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Draper was modelling next summer’s collection for one of his sponsors last week and has been working out regularly at the National Tennis Centre in London this week.

The work is primarily physical at the moment, and when pre-season training begins in earnest later this month, the initial on-court drills are likely to be low in intensity.

The British number one first felt discomfort in his upper left serving arm during the clay court season in the spring, and following a scan after Wimbledon, did not hit any serves for a month.

But the period of rest proved insufficient. He won his first-round match at the US Open, but withdrew before the second, and the opportunity to make his debut at the season ending ATP Finals was gone.

”He’s top 10 and he played half of the year. Just to say how good he is…” Mouratoglou added.

“His only problem for the moment is the injuries: he has been through several injuries already in the past.

“I always thought he was going to be a top player, but for every player that is supposed to become a top player, there are things to solve.

“For him, it’s to find a way to be injury free as much as possible because that’s what made him lose a little bit of time otherwise he would be higher [in the rankings], I think.”

Welsh netball’s leading women’s team will lose ‘Cardiff’ from their title for the 2026 Netball Super League (NSL) season and host games in Liverpool as well as the Welsh capital.

Previously known as LexisNexis Cardiff Dragons, the city name has been removed and they are now LexisNexis Dragons and will play home games at Cardiff’s House of Sport and Liverpool’s M&S Bank Arena.

Dragons named their squad in early September despite financial uncertainty.

The Welsh side finished bottom of the revamped NSL last season – winning only two of their 14 matches – and there have been question marks about the franchise’s finances.

BBC Sport Wales had been told that players were informed in the off-season that they may not have had a team to play for this coming campaign if Dragons did not secure the required funding.

Liverpool manager Arne Slot says goalkeeper Alisson will miss the game against Chelsea on Saturday after the Brazilian was injured against Galatasaray.

The 32-year-old had to be replaced by Giorgi Mamardashvili in the 56th minute of the 1-0 Champions League defeat in Istanbul.

Alisson limped off after saving from goalscorer Victor Osimhen, while striker Hugo Ekitike then pulled up after stretching for the ball and also had to be replaced.

Slot said the Brazil international had felt something when “sprinting back”.

“If my player is on the floor, nine out of 10 times I fear the worst and with the worst I mean that he cannot continue,” Slot said.

“It’s never positive if you go off like this. You can be sure he is not playing Saturday.”

Mamardashvili is in line for a Premier League debut at Stamford Bridge. The Georgian was signed from Valencia in the summer for £29m.

Alisson missed 10 Premier League games last season with a hamstring injury.

There is also a doubt over Ekitike, who limped off during the second half.

“I wasn’t really thinking that we had an injury, but Hugo felt something,” Slot added.

“He said he couldn’t continue, so we had to take him off. Let’s see how he is for the weekend.”

Moldova’s ruling pro-West governing party won a majority in the country’s tense Sunday elections, beating pro-Russian parties by a wide margin amid reported attempts to violently disrupt the vote and allegations of interference by Russia.

Results from more than 99 percent of the polling stations counted by Monday noon showed the Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) clearly in the lead, despite analysis and opinion polls before the vote suggesting that pro-Russian parties would come close and possibly upset the ruling party’s parliamentary majority.

The small country is located between Ukraine and Romania. One of Europe’s poorest states, it was part of the Soviet Republic until 1991. The breakaway, semi-autonomous region of Transnistria, which lies along the border with Ukraine, has traditionally supported ties with Russia.

As a result, in recent years, Moldova has emerged as a battleground for influence between Russia and the West.

In a September 9 speech at the European Parliament, Moldovan President Maia Sandu, founder of PAS, declared that this election would be “the most consequential” in the country’s history.

For Moldovans, the elections represented a crucial turning point. The small country with Russia’s war in Ukraine on its doorstep could either continue on its current path towards European Union membership, or it could fall back into the old fold of Russian influence.

Ultimately, despite reports of pro-Russian groups threatening violence, with at least three people arrested in Moldova, and several bomb scares reported at polling booths abroad, the Moldovan diaspora played a key role in delivering a pro-EU victory.

What was the outcome of Moldova’s election?

Nearly all votes cast at polling stations had been counted by Monday. Some 1.6 million people cast their votes, making about 52.2 percent of eligible voters, which is higher than in previous elections.

The ruling pro-EU PAS, led by parliament president and PAS cofounder, Igor Grosu, won 50.16 percent of the vote and about 55 of the 101 seats in parliament, translating to a comfortable majority government, according to the country’s election agency.

The current prime minister, Dorin Recean, appointed by Sandu in February 2023, is expected to retain his position.

The pro-Russian Patriotic Electoral Bloc (BEP), an alliance of four parties led by former president and Russian ally Igor Dodon, came in a far second with 24.19 percent of the vote. The party won 26 seats in parliament. Two parties within the bloc, Heart of Moldova and Moldova Mare, were banned from participating in the election amid allegations they had received illicit funding from Russia.

In third place was the Alternative Party, which is also pro-EU with 7.97 percent of the vote, securing eight parliamentary seats.

Our Party, a populist group, and the conservative Democracy at Home party, respectively, won just more than 6 percent and 5 percent of the vote. That allowed them entry into parliament for the first time with 6 seats each.

What had polls predicted?

Opinion polls had suggested a much tighter race between the ruling PAS and the BEP, which was predicted to come a close second. That scenario would have disrupted PAS’s present control of parliament, potentially forcing it into an uncomfortable coalition with the BEP, and slowing down pro-EU reforms.

Before the Sunday polls, politicians and their supporters on both sides of the debate campaigned intensely on the streets and on TV, but also on online platforms such as TikTok, in an attempt to reach young people who make up about a quarter of the population.

What were the key issues?

EU accession was the single most important issue on the ballot this election. Under President Sandu, Moldova applied to join the EU in early 2022, just after Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine. Chisinau’s goal, alongside a better economy, has been to obtain security guarantees like its neighbour, Romania, which is a member of the EU and of the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance (NATO).

In July 2022, the EU granted Moldova – as well as Ukraine – candidate status, on the condition that democracy, human and minority rights, and rule of law reforms are made. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the time declared that the future of Moldova was in the EU.

However, while President Sandu’s PAS is eager to achieve Moldova’s EU membership by 2028 when her term expires, she has accused Moscow of attempting to scupper this plan in order to continue wielding influence over a country it once controlled.

