Juventus officially appointed Damien Comolli as their new general manager and promoted Giorgio Chiellini to director of football strategy on Sunday, while Cristiano Giuntoli’s exit will be formalized in the coming days, and they can now decide whether to confirm Igor Tudor after missing out on Antonio Conte and Gian Piero Gasperini.
The Croat will return to Turin on Monday to start preparing for the Club World Cup and meet with the new execs. The Bianconeri brass has been mulling over other coaches. Marco Silva, whom they were eyeing beforehand too, Stefano Pioli, and Roberto Mancini are on their shortlist, Gianluca Di Marzio informs. The present boss is gaining momentum. The hierarchy would go in another direction only if they could hire a clear upgrade.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Tudor has the backing of the ownership and the players. However, his fate will hinge on whether he’ll hit it off with Comolli. His demands regarding the transfer market will play a role too. Plus, they’d have to discuss an extension eventually.
Per Corriere dello Sport, the Old Lady is also considering Bruno Genesio and seeking a sporting director. The top options are former Milan and Rennes official Frederic Massara and ex-Lens exec Diego Lopez. The attempt for Gasperini wasn’t too forceful. Moreover, Roma had been courting him for months.
The timing of their front office overhaul was baffling and probably cost them Conte, while the former Atalanta boss was already too far gone in Roma’s direction already. It’ll be another transitional year. The former defender is perfectly suited for that. It’s his job to lose unless he gets too radical with his requests to bolster the squad, which is what led to his departure from Lazio.
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New York Giants legend Eli Manning has offered to be a resource for Jaxson Dart as the young quarterback adjusts to life in the NFL, but scoring dinner reservations is not what the two-time Super Bowl champion had in mind. Manning spoke about his relationship with Dart during the latest episode of "The Schrager Hour" podcast with ESPN's Peter Schrager, which was released on Thursday. Manning said that after Dart was drafted by the Giants, Manning told his fellow former Ole Miss star to reach out if Dart needs anything at all. Dart took Manning up on the offer at the start of training camp. Manning, who played behind Kurt Warner as a rookie with the Giants, thought Dart might be looking to pick his brain about backing up Russell Wilson or something else related to football. Instead, Manning says Dart wanted Eli to secure him a reservation at one of the best restaurants in New York City, 4 Charles Prime Rib. "All of a sudden it's training camp and he calls me one day and he's like, 'You got a minute?' And I'm like, 'Yeah, of course,'" Manning recalled. "It's such a similar situation we're in — bringing in a veteran like Russell Wilson, they brought in Kurt Warner (ahead of me). I was like, maybe this is dealing with that or something. "He goes, 'Can you get me a reservation at 4 Charles tonight at 6:30?' I was like, 'No, no, no, that's not part of the deal. When I said I'm happy to help out, I'm not doing that. I'm not your reservations guy. You have to earn the right to call and get your reservation.'" You can't fault Dart for trying. Dart probably hasn't accomplished enough with the Giants yet to secure a last-second reservation at 4 Charles Prime, but Manning is royalty in New York. As Manning said, hard-to-get dinner reservations have to be earned. Dart saw some brief action during New York's 40-37 overtime loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, but he did not attempt a pass. He is going to have to win a few games in the NFL before Manning will help him with fine dining.
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott had an honest response to Troy Aikman‘s latest Cowboys Super Bowl comments. While speaking to reporters on Thursday, Prescott was asked about Aikman saying he wanted Prescott to win more Super Bowls than he and Roger Staubach combined. “I got to get going then. I don’t know if I got that many years left,” Dak Prescott said while laughing, per Jon Machota of The Athletic. “I gotta win now.“ Troy Aikman made the Super Bowl comments during his appearance on 96.7 The Ticket in Dallas on Thursday. “I love Dak,” Aikman said. “There’s nothing I’d rather see than see him go on and win a Super Bowl and win multiple Super Bowls, and win more than me, and Roger (Staubach) and all of us combined, if possible, because he’s that type of guy, and he represents himself and the organization, and really our city so well.” Aikman won three Super Bowls with the Cowboys in the 1990s, while Roger Staubach won two with the team in the 1970s. It’s very unlikely Prescott will win six Super Bowls before his career comes to an end, but he will be beloved by Cowboys fans if he can win one title. Troy Aikman says Dak Prescott is ‘dialed in’ One could make the argument that Prescott would get a lot of love from Cowboys fans if he could get the team to the NFC Championship game. The last time Dallas reached the conference title game was when the team last won the Super Bowl, which was the 1995 season. Prescott is looking to take the Cowboys to the next step when it comes to the playoffs. The former Mississippi State star has reached the postseason five times and posted a 91.8 passer rating with a 2-5 record in seven games. While those aren’t strong numbers, Aikman is all in on Prescott. “He’s always had good energy. He’s always had good body language and all that on the field,” Aikman said. “But in addition to just how well he’s played, I just sense that there’s a confidence about him in the way in which he’s playing that I don’t want to say I haven’t seen it before, but I just feel like he’s really dialed in and feeling good about where this offense is going, the way that it’s playing, and the way he’s playing.”
