Category: Sports

Surrey pair Gus Atkinson and Jamie Smith will make their debuts in James Anderson’s farewell Test at Lord’s as England have named their team to face West Indies in the first contest of a three-match series.

From the 14-player squad selected for the first Test, Dan Lawrence, Dillon Pennington and Matthew Potts are the players to miss out, with Atkinson, Chris Woakes and Anderson, in his final Test, preferred to the latter two for the seamer spots.

It’s Woakes’ first Test back for his country since being named Player of the Series in the drawn Ashes last summer. The all-rounder took a break from cricket earlier this year after his father passed away.

Somerset off-spinner Shoaib Bashir, who has been on loan with Worcestershire, will play his first Test match in England after debuting in India earlier this year.

Smith, as expected, will make his Test debut as wicketkeeper, having replaced alternative options Jonny Bairstow and Ben Foakes in the squad.

England team for first Test vs West Indies: 1) ⁠Zak Crawley 2)⁠ ⁠Ben Duckett 3)⁠ ⁠Ollie Pope 4) ⁠Joe Root 5) ⁠Harry Brook 6) Ben Stokes (c) 7) Jamie Smith (wkt) 8)⁠ ⁠Chris Woakes 9)⁠ ⁠Gus Atkinson 10)⁠ ⁠Shoaib Bashir 11) ⁠James Anderson

Watch the first Test between England and West Indies live on Sky Sports Cricket from 10am on Wednesday (11am first ball).

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The 2024 ESPYS presented by Capital One are finally here. Vote and help decide which of your favorite athletes will go home with the show’s biggest honors.

After a historic final year at Iowa, Caitlin Clark collected nominations in three categories: Best Athlete, Women’s Sports; Best College Athlete, Women’s Sports and Best Record-Breaking Performance. The back-to-back WNBA Finals champion Las Vegas Aces are nominated for Best Team, while Aces center A’ja Wilson gets a nod in both Best Athlete, Women’s Sports and Best WNBA Player categories.

Patrick Mahomes, winner of last year’s Best Athlete, Men’s Sports and Best NFL Player, once again earned nominations in both categories. His Kansas City Chiefs are up for Best Team, alongside the recently crowned NBA champion Boston Celtics. Shohei Ohtani, who leads the National League in batting average and home runs, secured nominations in Best Athlete, Men’s Sports and Best MLB Player categories.

Your vote helps decide the winners! Cast it now and tune in July 11 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC to find out who brings home an ESPY.

Baylor has had a strong first week of June and it gets even stronger on Sunday evening.

The newest addition for the Bears comes in the form of South Oak Cliff (Texas) four-star defensive end Kamauryn Morgan.

Morgan is the second four-star prospect to join the Bears’ class this week, joining four-star wide receiver Jacorey Watson.

He chose Baylor over two other finalists in Texas A&M and SMU. The 6-foot-5, 230-pound defensive end took official visits to each program.

Morgan joins a Baylor class that has put an emphasis on loading up on defensive lineman. Alongside him, there are now five defensive lineman in the group, three ends and two interior prospects.

Before transferring to South Oak Cliff, Morgan turned in a strong junior season at Red Oak, where he racked up 61 total tackles, 14 tackles for loss, and 34 quarterback hurries. He also added 5.5 sacks three pass breakups, and two forced fumbles.

Already at 230-pounds and sure to add mass in a college weight room, Morgan looks to be a bit more of a power rusher than a speed rusher. Has also proven to be valuable in defending the run. Is not the most explosive off the line, but remains hard to get off his spot, in fact, he often displaces offensive lineman before then can do the same. Has shown a variety of pass rush moves to this point outside of just a common bull rush.

One thing Morgan does exceptionally well is tracking ball carriers and reacting in a timely manner to make a play or at least disrupt for others to capitalize. Contains the edge and funnels ball carriers into traffic. Sure handed tackler, does not let ball carriers out of his grasp once he has them.

May not be your first option for a pass rusher on third down, but certainly will provide value on first and second down to play the run and disrupt the quarterback when he is able to let loose.

Wild card Emma Raducanu was shocked by qualifier Lulu Sun as her encouraging Wimbledon run came to a disappointing end in the fourth round on a gloomy Sunday.

The 21-year-old had inspired hopes of more US Open-style heroics by coming through her opening three matches without dropping a set.

But she looked nervous against powerful New Zealander Sun, the first qualifier to make the women’s singles quarter-finals here in 14 years, and, despite battling to force a deciding set, slumped to a 6-2 5-7 6-2 defeat.

“It was a great match against her. She really dug deep in there to try and get the win from me,” said an emotional Sun.

“I had to fight tooth and nail against her… she was obviously going to run for every ball and fight until the end.

“I was looking around [Centre Court] and just taking it all in for the first time.

“I’m super happy to be able to play on this court in front of all of you. It was an amazing experience for me.”

Left-hander Sun, who had never won a Grand Slam main-draw match before this week and is now on a seven-match winning streak, racked up 52 winners compared with just 19 from Raducanu and will now face Donna Vekic for a place in the semi-finals.

It has not been a comfortable 24 hours for Raducanu, with the positive vibes from her three impressive wins given a hammering by her decision to deny Andy Murray a Wimbledon swansong by pulling out of their mixed doubles opener citing a stiff wrist.

She found herself the subject of unwanted headlines, with the social media contribution of Judy Murray – albeit subsequently claimed not to be a criticism of Raducanu – adding fuel to the fire.

The strapping on her right wrist that had been present in practice on Saturday was nowhere to be seen, and Raducanu looked happy and relaxed hitting with fellow British player Liam Broady ahead of the match.

But, from the start of the contest on Centre Court, the former US Open champion, who knows all too well what qualifiers can achieve, seemed anything but comfortable.