Russia has considerable support in Moldova, and backs a breakaway, autonomous enclave – Transnistria, located along its border with Ukraine. About 1,500 Russian troops are present there, and the enclave’s government has requested Russian annexation several times.

In a referendum vote last October, just more than 50 percent of Moldovans voted “yes” to joining the EU, a tight margin of victory that was seen as a predictor of this week’s parliamentary elections.

At the time, President Sandu blamed “dirty interference” from Russia for her camp’s thin victory.

Did Russia interfere in these elections?

During the run-up to Moldova’s election, the authorities have repeatedly accused Moscow of conducting a “hybrid war” – offline and online – to help pro-Russian parties to win the vote. Moscow denies meddling in Moldovan politics.

Russia is specifically accused of being behind a widespread “voter-buying” operation – through which voters are bribed to vote for particular parties – and of launching cyberattacks on Moldovan government networks throughout the year.

The authorities have also claimed that Moscow illicitly funds pro-Russia political parties. Two pro-Russia parties – Heart of Moldova and Moldova Mare – were barred from the vote on Friday over allegations of illegal financing and vote buying.

According to researchers and online monitoring groups, Moldova was flooded with online disinformation and propaganda in the months leading up to the vote that attempted to tarnish PAS and raise doubts and concerns about the EU. Researchers found that these campaigns were powered by artificial intelligence (AI), with bots deployed in comment sections on social media or fake websites posting AI-generated content deriding the EU.

International security professor Stefan Wolff, from the University of Birmingham, told Al Jazeera that Russia had indeed tried to influence Sunday’s elections to bring Moldova back under its influence.

“There is very little doubt in my mind and quite convincing evidence that Russia has done basically two things: Tried to bribe Moldovans literally with cash to vote for anti-European parties, and it has exerted massive campaigns of disinformation about what a pro-European choice would mean,” he said.

Wolff added that Russia also attempted to “discredit” President Sandu and PAS’s parliamentary candidates. “This really was a massive Russian operation, but it also, I think, shows the limits of how far Russia can push its influence in the post-Soviet space,” he said.

Google, in a press statement last week, said it had noticed coordinated campaigns targeting the Moldovan elections on YouTube. “We have terminated more than 1,000 channels since June 2024 for being part of coordinated influence operations targeting Moldova.”

What other disruptions to the election were there?

Two brothers and a third man had been arrested in Chisinau on suspicion of planning riots during the election on Sunday, Moldovan police said. According to local media, the police found flammable material in the possession of the suspects.

Last week, police arrested 74 people during 250 raids of groups linked to alleged Russian plans to instigate riots during the vote. Authorities said the suspects, who were between 19 and 49, had “systematically travelled” to Serbia, where they received training for “disorder and destabilisation”.

How did the Moldovan diaspora vote?

Some 17.5 percent of the votes – 288,000 – were cast by Moldovans living abroad, mostly in Europe and the US.

Bomb scares were reported at polling units in Italy, Romania, Spain and the US. Some polling units in Moldova also reported similar scares. The elections agency did not break down how the diaspora voted.

Voters in the enclave of Transnistria – where many people hold dual citizenship with Russia – faced logistical challenges, as they had to travel to polling stations 20km (12 miles) outside Transnistria. Media reports noted long car queues at Moldovan checkpoints on Sunday morning.

Some pro-Russian voters from the enclave told reporters they had been sent back and forth between polling stations because of bomb scares.

How has PAS reacted to the election result?

Speaking to reporters at the PAS headquarters in Chisinau on Monday after the party’s win, PAS leader Grosu reiterated the allegations against Russia.

“It was not only PAS that won these elections, it was the people who won,” Grosu said.

“The Russian Federation threw into battle everything it had that was most vile – mountains of money, mountains of lies, mountains of illegalities. It used criminals to try to turn our entire country into a haven for crime. It filled everything with hatred.”

Prime Minister Dorin Recean also said Moldovans “demonstrated that their freedom is priceless and their freedom cannot be bought, their freedom cannot be influenced by Russia’s propaganda and scaremongering”.

“This is a huge win for the people of Moldova, considering the fully-fledged hybrid war that Russia waged in Moldova,” Recean added. “The major task right now is to bring back the society together, because what Russia achieved is to produce a lot of tension and division in society.”

Last November, Romania cancelled its own presidential elections after authorities alleged that Russian interference had helped a far-right leader win the polls. A second election was held in May this year, which was won by the centrist and pro-EU candidate Nicusor Dan.

What happens next?

The election result was immediately denied by BEP leader Dodon, who called for protests at the parliament building in Chisinau after claiming – without providing evidence – that PAS had meddled with the vote.

In an address on national TV late on Sunday before the results were declared, Dodon claimed his party had won the vote. He called on the PAS government to resign, and asked supporters to take to the streets.

“We will not allow destabilisation,” the politician said. “The citizens have voted. Their vote must be respected even if you don’t like it”.

On Monday, dozens of people gathered to protest the results. It is unclear if the politician will launch a legal challenge.

Meanwhile, President Sandu will now have to nominate a prime minister who will form a new government. Analysts say the president will likely opt for continuity with Prime Minister Recean, who is pro-EU and previously served as Sandu’s defence and security adviser.

USC women’s basketball star JuJu Watkins will miss the upcoming college basketball season as she recovers from the serious knee injury she sustained during the NCAA tournament in March.

Watkins said in an announcement on social media that she planned to take the 2025-26 season to “fully focus on continuing to recover so I can come back to the game I love.”

“The last few months have been filled with a lot of healing, rest and reflection,” Watkins said in a statement. “Recovering from this injury hasn’t been easy, and I want to say thank you — your love, support and kind words have truly lifted me up during one of the most challenging times in my life.”

Watkins was in the midst of a stellar sophomore season when her knee buckled on a breakaway during the second round of the NCAA tournament. The injury proved to be a devastating blow to USC’s title hopes, as the Trojans eventually lost in the Elite Eight to Connecticut.

There was a glimmer of hope that Watkins might be able to return for a potential postseason run in March 2026, a full year after her injury. Two orthopedic surgeons told The Times at the time that she’d require upwards of 12 months to recover.

“There’s going to be a lot of differences from person to person in that recovery process,” said Dr. Gabriella Ode, an orthopedic surgeon who serves as the team physician for the New York Liberty. “There’s nothing wrong even with a 12-month recovery. I want to be very explicit about that. There are many people who it takes 12 months.”

Any speculation that Watkins might return sooner than that ended Sunday, more than a month before the start of the women’s college basketball season.

USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said in a statement that the program would “fully support her decision to focus on recovery this season.”

“While we will certainly miss her impact on the court, she continues to play a vital role in our program as a leader and teammate. The strength and maturity she has shown through this process is a reflection of who she is.”

Her impact won’t be easily replaced. But the arrival of another top prospect, Jazzy Davidson, should help fill some of the void.

“No one is filling JuJu’s shoes,” Gottlieb said earlier this month. “Those are unique shoes. But the fact that Jazzy can step into our program and already just make a really unique and incredible impression on everybody is pretty wild. She’s really, really good.”

In two seasons at USC, Watkins has been nothing short of a phenomenon, both on and off the court.

A Compton native, Watkins arrived at USC in 2023 intent on helping build the program back up, and within one season had helped turn the Trojans into national title contenders. As a sophomore, she won the Wooden Award, the Naismith Trophy, Big Ten Player of the Year and became the first USC player ever named the Associated Press player of the year. She also powered USC to a Big Ten title in its first season in the conference, all while becoming the fastest Trojan ever to 1,000 career points, a mark that she surpassed early in her sophomore year.

Upon her return as a senior, Watkins technically would still have two years of eligibility remaining. But the Trojan superstar is almost certain to declare for the WNBA draft when she’s first eligible in 2027.

ARLINGTON, Texas — Brandon Aubrey and Brandon McManus traded short field goals in overtime, and Micah Parsons’ highly anticipated return to Dallas ended with the Cowboys and Green Bay Packers in a 40-40 tie Sunday night.

Dak Prescott and Jordan Love had three touchdown passes apiece in regulation, which included seven consecutive lead-changing TDs before McManus’ tying 53-yard field goal as time expired.

McManus kicked a 34-yarder as the clock hit 0:00 in overtime, after Love’s pass into the back of the end zone fell incomplete with just a second remaining.

What started as the hyped return of one of the game’s elite pass rushers exactly a month after the Cowboys (1-2-1) traded Parsons to the Packers (2-1-1) ended up as the second dramatic duel of quarterbacks in two home games for Dallas.

The Cowboys beat the Giants 40-37 in overtime two weeks earlier when Russell Wilson was starting for New York.

The second-highest scoring tie in pro football history, behind the Raiders’ 43-43 draw with the Boston Patriots in the AFL in 1964, was the first for Dallas since 1969. The Packers last tied in 2018.

The Cowboys had a first down at the Green Bay five-yard line to start overtime after Prescott ran away from pressure from Parsons for a spectacular 34-yard completion to Jalen Tolbert, who came back for the throw and just barely got his feet inbounds.

The drive stalled with help from Parsons, who caught Prescott from behind for no gain and was credited with his first sack of the game. The Cowboys settled for Aubrey’s 22-yard field goal.

Love completed a 14-yard pass to Matthew Golden on fourth-and-6 and led the Packers to a first down at the Dallas 12 before that drive stalled as well. The Packers QB was fortunate he still had a second remaining after he waited for Golden to get open in the back of the end zone and threw incomplete.

Romeo Doubs caught all three of Love’s TD passes and finished with 58 yards on six catches. Josh Jacobs rushed for two touchdowns and finished with 157 total yards. Love threw for 337 yards.

Javonte Williams powered in from the 1 in the wildcat for Dallas after Prescott split wide. The Cowboys took a 30-27 lead on Williams’ plunge with 4:50 remaining. Three more TDs would follow.

Prescott threw for 319 yards and ran for a score, and George Pickens had eight catches for 134 yards and two touchdowns with No. 1 receiver CeeDee Lamb sidelined by a high ankle sprain.

Parsons’ OT sack was the only one given up by a Dallas offensive line missing two starters. The banged-up Green Bay front was equally effective.

The only sack of Love came on a fumble that led to the second Dallas touchdown in the final 41 seconds of the first half.

The Packers were up 13-0 after Love’s second TD toss Doubs when Juanyeh Thomas blocked Brandon McManus’ PAT kick and Markquese Bell returned it for a two-point conversion, the first such 2-point play in Dallas franchise history.

That three-point swing was still the difference when Dallas took a 23-20 lead into the fourth quarter moments after Prescott’s eight-yard scoring toss to Jake Ferguson.

Premier League champions Liverpool will play FA Cup winners Crystal Palace in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup.

Holders Newcastle United host Tottenham in another all-Premier League tie while Arsenal, who have not won the competition since 1993, face Brighton.

Grimsby Town, the only League Two side still standing and conquerors of Manchester United, get another home tie against Premier League Brentford.

And with three Welsh sides in the last 16 for the first time, it was perhaps inevitable there would be an all-Welsh clash as Wrexham host Cardiff City, with 2013 winners Swansea handed a tie against Manchester City.

It will be the first meeting between Wrexham and Cardiff since 2002.

CHELSEA forward Marc Guiu has been named as eligible for the EFL Cup thanks to a little-known rule change.

The teenager spent a short-lived spell with Sunderland on loan earlier this season but was recalled before the transfer deadline.

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He scored for the Black Cats in their EFL Cup exit to Huddersfield while with the club, an appearance that was believed to have made him ineligible for future EFL cup games this season.

However, a rule change for the 2025/26 season changed the laws to allow a player to turn out for two different clubs in the same campaign.

But Chelsea themselves were reportedly not aware that the Spaniard was able to play in their cup match with Lincoln City on Tuesday, and he has been left out of the squad.

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On Sept. 18, the Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate by 0.25%. It was the central bank’s first interest rate cut since December, as it looks to balance both sides of its dual mandate to achieve both stable prices and maximum employment.

Interest rate cuts benefit companies with more debt, including small-cap stocks. One value play that investors might be overlooking is regional banks. Here’s why.

Image source: Getty Images.

How interest rate cuts could benefit regional banks

Regional banks can benefit from interest rate cuts because their deposit costs typically adjust downward faster than loan yields. Most deposits are short-term and rate-sensitive, while many loans are fixed or repriced more slowly. This timing gap can boost net interest margins, easing pressure from prior rate hikes.

Lower rates also stimulate borrowing demand, boosting loan growth and fee income. Together, these dynamics can boost profitability and capital flexibility for regional banks during easing cycles. The primary beneficiaries are banks with strong deposit franchises, sensitivity to interest rates, and balance sheets heavily tilted toward lending.

