The NFL is all about evolution. The constant fight to gain a decisive advantage, in a league where those who can adapt fastest are kings, consistently leads to sweeping changes every offseason.
While it is the raft of head coaching changes that dominate the headlines when the regular season gives way to 'Black Monday', it is the more granular alterations to a team's approach that can often have the greatest influence on a franchise's fortunes in a given season.
Switches in scheme or a diversion away from a team's long-standing tendencies are regularly brought on by the arrival of a new coaching staff or a change in coordinator, but personnel moves also frequently dictate the approach coaches settle on as they plot a path towards success.
Schematic decisions that may not cause much of a league-wide stir can end up having a huge influence on the outcome of a season, and there are no shortage of such changes that figure to have a significant bearing on the race for the playoffs in 2022.
Here, with the help of its advanced data, Stats Perform looks at five switches in scheme or tendencies that could play a defining role in the coming campaign.
Can McDaniel transform Tua?
The Miami Dolphins' second-half surge in 2021 was tied to their reliance on the run-pass option as they tailored their offense to Tua Tagovailoa's strengths.
Not only were the Dolphins prolific in going to the RPO, they were very effective when they called them.
Miami called a RPO on 12.27 per cent of their pass attempts, the league average was 3.5 per cent. They averaged 7.25 yards per play on RPOs, comfortably above the league average of 5.85.
Given their success on those plays and Tagovailoa's comfort in executing them, RPOs will still be a part of the Miami attack in 2022.
But the usage numbers are unlikely to be as high under new head coach Mike McDaniel, who brings his take on the Kyle Shanahan offense to Miami afer serving as the San Francisco 49ers' offensive coordinator last year.
McDaniel will likely reduce the number of straight dropback pass plays for Tagovailoa. The Dolphins ran them on 34 per cent of passes last year, below the league average of 36.1 per cent but well above the 2021 49ers, who used such plays only 22.9 per cent of the time while utilising the quick game on 40.97 per cent of passes compared to 25.97 per cent for the Dolphins.
The arrival of McDaniel will likely tip the balance towards the quick game for Miami in 2022 as he looks to give Tagovailoa easy buttons in the same way Shanahan did for Jimmy Garoppolo, getting the ball into the hands of Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill to do damage after the catch.
McDaniel, who was San Francisco's run-game coordinator prior to his promotion last year, will undoubtedly lean on Raheem Mostert, Chase Edmonds and a ground attack certain to be heavily based around inside and outside zone runs to take the burden off Tagovailoa and set up play-action.
Miami used play-action on 14.57 per cent of their passes in 2021, above the average of 12.7 per cent but still trailing the 49ers (15.89 per cent). With Tagovailoa's ability to hit Hill and Waddle downfield with consistent accuracy in question, look for McDaniel to put significant stress on defenses by attracting linebackers up to the line of scrimmage with play-action and then running Hill and Waddle cross-field on horizontal routes at the intermediate levels that are well within his quarterback's range.
Under Shanahan, McDaniel has had an education into scheming his weapons into space, and he should thrive at doing so when running an offense himself for the first time. Tagovailoa's challenge will be to prove he can deliver and make the most of the advantageous situations in which his coach will put him. Fail, and the Dolphins may soon be searching for a new franchise quarterback.
More deep balls and diversity for Niners
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Shanahan has insisted nothing in his playbook has changed as he enters the season with a new starting quarterback, and the 49ers head coach will unexpectedly have the same top two signal-callers as he did last season.
It is the order that has flipped, with Jimmy Garoppolo agreeing a reworked contract for 2022 to be Trey Lance's backup. Regardless of what Shanahan says, the 49ers' approach is likely to be different with Lance under center.
Lance averaged 10.10 air yards per attempt across his 10 full quarters of action last season (he started two games and played the second half when Garoppolo was injured in Week 4), the second-most among quarterbacks with at least 50 pass attempts.
On the other end of the scale, Garoppolo's 7.38 air yards per attempt were well below the league average of 7.99. Garoppolo attempted just 26 passes of 21 or more air yards the entire season, while 11 of Lance's 70 passes were of that distance.
