NFL

12:04 PM ET HOUSTON — Tyrod Taylor was officially named the starting quarterback for the Houston Texans and will make his debut for the franchise on Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars. “Tyrod Taylor will start for us at quarterback, for sure,” head coach David Culley said Monday. The announcement was not a surprise, but Culley

6:00 PM ET NFL NationESPN The 2021 NFL season is nearly here, with teams taking on a 17-week slate of games for the first time in history. The season opener is Thursday night, when the reigning Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers host the Dallas Cowboys. Our NFL Nation reporters have you covered with intel

7:15 AM ET Heading into the 2021 NFL season, ESPN’s Football Power Index (FPI) simulated the entire 285-game slate 20,000 times to create our projections. Having a sample size that large allows us to have the most accurate projections possible, which is, of course, what we want most of the time. But today, we’re only

4:19 PM ET Brady HendersonESPN RENTON, Wash. — Continuing their reshuffling at cornerback, the Seattle Seahawks are expected to sign former New York Jets starter Bless Austin, a source confirmed to ESPN on Sunday. The Jets waived the 25-year-old Austin on Wednesday, a surprise move given that he was projected to remain one of their

2:23 PM ET PITTSBURGH — Former Pittsburgh Steelers offensive tackle and longtime broadcaster Tunch Ilkin died Saturday, the team confirmed. He was 63. Ilkin, who revealed that he had been diagnosed with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease) in October 2020, was hospitalized recently with pneumonia. He announced in June that

12:35 PM ET Dallas Cowboys Pro-Bowl guard Zack Martin has been placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list after testing positive for the virus and is out for Thursday night’s regular-season opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, coach Mike McCarthy said. Connor McGovern will replace Martin in the starting lineup at right guard. Tackle Brandon Knight also

10:16 PM ET TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady not only had a scare last year when both of his parents tested positive for COVID-19 — he himself was diagnosed with it too in February. In an interview with the Tampa Bay Times on Saturday, Brady revealed that he tested positive for

7:00 AM ET FRISCO, Texas — Mike McCarthy is finally feeling at home. The coach’s family has settled into a house north of the Dallas Cowboys‘ practice facility after they spent the 2020 season in Green Bay, Wisconsin, while McCarthy was in a condo next to The Star in Frisco. His two daughters are going

7:05 AM ET Most of us look at NFL rules as a list of prohibitions. Teams see them differently. For them, the rulebook is a runway toward competitive advantage, and they focus more on what it allows. In 2021, that means figuring out how to best exploit a rule change that imposes new limits on

2:11 PM ET FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — New York Jets wide receiver Jamison Crowder tested positive for COVID-19, a source confirmed Friday, jeopardizing his status for the season opener against the Carolina Panthers. Crowder’s vaccination status isn’t known, and that will likely help determine his availability. Players who are unvaccinated must sit a minimum of

9:00 AM ET ESPN.com Staff Our fantasy crew got together for an eight-team, PPR mock draft, and this time we included a wrinkle, setting one team to autopick. As you can see with the draft results below, it’s still possible to draft a solid team even if you’re unable to attend the draft in real

2:30 PM ET As far as I can tell, there are only two types of people in this world. Those who love the show “Ted Lasso” and those who haven’t seen it yet. I am in the former camp, and my favorite scene is from Season 1 and is known as “the darts scene.” If

Aug 28, 2021 Fantasy staff The fantasy football season begins Thursday, Sept. 9, when the Dallas Cowboys take on the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Whether you play in a casual re-draft league or a more serious deep dynasty format, a traditional or a modified scoring format, with your friends and family or

6:35 AM ET FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Mac Jones decisively beat out Cam Newton for the New England Patriots‘ starting quarterback job. In doing so, he now has the chance to rewrite the narrative that Alabama Crimson Tide quarterbacks haven’t measured up in the NFL since the days of Bart Starr, Joe Namath and Ken Stabler,

11:14 AM ET The Indianapolis Colts have activated quarterback Carson Wentz, center Ryan Kelly and wide receiver Zach Pascal off the reserve/COVID-19 list, it was announced Thursday. The three players were placed on the COVID-19 list after coming in close contact with a Colts staff member who tested positive, a source told ESPN’s Dan Graziano

4:59 PM ET PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia Eagles tight end Zach Ertz expressed forgiveness toward the team’s front office and emphasized his commitment to the city and the organization following a rocky offseason that involved plenty of trade talks. “Like I’ve said all along, this is the place I want to be, this is the place

5:32 PM ET KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu has been placed on the NFL’s reserve/COVID-19 list after sources told ESPN he tested positive for the coronavirus. Mathieu is vaccinated, according to a source. 1 Related To be moved off the reserve/COVID-19 list and cleared to play, Mathieu will need to

9:01 AM ET FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick said Cam Newton‘s vaccination status wasn’t a factor in the team’s decision to release him. “No. Look, you guys keep talking about that,” Belichick told reporters Wednesday morning. “I would just point out that I don’t know what the number is, but the