Her serve, which has been a key strength all tournament, was off and her groundstrokes lacked their usual fizz.

Sun, on the other hand, looked like playing on Centre Court was something she had been doing all her life, the 23-year-old crunching the ball and breaking the Raducanu serve – which the Briton had not dropped since the first round – twice to go 3-0 up.

Raducanu retrieved one of the breaks but her comeback was short-lived as Sun, who defeated eighth seed Zheng Qinwen in round one, powered her way to another break and then the set.

The Brit was under pressure again at the start of the second but this time managed to hold on to her serve, with Sun, ranked 123, putting a simple forehand volley long on break point at 1-1.

Raducanu then had two break points in the next game but was unable to change the momentum, missing two backhand returns off second serves.

She hung on again in the seventh game but at least produced some of her best tennis to save two more break points.

Raducanu’s efforts in keeping her nose in front on serve were rewarded at 5-6 when Sun tightened up a little, missing an overhead and then going long on the second set point.

However, the mood changed in the opening game of the third set when Raducanu slipped while hitting a forehand, sitting on the ground shaking her head before calling the trainer, who worked on her left hip, leg and back, which she had been periodically holding during the second set.

Raducanu underwent surgery on her left ankle last year, as well as both wrists, after slipping at a tournament in Auckland.

She restarted in confident fashion with an ace but looked a little uncertain in her movement and dropped serve. The crowd tried to inspire Raducanu into another fightback but a double fault cost her a second break at 2-4 and Sun clinched a deserved victory after two hours and 50 minutes.

Paolini reaches Wimbledon quarters after tearful Keys retires injured

French Open runner-up Jasmine Paolini reached the quarter-finals for the first time after a totally distraught Madison Keys was forced to call it quits at 5-5 in the third set with a suspected groin injury.

Playing under a closed Court One roof on yet another soggy day at the All England Club, Keys appeared to have one foot in the last eight when she went to serve for the match at 5-2 up the deciding set but clutched her left groin immediately after getting broken.

The American 12th seed called for the trainer one game later and limped off court for a medical time out before re-emerging with her left thigh heavily strapped.

Upon resumption, she started sobbing after netting a drop shot to fall 15-40 behind. Although the 29-year-old saved the first break point with a backhand winner, she was again in tears after surrendering her serve with a double fault.

Clearly struggling to even walk between points, Keys somehow conjured a lob to win the first point off Paolini’s next service game. But when she saw the next point whizz past her for an ace, she shook her head and signalled it was all over as she walked to the net to give her Italian opponent a tearful hug.

The Italian seventh seed had produced a stirring comeback from 5-1 down in the second set to force a tiebreak and the final score ended up being 6-3 6-7 (8-6) 5-5 in Paolini’s favour when a heartbroken Keys had to call it a day.

“I’m so sorry for her. To end the match like this it’s sad. We played a really good match. it was really tough, lots of up and downs. I feel a bit happy but also sad for her because it’s not easy to win like that,” Paolini, who had not won a Tour-level main draw match on grass before this year, told the crowd in a courtside interview.

“It was a rollercoaster. I started really well and was really focused on court but she’s a great champion and she raised her level so it was tough to return balls. I was repeating to myself stay in there. At the end I know she retired, but I’m here with the win.

“I hope you enjoyed the match,” added the 28-year-old after becoming the fifth Italian woman to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals in the professional era, equalling the country’s best result at the grasscourt major.

Gauff’s Wimbledon dreams dashed in fourth round again

Paolini will next face 19th seed Emma Navarro after she beat fellow American, and second seed, Coco Gauff in the day’s final match on Centre Court.

Gauff’s hopes of reaching the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the first time were dashed as she suffered a fourth-round exit for the third time in five visits to SW19, losing out 6-4 6-3.

The 20-year-old had swept aside all before her up til this point, not dropping a set, but she came totally unstuck against Navarro, who produced a fearless brand of tennis to topple her more celebrated rival.

Gauff appeared to be heading for another regulation win when she broke for a 3-1 lead in the first set, but from then on, the killer shots that had carried her all the way to a maiden Grand Slam title at last year’s US Open completely deserted her.

Navarro broke back in the very next game after Gauff drilled a backhand long to end a 13-shot rally and once the world No 2 missed two break points in the next game, Navarro knew she had got under her rival’s skin.

A breath-taking forehand into the corner handed Navarro the first set and, after breaking for a 3-1 lead in the second, she finally ended her rival’s ordeal on her third match point when Gauff netted a forehand.

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Jude Bellingham has revealed how advice from Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink guided him through England’s penalty shootout win against Switzerland and banished “awful memories” of the nation’s past failures.

The Three Lions have exited seven tournaments on penalties — including losing the last Euros final to Italy — as well as defeats in 1990, 1996, 1998, 2004, 2006 and 2012.

However, England have won three of their four shootouts under Gareth Southgate, the latest of which came in Saturday’s Euro 2024 quarterfinal against Switzerland in Düsseldorf following a 1-1 draw.

All five of England’s takers — Cole Palmer, Bellingham, Bukayo Saka, Ivan Toney and Trent Alexander-Arnold — scored to secure a 5-3 victory, and afterwards Bellingham explained the role England coach and former Chelsea striker Hasselbaink had in helping him execute his spot-kick.

“It’s a first for me to be involved in one, to take one,” Bellingham, 21, told BBC Radio 5Live.

“I have awful memories kind of growing up and I think the first Euro that I was really interested in was the one against Italy [Euro 2012] with the dink from [Andrea] Pirlo.

“It kind of stains your memory a little bit, you always think: ‘England in penalty shoot-outs, I’m not sure,’ but it’s really nice to have that experience to add to the locker now.

“I was really confident in my preparation, confident in the things I talked through with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, he’s stepped up for us massively.