PNC Financial is one regional bank with a relatively low deposit beta, supported by a stable, low-cost funding base and broad geographic reach, with a balance sheet tilted toward lending. By contrast, more asset-sensitive peers such as Zions Bancorp and KeyCorp, whose earnings were pressured by higher deposit costs in the rising rate environment, could see outsized margin recovery if funding cost sensitivity eases with rate cuts.

How investors could play the rebound

For investors, rate cuts create an opportunity in regional banks. As funding costs ease faster than loan yields, margins expand, credit demand rises, and earnings improve.

With valuations still compressed from pressures that emerged during the regional bank crisis a couple of years ago, regionals could deliver solid upside as monetary policy becomes a tailwind. For those interested, the SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (KRE -1.25%) is one way to play the rebound across a diverse group of over 140+ regional bank stocks.

On a play-action pass, Chargers running back Najee Harris crumpled to the turf before the fake handoff could fully develop, immediately grabbing his left ankle and tossing aside his helmet in pain.

Needing assistance, trainers helped Harris to the sideline, as he was unable to put any weight on his leg, before he was carted to the locker room in the second quarter of a 23-20 win over the Denver Broncos at SoFi Stadium on Sunday.

Harris, who spent the lead-up to his first season in L.A. recovering from an offseason eye injury in a fireworks accident, was expected to be a key piece of a one-two punch with rookie Omarion Hampton.

Now, he appears to be sidelined for the season with an Achilles injury, according to head coach Jim Harbaugh, who called the diagnosis “preliminary” as Harris underwent postgame imaging.

“Not good,” Harbaugh said of his emotions as the play unfolded. “[I was] just hoping for the best — maybe a high ankle, something else that wouldn’t be long-term.”

Speaking at the podium with a somber tone, Harbaugh said he met with Harris at halftime and described the running back’s demeanor as “cold-blooded,” adding that he told him: “You’ll be back, kid.”

The injury appeared clear on film, according to Dr. Dan Ginader, physical therapist and author of “The Pain-Free Body,” who reviewed video of the play.

“When looking at the calf of the back plant leg, you can see the muscle sort of ‘jump’ which is indicative of a complete tear of the Achilles,” Ginader said. “Players who have suffered this injury often describe it as being hit in the heel with a shovel. … When you see the muscle jump and see the player crumble to the floor, you can be pretty sure it’s a complete tear.”

Before going down, Harris had been featured early Sunday, carrying six times for 28 yards. Durable throughout his career, he had appeared in all 71 games across five NFL seasons before the injury.

If it’s a complete tear, the earliest Harris could return is about eight months, Ginader said, though most players don’t feel fully themselves “until at least 12 months” post-surgery. For a skill player, he added, “it takes longer to be able to come back at full force.”

With Harris out, Hampton is expected to shoulder a bigger role moving forward. Hampton, who calls Harris a mentor, admitted the loss stings.

“It definitely hurts,” Hampton said.

Makai Lemon came screaming across the center of the field, gliding past one Michigan State defender, then another, moving as if the world around him were in slow motion.

USC’s top receiver had presumably been a top-line focus of the Spartans’ game plan — and even more so after fellow wideout Ja’Kobi Lane was ruled out Saturday with an injury. But here was Lemon slicing his way through Michigan State’s secondary as if no one had bothered to tell him as much, sprinting free as a deep pass soared in his direction and hit him in perfect stride.

Most of Saturday night’s 45-31 win over Michigan State felt that seamless for USC, which moved the ball with ease on offense, racking up 517 yards in the process. But in a swirl of penalties and poor discipline from its defense, USC inexplicably found itself clinging to a one-score lead in the fourth quarter.

It was the sort of stumble that might’ve prompted flashbacks from the Trojans’ previous conference, when #Pac12AfterDark derailed more than a few seasons while the rest of America slept. Though, as late as Saturday’s game ran — with its conclusion coming just before 3 a.m. Eastern time — there would be no such comeback from Michigan State.

“We were dominating the football game,” USC coach Lincoln Riley said. “But our ability to separate back out, I thought, was just as impressive.”

USC mounted a 13-play drive with its back against the wall in the fourth quarter, at one point even converting a critical fourth down near midfield, before Lemon pushed the pedal to the floor. He went sprinting on a jet motion, took the handoff and flew into the end zone for a score the Spartans couldn’t counter.

“Any time the ball is in his hands, something big is about to happen,” USC quarterback Jayden Maiava said.

With Lane out, Lemon accounted for more than half of the Trojans’ passing output, as he finished with eight receptions for 127 yards and a touchdown, the vast majority of which came in the first half.

Maiava didn’t need to do much more through the air after halftime. He finished with a season-low 234 yards, but completed 20 of 26 passes and added three passing touchdowns, to go with another on the ground.

USC’s rushing attack ultimately made the difference, despite facing a defense that hadn’t allowed any of its opponents to rush for 100 yards.

USC running back Eli Sanders runs with the ball during a win over Michigan State on Saturday night.

(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)

Jordan bested that total himself, running for 157 yards on 18 carries, while Eli Sanders added 84 rushing yards of his own.

But once again, the Trojans paid a serious price for their propensity for penalties.

On one third-quarter drive, USC ran into Michigan State’s kicker on a punt, was flagged for an illegal substitution and then was called for pass interference, all within a four-play stretch. For a while, it seemed the sequence might turn the tide towards the Spartans.

“Obviously we haven’t done enough,” Riley said of coaches’ efforts to reduce USC’s penalties.

That message was reiterated after the game by linebacker Eric Gentry, who stood up in front of the team to belabor the severity of their penalty problems. The Trojans were called for 10 total penalties on Saturday for a loss of 88 yards, making it three consecutive games of at least eight penalties.

Fortunately for USC, its defensive front was also able to impact the game in other ways, namely by keeping Spartan quarterback Aidan Chiles uncomfortable in the pocket.

But where the pass rush continued to look improved, USC’s secondary didn’t exactly soothe concerns Saturday. Chiles only threw for 212 yards, but 169 of those yards — almost 80% — came on just four pass plays.

Through four games, USC now ranks worst in the Big Ten in plays allowed of 10 yards or further (17).

“We’ve had about one of them a game,” Riley said, “and we’ve got to put a lid on it.”

The road only gets harder from here for USC (4-0). The Trojans’ next three games (Illinois, Michigan and Notre Dame) come against ranked opponents, and two of those games (Illinois and Notre Dame) are on the road. And while the Irish are 1-2, and the Illini were just steamrolled by Indiana on Saturday, both should provide much tougher tests than the Trojans have faced thus far.