The scheme isn't changing, but the tendencies certainly will. Lance will be more aggressive and attack downfield more often, likely leading to explosive splash plays that are not necessarily reliant on receivers creating yardage after the catch.
Though the plays may have already been in Shanahan's playbook, there is certain to be more of an emphasis on the threat of the quarterback run with Lance at the helm.
Just 2.62 per cent of the 49ers' run plays came on the zone-read last year, below the league average of 4.2. That number should increase, as should San Francisco's usage of the RPO game, which the Niners used on only 1.09 per cent of pass plays last year but averaged 8.43 yards per play when they did.
With Lance and the running back both threats to run on such plays, defenses will have to account for three possibilites when defending RPOs against the 49ers, exemplifying how much more diverse their offense can become with the 2021 third overall pick under center.
San Francisco's attack will be even more varied and more aggressive in 2022, but it is also likely to be more volatile due to Lance's inferior precision to Garoppolo on the intermediate passes that set up the yards after catch opportunities on which the 49ers have done such damage in recent years. How that volatility impacts the win-loss column will determine whether Garoppolo gets on the field at any point in the final year of his contract.
Vikings look to the 3-4
The Vikings swapped out basically everything this offseason. New general manager, new head coach – who will also be the offensive play-caller – and new defensive coordinator.
Though head coach Kevin O'Connell's offense will be different to the one run by former offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, the systems are similar enough that Kirk Cousins and Co. are unlikely to endure too much pain in acclimating to the new scheme.
The biggest adjustments will come on the defensive side of the ball, which will be run by Ed Donatell, who spent the last three seasons coordinating Vic Fangio's defense for the Denver Broncos.
The Fangio defense has become the en vogue scheme in the NFL as acolytes such as Brandon Staley have put their spin on it and the two-high safety shells that have been a hallmark of the system have helped limit explosive plays and level the playing field a little in an offense-dominated league.
Denver played Cover 1 robber – which is where a safety from a two-high look drops down into the box to disrupt in-breaking routes in the congested area – as the defense's primary coverage in 2021. The Broncos ran Cover 1 robber 41.87 per cent of the time in a season where the league average was 14.17 per cent.
The Vikings were more varied but still used Cover 1 robber more than any other coverage, relying on it for 21.81 per cent of defensive snaps.
Whether Donatell uses that coverage to the same extent in Minnesota remains to be seen, but the transition for the Vikings' secondary may be a smooth one given how often they ultilised the same shell under Mike Zimmer.
The most significant change to the defense comes up front, with the Vikings switching from a 4-3 to a 3-4.
Though defensive fronts are much more hybrid in the modern NFL, the tenets of the 3-4 front are the same. The three-man line is tasked with holding ground and filling up gaps at the point of attack, offering more space to the four linebackers to take better pursuit angles against the run and opening a wide menu of blitz packages against the pass.
Minnesota's two starting outside linebackers are de-facto edge rushers and both players who should each theoretically thrive in that role. Za'Darius Smith has significant experience with the 3-4 from his time with the Baltimore Ravens and Green Bay Packers while the athletic profile of Danielle Hunter – whose 60.5 sacks since 2015 are tied for the seventh-most in the NFL – makes him an ideal candidate to excel as a stand-up pass rusher.
Possessing two impressive space-eating interior defenders in Harrison Phillips and Damon Harrison and an inside linebacker in Eric Kendricks who had five sacks last year, the Vikings have the personnel to continue to succeed rushing the passer despite the change in front. They were 10th in pass rush win rate in 2021, had the sixth-most pressures (291) and the second-most sacks (51).
Despite their joy in getting after the quarterback, the Vikings were 26th in yards per play allowed (5.66), with their struggles tied to a run defense that allowed 51 runs of at least 10 yards. Only 12 teams allowed more. If the switch to the 3-4 helps the Vikings grow more stout against the ground game, then a team with the talent on both sides of the ball to contend for the playoffs will be in a much better position to make noise as a potential Wild Card team.
The Raiders' overdue defensive switch
The Las Vegas Raiders will have a new offensive system after hiring Josh McDaniels as their head coach and will also have the benefit of expanded firepower following the blockbuster trade for All-Pro wide receiver Davante Adams.