“It’s the work that he does behind closed doors, with the lads being willing to take on that information, that put us in those situations in order to be able to win.

“So this is a massive team effort. Another thing is [goalkeepers] Dean Henderson, Aaron Ramsdale, Tom Heaton, who have been with us this camp, they’ve been huge in helping us practise the penalties.

“Again, they won’t get the credit they deserve but essentially, if they don’t put in the right effort, you don’t have the right practice to go out and execute. So many people are involved in this win. It’s a massive team win.”

Bellingham started the tournament with a superb display against Serbia — scoring England’s winning goal that night — but he admitted he has struggle to match that level since.

The Real Madrid midfielder scored a stunning 95th-minute overhead kick to save England from going out in the round-of-16, instead forcing extra time against Slovakia. He was fined €30,000 and handed a one-game suspended ban for a lewd gesture made in celebrating that goal and when asked to reflect on his own tournament to date, Bellingham said: “Eventful, yeah, a lot going on!

“I think in the first game I started really well. I felt great. That was one of my best games for England but I’m always honest with myself and I feel like the two games that followed [were] not at the level I can be, simple as that.

“For me, it’s about acknowledging that, reviewing it, getting myself back to the right fitness levels to try again. I’ll never stop running and stop trying to play forward, stop trying to create, score goals.

“If sometimes it doesn’t come off then so be it but I’ll never stop trying for my team and my teammates.

“It looks like we’re hitting the right speed at the right time so we’ll see how it goes, we’re still here, we live to fight another day.”

ONE AFTERNOON IN June, after a minicamp practice in the smothering Florida heat, Miami Dolphins defensive tackle Zach Sieler and his teammates received welcome news: Practice the following day was canceled.

But for Sieler, the good news wouldn’t end there.

As the six-year veteran finished answering questions from the media, a Dolphins’ team staffer mentioned gyros were being served for lunch — one of Sieler’s favorites.

“It’s gyro day today?” he asked with a wide grin on his face. “Let’s go!”

What players put in their bodies continues to be an important part of improving their health and availability. Now, more teams are trying to account for both nutrition and player preferences when selecting menus.

Los Angeles Rams center Steve Avila said he noticed his team putting an emphasis on serving higher-quality and better-tasting food this offseason, a change from last year.

“If you don’t like the food, not a lot of people will eat here,” Avila said. “So I’ve been a part of teams [in college] where people, if they don’t like the food, they’ll just go to McDonald’s or something.”

And while some players can invest in their bodies year-round using personal chefs and nutritionists, not all players can afford it and rely on teams to provide those services, especially during the season.

ESPN spoke with several teams about the best — and worst — NFL food programs based on the NFLPA report cards released in February. The report, based on a survey of 1,706 players across the league, includes grades on everything from head coach to the weight room and cafeteria. The goal, the NFLPA writes, is to improve working conditions for players.

Some teams are feeding players at an elite level, and others are struggling, in their players’ eyes. And while there will likely always be a difference between teams in this area, some teams are trying to balance healthy choices with player preferences.

The lowest scores in relation to food on the survey went to the Cincinnati Bengals, who received an F- in the dietician and the food and cafeteria categories.

In 2022, there were multiple microwaves for Cincinnati players to reheat food brought from home. The Gatorade coolers doubled as a fridge, where players would store their lunch bags. They received an F- in nutrition for that year, too.

And that might have been one of the team’s best years in terms of food options, according to a veteran player granted anonymity to speak freely on the subject. When asked what was the difference between his Power 5 college food program and the Bengals’, he said there was no comparison.

“Just diversity of what we had [in college],” the player said. “Diversity of what you can eat that was catered to you. Diversity from a standpoint of having a nutritionist that really could set a certain plan up for you in essence of what your goals were and what catered to you. I mean, that’s really the biggest thing when you get here. It’s a little more basic. Some guys don’t eat at the stadium.”

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RAMS WIDE RECEIVER Puka Nacua knows he’s a picky eater. When he wanted to improve his eating habits this offseason, he went to team nutritionist Sebastian Zorn for help — but had some restrictions.

Nacua doesn’t like any vegetables, listing green onions and asparagus before saying, “I don’t do any of those.” And so instead, he replaces the nutrients from vegetables with watermelon and pineapple in the morning to go with his eggs and bacon.

“Those are how I get some of my fiber and stuff like that because like, hey, you got to poop somehow,” Nacua said. “And I’m like, I’m not getting it from any veggies.”

Unlike Nacua, who is entering his second NFL season, Rams right tackle Rob Havenstein is entering his 10th — long enough to know how important nutrition can be to lengthening a career.

“You just realize you want to do everything you can to play as long as you can,” Havenstein said. “When you’re young, you’ve got a little bit of the never-going-to-die type thing, and all of a sudden things just don’t turn over as easy. So you’re doing everything you can to go ahead and make sure that you’re in alignment with turning your body over, with recovering.

“And what I’ve learned is that food and the way you fuel your body is probably the No. 1 [way], other than ice tubs and actual recovery stuff.”

Dolphins tight end Durham Smythe, who has spent all six of his NFL seasons in Miami, said while the food has always been “pretty good,” it got even better when the team opened its new facility in 2021.

That buy-in from what teammate Sieler calls “the top down,” starting with team owner Stephen Ross, led to the team’s A rankings in dietician and the food and cafeteria categories. Miami’s dietician, John Parenti, earned the second-highest individual grade of any dietician in the league.

“I try not to take it for granted,” Smythe said. “Like I said, I’ve only been here, but you get used to it almost. And then I have to remind myself like, ‘Holy s—, we have everything we need here.’”

When Avila is ready for lunch at the Rams’ facility in Thousand Oaks, California, he uses an app called Notemeal to see what is being served in the cafeteria that day and the options’ macros and calories. His daily macro — macronutrients, or grams of protein, carbohydrates and fats — goals were set in a meeting with Zorn, the team nutritionist, this spring.

