, but four-time Pro Bowler Marshon Lattimore and 2021 All-Pro Trevon Diggs are coming off at least three injury-shortened seasons.
Kenny Moore II might be a fit after asking the Indianapolis Colts to trade him and getting released in May. The 30-year-old Moore started seven games last season and has 111 career starts for the Colts over nine seasons, including 2021, when he earned Pro Bowl recognition.
Detroit drafted Arnold with the No. 24 pick overall in 2024, when the NFL draft was in the Motor City and the former Alabama star sported a big smile and an electric salmon silk suit . He had two years left on his four-year rookie contract.
Arnold had an uneven rookie season, defending 10 passes in 15 starts without an interception. He picked off one pass last season while he was limited to eight games due to a concussion and shoulder injury.
A month after the season ended for the Lions, prosecutors in Florida say, Arnold arranged for three men to be pistol-whipped after he wrongly suspected them of stealing $100,000 in cash and luxury goods from him.
In March, Campbell said the Lions believed Arnold was not involved in the alleged crime based on the information they had at that time.
“I feel like we're going to be good here,” Campbell told reporters. “I’m going to trust what the kid said.”
Two months later, Arnold's stock with the team seemed to slip as he was not on the field with the No. 1 defense during offseason workouts while working his way back from the shoulder injury.
“We got a lot of good guys in that room and he knows this," Campbell said on June 17. "He's got to earn it."
Before the Lions released Arnold, the judge did not require him to wear an ankle monitor because it would have prevented him from taking the field for games and training. Harvey Steinberg, an attorney for Arnold, argued in court Monday that prosecutors are “not even close” to showing that Arnold knew or directed what his associates would do.
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Deion Sanders says he feels like his old self a year after surgery: 'I consider myself cancer-free' By ARNIE STAPLETON AP Pro Football Writer The Associated Press BOULDER, Colo.
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders says he feels like his old — and younger — self again a year after undergoing surgery to remove his cancerous bladder .
“I consider myself cancer-free," thanks to robotic surgery that also reconstructed his bladder using part of his intestine, Sanders told The Associated Press after getting a tutorial in the surgical system that was used in his operation.
This being Men's Health Awareness Month, the University of Colorado football coach wanted to get a first-hand look at the Intuitive Da Vinci System, which is less invasive than open surgeries and cuts down on hospital stays and speeds recoveries.
“I was fighting” last year at this time, Sanders recalled. "I was walking out on the property with a bag of blood and also urine and trying to get back. But this expedited the process. Last year at this time I was in a whole different place, and I'm just thankful.”
Sanders missed football camps last summer in Boulder as he went through cancer treatments. The Buffaloes finished with a 3-9 mark a year after making a bowl game behind Shedeur Sanders and Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter .
This summer he appears much fitter and energetic as he oversees offseason training.
"If I pull my shirt up, I'm not scarred, it's not flawed. I'm not embarrassed by anything that transpired. I'm elated by everything that transpired,” Sanders said.
At a routine checkup last spring, a CT scan showed a mass on Sanders' bladder. He was referred to the University of Colorado Anschutz, where he met Dr. Janet Kukreja, director of urologic oncology at the CU Cancer Center and UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital.
Sanders, who turns 59 later this summer, was diagnosed with a malignant tumor in his bladder. Although the tumor hadn't reached the muscle layer in his bladder, it was considered “very high risk,” with a 50-50 chance of recurring or progressing after treatments.
Kukreja is among the small group of surgeons in the U.S. who perform robotic removal of the entire cancerous bladder — called a radical cystectomy — and robotic reconstruction of the organ, which involves having a section of intestine function as a bladder.
“It got me back in the game, got me back on my feet and got me out of the darn hospital and back into the normalcy of my life," Sanders said. “I'm here to let people know there's another option if you need surgery."
He called the robotic system his time machine.
”I'd be a fool to be blessed the way I was blessed and not sound alarms," Sanders said. “When I opened up a club years ago I went to the mountaintop and told all the stations come on to the nightclub. So, why wouldn't I do this? Saved me time so I could get back on the field, get back on my game instead of sitting up there in the hospital having a pity party. It saves you time. That’s what we’re all fighting for is time. We never know how much we get.”