Las Vegas will have the personnel and the offensive scheme to go blow for blow with their high-powered rivals in the AFC West.
The question is whether their defense can do enough to contain their divisional foes, and its success in doing so likely rests on how the Raiders adapt to new defensive coordinator Patrick Graham.
In 2021, the Raiders only gave up 5.2 yards per play, the ninth-fewest in the NFL; however, former coordinator Gus Bradley's steadfast commitment to single-high Cover 3 defenses saw Las Vegas shredded for 888 net yards in a pair of defeats to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.
Las Vegas played Cover 3 zone on an incredible 65.79 per cent of snaps last season. The league average was 23.75 per cent.
In his final year as the New York Giants' defensive coordinator, Graham relied heavily on Cover 3, which the Giants used 45.58 per cent of the time.
But Graham used a wider range of coverages more regularly than his predecessor. The Giants played Cover 1 robber, Cover 2 and Tampa 2 at a rate above the league average.
The Raiders' secondary talent is questionable, but Graham is a coordinator who predominantly plays the coverage with which they are most familiar but is more flexible than Bradley. As such, the transition to Graham should be a relatively smooth one for the Raiders' defensive backfield; however, it will be their ability to excel in a defense that promises to be much more multiple than it was a year ago that determines whether this unit improves.
Las Vegas' defense did not embrace the two-high revolution in 2021. With Graham running a unit that will be tasked with stopping three explosive downfield passers in Mahomes, Justin Herbert and Russell Wilson in the AFC West, such shells will almost certainly become a bigger part of the Raiders' gameplan. How their defenders adapt to playing those coverages more frequently will have a huge bearing on the Raiders' success in competing for top spot in a loaded division.
Will 'Big Red' turn to the run?
As the Raiders perhaps shift towards a more two-high heavy world, the Chiefs' hopes of regaining the Lombardi Trophy will in part be tied to their proficiency in attacking such defenses.
The Chiefs' often exaggerated struggles against two-high coverage shells dominated much of the discussion in the first half of last season as defenses looked for a way to take away the shot play to Tyreek Hill.
By the end of the year, the Chiefs appeared to have solved the riddle and averaged 33.2 points per game over the final six weeks of the regular season.
Yet with Hill gone, the Kansas City offense has lost the reason many opponents not named the Raiders defended them with such coverages.
Defenses are unlikely to suddenly move away from the two-high looks when playing Kansas City now Hill is a Miami Dolphin, and teams will continue to dare Mahomes to take what he is given underneath and attempt to limit his opportunities to go downfield to the deep threats the Chiefs do have, namely Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Mecole Hardman.
Mahomes will need to be patient and connect with tight end Travis Kelce and other receivers who should excel attacking the underneath areas such as Juju Smith-Schuster and rookie second-round pick Skyy Moore.
But the Chiefs may also look to run the ball more to get defenses out of those coverages and draw more defenders into the box, opening the deep areas of the field for Mahomes to attack.
Kansas City ran the ball on only 31.8 per cent of offensive snaps last season, and there is plenty of evidence to suggest they would succeed if they did so more often.
The Chiefs ranked first in run block win rate in 2021 – their exploits in that regard allowing Clyde Edwards-Helaire to average 3.08 yards before contact per attempt, the eighth-most among running backs with at least 100 attempts – and Kansas City were seventh in yards per play on the ground (4.54). Rookie undrafted free agent Isaiah Pacheco has caught the eye in training camp and could blossom into a dynamic threat out of the backfield.
It is tough to make the case for taking the ball out of Mahomes' hands. However, as defenses continue to present him with more varied and complex looks, there is a need for a greater balance in the Chiefs' offense.
Between using a first-round pick on Edwards-Helaire and building an O-line that can produce dominant run-blocking, the Chiefs have spent significant resources on players with the potential to help them achieve that balance by committing to what has been an efficient run game. A modest shift in their offensive tendencies could be the key to the Chiefs getting back to the top of the pile despite the loss of one the league's most fearsome playmakers.
Serena Williams revealed how Tiger Woods encouraged her to return to tennis for one last glory mission after she powered into round three of the US Open.
