7:30 AM ET Which players are opting out of the 2020 NFL season because of concerns over the coronavirus pandemic? Now that the deadline has passed for players to notify their teams whether or not they are playing, we know that there are some significant players who won’t be taking the field this season. There
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6:00 AM ET PITTSBURGH — Ben Roethlisberger grinned and laughed as the reporter listed off elements of the Pittsburgh Steelers that should put them in contention for a title this season. An elite defense. A veteran, All-Pro line. Playmakers all over the place. A franchise quarterback. And yet, as the reporter noted, the Steelers are
11:10 PM ET Former Detroit Lions and Indianapolis Colts coach Jim Caldwell said he is “feeling great, actually,” a little over a year after stepping away from an assistant head coaching job with the Miami Dolphins because of a health scare. Speaking extensively and publicly for the first time Thursday night on the podcast/YouTube show
7:37 PM ET With kickoff nearly a month away, the NFL considers the use of virtual fans in stadiums a viable option for game days, a league source said Thursday. The NFL utilized the practice during the virtual draft in April and has a similar template available in the absence of real fans. The NBA
5:59 PM ET ESPN staff As 2020 NFL training camp continue, today marks the NFL’s deadline for players to declare if they will opt out this season. Coming into today there were more than 50 players who chose to opt out of the 2020 season, but today that number increased to 66, after a flurry
6:36 PM ET GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Frozen Tundra will be the Silent Tundra — at least for the first month of the 2020 NFL season. The Green Bay Packers announced Thursday that they will play at least their first two home games of the season without fans at Lambeau Field. That means the
5:45 PM ET TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady has always understood the physical demands of getting ready to play an NFL season and doing it at the highest level. After all, he has won six Super Bowl rings. But he didn’t realize the mental energy it would take to learn a
6:06 PM ET TEMPE, Ariz. — Arizona Cardinals pass-rusher Chandler Jones thinks breaking Michael Strahan’s single-season sack record of 22.5 won’t be tough to do. “I don’t think that’s hard to get,” Jones said Thursday during a videoconference call. “And I feel like if there was a year to do it, this could be the
5:33 PM ET Wide receiver Josh Doctson, a former Washington first-round pick who signed with the New York Jets in February, has opted out for 2020 because of undisclosed COVID-19 concerns. Doctson, 27, made his decision before Thursday’s 4 p.m. deadline. He became the third Jets player to opt out, joining former Pro Bowl linebacker
5:15 PM ET The word of the moment in the NFL (and the world in general) is “unprecedented,” so we won’t pretend to tell you we’re sure what impact the 66 opt-outs will have on the 2020 NFL season. At this point, there’s still no way to be fully confident there will even be a