Brock Purdy missed the San Francisco 49ers' Week 2 win over the New Orleans Saints with a toe and left shoulder injury he suffered in Week 1. At the time, there was a chance that the injury could keep the quarterback out multiple weeks, but now head coach Kyle Shanahan has provided what seems to be a positive update for this weekend's game against the Arizona Cardinals. Kyle Shanahan provides key update on Brock Purdy "He wasn't limited last week," Shanahan said. "He does have a chance [to play]," Shanahan said on Wednesday, according to Nick Wagoner of ESPN. According to Wagoner's reporting, of the two injuries, the toe issue seems to be more significant, and it was considered the main reason Purdy didn't play in Week 2. It's similar to turf toe. He was in the 49ers' locker room after that game, though, and he told reporters that his status for the Week 3 game was, "we'll see." Connect those dots and it sounds like, at the very least, Purdy feels hopeful about his chances. If he's not fully back and able to go, he could also at least suit up and act as a backup for Mac Jones. San Francisco 49ers confident in Brock Purdy's backup If Purdy is out for the second straight week, Jones proved against the Saints that he can lead this team to a victory. The former first-round pick of the New England Patriots completed 26 of 39 passes against New Orleans for 279 yards and three touchdowns. On Monday, running back Christian McCaffrey was among the players in the locker room who expressed confidence in Jones. "In this league, whether or not you're a starter or a backup, you got to be ready to go at any point," McCaffrey said, per Wagoner. "In the NFL, you just never know. It's such a talented league and so many great players on the field. And Mac obviously is somebody who's proven himself already, but to have him as our backup is huge." Out of Alabama, Jones was selected with pick No. 15 in the 2021 NFL Draft as the "heir apparent" to Tom Brady in the final years of the Bill Belichick era in New England. He flashed talent but was never able to be consistent. He also had incredibly big shoes to fill, so a case could be made that he was doomed to fail from the very start of his NFL career. Jones started 42 games for the Patriots over three seasons, and he threw for 8,918 yards and 46 touchdowns compared to 36 interceptions. He's on a two-year, $8.4 million deal with the 49ers after spending the 2024 season with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Fantasy football is just as much about predicting the flops as it is about nailing the strong starts. There are a few land mines we want to avoid in NFL Week 3, so let's break them down. Indianapolis Colts QB Daniel Jones vs. Tennessee Titans PPR projection: 14.7 Jones has quickly leveled up from the waiver wire to starting lineups after 29.5 and 22.8 points in his first two games with the Colts, but he might disappoint his new owners in Week 3. The Titans have an underrated defense that held Denver Broncos QB Bo Nix to 6.8 points and Detriot Lions signal-caller Matthew Stafford to 17.3 points. Jones' fantasy value is inflated due to three short rushing touchdowns in two weeks, but he'll likely come back down to earth in his first road start of the year. Carolina Panthers RB Chuba Hubbard vs. Atlanta Falcons PPR projection: 14.7 Hubbard has scored 17.9 and 18.7 PPR points in his first two games of the season, but those totals are a bit misleading. The Panthers running back is averaging just 3.6 yards per carry, but he's bailed out fantasy owners with a pair of receiving touchdowns. Carolina now has two starting offensive linemen on injured reserve, so it's hard to imagine Hubbard having success on the ground against Atlanta's strong defensive line. Los Angeles Rams RB Kyren Williams vs. Philadelphia Eagles PPR projection: 15.5 This is a lofty projection for Williams, who scored just 13.9 and 10.0 points in the first two weeks. Rams head coach Sean McVay recently said he wants the backfield to be a 70/30 split between Williams and Blake Corum. That's exactly what we saw last week against the Titans, and Corum even stole some goal-line carries and a touchdown. In two games against the Eagles last season, Williams scored only 13.2 and 11.5 points. Pittsburgh Steelers WR DK Metcalf vs. New England Patriots PPR projection: 14.5 Cornerback Christian Gonzalez is finally back at practice for the Patriots after suffering a hamstring injury in the offseason. That's bad news for Metcalf, who's already struggling to create separation and has just 23.3 PPR points through two weeks. The Seahawks wide receiver won't sniff this projection unless he scores a touchdown. Cleveland Browns TE David Njoku vs. Green Bay Packers PPR projection: 9.4 Njoku hasn't been as involved in Cleveland's offense as fantasy owners hoped. The veteran tight end has seen only 11 targets and 14.7 fantasy points through two weeks. The Browns are running a ton of two-tight-end sets with Njoku and Harold Fannin Jr., and QB Joe Flacco is spreading the ball around too much for one player to thrive. Njoku might be better on the bench against an elite Packers defense.
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