“We’ll sit down one-on-one with him, and he’ll try to find a goal for us,” Avila said. “People’s body types are different. For me, I have a lot of muscle, so obviously I’m going to weigh more, but my body fat percentage isn’t going to be as high as someone who weighs the same as me, so he definitely makes a point for that. So, right now, we’re building muscle for me, and right now we’re in the phase of trying to get that body fat percentage down.”

Those goals aren’t stagnant. Once Zorn and his staff have talked to players about their goals, they calculate their nutritional needs. They have software to do that, factoring players’ muscle mass, what type of practice it is and how long they’ll be on the field.

When the NFLPA survey results were released in February, the Rams received a C-plus in the nutritionist category, with a score that ranked 26th among the 32 teams. They hired Zorn in April.

“I didn’t realize how much better it could have been until he ended up getting here,” Rams coach Sean McVay said.

In Miami, dietician Parenti makes sure the meal plans are “very personalized,” Smythe said. At the beginning of OTAs, players meet with Parenti to “tell him exactly” what their goals are “and he’ll tell you where you need to be.”

The nutrition staff “definitely bend over backwards to make sure that everyone is getting treated to maximize their potential each day,” Sieler said.

“They’ll cook [the meals] for you, they’ll prep them before and they’ll have them in the refrigerator,” Smythe said. “I’ve even seen John [Parenti] walk into the cafeteria with guys and say, pick this, pick this amount of this, this amount of that.

“And then you really can’t fail when that’s happening.”

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UNLIKE NEARLY EVERY other team, the Bengals do not have a full-time dietician on staff.

“We’ve never really had the true nutritionist,” the anonymous Bengals player told ESPN. “It was one of those things where it was like [food staff] just made stuff and kind of [put it] out there.”

This was reflected in the NFLPA survey. 19% of Bengals players reported having an individualized nutrition plan — the lowest rate in the NFL.

Another area in which the Bengals struggle? Food options. According to the NFLPA survey, they are one of two teams that don’t provide three meals a day throughout the week. The only day they do is on Wednesdays. Cincinnati also does not open its cafeteria on the players’ off day, even when they come in to do extra work. Players have noted that the food offerings have improved in recent years.

The Rams were one of six teams to get below a C in the food and cafeteria category, ranking 31st overall in food taste and 28th overall in food freshness. According to Zorn, part of that is because of the Rams’ setup: trailers on the campus of California Lutheran University. While that was intended to be a temporary facility, it has lasted eight years.

In their current setup, Los Angeles has to cook all of its food offsite and assemble it at the facility. The Rams are moving to a new facility in Woodland Hills in August and, although they will be in trailers while the permanent buildings are built, Zorn said the plan is for the food to be cooked onsite.

In Miami, the kitchen has no fryers and everything is cooked in-house.

“You go in the cafeteria in the morning and there’s five different stations,” Smythe said. “There’s a buffet. You can go get an omelet. Same thing for lunch — there’s a sandwich station buffet. And you go into the weight room and it’s every protein snack you could ever imagine.

“They’re actually great about if someone loves something, too, it’ll be in the next week, they’ll bring it in. So, it’s really almost endless possibilities.”

The list of favorite meals runs the gamut for league players: Korean short ribs (Nacua), mango habanero salmon (Sieler), crawfish (Washington Commanders safety Jeremy Reaves) lamb chops and steak (Houston Texans defensive end Will Anderson Jr.).

Avila says he doesn’t like a lot of foods, admitting he’s a “basic vegetable guy.” But he said the thought of the new soups in the cafeteria made his stomach growl.

Some players try to stay away from certain foods, such as Commanders right tackle Andrew Wylie, who said he tries to “cognitively avoid” the pizza station.

Lack of options is an issue for the Commanders, who received a D-plus in the food/cafeteria category in the survey. While the food is good, it has also gotten repetitive and players have gotten bored, a Commanders player told ESPN. The quality of the food also needs to improve, a player, who was granted anonymity, said.

“You could tell it’s just something that was just thrown together just to make it seem like it’s healthy or anything like that versus you could tell that it was something that somebody took time and put effort into,” the Commanders player said.

The Los Angeles Chargers received an F in the food and cafeteria category but are moving to a new facility in July, where they have a new food program through a partnership with Wolfgang Puck catering.

Chargers outside linebacker Joey Bosa, who has worked with a chef for the past seven years, said he may not need to do so with the new facility. Despite the bad grade, Bosa said he didn’t think it accurately represented the Chargers’ setup and staff.

“I’ll eat here sometimes,” Bosa said. “It may not be the best setup, but they’ll prepare you food that’s plenty good. … They work harder than literally anybody in the entire facility. So they may not have the best means back there, but they freaking work their butts off, and that survey is not cool, man.”

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WHEN ZORN WAS hired in Los Angeles, he gave presentations to the players once a week for the first seven weeks of OTAs. He wanted to teach them about the fundamentals of eating right and what he was changing in the cafeteria.

“It starts with the food,” Zorn said. “So improving the food service first is really important because if the food is not good, I can recommend this and that, but if they’re not going to eat it at the end of the day, then I’ve lost them and they’re going to go outside. So improving that was kind of square one.”

The Rams aren’t the only team making a change.

The Saints are moving their training camp to Irvine, California and will refurbish the cafeteria at their facility in Metairie, Louisiana during that period.

New Orleans received an F-minus on the NFLPA report card in 2023 for their food services/nutrition, which was tied for last place.

“It’s nothing against their survey, but we had it on the books for a while to improve the cafeteria, improve the cooking area,” Saints president Dennis Lauscha said. “That cooking area and that cafeteria, although we still think it’s new for some of the folks that have been there, it’s over 20 years old. It had to be changed, it had to be upgraded. … We want to have the best facilities. We want to be able to recruit and attract players.”