Football past and present
Sanders has spent time recently with his son Shedeur, who's entering his second year with the Cleveland Browns and who will compete for the starting job with Deshaun Watson in training camp.
“He's on vacation, but he's going to the hills in St. Croix right now doing gassers," Sanders said.
Asked what he thought about Hunter, entering his second season in Jacksonville, possibly focusing on playing defensive back after pulling double duty as a DB and wide receiver in college, Sanders said: “I just want him to be happy. I can't tell those coaches how to coach and Travis what he's gifted to do. I just want him happy; that's all I want.”
As for Julian “JuJu” Lewis, the Buffs' starting quarterback and former five-star recruit out of Carrollton, Georgia, who took over the starting role as a freshman late last season, Sanders said those cameos will pay dividends in 2026.
“I think the entire team is benefiting" from lessons learned last year and new faces arriving this spring, Sanders said. “I have the best coaching staff I've ever featured. Everybody's unified. I just walked out of the weight room. They're lifting their butts off and they can't wait to go to camp. It's going to be phenomenal.”
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Brandon Aiyuk says he will sign with the Commanders if the 49ers grant his wish for a release By JOSH DUBOW AP Pro Football Writer The Associated Press SANTA CLARA, Calif.
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Disgruntled receiver Brandon Aiyuk said he would sign immediately with the Washington Commanders if the San Francisco 49ers grant his wish and release him.
Aiyuk is currently on the reserve/left squad list after he stopped showing up late last season as he rehabilitates a knee injury that has sidelined him since October 2024. Aiyuk wants to be released, but the Niners have shown no urgency to make a move even though general manager John Lynch has said he doesn’t expect Aiyuk to play for the team again.
“Tell them boys cut me today and I’ll sign with the Commanders tomorrow,” Aiyuk said on social media Wednesday.
The Commanders haven't commented on Aiyuk's status while he remains under contract to San Francisco and haven't indicated that they would sign him if he becomes available.
Aiyuk signed a four-year, $120 million extension with San Francisco just before the start of the 2024 season following a lengthy contract “hold in” that kept him out of practice that summer.
Aiyuk played seven games and caught 25 passes that season before going down with a season-ending knee injury and the acrimony between the sides only increased. The 49ers voided $27 million guaranteed in Aiyuk’s contract for 2026 last summer because he failed to participate in meetings and other team activities.
Aiyuk then left the team late in the season and has not talked to coach Kyle Shanahan or Lynch since then, communicating only through social media messages, calling the team “stupid” for paying him so much money.
Aiyuk could put pressure on the 49ers to make a decision if he shows up when the 49ers report to training camp on July 25. Until he reports, the 49ers can keep him on the reserve list without him counting to the salary cap or the roster limits.
Aiyuk has three years remaining on the four-year, $120 million extension he signed last year, including a nearly $25 million option bonus due before the start of this season. But he now has no guaranteed money remaining and won’t be owed anything unless he reports to the team.
The 28-year-old Aiyuk has 294 catches for 4,305 yards and 25 TDs since being drafted in the first round in 2020.
Aiyuk recently had an arrest warrant issued by Santa Clara County on a misdemeanor charge of exhibition of speeding in response to a video Aiyuk posted to social media last December that appeared to show him speeding on the road in front of Levi’s Stadium.
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The Jaguars lock up breakout tight end Brenton Strange with a new contract extension The Associated Press JACKSONVILLE, Fla.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — The Jacksonville Jaguars announced Wednesday they have agreed to a contract extension with Brenton Strange, making sure to keep the tight end coming off the best season of his career.
The Jaguars did not share terms of the deal. The NFL Network reported the deal is worth up to $48 million with $25 million guaranteed.
The 6-foot-4 Strange was the 61st pick overall out of Penn State in 2023. In his first year with new coach Liam Coen, Strange started all 12 games he played last season with 46 catches for 540 yards and three touchdowns. He has started 26 of 43 games played in his career with 91 receptions for 986 yards and six TDs.