Whether USC will have one of its top receivers back for that stretch remains to be seen. Lane, who was listed as questionable on Saturday, came out with the team for early stretches. But when the team reemerged in full pads for warm-ups, the Trojans stud wideout was wearing sweatpants.

Riley said after the game that the severity of Lane’s injury is still “inconclusive,” but his absence could extend multiple games.

“I don’t think it’ll be super long,” Riley said. “But at the same time, I certainly can’t sit here today and say for sure he’s going to play next week or in the coming weeks.”

Without one of their top targets, USC tried to lean on its backs early. Twelve of the Trojans’ first 16 plays went to either Waymond Jordan or Eli Sanders. But it was Maiava who punched in USC’s first score after he faked a handoff and sprinted 15 yards to paydirt.

Michigan State (3-1), meanwhile, took to the air to challenge the Trojans’ struggling secondary. On the Spartans’ first possession, Chiles found Chrishon McCray wide open for a 42-yard touchdown, and Michigan State took an early lead.

Chiles completed each of his first seven passes. But with their run game completely grounded, the Spartans offense came to a halt. Their next three drives accumulated a combined 66 yards.

USC started humming in the meantime, gaining at least that many yards on four of its five first-half drives. The rushing attack found a rhythm, with seven rushes of 15-plus yards in the first half alone, while Maiava moved the ball with ease through the air.

USC quarterback Jayden Maiava scores a touchdown in the first quarter against Michigan State.

(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)

Still, despite being outgained by almost 200 yards before halftime, Michigan State was within a single score — and set to receive the second-half kick — as USC drove 88 yards down the field before half. With 37 seconds left, Maiava lofted a pass to the corner of the end zone for freshman Tanook Hines, who reeled in the well-timed, seven-yard score.

USC looked ready to speed past Michigan State in the second half as it took just four plays and less than two minutes to drive the field. Maiava hit tight end Walker Lyons for a touchdown, his second in two weeks, to make it 31-10.

But Michigan State mounted an 11-play drive, and USC’s defense chipped in with four back-breaking penalties to keep it moving. Eventually, Chiles punched in a touchdown himself, cutting the lead to two scores.

The momentum swung suddenly after that. On the first play of USC’s ensuing possession, wideout DJ Jordan lost a fumble deep in the Trojans’ territory. The turnover opened the door for Michigan State, which needed eight plays to reach paydirt and cut the lead to a single score.

But USC slammed that door shut on its next drive. And while Saturday night’s win wouldn’t go down as the most seamless of the Trojans’ season, it was still just as satisfying to Riley.

“If you’re learning lessons as you win, it’s hard not to be excited about what you see out of this football team,” Riley said. “And everything I see makes me believe that we’re going to continue to grow, learn from some of the mistakes, because there are so many positive things happening out there.”

Dodgers catcher Will Smith has a hairline fracture in his right hand and is doubtful to return before the end of the regular season, according to manager Dave Roberts.

The Dodgers are “hopeful” Smith will be available for the postseason, but whether he will be ready for the very start of the playoffs — which likely will be Sept. 30 — remains “up in the air,” Roberts said.

Smith, the three-time All-Star catcher who led the National League in batting average in the first half of the season before slumping through August, first got hurt when a foul ball hit his dangling throwing hand behind the plate on Sept. 3 in Pittsburgh.

After missing the Dodgers’ next five games, he returned to the starting lineup on Sept. 9 against the Colorado Rockies, and doubled in his first at-bat. However, the 30-year-old was a late scratch from the lineup the next day after his hand swelled up, and was placed on the injured list last weekend in San Francisco.

Initially, both an X-ray and an MRI on Smith’s hand came back clean, which is why the Dodgers allowed him to return to action as soon as they did. But his injury lingered and the Dodgers sent him back for another MRI at the end of this past week.

This time, the scan showed what both Roberts and president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman described as a “small” fracture.

“It sounds like from the doctors that it’s so small and in such a small part of the hand that it didn’t show up initially but did on the subsequent [scan],” Friedman said. “They seem to say [that] is common. I haven’t seen it, but I also haven’t seen a broken bone in that area very often. It makes sense why it was slow to rebound. I’m glad we have clarity on it. We’re going to do everything we can to strengthen and heal and get it back.”

To this point, the Dodgers have managed without Smith, who was batting .296 with 17 home runs and 61 RBIs. In the 14 games he has missed since getting hurt, the team is 8-6 and averaging more than five runs per game.

A big reason why: The emergence of journeyman replacement Ben Rortvedt, a minor-league addition at the trade deadline who has come to the majors and produced capably as a fill-in for Smith and backup catcher Dalton Rushing (who missed 10 days this month after fouling a ball off his leg).

After joining the team as a career .186 hitter in four MLB seasons, Rortvedt has batted .294 in 13 games with the Dodgers with two doubles and two sacrifice bunts. Dodgers pitchers also have a 2.74 ERA with him behind the plate.

Even with Rushing healthy again, Roberts said Rortvedt will likely get the “lion’s share” of playing time in Smith’s absence.

“The way he’s helped lead our pitching staff has been awesome,” Friedman said. “He really has that servant leadership mentality behind the plate, which has really ingratiated himself with a lot of our pitchers.”

Still, to be at top form, the Dodgers need Smith in the middle of the batting order.

Friedman said the team will keep giving treatment to his hand until “he gets to a point where he doesn’t have symptoms, we’ll re-X-ray.”

“We’re optimistic that it’s going to heal quickly, but we’re at the mercy of how quickly that happens,” Friedman said. “We don’t really know. but we’re optimistic it’ll be pretty fast.”

Sept. 19 (UPI) — House Republicans expect to hold a vote Friday on legislation that would fund the government through Nov. 21, but a battle over Affordable Care Act subsidies could upend the plans in the Senate.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., said Thursday he expects he’ll have the votes needed to pass the continuing resolution just as he did in March’s CR vote.

“We’re going to get this government funded,” he told reporters, according to NPR. “We’re going to keep the funding going and our appropriators will have more time to do their work.”

With a six-vote majority, House Republicans are likely to pass the CR, but things are less certain in the Senate, where the GOP can afford to lose only two votes.

An unnamed leader among House Republicans told The Hill that the party will attempt to force Senate Democrats into going along with the CR by refusing to return to business in Congress until Oct. 1. Congress is on a break next week in observance of Rosh Hashanah, but House Republicans have also canceled votes previously scheduled for Sept. 29 and Sept. 30.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York ended up striking a deal with Republicans and voted in favor of the March CR to avoid a government shutdown at the time. He could block the bill currently under consideration with a filibuster.