Golf great Woods was on his feet and rapturously celebrating as Williams beat number two seed Anett Kontaveit on Wednesday night in New York.
He had been invited to sit in Williams' player box and shared conversations with Venus Williams as they watched Serena push past Kontaveit with a dynamic display, coming through 7-6 (7-4) 2-6 6-2 on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
It was remarkable from the 40-year-old on court as she found an extra gear for the deciding set, teeing up a clash with Australian world number 46 Ajla Tomjlanovic.
Williams has firmly indicated this will be her final tournament before retirement, and a host of stars have come out to watch her in action, with former US president Bill Clinton in the crowd for her first-round match.
Woods, actress Zendaya and film director Spike Lee were among those watching the Kontaveit match, and Williams suggested afterwards that she and 15-time major champion Woods had helped each other with their respective comebacks.
At this time last year, Williams was sidelined by a leg problem sustained at Wimbledon, while Woods was recovering from the serious leg injuries he suffered in a car crash.
"He's one of the reasons I'm here, one of the main reasons I'm still playing," Williams said. "We talked a lot. He was really trying to get me motivated.
"There's a few people, but we were like, 'Okay, we can do this together'.
"It was good, because I didn't know what I wanted to do. I was just lost, so many questions. When you can rely on someone like that, I mean, my goodness, he's Tiger Woods, it was really helpful to get clarity."
What Williams is wary of at this stage is raising her own expectations.
She was charmingly dismissive of an on-court question when asked if she was surprised by how well she was performing.
As far as Williams is concerned, she has proven countless times she is the greatest player, certainly of her own era, so even with limited preparation she backs herself.
But thinking too intently about winning majors may have been costly in recent years, with Williams having lost her last four grand slam finals to remain on 23 singles titles, one short of Margaret Court's all-time record.
"I cannot think that far," when asked about the prospect of winning the tournament. "I'm having fun and I'm enjoying it. Honestly, I've had so many tough matches the last I don't know how long that I just feel like just being prepared for everyone that I play is just going to be really, really difficult. Get through those moments."
In typical Williams fashion, she has danced around the subject of retirement since writing in Vogue in early August she would be "evolving away from tennis".
She spoke of wanting to "relish these next few weeks" in the magazine article, and so far at Flushing Meadows she is savouring every moment.
Serena and Venus were due to play doubles on Thursday, again on the Ashe Stadium court, with more fanfare expected.
"I think I've mostly been kind of blocking everything out, but then at the same time I've been embracing a little bit of it, because I also want to enjoy the moment," WIlliams said.
"I just feel like I have had a big red X on my back since I won the US Open in '99. It's been there my entire career, because I won my first grand slam early in my career.
"But here it's different. I feel like I've already won, figuratively, mentally. It's just pretty awesome the things that I've done."
Britain's Jack Draper claimed one of the biggest scalps of the US Open so far after stunning sixth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime in a 6-4 6-4 6-4 victory to progress to the third round.
The 20-year-old defeated last year's Flushing Meadows semi-finalist to reach the last 32 in his first main-draw appearance at the final major of the season.
On the back of a second-round appearance at Wimbledon earlier this year, it represents Draper's best showing at a Grand Slam to date – and at few points did the Briton look at risk of letting the tie slip away from his grasp.
Draper saved all three of the break points he faced and took three of the 10 presented to him in a fine showing at Louis Armstrong Stadium.
For the Canadian, it brings a premature end to what the 22-year-old likely hoped would be a promising tournament that could have seen him go one better than last year.
He is the third top-10 seeded men's player to be eliminated, following first-round exits for Stefanos Tsitsipas and Taylor Fritz against qualifiers Daniel Elahi Galan and Brandon Holt respectively.
Serena Williams' remarkable run in her final grand slam continued to gather pace on Thursday as she reached the US Open women's singles third round with a 7-6 (7-4) 2-6 6-2 triumph over Anett Kontaveit.
The record-breaking 23-time major winner may be set to step away from tennis following the conclusion of this year's event at Flushing Meadows, where she is also partnered with sister Venus in women's doubles.
But her latest victory arguably ranks as one of the most impressive she has racked up in recent years, with the record-extending stats underneath her win backing up her place in the sporting pantheon.