The Jaguars also added Texas A&M tight end Nate Boerkircher and Tanner Koziol of Houston in the draft in April. Reaching an extension with Strange was a top priority going into Coen's second season.
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Falcons agree to $54 million, 3-year deal that makes Kyle Pitts Sr. 1 of NFL's top paid tight ends By CHARLES ODUM AP Sports Writer The Associated Press ATLANTA
ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Falcons have agreed to a three-year, $54 million contract with tight end Kyle Pitts Sr., securing another foundation player on the team's offense through the 2028 season.
The deal was announced on Tuesday by Pitts' agency, Athletes First , in a social media post. The agency said it is the largest three-year deal for a tight end in NFL history.
The agreement with Pitts comes three weeks after the team signed wide receiver Drake London to a four-year, $141 million deal.
Pitts, 25, was the No. 8 overall pick by the Falcons in the 2021 NFL draft. He set a career high with 88 catches for 928 yards and five touchdowns last season. He ranked second among tight ends in receptions and receiving yards.
Pitts’ contract, which includes $36 million in guaranteed salary, was first reported by ESPN. The Falcons have not announced the deal, but still celebrated by posting a video of Pitts on social media.
Pitts' big season included a three-touchdown game in Atlanta's 29-28 win at Tampa Bay on Dec. 11. That win came with Kirk Cousins at quarterback. The Falcons will enter training camp with Tua Tagovailoa expected to compete with Michael Penix Jr. for the starting job at quarterback.
Falcons coach Kevin Stefanski says Penix, recovering from knee surgery, is on schedule in his recovery . Penix had not been cleared for team drills in the recent minicamp but was impressive in seven-on-seven drills.
The Falcons signed Tagovailoa, the former Miami Dolphins starter, to a one-year deal in March after releasing Cousins with a post-June 1 designation.
The Falcons used a franchise tag of $15.045 million on Pitts, but now the tight end will play under the new deal in the 2026 season. The $18 million average of Pitts' contract places him third on the list of the NFL's highest paid tight ends, behind San Francisco's George Kittle ($19.1 million) and Arizona's Trey McBride ($19 million).
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Jayden Daniels is done talking about last season. There's enough on his plate for 2026 By NOAH TRISTER AP Sports Writer The Associated Press ASHBURN, Va.
ASHBURN, Va. (AP) — The start of the 2026 season is less than three months away for the Washington Commanders, and it's no surprise that Jayden Daniels wants to look forward, not backward.
“I’m done talking about last year. Last year’s last year," the 25-year-old quarterback said at minicamp this week. "Moving on to this season, and whatever happened last year is what happened last year. Can’t do anything for me but just continue to get better.”
After reaching the NFC championship game two seasons ago when Daniels was a rookie, Washington stumbled to 5-12 in 2025. The Commanders were a trendy pick to regress before the season started, and while injuries played a significant role, the naysayers ultimately had this one right when Washington went on an eight-game losing streak in the middle of the season. The big question this year is whether Daniels can stay healthy after he played only seven games last season, but there's more to rebounding than just that.
Across the board, Daniels' numbers were down in 2025 when he did play: passer rating (100.1 to 88.1), completion rate (69.0 percent to 60.6), yards per pass attempt (7.4 to 6.7) and yards per rush attempt (6.02 to 4.79). Washington went 2-5 in the games Daniels played after a 12-5 mark the previous regular season.
Commanders fans have already seen one promising quarterback — Robert Griffin III — have a sensational rookie season in 2012 and then never reach those heights again. They don't want a repeat with Daniels.
After last season, the Commanders overhauled coach Dan Quinn's staff . David Blough replaced Kliff Kingsbury as offensive coordinator. D.J. Williams, the son of Super Bowl-winning Washington quarterback Doug Williams, is now the quarterbacks coach.
“When D.J. got here was my first time meeting him. Obviously I heard about him through Doug,” Daniels said. “It's been cool. He's been pushing me. We've been having conversations, not even just about football but about life.”
Daniels and the Commanders have to adjust to a new offense under Blough. Of course, Daniels adapted quickly when he was a rookie and new to the NFL, so the hope is that he'll pick things up rapidly this offseason too as the system is installed.