For the Commanders, the change came when owner Josh Harris bought the team.

“It was very selective in what we were eating [before], obviously,” Reaves said. “And new ownership and new coaches came in and they changed all of that stuff. They made an emphasis on that. When we came in, when new ownership came in, they took the time personally to come talk to some of the leaders that’ve been here for a while and ask us what we want to exchange and what we wanted different. And we are seeing it.”

Enhancing onsite accommodations is something teams have put an emphasis on in recent years, as is clear with moves made by the Chargers, Rams and Commanders. The goal of the NFLPA survey, according to the association, was to “not only help [players] make important career decisions, but also help raise standards across the league.” It has become increasingly clear nutrition is something teams will continue to enhance as they not only try to recruit players but push for them to play at the highest level.

“[Zorn] made that a point when he first got here that we’re high-level athletes, so we should have some high-level food,” Avila said.

Ben Baby, Marcel Louis-Jacques, D.J. Bien-Aime, Kris Rhim, John Keim and Katherine Terrell contributed to this story.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Things are markedly different — and significantly better — for Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan in 2024 than when he assumed ownership of the franchise in 2012.

In the past three months, the team signed two cornerstone players — quarterback Trevor Lawrence and linebacker Josh Allen — to long-term contracts, reached a deal with the city on a $1.4 billion renovation of EverBank Stadium and agreed to a 30-year lease that would begin in 2028.

On the field, the team is showing some consistency and growth — posting back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2004-05. Despite missing the playoffs last season after finishing 1-5 down the stretch, the momentum has been building and Khan is ready to see results.

“For us winning — winning now — is an expectation,” Khan said last week.

The Jaguars haven’t made the playoffs in consecutive seasons since 1996-99, and they’ve made only four appearances since then — including twice in the past seven years.

“You talk about the growth in a football team that if [back-to-back winning seasons] had happened five years ago or 10 years ago, you’d be patting yourself on the back,” Khan said. “Now it’s like, yes, you want to have a winning season, but I think we want to be in the playoffs.

“You want to be in the playoffs every year.”

Intermittent success isn’t enough any longer. Not after what Khan has invested in just this offseason alone. In addition to signing his franchise quarterback through 2030 and agreeing to a long-term lease, he locked down Allen through 2028 and agreed to pay $625 million for his share of the stadium renovation.

There’s optimism in Jacksonville that the struggles of Khan’s first decade as an owner are finally over. After purchasing the team for $700 million in November of 2011, Khan’s first season ended with what was then the worst record in franchise history (2-14). The bad times didn’t end there — the Jaguars went 17-63 from 2012 to ’16.

Khan then brought in Tom Coughlin as executive VP of football operations and Doug Marrone as head coach. The moves worked at first, with the team going 10-6 in 2017, winning the AFC South for the first time, and advancing to the AFC Championship Game before losing to the New England Patriots. But after that season, the team declined again. In 2020, Khan became tied for the second-fastest owner to reach 100 losses in NFL history (141 games). Only former Tampa Bay owner Hugh Culverhouse hit that mark faster (140 games).

The turnaround began when Jacksonville drafted its franchise quarterback in Lawrence at No. 1 in 2021. And then continued when Khan hired Doug Pederson in 2022.

And though Khan called last season’s collapse an organizational failure, the franchise has been building momentum in what has been the most positive offseason of his tenure. Khan guaranteed a total of $301.2 million to eight players this offseason. When you invest that much, you expect results, and Lawrence is confident that will happen.

“The overall team that we have, the leadership we have on the team as far as players, we have such a good group,” Lawrence said. “I think a lot of the guys we brought in two years ago; it was their first year. You talk about like, Evan [Engram], Christian [Kirk], [Brandon] Scherff and Foye [Oluokun] on the defensive side. … We started to build this thing from the ground up in ’22. Then last year it continued to grow, and then this year like I said, the free agents and then the draft class that we got, I’m really excited about it.

“I think this is definitely the best team that we’ve had here in my eyes.”

And he might be right. The Jaguars signed six major free agents this offseason who have a combined 49 playoff games, 12 conference title game appearances and three Super Bowl appearances: center Mitch Morse, receiver Gabe Davis, returner/receiver Devin Duvernay, safety Darnell Savage, cornerback Ronald Darby and defensive lineman Arik Armstead. Included in those contracts is $82.7 million in guaranteed money.

The Jaguars have also seemingly hit right on their first-round picks in 2022 (pass rusher Travon Walker) and 2023 (right tackle Anton Harrison). Walker was second on the team in sacks last season. Plus, running back Travis Etienne Jr. — the 25th pick in 2021 — had his fifth-year option picked up.

General manager Trent Baalke has been building for success with Khan’s willingness to invest. Now all that’s left is to win.

“Hey, we’ve had decades to work on it,” Khan said. “I’ve been kind of patient, but it’s painful. But that’s what we had to do.”

Lane Kiffin and the Ole Miss Rebels are red hot on the recruiting trail.

June was strong on the commitment front and July is looking even better. Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy defensive back Major Preston became the third pledge in the first six days of the month in going public with his pledge on Saturday evening.

The four-star picked Ole Miss over finalists Florida, Colorado and Virginia Tech in the end.

“Me and coach Wes Neighbors have been locked in for a while now,” Preston told Rivals. “When I went up there I got the home feeling. It’s the place where I want to be, the place to put great people around me, with a great coaching staff that can develop me and take my game to the next level.

“From the coaching staff to other people on campus, it’s the place I want to be.”

The versatile IMG secondary recruit, who originally hails from Virginia, can play both cornerback and safety. He has experience at each and moves around at the prep level.

In the SEC, he may work into a similar role.