Both Schumer and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York have promised to vote against the CR. They cited the need to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies, which are set to expire at the end of the year.

“We will not support a partisan spending bill that Republicans are trying to jam down the throats of the American people that continues to gut healthcare,” Jeffries said Tuesday.

President Donald Trump, meanwhile, expressed support for the CR on a post on Truth Social.

“Congressional Republicans, including [Senate Republican] Leader John Thune and Speaker Mike Johnson, are working on a short term “CLEAN” extension of Government Funding to stop Cryin’ Chuck Schumer from shutting down the Government,” Trump posted on his social media site.

“In times like these, Republicans have to stick TOGETHER to fight back against the Radical Left Democrat demands, and vote “YES!” on both Votes needed to pass a Clean CRP this week out of the House of Representatives. Democrats want the Government to shut down. Republicans want the Government to OPEN.”

Nothing but respect.

That’s what Rams edge rusher Jared Verse professed Thursday when asked about returning to play the Philadelphia Eagles before their fans at Lincoln Financial Field.

Verse, the Rams’ top pick in the 2024 NFL draft, sent shock waves through the NFL last January when he said before an NFC divisional-round game that he hated Eagles fans and indicated that the team’s green and white uniforms triggered him.

On game day, Verse encouraged and welcomed the colorful verbiage that came his way, and he recorded two of the Rams’ seven sacks in a 28-22 defeat.

Verse’s words might have incited the Eagles faithful, but based on fan reaction a week later before their team played the Washington Commanders in the NFC Championship, Verse earned huge respect.

“My feelings are roughly the same,” Verse said, chuckling. “But like it is with everybody, I respect people that not only respect me but that stand on business. They stood on business with the situation. They came with their energy.

“After the game I tipped my hat off to them, they tipped it back. … I have respect for those fans, I have respect for the players, I have respect for all of them, but I stand on everything I’ve ever said.”

For opposing offensive coordinators, Verse is no longer a problem to attempt to solve on the fly. They have had an entire offseason to draw up schemes to neutralize the 6-foot-4, 260-pound Verse, the 2024 NFL defensive rookie of the year.

Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley, left, scores on a 62-yard run in front of Rams linebacker Jared Verse during the Rams’ loss in the NFC divisional playoffs in January.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

From a glamour statistics perspective, it appears to be working. But that does not tell the whole story.

In victories over the Houston Texans and Tennessee Titans, Verse made a combined five tackles and delivered three quarterback hits for a defense that has surrendered only one touchdown.

Meantime, fellow edge rusher Byron Young has three sacks and a forced fumble. Rookie Josaiah Stewart got his first sack against the Titans.

Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula noted that Verse remains an impact player.

“You talk about a lot of the attention that he gets,” Shula said. “Some of the success of Byron Young and Josaiah Stewart [has happened] because a lot of that attention is paid to Verse.

“He’ll be the first to tell you he can be more consistent, he can play with better effort and be snap in and snap out. But we think Verse is exactly where we want him to be and expect him to play well.”

Verse said it was frustrating “not being able to say, ‘Oh, I’m making this play, I’m making that play,’” especially when watching other top players who demand similar attention convert opportunities.

“But then you gotta realize, not only am I helping the team, I’m helping my whole defense. I’m helping these guys make the plays,” he said.

Verse, however, said he needed to capitalize on his opportunities.

“I’m getting my one-on-ones,” he said, “I’m getting a pure ‘me-him, who’s-the-better-man play, and I’m not taking advantage of those.

“So this whole week, that’s been my main focus.”

Verse and the Rams will once again attempt to neutralize an Eagles offense that features running back Saquon Barkley, quarterback Jalen Hurts and perhaps the top line in the NFL, which features tackles Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata.

Rams linebacker Jared Verse walks on the field before a win over the Houston Texans at SoFi Stadium on Sept. 7.

(Kyusung Gong / Associated Press)

Last season, in a November victory over the Rams, Barkley amassed 302 total yards, including 255 rushing. He scored on runs of 72 and 70 yards.

In the divisional round, Barkley rushed for 205 yards and scored on runs of 62 and 78 yards.

“All you have to do is eliminate the explosives,” Verse said. “We take away the explosives, both of those games are very winnable.”

So Verse is eager to play the Eagles again. And to show that like other great players, he can overcome extra attention and make plays.

“The greats get that attention,” he said, “The greats break through it. … I just have to pass this next phase, this next wall, this next mountain.

“That’s the only thing I’m focused on. Once I pass that, we’re cooking with oil again.”

USC coaches like recruitng former high school quarterbacks because they boast deeper understanding of how plays develop.

Fitzgerald, who is in his first season at USC, leads the nation in interceptions with three so far this season.

Bishop Fitzgerald stood inside the 5-yard line at Ross-Ade Stadium, watching the eyes of Purdue quarterback Ryan Browne, waiting for the right moment to pounce. It was a critical third down Saturday, midway through the fourth quarter,

during Big Ten road games.

Fortunately, Fitzgerald knew exactly where the play was headed. The USC senior safety recognized it from film clips he studied of Purdue’s red zone offense. He knew not to bite on the play action fake and that the receiver would, in a matter of seconds, cut across the center of the field on his route.

He also knew to be patient, to lure the quarterback into a false sense of security. So when Browne finally did fire his third-down pass over the middle, Fitzgerald was there at just the right moment to snag his second interception of the game.

“I fell back on my training,” Fitzgerald said of the pick, “and I made the play that came to me.”

Arguably no defensive back in college football has made as many plays through three games as Fitzgerald, who leads the nation with three interceptions during that span. Coaches have raved about his instincts and marveled at how quickly he has picked up USC’s defensive scheme.

His high school coach says that’s a testament to his training. Just maybe not the training you’d expect.

“He could have been a college quarterback — and a good one,” says Tony Keiling, Sr., who coached Fitzgerald as a quarterback in youth football and at Gar-Field High School in Woodbridge, Va.

“He could make every throw. He could understand defenses. He could roll out and run. He was dynamic.”

USC defensive back Bishop Fitzgerald carries the ball after intercepting a Missouri State pass intended for Dash Luke at the Coliseum on Aug. 30.

(Luke Hales / Getty Images)

Past experience as a passer isn’t entirely unique on USC’s roster. In fact, it’s become a coveted trait in recent years for coach Lincoln Riley.