“(The offense is), I would say, let's say 80% in. But knowing it and then making the plays come to life, that's different," Quinn said. "The thing that he works at, and you can tell so quickly, is his ability to process. So for him, the reps of doing it over and over is helpful.”
Minicamp was just a small part of Washington's preparation for the season. The Commanders open Sept. 13 at Philadelphia.
“On this day of installs, you have a certain set of plays. Then we do another one on the next day and another one. So you don't get continuity — ‘I want to run that concept 15 times,’" Quinn said. "That will take place in camp. ... And then when we get back to camp, that install process isn't new."
Right now the offense is a work in progress, but at least the focus is on next season and not the previous one.
“I know we've got a lot more to go. We just built the foundation,” Daniels said. “Just learning the new offense, terminology. Why we're attacking this play. What we want to do on this play. Things like that.”
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Dexter Lawrence looking to keep same offseason approach before reporting to Bengals' training camp By JOE REEDY AP Sports Writer The Associated Press CINCINNATI
CINCINNATI (AP) — Things calmed down a little bit for Dexter Lawrence during the final three weeks of the Cincinnati Bengals offseason program.
That might be the only time until January though that the defensive tackle is feeling a sense of calm.
Even though the Bengals canceled the final two days of minicamp practices, Lawrence will use the next five weeks before the start of training camp to gear up for this first season in orange and black. The Bengals acquired the three-time Pro Bowl selection from the New York Giants on April 19 for the 10th overall pick in the draft.
“I'm going to be like a boxer before they're going into a fight. You've got to put your head down and train,” Lawrence said on Wednesday at the end of offseason workouts.
It's the same approach Lawrence has used since he was the 17th overall pick by the Giants in the 2019 draft.
Lawrence arrived just at the start of the offseason program and used the past two months to get to know his new teammates while also imparting some of the wisdom he has learned over the past seven seasons.
“It’s part of my role to allow people to understand my knowledge of the game and to grow in that sense. I’m just excited to keep growing with them and learning,” he said.
Coach Zac Taylor said the important thing is that Lawrence has led by example instead of words, and that he has been front and center with the defense since arriving.
“I don’t know if he’s left since the day he showed up in the trade. It’s good to have veteran leadership like that that’s been in the building,” Taylor said. “I just think that the leadership on that side of the ball has really expanded amongst the amount of players that we have.”
Cincinnati has one of the league’s top offenses with quarterback Joe Burrow and All-Pro wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase, but its defense has been among the worst the past two seasons and needs to take a step forward if it wants to get to the playoffs for the first time since 2022.
The Bengals lost seven times over the past two seasons when scoring at least 30 points. It also became the first team to lose at least three games in consecutive seasons when scoring at least 34 points. They were 31st in yards allowed, 30th in points allowed and last against the run last season.
Lawrence is the lynchpin to the franchise’s reconstruction of the defense. They also added two-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Jonathan Allen, edge rusher Boye Mafe and safety Bryan Cook.
“We know the caliber of player he is. Having him on our side, it makes it so much easier. It makes everyone’s job around us easier. He’s a calming presence because we have him on our side,” Mafe said of Lawrence.
Lawrence and Mafe combined for only 2 1/2 sacks last season, but they are hoping to revive a Cincinnati pass rush that was tied for the seventh-fewest sacks in the league in 2025 with 35.
Trey Hendrickson played in only seven games last season because of an injury and had four sacks before signing with Baltimore in the offseason.
Lawrence is also hoping the upgrades on Cincinnati's defensive line will help him to avoid double teams. According to Pro Football Focus, Lawrence faced the fifth-highest, double-team rate among defensive tackles last season at 70.35%. That is a significant reason why he had a half sack last season after getting a career-high nine in 2024.
The drop in sacks is also why Lawrence has a big chip on his shoulder going into the season.
“I'm more managing it now because you can’t really beat up on other teams. So during the season you just let it go and you flow,” Lawrence said. “I know how I approach this game and my impact to the game, even when it doesn't show up on the sack numbers.”
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Freelance reporter Charlie Goldsmith in Cincinnati contributed to this story.
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