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Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton was asked Thursday about the progress of second-year offensive tackle Frank Crum, who's competing to return on the final roster in a swing-role capacity.
So far, so good -- again -- for the former undrafted free agent.
“He’s extremely athletic," Payton told reporters following the conclusion of Organized Team Activities. "It’s always harder on the big guys because we’re not in pads. He can move his feet really well. Again, he’s a young player who when you go through these installations and for him, it’s his fourth or fifth time now. You’re able to play a little faster.”
A two-time All-Mountain West selection at Wyoming, Crum was signed by Denver following the 2024 NFL Draft and ended up appearing in six regular season games, logging 33 total snaps. He was placed on the reserve/non-football injury list due to an illness prior to the Broncos' playoff loss against the Buffalo Bills.
Payton affirmed last August that Crum -- who stands 6-foot-7 and weighs 315 pounds -- has unique bend for someone of his stature, comparing him favorably to ex-Saints lineman and current Broncos OL coach Zach Strief.
"I would say so," Payton said. "I coached his position coach, who we took in the seventh round. Now Strief was four or five years before he started at tackle. Now there was a season or two he was the jumbo tight end and everyone in the stadium got tired of hearing, '74 reporting.’ I'm not making a comparison, but he's much further along athletically than Zach. We're real encouraged with him."
Once the bullets start flying in the preseason, Crum could find himself as the next tackle off the bench behind entrenched starters Garett Bolles and Mike McGlinchey. The tentative reserve depth chart also includes veteran incumbent Matt Peart and undrafted rookie Xavier Truss.
The swing job was occupied in 2024 by Alex Palczewski. This year, it may be Crum's for the taking.
“That group played well last year, and it’s an important group. It’s the one group that permeates your building," Payton said Thursday.
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Steelers reporter shares big claim about how Aaron Rodgers has looked in training camp
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers spent the bulk of the spring as an unsigned free agent and, thus, only began officially practicing with Pittsburgh Steelers teammates during the team's three-day mandatory minicamp in June. During a Monday appearance on Pittsburgh radio station 102.5 WDVE, Steelers reporter Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette addressed how Rodgers looked during his first few training camp practices with the club. "His release is just astonishing to watch," Dulac said about Rodgers, as shared by Ross McCorkle of Steelers Depot. "Everybody knows about it, and when you see it in person, you see it every day in practice, you just marvel at it. To me, he's the greatest thrower of the football I have ever seen, even at 41 (years old). That flick of that wrist and that ball comes out, it's moving and it is something to see." Rodgers was with the New York Jets when he suffered a torn Achilles four offensive snaps into the 2023 regular-season opener. He was then slowed by a nagging hip issue, injuries to both his knees, a low ankle sprain and a serious hamstring problem as the 2024 Jets went 5-12. According to Pro Football Reference, Rodgers finished last season ranked 28th in the NFL among qualified players with a 48.0 adjusted QBR and 26th with a 43.9 percent passing success rate. That said, he was also eighth with 3,897 passing yards and tied for seventh with 28 passing touchdowns. Rodgers and Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson endured some struggles during training camp sessions last summer before the two allegedly "never saw eye-to-eye" during the season. It sounds like Pittsburgh fans should be encouraged by how Rodgers performed in recent practices. "That guy can get rid of the ball as quick as anybody," Dulac added. "He made three throws in seven-on-seven (drills) the other day that the cumulative total I bet couldn't have exceeded 2.1 seconds. And two of those were for touchdowns." Rodgers wants to finish his career "the right way" and help the Steelers notch at least their first playoff win since January 2017. As of Monday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook had Pittsburgh at -150 betting odds to miss the playoffs for the upcoming season.
Chicago Cubs OF suffers big injury before trade deadline
The Chicago Cubs are down another bat with two days to go before the trade deadline on Thursday. The Cubs had more frustrating injury news to reveal after a second-straight loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night. The Brewers defeated Chicago 9-3 in front of 40,136 fans at American Family Field to take a two-game lead over the Cubs for first place in the NL Central. Per Jesse Rogers of ESPN, the Cubs thought they received good news on Ian Happ after x-rays came back negative on the outfielder’s shin. “Happ got x-rays that were negative after fouling a ball off his left shin,” Rogers posted on X. “Was limping some just now in the Cubs room. Jackson Chourio (hammy spasm) says he’s feeling better. Doesn’t think it’s serious.” Chicago Cubs to put Ian Happ on IL About an hour later, Rogers reported that Chicago is expected to put Happ on the injured list. The Cubs are set to call up Moises Ballesteros from Iowa. “Looks like the Happ injury might require an IL stint,” Rogers posted. “The team is calling up Moises Ballesteros from Triple-A, per a source. He’s hitting .331 down there. He had a cup of coffee with the big league team earlier this year.” Happ’s injury comes at a time when the Cubs are looking to trade for an extra bat. Chicago needs help on offense with inconsistency coming from rookie third baseman Matt Shaw. Happ was batting .227 with 14 home runs and 50 RBI. Bottom line, the Cubs need to make some moves by Thursday if this team wants to compete for the NL Central, much less a World Series.