“It’s something we’ve always paid attention to,” Riley said. “That’s kind of a feather in anyone’s cap that they’ve been able to run an offense, execute plays, understand and communicate to all 11. You know they’ve had to have some understanding of all 22 and what’s going on on the field to be able to play quarterback, no matter what offense you’re in. So it’s typically a good omen.”

DeCarlos Nicholson, who starts alongside Fitzgerald in USC’s secondary, was a Mississippi state champion quarterback in high school and for one season at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College before flipping to the defensive backfield. On the other side of the ball, freshman running back Harry Dalton III boasts the most career yards (11,282) and touchdowns (160) of any quarterback to ever come out of Richmond, Virginia.

Fitzgerald may not have been as prolific as that pair. But Keiling, who coached him at quarterback since youth football, is still convinced that Fitzgerald could have continued at the position, if not for the unfortunate timing of the pandemic.

When Fitzgerald took over as Gar-Field’s quarterback as a sophomore, the team was coming off an 0-10 season. By his senior year, Fitzgerald led the Indians to a district title, the school’s first since 1994. He played almost every snap in the process, starting both under center and at safety.

But it was his play at quarterback that willed Gar-Field past Freedom High to win the district in 2021. In a 14-9 win, Fitzgerald threw a go-ahead, 97-yard touchdown pass down the seam from the shadow of his own end zone and also ran for an electrifying 39-yard score to knock off Freedom, a team Gar-Field hadn’t beaten in almost a decade.

Fitzgerald was named district offensive player of the year soon after that performance. In any normal year, that would’ve led to attention on the recruiting trail. But because of the pandemic, high school football in Virginia hadn’t started until February and most colleges had already finalized their recruiting classes.

“It was all just bad timing,” Keiling said.

Fitzgerald was dynamic with the ball in his hands. He could throw across his body on a bootleg. But realistically, at 5-foot-10, Fitzgerald didn’t have ideal size for the position at the college level. Even he figured his future was at safety, where at least his instincts as a quarterback could still be put to use.

So he spent the next two seasons at Coffeyville Community College in Kansas focusing on the finer points of the safety position. It took him a while, he said, to feel comfortable.

“It was a whole switch of mentality and culture and footwork,” Fitzgerald said. “JUCO is … a dog-eat-dog world. So I think that kind of heightened everything and the sense or urgency to learn it.”

North Carolina State’s Bishop Fitzgerald breaks up a pass intended for North Carolina’s Jordan Shipp on Nov. 30, 2024, in Chapel Hill, N.C.

(Grant Halverson / Getty Images)

Fitzgerald had seven takeaways in his sophomore campaign at Coffeyville, then added five more over two seasons at North Carolina State.

At USC, Fitzgerald has had to learn a scheme under defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn that’s entirely different than the one he knew at NC State. But so far, it hasn’t seemed like much of a learning curve.

Fitzgerald credits Lynn for his quick acclimation, while Riley has likened the safety’s offseason arrival to adding “a veteran in the NFL” to the secondary. Through three games at USC, Fitzgerald has been the highest-graded safety in college football, according to Pro Football Focus.

“He has a feel for the game,” safety Christian Pierce said. “He’s always at the right place, right time.”

Finally, it seems the timing is right for Fitzgerald, too. Though his next step from here is still uncertain. Keiling said it’s not clear, with the legal turmoil around junior college eligibility, whether Fitzgerald could get a waiver for another season at USC after this one.

But considering how quickly he’s progressed at the position, there’s no telling how fast Fitzgerald’s NFL stock will rise.

“To be doing something completely different your entire career and come and learn this in one offseason is hard,” Lynn said.

“He’s done an outstanding job.”

“Eureka Day,” a comedy by Jonathan Spector that wades into the debate on vaccine mandates, has only become more explosively topical since its 2018 premiere at Aurora Theatre Company, in Berkeley, Calif.

The play, which is having its Los Angeles premiere at Pasadena Playhouse, seems like it could have been commissioned to skewer this destructive, benighted and completely mortifying anti-science moment. But Spector wrote the work before the COVID-19 pandemic unleashed our political demons and made stupid great again.

“Eureka Day” takes its name from the fictional private elementary school in Berkeley that is the setting for what is both a satire of anti-vaccine culture and a comedy of woke manners. Held in a determinedly cheerful Bay Area classroom (brightly summoned with all the necessary social justice touches by set designer Wilson Chin), the play unfolds as a series of meetings of the school’s executive committee.

Don (Rick Holmes), the head of school, is ostensibly in charge, though his duck-and-cover strategy for dealing with conflict has a way of protracting problems. Four parents, one a newcomer still acclimating to the school’s strenuously progressive rules, are part of the executive brain trust.

The first discussion of the new school year is relatively innocuous though no less testing for being so. Eli (Nate Corddry), a stay-at-home dad who made a fortune at Facebook, has proposed adding “Transracial Adoptee” to a drop-down menu on an admissions form already burgeoning with identity subcategories.

Suzanne (Mia Barron), a mother who has sent so many children through Eureka Day that she has a proprietary attitude about the place, doesn’t think this additional category is necessary. She’s sensitive — self-consciously so — to Eli’s good intentions, but she persuades the group that no changes are necessary at this time.

“Persuades” might be a euphemism. Suzanne has an iron will that she thinly veils with a solicitous smile.

One of the quirks of the executive committee is that it operates by consensus rather than a majority vote. This can lead to some “very long meetings,” Suzanne informs Carina (Cherise Boothe), the new Black lesbian mom who recently moved from Maryland.

Suzanne claims to want everyone to feel “empowered,” though her controlling temperament pokes through her welcoming facade. Meiko (Camille Chen), who knits during meetings with a subtle air of annoyance, has to loudly ask Suzanne to please stop speaking on her behalf.

Cherise Boothe in “Eureka Day” at Pasadena Playhouse.

(Jeff Lorch)

These blind spots, a standard ingredient of comic characters, are particularly glaring in Suzanne’s case. When Carina tells her that she didn’t homeschool her son for kindergarten but sent him to public school, Suzanne is mildly horrified. She also makes the assumption that Carina is not a “full pay” family.

There’s even something passive-aggressive about Suzanne’s show of concern for all viewpoints, a trait that becomes all the more conspicuous after a crisis erupts at the school. A mumps outbreak forces Eureka Day to temporarily close its doors.

Don informs the executive committee that the health department has issued a letter stipulating what parents must do for their child to return to school. The subject isn’t open for debate, but Suzanne is uneasy about how this letter is being “framed.”

