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Zero interceptions: Jets can make history Sunday if they fail to make a pick

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Zero interceptions: Jets can make history Sunday if they fail to make a pick


BALTIMORE — A look at what’s happening around the New York Jets:

1. Long overdue: Call it quirky. Call it shocking. Soon, you might have to call it historical.

The Jets have yet to intercept a pass. Ten games, 302 passes, zero picks.

If the drought continues Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens, they will be the first team in NFL history to go without an interception through its first 11 games, and picking off Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson may be a tough task — as he’s only thrown three interceptions in seven games.

The longest interception slump at any point in a season since 1960 is 14 in a row (San Francisco 49ers, 2024).

“That’s — wow, I don’t know what to really say about that,” Jets all-time interception leader Bill Baird, 86, said by phone from Fresno, California. “That seems to go along with their struggles.”

Baird, a starting safety on the Jets’ Super Bowl III team in 1969, knows a thing or two about interceptions. He made 34 in his career and coached the Jets’ defensive backs from 1981 to 1984. He honed his craft as a rookie on the Baltimore Colts, covering the likes of Raymond Berry and John Mackey with Johnny Unitas throwing the ball — all future Hall of Famers.

“The No. 1 reason to play defensive back,” Baird said, “is to get interceptions.”

Current Jets players and coaches are aware of the oh-fer. They discuss interceptions in meetings. They watch video clips of other teams, how they attack the ball, how they turn deflections into big plays. Week after week, they see teams get fluke interceptions.

How come the Jets can’t catch a break?

“I don’t believe in luck,” defensive coordinator Steve Wilks said. “We have to create our own luck.”

The irony is the Jets are coached by one of the most prolific interceptors in team history. Aaron Glenn made 24 in his Jets career, tied for fourth on the all-time list. Glenn said “it’s tough to imagine” having no interceptions and only one takeaway (fumble recovery).

The Jets’ drought is more mind-boggling when you consider:

Since 1960, when the Jets became a franchise, the record for fewest interceptions in a season is two (49ers, 2018). The fewest for the Jets is six (2014), Rex Ryan’s final year as coach.

2. Lame-duck QB? Glenn deflected a question about Justin Fields‘ future with the team, but it’s certainly one worth examining now that he has been benched in favor of Tyrod Taylor.

It seems clear they will have a new starter next season. Do they keep Fields as a backup? If they do, his contract will have to be renegotiated. He’s due to make $20 million, which exceeds the market value for a backup. Half of that is fully guaranteed.

Maybe they retain Fields as a backup if they bring in an established starter, but it’s unclear if a player of that ilk will be available. If they release him — the likely scenario — it leaves a $22 million cap charge and $10 million cash payout. They can absorb the entire cap hit in 2026 or have it spread over two years.

Their quarterback plan should start to unfold in March, when free agency and trading begin.

3. Where it all started: Taylor, 36, called it “a full-circle moment,” facing the team that drafted him in 2011. His longevity — his entire journey, for that matter — is a tremendous source of pride. He got a little nostalgic this week, mentioning that he did some reminiscing with former Ravens teammate Torrey Smith.

“I remember when I got drafted, there were some people who wanted to put me at wide receiver,” said Taylor, Flacco’s backup on the Ravens’ 2012 Super Bowl championship team. “I fought the notion down, and I stood firm that I was a quarterback. That’s what I played my whole life, and if given the opportunity, I can show that. Fifteen years later, I’m still proving it.”

4. Fab five: Taylor, picked in the sixth round, is one of only five players from the 2011 draft still active. The others: Von Miller (Washington Commanders), Cameron Jordan (New Orleans Saints), Cameron Heyward (Pittsburgh Steelers) and Andy Dalton (Carolina Panthers).

5. What’s cooking? A lot of fans are interested in knowing if rookie quarterback Brady Cook, on the practice squad, will see game action this season. It sounds like a possibility, though not any time soon.

Glenn said they have a plan for Cook, adding, “And who knows? We’ll see what happens as the season progresses. I’m not promising anything, but he knows exactly what his role is when it comes to this team.”

Cook, undrafted out of Missouri, played 77 snaps in the preseason, beating out Adrian Martinez for the practice squad job. He’s known as a quick processor with good mobility but limited arm strength.

Fans are always intrigued by the unknown, and their desperation for a quarterback has made Cook a popular guy these days. He certainly has a name — “Brady” — that makes you think anything is possible.

6. Scouting Mendoza: The draft is five months away, but there’s already a growing buzz about the Jets and Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza, perhaps the top quarterback prospect. The question is whether he’s worth a top-10 pick.

“When you’re desperate, you can create a guy,” a longtime personnel executive said. “There’s enough with Mendoza to do that.”

In his latest mock draft, ESPN draft analyst Matt Miller has the Jets trading up for Mendoza at No. 1 overall. The Jets’ scouts are paying a lot of attention to Mendoza; general manager Darren Mougey has watched him play in person at least once — but the evaluation process is in the early stages.

7. Sugar-free edge rusher: Jermaine Johnson wants to drop some pounds and add some speed, so he’s “staying off sugary drinks” during the season. He’s looking for that little extra burst that can turn a quarterback pressure into a sack. Maybe it’s working; he has a two-game sack streak.

8. Did you know? The Jets have $101 million in “dead” money counting on this year’s salary cap, according to Spotrac. That’s the second-highest total in the league and represents nearly 40% of their total cap. That’s what you call paying for a lot of past mistakes.