Williams has now won 367 matches in grand slam tournaments, comfortably extending her Open Era record for women's tennis and moving her within two of Roger Federer's outright record of 369.
In turning over Kontaveit, she also made it 10 victories against top-two seeded opponents in grand slam tournaments on the trot, last losing such a match at the 2007 US Open against Justine Henin.
In addition, it also brought up 100 US Open match victories when winning the opening set, with Williams having only tasted defeat on a further three occasions when striking first at this major.
Shohei Ohtani became the first player in American League/National League history to record 10 wins on the mound and 30 home runs after his go-ahead blast in the Los Angeles Angels' 3-2 triumph over the New York Yankees.
The Angels two-way star homered at the bottom of the sixth inning off Gerrit Cole with two runners on and his side trailing 2-0.
Ohtani's three-run shot means he has three homers in his past four games and delivered the winning blast for the second time in the three-game series against the Yankees.
He also became the first Japanese-born player with multiple 30-homer seasons, after blasting 46 home runs last year.
Aaron Hicks had made a leaping catch on the wall in the first inning to deny Ohtani, who had four at-bats for his three RBI.
Left-hander Patrick Sandoval allowed two runs on three hits over seven innings for the Angels, while the Yankees move to 79-52.
Nimmo robs Turner with unbelievable catch
Brandon Nimmo plucked one of the catches of the season to rob Justin Turner a game-tying homer in the New York Mets' 2-1 triumph over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
At the top of the seventh inning, Turner blasted Jacob deGrom over his head to deep center field where a leaping Nimmo produced his moment of magic.
Starling Marte hit a two-run homer, while DeGrom was typically stingy with nine strikeouts across seven innings and only three hits, before Edwin Diaz closed it out.
US Open reigning champion and top seed Daniil Medvedev has put the pressure on 22-time grand slam winner Rafael Nadal who he believes is the frontrunner for the Flushing Meadows title.
Medvedev endured a 10pm start time playing on Arthur Ashe Stadium after Serena Williams' three-set win over Anett Kontaveit on Wednesday evening to defeat Arthur Rinderknech 6-2 7-5 6-3 in two hours and 11 minutes in the second round.
The Russian was not happy with his level early in Wednesday's match, admitting he did not adjust seamlessly to the late start time, but said he worked into it.
The win books a third-round clash with Chinese qualifier Wu Yibing but Medvedev was pressed on the favourites for the men's singles title in the absence of Novak Djokovic this year.
Medvedev claimed his maiden major at last year's US Open with victory over Djokovic in the final, while he lost to Nadal in a memorable five-set Australian Open decider earlier this year.
"First of all, I don't want to put pressure on anybody, but I think Rafa is a big favourite also," Medvedev told reporters.
"He won the last time he played here against me actually. He won two slams this year. I think Novak is better on grass, but Rafa didn't play.
"He actually didn't lose in a Grand Slam this year. He retired [in the Wimbledon semi-final against Nick Kyrgios], which is not the same.
"In my opinion Rafa is big, let's call it like this, I don't want to say favourite, big favourite, he's definitely big figure in this tournament.
"Then for sure there are many other good guys. I'm happy to see my name sometimes in the odds or something like this because I'm like, that's great. That means that I play some good tennis.
"Being amongst the favorites just brings me more motivation to try to do well."
Medvedev compared his 2022 form in New York (he beat Stefan Kozlov in the first round in straight sets) to last year's when he won the title, admitting he did not feel he was going as well as 12 months ago at this stage.
"These two matches felt a little bit less good comparing to last year, but at the same time I know I already played a lot of Grand Slams," he said.
"That's not the most important. The most important is to win, to stay in the tournament, to try to get as far as possible, for sure try to raise your level when the opponents go stronger and stronger.
"Finally you're going to play somebody who has a Grand Slam or something like this."
Nick Kyrgios has complained of the smell of marijuana during his second-round US Open victory over Benjamin Bonzi on Wednesday.
The 2022 Wimbledon finalist made the claim to the chair umpire late in the second set of his hard-fought 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 4-6 6-4 win over the Frenchman at Louis Armstrong Stadium.