“They expect me to come in there and have an immediate impact,” Preston said. “They’re losing 10 guys in the secondary after this coming season, so they expect me to come in there and produce. They say I’m going to play all five positions.

“It’s big for me to have the opportunity to play wherever in the secondary. To be able to get on the field early at an SEC program is big for me.”

The versatile vision in Oxford comes from head coach Kiffin, defensive coordinator Pete Golding on down. The newest Rebel spent time with several coaches while in town most recently.

It’s when he pulled the trigger for the program.

“Coach Golding, that’s my guy,” Preston said. “He’s a high-energy guy. I got to see him coach in person, during practice and stuff. Coach Kiffin is my guy. We’ve been locked in since the official when I got to meet him. Great conversations with him.I’ve been silently committed for a while now. They were more excited than I was when I committed. They were talking like I was a high priority for them.

“It was over when I took my official visit up there. It was great hospitality and just talking with the coaching staff — having individual meetings with them — the things they were telling me about what I can do there made me feel good.”

The latest blue-chipper on the future Rebel roster has a message for his new fanbase.

“They’re getting a hard worker,” Preston said. “A great guy on the field, off the field. Somebody that’s gonna come in and produce for the program.

“Hotty Toddy! Let’s go! Let’s work!”

The top stories and transfer rumours from Sunday’s newspapers…

MAIL ON SUNDAY

Manchester United are finally set to offload Donny van de Beek this summer according to reports in Spain.

Rio Ferdinand was among the pundits heaping praise on Kobbie Mainoo after his impressive first-half display against Switzerland.

Pep Guardiola and his wife were among the special guests to watch Saturday’s match between Cameron Norrie and Alexander Zverev at Wimbledon, as the Manchester City manager joined the likes of Ben Stokes and Leah Williamson in Centre Court’s Royal Box.

THE SUN ON SUNDAY

Italy defender Riccardo Calafiori has reportedly agreed personal terms with Arsenal.

SUNDAY MIRROR

Manchester United are confident of signing Matthijs de Ligt in a deal worth around £43million after manager Erik ten Hag stepped up his charm offensive to take the Bayern Munich defender to Old Trafford.

Bukayo Saka grabbed his chance of redemption as England moved into the Euro semi-finals – and now the winger wants to make history.

Jordan Pickford’s water bottle provided all the answers as his Manuel Akanji prediction helped England beat Switzerland on penalties.

Wrexham have secured their third signing of the summer in bringing in Charlton Athletic captain George Dobson.

SUNDAY TIMES

Andy Murray has played his last Wimbledon match after Emma Raducanu withdrew from the mixed doubles in a decision that is understood to have disappointed the Murray camp, with his mother Judy describing it as “astonishing”.

STAR ON SUNDAY

Manchester City are increasingly concerned they will lose Ederson to the loaded Saudi Pro League this summer.

SUNDAY EXPRESS

Ivan Toney admits he is ‘very impatient’ as he waits for a start in England’s run to the Euro 2024 semi-finals. The Brentford striker replaced an off-colour Harry Kane to score in the shootout win over Switzerland on Saturday.

SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

Iga Swiatek was booed by the crowd before being unceremoniously dumped out of Wimbledon after suffering a shock third-round defeat to world No 35 Yulia Putintseva.

SUNDAY RECORD

Celtic are back round the table with Benfica in a bid to thrash out a deal for Paulo Bernardo.

SCOTTISH SUN ON SUNDAY

Leicester City are joining the race for Celtic’s Matt O’Riley.

Brendan Rodgers has called for patience as he targets new players.

When does the summer transfer window open and close?

The 2024 summer transfer window in the Premier League and Scottish Premiership is officially open.

The window will close on August 30 at 11pm UK time in England and at 11.30pm in Scotland.

The Premier League and Scottish Premiership brought forward Deadline Day to link up with the other major leagues in Europe. The closing dates were set following discussions with the leagues in England, Germany, Italy, Spain and France.

Iga Swiatek‘s quest to conquer grass will have to wait another year.

On Saturday, the five-time major champion and world No. 1 was defeated in the third round at Wimbledon by Yulia Putinseva 3-6, 6-1, 6-2. Swiatek looked to be on her way to the round of 16 during the opening set, but then had few answers for Putinseva, who changed her game plan and took control of the pace in the final two sets.

Swiatek, 23, is just the second woman in the Open Era to lose multiple matches as the top seed at Wimbledon before the round of 16, joining Martina Hingis.

After clinching the victory with her third match point, an exuberant Putinseva received a standing ovation as the No. 1 Court crowd roared, clearly in awe of what she had just done. The fans continued to cheer during her postmatch interview — so much so, she had to ask for the first question to be repeated as she couldn’t hear.

“I have no words, I’m just so happy right now,” Putinseva then told the crowd. “I played so good. … This is crazy, guys.”

So what does the loss mean for Swiatek and the rest of the Wimbledon field? The takeaways from Saturday’s surprising upset:

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The mental toll as the favorite is tough

Entering Saturday, Swiatek was on a 21-match win streak and hadn’t lost since the semifinals in Stuttgart in April. Over that span, she had won her fifth major title at Roland Garros, as well as the titles in Madrid and Rome. She has a staggering 3,642-point lead over No. 2 Coco Gauff in the most recent rankings.

All of this to say, Swiatek is at least a favorite, if not the favorite, in every tournament she plays, no matter the surface.

But that’s not easy. And especially not on grass, a surface in which she remains relatively inexperienced and unproven. She saw a 37-match winning streak come to an end in the same round at Wimbledon two years ago, and her then-opponent Alize Cornet said she knew grass would be where she could potentially beat her.

Swiatek has talked about the pressure of such expectations before. When Aryna Sabalenka began to put Swiatek’s No. 1 ranking in jeopardy last summer, Swiatek fought hard to hold onto it, but ultimately lost it following the US Open. She said she was “sad” to relinquish it but had found the months trying to keep it “exhausting.”

