Bronson Reed has been on an absolute tear on Monday Night Raw as of late. Unfortunately is wave of momentum has suddenly, and hopefully temporarily been haulted.
WWE has now announced that Reed has tested positive for COVID-19 and has been pulled from tonight's show.
BREAKING: @ScrapDaddyAP has announced that @BRONSONISHERE is OUT of tonight's Intercontinental Championship No. 1 Contenders Triple Threat Match. #WWERaw pic.twitter.com/fab8nyHF5O
— WWE (@WWE) September 2, 2024
Bronson Reed was set to compete in the Intercontinental Championship No. 1 Contender's Tournament. The match itself is still going to happen, but WWE has yet to name a replacement.
We here at the TakeDown on SI wish Bronson Reed a speedy recovery.
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Tyrese Haliburton is still dishing out assists despite nursing an Achilles injury. The Indiana Pacers point guard was watching ringside Sunday as John Cena and Cody Rhodes faced off in the WWE SummerSlam main event at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. The NBA All-Star was wearing a vintage John Cena T-shirt. With Rhodes reeling in pain, Cena spotted Haliburton by the barricade and decided to walk toward him. After a brief stare down, Cena directed his signature “You Can’t See Me” taunt to Haliburton before swiping one of the latter’s crutches. Cena broke it off Rhodes’ back. Given that the WWE event was held not too far from New York Knicks territory, choosing Haliburton to help Cena, even indirectly, felt like a calculated move. Haliburton was seen heckling Knicks fans just hours prior. The dirty blow was perfectly legal, given that the match was under “Street Fight” rules. All weapons — even crutches — were fair game. Rhodes was able to shake off the blow and beat Cena to become the WWE Undisputed Champion, a title he had lost to Cena at WrestleMania 41. After half a year of Cena playing heel, the two shared an emotional passing of the torch moment. Cena, who is set to retire later this year, handed Rhodes the belt and raised the latter’s arm to congratulate him. Haliburton has become a recurring guest at WWE events. He famously feuded with Knicks rival Jalen Brunson in the ring last year.
The New York Jets opted to cut Aaron Rodgers and sign Justin Fields to replace him during the offseason. This kind of commitment to Fields should bolster his confidence, but it could also place a lot of pressure on his shoulders. To this point, Fields has looked solid in training camp, aside from a scary toe injury that was quickly resolved in July. Justin Fried of the Jet Press recently reported that Fields' training camp may have reached a new low over the weekend as the young signal caller struggled. "Justin Fields put together his best practice of the summer to this point on Friday, completing his first 12 passes en route to an excellent all-around performance. The same can't be said about his showing on Saturday, however," Fried wrote. "Fields finished the day an abysmal 2-of-10 in the air, including a drop from rookie tight end Mason Taylor. "Some of his incompletions were catchable balls, but the Jets' passing game struggles on Saturday can largely be blamed on No. 7. Fields did flash his running ability with a 25-yard rushing score on the first play of red-zone drills, but the Jets would like to see more consistency in the air from the starting quarterback. Saturday's scrimmage was far from his best showing of the summer." Fields is a runner first at the NFL level, but his arm is nothing to scoff at. For most of training camp, his arm talent has been better than advertised, but during Saturday's scrimmage, it just wasn't there. A 2 for 10 performance is unacceptable for a $40 million quarterback who was signed to take over the team. The running game should open up the passing game for the Jets, which is going to need to be the case if Fields is going to struggle like this. However, it's just one day of camp. It's nothing to be too concerned about. Just because Fields lost this specific practice doesn't mean he's heading in the wrong direction as a whole.
D.K. Metcalf has faced plenty of steep competition through his first six NFL seasons, both during games and practice, but the star wide receiver has noticed something different in his first training camp with the Pittsburgh Steelers. During an interview with Ian Rapoport and Steve Smith of NFL Network on Sunday, Metcalf discussed some of his first impressions of the Steelers. He spoke about how challenging it has been to go up against cornerbacks Joey Porter Jr., Jalen Ramsey and Darius Slay every day. When asked how the practice competition compares to what he saw with the Seattle Seahawks, Metcalf made a bold claim about his new teammates. "You don't want my opinion, because I think they're the best defense I've ever seen," Metcalf said. "There's some dogs everywhere on the field, and I tip my hat to them because they come to work every day and we don't have any choice but to get better." There is no question that the Steelers should have one of the best defensive backfields in the NFL on paper. While they sent five-time Pro Bowl safety Minkah Fitzpatrick to the Miami Dolphins in the Ramsey trade, their cornerback trio of Ramsey, Porter and Slay is as talented as any in the league. The Steelers allowed 20.4 points per game last year, which ranked eighth in the NFL. Their pass defense surrendered 228 yards per game, which only ranked 25th. If Metcalf's assessment is accurate, Pittsburgh should show great improvement against the pass in 2025.
The Green Bay Packers continued work on the field on Saturday, with tens of thousands of fans in attendance watching amid the annual Family Night. However, one notable player who was not able to make it to the field and practice was tight end Tucker Kraft. The former South Dakota State Jackrabbits star is nursing a lower-body injury, forcing the Packers to take it easy on the tight end and keep him on the shelf rather than risk aggravation of the issue. Speaking to the media, Packers head coach Matt LaFleur opened up about Kraft’s status, via Green Bay reporter Rob Demovsky of ESPN. “MLF said Tucker Kraft has been dealing with a groin injury and powering through it for the last two days but they decided to give him a couple days off.” Kraft is expected to be among the major targets in the Packers’ passing attack in his third year in the pros. Selected in the third round (78th overall) by the Packers in the 2023 NFL draft, the 24-year-old Kraft is looking to surpass his production in 2024, when he posted 707 receiving yards and seven touchdowns on 50 receptions.
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