9. For history buffs: Sunday marks the 30th anniversary of Leon Hess’ famous “horses’ asses” speech. On Nov. 23, 1995 — Thanksgiving Day — the late Jets owner gathered the team on the practice field and gave a fiery pep talk. At the time, the Jets were 2-9.

“Now let’s go out there and show ’em we’re not a bunch of horses’ asses,” Hess, 81 at the time, told the players.

Sure enough, the Jets went to Seattle that weekend and actually won, their last victory in a 3-13 season. They proceeded to lose their next 12 games, not winning again until the following Oct. 27, nearly a full year between victories.

10. The last word: “The drops, that happens occasionally, but what I see there is separation. I see separation and, to me, that gets me fired up. That gets me excited about that player and where he’s going to go. We haven’t seen it. We haven’t even scratched the surface with that guy.” – offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand on wide receiver Adonai Mitchell



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European soccer live updates: Villa level at Leeds ahead of Arsenal-Tottenham

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European soccer live updates: Villa level at Leeds ahead of Arsenal-Tottenham


We have more European soccer for you this weekend, and Sunday’s matches won’t be any different.

In the Premier League, we kick things off early with Leeds United taking on Aston Villa, followed later by the big clash of the day: Arsenal against Tottenham Hotspur in the North London derby.

Enjoy all the updates across Europe’s best leagues.



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Dak poised to become Cowboys’ career passing leader

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Dak poised to become Cowboys’ career passing leader


FRISCO, Texas — With 160 yards Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott would become the franchise’s career passing leader.

Tony Romo, Prescott’s predecessor, had 34,183 yards in his career. Prescott is at 34,024 yards.

“I’m humbled. Thankful to be healthy and to be in this position to do it,” Prescott said. “I was on the production call [with Fox], and they asked me the same thing, ‘Would I have thought this 10 years ago?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, I was very arrogant as a rookie.’ When you’ve played in this game long enough and you can stay healthy, with my expectations of what my play is, that’s supposed to happen. So just thankful, humbled, super grateful to be playing a game I love at this high of a level.”

Earlier in the season, Prescott became the Cowboys’ leader in completions (now 3,033). He is second in attempts (4,521) to Troy Aikman, third in wins with 80 behind Aikman and Roger Staubach, and second in touchdown passes to Romo (247 to 234).

He entered the season with the best completion percentage in team history and has upped that to 67.1%. Of the marks he has set so far, that is the one in which he takes the most pride.

“It’s hard to do every year, each game,” Prescott said. “… I just go into every game honestly trying to get 80[%], and that’s such a steep number, but that’s what I want. I think I’ve told y’all that after games, any incompletion I don’t like unless it’s a good one [where] I have to throw it away and have to live to the next play.”

Coach Brian Schottenheimer was unaware how close Prescott was to the mark.

“He’s obviously not walking around talking to me about it because his focus is this football team,” Schottenheimer said. “If we do what we’re capable of doing, I believe he will achieve that milestone. I know what he really wants. It’s not his name individually in the record books. It’s his name collectively with this group of young men, his teammates, his brothers, doing something much, much better than just having individual accolades.”


Remembering a brother

This will be the Cowboys’ first home game since the passing of Marshawn Kneeland.

The team will wear T-shirts with Kneeland’s likeness on them for warmups. Before kickoff, a tribute video will be played and there will be a moment of silence. Members of his family and his girlfriend, Catalina Mancera, are scheduled to be in attendance.

Things are not back to normal, but the routine of the practice week has been settling.

“I’ll be honest with you, my assistant, Laura, came in, and I was blaring my music in my office,” Schottenheimer said. “I’m a big music guy. And she kinda was tongue-in-cheek being silly, but she’s like, ‘It’s great to see you playing your music loud.’ That kind of made me chuckle because I’m feeling more back to myself.”

Players continue to say they will honor Kneeland with how they play.

“Marshawn, he’s something that’s rooted in us,” linebacker DeMarvion Overshown said. “We might have his shirt on us, but he’s here. He’s here. The way that we attack and practice, we wake up with that, like, all right, this is what Marshawn would be doing. … It’s going to always be, we moving forward with Marshawn, that’ll never change.”


A different look

Special teams coordinator Nick Sorensen knows the Cowboys were fortunate on Monday against the Las Vegas Raiders.

After the Raiders scored to make it 33-16, they opted for an onside kick using punter AJ Cole instead of the traditional attempt with a kicker. Cole skied a punt high in the air, and the Cowboys alertly called for a fair catch.

One problem: They didn’t actually catch it. George Pickens backed away. KaVontae Turpin did not come up to make the catch either. The Raiders could have caught the ball and retained possession.

Pickens was able to recover the ball after it hit the ground.

“It shows how good GP’s hands are off of that reaction to catch it off the bounce,” Sorensen said. “That’s a free ball. The cool thing is when you fair-catch, it’s not like they can say go catch it because there is a fair catch interference [penalty].”

Sorensen said that teams have used that type of free kick in the last two years and that they cover the scenario in their meetings and walkthroughs.

“That’s one of those, it doesn’t happen often, so we’ll revisit it, remind the guys,” Sorensen said.



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Azzi Fudd was a can’t-miss basketball star. Then she had to prove it again.

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Injuries and self-doubt nearly derailed a prodigy. Now in her final college season, she has rediscovered just how good she can be.



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