During Saturday’s loss, Swiatek looked confused and unable to make adjustments, especially as Putinseva sped up her game. She had 38 unforced errors, compared to Putinseva’s 15, and simply didn’t show the mental fortitude she has displayed elsewhere, like during her near-loss to Naomi Osaka in the French Open in May. There were multiple times during the match that the normally unflappable Swiatek was seen muttering to herself in disgust and looking frustrated by her game.

“I totally let her come back to the game in the second set,” Swiatek said. “I shouldn’t have done that. I made some mistakes, as well. But for sure, she used her chance.”

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Swiatek’s lack of grass preparation was evident

Swiatek’s best result at Wimbledon in five appearances was a quarterfinal run last year. She has won 22 titles in her short career but has never won a grass tournament. And she hasn’t even played many.

This year, Swiatek opted out of playing any of the lead-in events on the surface after her win at Roland Garros and instead chose to rest and recover. She told reporters at Roland Garros she simply didn’t have the proper time to prepare for the surface after the long clay season.

“It’s a huge challenge,” Swiatek said. “If I would lose [at Roland Garros] earlier, maybe I would be able to play two more weeks on grass and then be a better grass player, but if I [had to] choose, I love playing on clay, so I’m not going to give up that ever.”

Her inexperience was clear on Saturday, especially against a player who has had success on the surface. Putinseva, who had never won a set against Swiatek during their four previous meetings, won the title at Birmingham last month and looked far more at ease moving around the court.

Swiatek simply couldn’t adjust to Putinseva’s tactical changes, speed and variety of shot-making. Tied at 1 in the second set, Putinseva then won the next nine games and Swiatek couldn’t seem to do anything to stop the rout. Not even an extended bathroom break before the decider could help her refocus as Putinseva won 16 of the first 19 points in the final set for a 4-0 lead. If Swiatek had more recent experience playing on grass, would she have been able to respond more efficiently or successfully? Swiatek said she doesn’t think so.

“You never know. I could have got injured in the second match because I practiced straightaway after Roland Garros in that case,” she said Saturday, “I think my coaches are pretty good at planning. They chose the right option for this year. But we’ll see what’s going to happen next year.”

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Putinseva thrives as a spoiler

Three-time major champion and former world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty called it “one of the best days of [Putinseva’s] career” while commentating on the match for the BBC, and it marks her best result at Wimbledon. However, it’s not the first time she has defeated the top-ranked player on grass.

In 2019, Putinseva upset then-No. 1 Osaka in the first round at Birmingham 6-2, 6-3, and then went on to defeat her again just weeks later in the opening round at Wimbledon. Putinseva said that knowing she had done it before helped make her believe she could do it again.

“I was thinking actually during play that I did beat the world No. 1 before on grass,” Putinseva said. “So I think it’s quite meant to be on grass.”

Phenomenal Putintseva 😲@PutintsevaYulia upsets world No.1 Iga Swiatek 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 in a stunning performance to advance to the fourth round! 👏#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/lUquT4mBDH

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 6, 2024

Clearly relishing the role of giant-slayer and not shying away on the biggest stages, she also had the momentum and confidence from earning her first career title on grass just weeks ago. Putinseva, 29, said she focused on her strategy — and not on her opponent — in order to pull off the win. She said she knew she needed to “stay intense for every point” and never let up.

“I was just so focused on just playing fast and not give her any time, and that worked,” Putinseva told the crowd. “So that’s pretty much it.”

Putinseva is a three-time major quarterfinalist and will next face 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko on Monday with a spot in the last eight on the line.

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The title is now anyone’s to win

With grass already viewed as the most open of the surfaces, especially for the women, and with several other contenders already eliminated from competition, Swiatek’s shocking defeat makes an already-impossible-to-predict field even more so.

Marketa Vondrousova, the reigning champion, was upset in the first round. Sabalenka, the world No. 3 and two-time Australian Open champion, withdrew before play began because of a shoulder injury. Ons Jabeur, who has reached the past two Wimbledon finals, was beaten Saturday by Elina Svitolina.

So this could be a very interesting final week at the All England Club. Of course, in Swiatek’s half of the draw, the winner of the Putinseva-Ostapenko match could certainly go even further. And 2022 champion Elena Rybakina had a convincing victory over Caroline Wozniacki on Saturday, and is likely now the favorite to advance to the final. But Svitolina, who reached the semifinals last year, and 2021 French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova, could be obstacles.

On the other side of the draw, Gauff, the No. 2 seed and reigning US Open champion, has been dominant in her run to the round of 16 and is yet to drop a set. Emma Raducanu, the British favorite and 2021 US Open champion, has looked resurgent and certainly could continue to find magic in front of the home crowd.

Former Indianapolis Colts defensive lineman Daniel Muir was arrested Wednesday along with his wife, Kristen Muir, after their 14-year-old son, who had been reported missing two weeks earlier, was found at their home in Logansport, Indiana.

The arrests were made after Indiana State Police executed a search warrant at the home. Daniel Muir faces charges of domestic battery, a Class A misdemeanor, and obstruction of justice, a felony. Kristen Muir faces a charge of obstruction of justice.

Bryson Muir is “safe and well” and is now in the custody of Cass County Department of Child Services, Indiana State Police Sgt. Steven Glass said.

According to the Garfield Heights, Ohio, police call summary, Bryson’s grandmother, Cheryl Wright, called police on June 16 to report that “her grandson was being abused.” Wright told Indianapolis station FOX59/CBS4 this week that she took a picture of her grandson’s injuries.

“His face was battered,” she said. “When I got him, he had a black eye and busted lip. His whole face was swollen. I can only imagine how many times he had been hit in the face for it to be like that.”