She’s an advocate of parental choice when it comes to vaccines, not trusting the experts who have determined that only children who are vaccinated can return to school when there’s a risk of infection. She believes vaccines stand in the way of natural herd immunity.

Mia Barron, left, Rick Holmes, Cherise Boothe, and Camille Chen in “Eureka Day” at Pasadena Playhouse.

(Jeff Lorch)

Meiko is less vociferous in her anti-vaccine stance than Suzanne, but she has her own skepticism about modern medicine and doesn’t want to be told what to do. When her daughter develops mumps, it becomes an emergency for Eli, who’s been having an affair with Meiko. The two arrange their assignations around playdates, and their kids were recently in contact.

Eli, who’s married but in a complicated open relationship situation with his increasingly resentful wife, would rather not have to choose sides in the vaccine mandate debate. But when his son gets sick after spending time with Meiko’s unvaccinated daughter, he finds he can no longer stay on the fence.

The well-programmed comedy hilariously runs its course in the leadership vacuum created by the school’s over-accommodating culture. Don is so worried about seeming to favor one parental faction over another that he allows Suzanne to become the dominant voice in the room.

The production, directed by Teddy Bergman, has a field day with the woke-run-amok ethos of Eureka Day, where kids at the school cheer the other team’s goals at soccer games. But Bergman’s approach is more schematic than Anna D. Shapiro’s Tony-winning Broadway revival.

Perhaps the urgency of the moment calls for a clearer moral stand, but the comedy has lost some nuance. On Broadway, Jessica Hecht made Suzanne seem totally oblivious to her own rage. She really believed that she was seeking consensus, tolerant of all perspectives as long as they didn’t impinge on her beliefs, the origins of which are poignantly related later in the play.

The fury of Barron’s Suzanne is much more on the surface. The humor is more direct — Barron can be very funny — but the debate is less trenchant. Bergman’s production, marred by blasts of jarring folk music between scene transitions, is a little too on the nose.

Boothe’s Carina, by far the strongest performance in the cast, is our rational surrogate in the play — a parent trying to fit in without betraying her intelligence or child’s welfare. I appreciated the way Holmes lets us come to our own conclusions about Don’s go-along-to-get-along style of running the ship.

Meiko is woefully underwritten, and Chen’s performance, while amusing when Meiko erupts, sometimes seems disconnected. Corddry refuses to play a tech industry cliché, but Eli, a bland creep, comes off as unnecessarily vague.

Bergman has trouble locating that sweet spot between jokey exaggeration and multidimensional authenticity. Comedy trades in types, but the cast could have benefited from more fine-tuning.

Perhaps that’s why the funniest scene in the play involves the live chat portion of a virtual meeting that’s organized for Eureka Day parents alarmed about the quarantine situation. Avatars square off against one another in a vaccine debate free-for-all that puts the lie to the school’s “community of respect” motto with uncensored savagery punctuated by missile-like emoticons.

“Eureka Day” will make you laugh, but how much this production will make you think is an open question.

THE return of the long throw has had an impact on how much football Prem fans have seen this season.

Brentford’s stoppage time leveller against Chelsea after the Blues could not cope with a ball hurled into their box came in the week that Thomas Tuchel signposted his willingness to go direct with England.

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And the statistics show that the Bees are not the exponents of old-fashioned Pulis-ball.

In the 40 Prem games so far this season, there have been 130 long throws, at an average of 3.3 per match.

That compares to last season’s average, over the 380 games, of 1.5 per match – a doubling of the frequency.

And senior figures believe the return of the long throw has been a factor in a significant shortage of actual playing time.

Figures provided by Stats Perform show that across the 40 top flight games the ball has only been in play for an average of 54 minutes and 21 seconds, down 133 seconds from last season’s average.

The analysis by Prem insiders suggests that one major reason is that the extra number of long throws has seen more teams sending their centre-backs up into the opposition box.

A similar amount of positioning, by both attacking and defending sides, at corner kicks, has also been noticed, with many sides now having specialist set-piece coaching teams.

And with goalkeepers unable to hold onto the ball for more than eight seconds under the new Laws, also taking longer at goal kicks when the ball goes out of play, fans are getting less value for their ticket prices.

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One expert explained: “What we’re seeing makes it clear that the amount of long throws in particular is making a difference.

“It will be interesting to see if it continues for the rest of the season or is just a passing fad.”

Tom Brady is not coming out of retirement.

Adam Schefter, the most plugged-in NFL reporter anywhere, did in fact begin an X.com post Monday with the words “Tom Brady is coming out of retirement” — but he didn’t mean that the greatest quarterback of all time was actually doing so.

He won’t suit up to spell Joe Burrow while the Cincinnati Bengals quarterback nurses his turf toe back to health. He won’t nudge Russell Wilson into retirement and join the New York Giants.

What Brady, 48, will do is play in a flag football tournament in Saudi Arabia next March.

At least that’s what Schefter wrote.

Brady will join fellow retired New England Patriots star Rob Gronkowski and a host of current NFL standouts including Saquon Barkley, Christian McCaffrey, CeeDee Lamb, Maxx Crosby, Sauce Gardner and Myles Garrett in the Fanatics Flag Football Classic, a three-team tournament to be held March 21, 2026, in Riyadh.

Pete Carroll, Sean Payton and Kyle Shanahan will coach the three five-player teams. The tournament will be held at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh and televised by Fox Sports, with comedian Kevin Hart hosting.

The whole thing sounds like fun. It is, however, a business plan disguised as a promotional stunt.

The NFL makes no secret that it is going global — witness the season opener in São Paulo between the Chiefs and Chargers. And Saudi Arabia makes no secret about broadening its sports holdings, investing billions through its Public Investment Fund in an attempt to expand its oil-based economy and mend its international image.

Fanatics, which is an exclusive licensed retailer of NFL online merchandise, will sponsor the flag football event as a business venture as well. The PIV and the Qatari sovereign wealth fund have invested in Fanatics.

“It is just a great opportunity to expand the game globally,” Brady said in a statement. “Sometimes, you have to get outside your comfort zone to create awareness.”

The NFL will play six more regular-season games overseas this season, three in London and one each in Dublin, Berlin and Madrid.

Flag football has become an easy way to introduce the game to new markets. The NFL has encouraged states to play flag football in high school, and it has become particularly popular as a girls sport.

Flag football also will debut as an Olympic sport in 2028 in L.A., and the NFL has given its players permission to participate.