Oilers to Acquire a Top-Tier Goalie. An Official Trade Offer Is on the Table in a Blockbuster Deal
Jonathan Kuminga could be a qualifying offer candidate after rejecting Warriors deal
The NBA offseason has been in full swing for nearly a month now, but Jonathan Kuminga and the Golden State Warriors don't appear any closer to reaching an agreement on a new contract. Veteran NBA reporter Marc Stein shared that the Dubs' best offer to the restricted free agent's camp maxed out around two years, $40M. While this proposed extension would mark a substantial pay increase from Kuminga's rookie deal, the fourth-year forward and his camp are unmoved by the offer. Kuminga showed flashes of star potential over his last two seasons with Golden State, but he has proven to be a difficult talent to consistently utilize. When Draymond Green was healthy, Kuminga was nearly unplayable due to his inconsistent offensive contributions. As a result, he was limited to just 47 games and 10 starts in 2024-25, both career lows. It appears that the Warriors understand the untapped potential of Kuminga, but aren't willing to mortgage their future to watch his unfold. With three aging All-Stars in Jimmy Butler, Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, Golden State's top priority is winning while they're still around. Kuminga simply doesn't fit the archetype or timeline of what the Warriors need right now. Stein also reported that Kuminga's camp is still adamantly searching for sign-and-trade possibilities, but the Warriors have maintained a steep asking price of a future first-round pick. Considering a team has yet to give Kuminga a competitive offer sheet, though, it seems unlikely that a team will agree to Golden State's demands. At this point, it seems to be in Kuminga's best interest to ride out one last season with the Warriors via a qualifying offer. This way, the multi-faceted forward can hand-pick his next destination as a restricted free agent in the offseason. Kuminga averaged 15.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists last year, proving he can provide a bit of everything in limited minutes, so there are undoubtedly suitors that will be curious to see Kuminga in a larger role. As a former lottery pick who has taken advantage of his inconsistent opportunities, he shouldn't have an issue latching on with a team that gives him the starting role he's searching for. But he may have to endure one last season under Steve Kerr's tight leash to get there.
Vikings training camp recap, Day 6: J.J. McCarthy struggles, other notes
Coming into training camp, ups and downs were expected for Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who is essentially still a rookie. The team has high expectations for the 22-year-old, but also realizes that it's going to take some time for him to learn and grow and develop after he missed so many valuable reps due to his knee injury last season. Through the first handful of practices in camp, there had been a lot more good than bad from McCarthy. Saturday's practice, in particular, saw him put on a show for the fans in attendance with numerous impressive throws. With that said, Tuesday's practice was more bad than good. McCarthy's completion percentage — while I didn't track it down to the throw — was well below 50 percent in team periods. There were some that were narrow misses, some that were blatant misses or miscommunications, and a couple balls that were arguably drops by his targets. But the overall theme was that far too many balls hit the grass instead of being completed. In early route-running period near the goal line, McCarthy found Jordan Addison, but he couldn't secure the ball as Jeff Okudah appeared to punch it out. One play later, McCarthy threw just a touch high for Lucky Jackson, who made a great catch but was ruled to be out of bounds. He also failed to connect with T.J. Hockenson on two targets, one of which was well behind the tight end. McCarthy was better in 11-on-11 action in the middle of the field, highlighted by a pretty strike to Addison for a chunk gain. Then came another goal line period, this one 7 on 7, and the struggles resumed. He missed Addison in the back corner of the end zone. He threw another one back there to Addison, who caught it but landed out of bounds. He rifled one just high for Josh Oliver, with the ball deflecting off of Oliver's hands and then directly into the crossbar. McCarthy did throw a couple touchdowns during that period as well. The Vikings finished up with a situational period where the offense faced a third down and then transitioned into either a field goal, a punt, or a fourth-down attempt. McCarthy's first throw was a nice completion downfield to Aaron Jones, setting up a field goal try. But he then threw one way too high for Jordan Mason on a fourth down, and followed that by missing Jalen Nailor by quite a bit due to an apparent miscommunication. That caused McCarthy to put both of his hands on his helmet. It was that kind of day. To be clear, this isn't concerning or worth putting too much stock in. McCarthy has had a strong start to camp, and off days are going to happen. It wasn't a particularly long or high-intensity practice compared to some of the other ones we've seen. And in training camp, results on one day of practice — good or bad — are never all that meaningful, especially when it's still July. Lastly, the first-team offense remains without its two best players, Justin Jefferson and Christian Darrisaw. McCarthy will look to shake it off and have a better day on Wednesday, which will be the second fully-padded practice of camp. Here are a few other things I saw on Tuesday: There were plenty of vet days off today. On the defensive line, Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave sat out, which meant first-team reps for Jalen Redmond and rookie Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins alongside Harrison Phillips. At safety, it was Theo Jackson and Jay Ward in for Harrison Smith and Josh Metellus. Offensively, Michael Jurgens was at center for Ryan Kelly, while Brian O'Neill got some plays off, which meant Blake Brandel sliding out to right tackle. Will Fries pancaked backup defensive tackle Jonathan Harris on a screen pass to T.J. Hockenson, which drew some high fives from teammates. One of the things that shows up on Fries' Colts tape is his tenacity when it comes to finishing blocks. Dwight McGlothern just keeps making plays. After he had an interception on Monday and broke up a pass that created another pick, the second-year cornerback jumped a route and picked off Sam Howell on Tuesday. There are a lot of guys competing for roster spots in the Vikings' CB room, but it feels like "Nudie" (McGlothern's nickname) is going to be on the 53. It was a good day for the Vikings' depth tight ends. Ben Yurosek had one of the highlights of the practice with a leaping touchdown catch from Howell in red zone 7s, but Bryson Nesbit and Giovanni Ricci made some plays as well. With Gavin Bartholomew on the PUP list, those first three guys are competing for the TE3 role, as things stand. Will Reichard hasn't been automatic in the first couple days we've seen him kick. He hit the left upright from 53 yards out in the situational period, then later missed wide right from 46. I believe Reichard was 5 for 7 on the day, including makes from 48 and 50 yards. Rondale Moore and Silas Bolden got the first two punt return reps in the situational drill. More Vikings coverage
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