Wright said that Bryson told her that his father was responsible for the injuries. According to the call summary, Wright said she had picked up Bryson earlier and brought him to her home because he was being abused. She called police when Bryson’s mother, Kristen, arrived at her house and left with Bryson. Immediately after Wright called in the report at 7:53 a.m., police found Kristen and stopped her in her vehicle. But according to the call summary, Bryson was not inside the car.

Indiana investigators struggled to contact Daniel, 40, and Kristen, 38. FOX59 reported that on Friday, Daniel and Kristen agreed to meet with Indiana State Police and to bring Bryson, who had not been seen since leaving his grandmother’s home in Ohio. But an hour before the scheduled meeting, they backed out, which led police to issue a statewide Silver Alert, stating that Bryson could be in “extreme danger and may require medical assistance.”

Glass told reporters that officers found Bryson and his parents immediately after executing the 6 a.m. search warrant on Wednesday. Glass said the operation was “peaceful.”

FOX59 reported that the operation included three SWAT teams, detectives, K-9 units and a bomb squad and that they were prepared to search multiple buildings at the property.

“With anything of this nature, we have to be well prepared, to go into the unknown,” Glass told reporters. “Ultimately, everything went well and everybody is safe, including Bryson.”

The property at 1740 W. U.S. Highway 24 is named “Straitway Goshen” because it is one of around a dozen satellites of the extreme religious movement Straitway Truth Ministry, a Hebrew Israelite group led by Charles Dowell out of Lafayette, Tennessee. Straitway Truth Ministry encourages members to live together in isolated communities.

In March 2020, Daniel Muir bought the 59 acres of Logansport land and a house on the property for $450,000. The property is now under the ownership of “Servant Leaders Foundation,” and he goes by the title “Pastor.” He is listed on Straitway’s website as the contact and leader of Straitway’s Indiana location. There are multiple buildings on the Logansport land, and Muir regularly posts YouTube updates about construction of new buildings on the property.

In a 2020 interview with Sports Illustrated, Muir said his wife and children lived with him on the property but would not say whether other families who attend services at Straitway Goshen also live there, including their most notable member, five-time Pro Bowler and Colts Ring of Honor inductee Robert Mathis. Mathis confirmed his involvement in Straitway in an interview with Sports Illustrated in 2020, and his personal Facebook account shows multiple photos of him with Muir and the Indiana community families.

Indiana State Police said that other people at the property were detained and questioned on Wednesday but did not specify them by name. Daniel and Kristen Muir were the only two arrested.

Daniel Muir played defensive tackle for Indianapolis from 2008 to 2011.

As sure as the sun rising in the east and setting in the west, Cristiano Ronaldo’s name appeared on Portugal’s team-sheet on Friday night. Perhaps for the last time. But there was no romanticism about his selection, Roberto Martinez wanted him there.

Only goalkeeper Diogo Costa played more minutes for Portugal this summer, as their tournament ceased with a 5-3 penalty shoot-out defeat to France. It felt like an abrupt end for one of the world’s greatest footballing talents, who shed more tears at these championships than he did much else.

This time, though, the tears were not Ronaldo’s. Instead, the Portugal captain’s role was to console a weeping Pepe as another painful quarter-final exit came into full focus.

Portugal generated an xG of 9.41 over the five games they played, but only scored three times (five if you include own goals scored by Czech Republic’s Robin Hranac and Turkey’s Samet Akaydin). Ronaldo’s personal tally amounted to zero.

Why, then, was the 39-year-old chosen to lead the line against France over the abundance of talent stationed on Portugal’s exceptionally-gifted bench? Neither Diogo Jota nor Goncalo Ramos even made it onto the pitch, despite the game going the full distance – Martinez persisted with his labouring frontman for the entire 120 minutes. Bruno Fernandes was replaced with 15 minutes to go, but not Ronaldo.

What is more alarming still, is that Portugal did not score at all during their final three fixtures. A 2-0 defeat to Georgia (with a severely-weakened side, that still included Ronaldo), was followed up by goalless stalemates against Slovenia and then fatefully France. Surely Martinez was feeling the heat? Or perhaps the Portuguese following, and press, are also afraid of what a Ronaldo backlash would do to the perceived stability of a side so often saved by their famed No 7.

Because, let’s face it, Ronaldo’s selection was not made on merit, it was dictated by the rigours of reputation. Martinez was scared to leave him out. Ronaldo’s unwavering self-belief in the face of mounting evidence to the contrary permeated all within the Portugal camp – there was little argument to be made. Certainly not one deemed valid enough to stand the great man down.

And so Jota, Ramos and co watched on as Ronaldo enjoyed six fewer touches of the ball than goalkeeper Costa – and less than any other Portuguese player. They agonised as Portugal created, backed up by superior xG data (1.84 to France’s 1.14), the more presentable chances of the two sides without finding the net. And finally, they despaired as France’s Theo Hernandez struck the decisive penalty.

Neither Jota, Ramos nor indeed any other forward-minded substitute – reserve some sympathy for Pedro Neto too – was afforded the chance to impact the game. And thus the fascination with Ronaldo – who did convert his spot-kick during the shoot-out – is again called into question. It remains a symptom of a wider stubbornness on both his and Portugal’s behalf. Neither he nor his country can move on from his glory days.

Ronaldo has represented Portugal at six European Championships and four World Cups. He holds the all-time record for most international goals with 130, and is his nation’s most-capped player (212). His overall total of 14 goals is the most ever at Euros finals – for context, France great Michel Platini is second with nine.

And maybe those facts provide as compelling a rationale as any as to why the Portugal manager stood by his talisman until the very last. But this, Ronaldo’s final Euros hurrah, has ended without an in-game goal, and surely, an unavoidable realisation that it is time to move on to the next generation.