The chair umpire remarked that the smell could be coming from the kitchen which Kyrgios retorted with "it was f***ing marijuana".
"People don't know I'm a heavy asthmatic," Kyrgios told reporters after the match.
"When I'm running side to side, I'm struggling to breathe, probably not something I want to be breathing in in between points.
"Yeah, US Open, it's a very different vibe to everywhere else. I feel like Wimbledon was so proper. Australian Open, you kind of expect it there, being an Aussie.
"But here, it's just like noisy. Point in, point out, I can't barely hear. Half the time I can't even hear my team because it's so noisy all the time."
The latter half of Kyrgios' second-round match coincided with major drawcard Serena Williams playing on Arthur Ashe Stadium against second seed Anett Kontaveit.
"Ashe was unbelievably noisy," Kyrgios added. "I couldn't hear anything. Constant jitter. Things going off, sirens.
"In Armstrong today, hearing trains and people. For someone that's struggled to focus in my career, I'm really trying hard to put my head down and play point by point, try to dig myself out of some certain situations.
"It's hard because there's a lot of distractions. Obviously a lot of heckling going on as well. People are saying things. I got to be very careful with what I say these days."
Kyrgios' win means he will take on American J.J. Wolf in the third round on Friday and the 23rd-seed Australian, who won August's Citi Open in Washington DC, said he was feeling motivated and more professional than ever.
"This year's been amazing in so many different ways," he said. "For my tennis, I kind of wanted to almost reinvent myself, get back to the top of the game where I know I belong.
"The Wimbledon final was a turning point I think for me mentally. If I won that match, I don't know where my motivation would have been at. Losing it and being so close, it was really tough for me to kind of swallow that.
"Winning Washington, winning so many matches, I just feel like I thought the pressure would be off me after winning Wimbledon. He's a Wimbledon finalist, he's nearly-over-the-hump-type thing.
"I didn't think I'd be putting this amount of pressure on myself. Every day I come in, I watch what I eat, I try and get sleep. Like every practice session I try and have good intent. I almost don't know who I am anymore, to be honest, because that's not me.
"I feel like I'm really professional right now. I never thought that the Wimbledon final would make me that way. I thought it would be the other way, the reverse, almost a bit lax and a bit chilled with it."
Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald has downplayed a brawl in their Thursday practice against the Cincinnati Bengals where he was seen swinging a Bengals helmet as a weapon.
Footage emerged of the incident from the practice session between last season's Super Bowl teams with three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year Donald at the center of it.
The situation led to calls for a suspension, but clubs, and not the league, are responsible for overseeing the players' conduct in practice, with no ban transpiring since.
Rams coach Sean McVay played down the significance of the fracas later in the day and Donald reiterated that on Wednesday.
"It was just a practice. It was football," Donald told AP Pro Football Podcast.
"I don't really want to go back to nothing negative that happened and talk about something that happened in a practice. My main focus is Buffalo."
Donald indicated he had addressed the incident with McVay and teammates but would not be drawn on it further.
The Rams start the new NFL season against the Buffalo Bills on Thursday night.
Serena Williams says this is the most free she has felt on a tennis court in over 20 years after shocking world number two Anett Kontaveit 7-6 (7-4) 2-6 6-2 to advance to the third round of the US Open.
Williams, 40, found another gear in the deciding set as she rode the wave of momentum that came from the raucous, sold-out Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd.
While Williams rose to the occasion, Kontaveit folded, posting three winners and 11 unforced errors in the third set, allowing the all-time great to secure the victory with a break-to-love.
On the court after the match – after a recorded video message from Oprah Winfrey also aired after Monday's win over Danka Kovinic – Williams said while everyone else may have been surprised by the result, she still has supreme confidence in her abilities.
"Well, I'm a pretty good player," she said playfully. "You know, this is what I do best.
"I love a challenge. I love rising to the challenge. Yeah, I haven't played many matches, but I've been practicing really well.
"In my last few matches, it just wasn't coming together. I'm like, this isn't me. The last couple matches here in New York, it's really come together."
Williams admitted that she thought to herself "this could be it" after dropping the second set, but highlighted the fact that this is the first time in over 20 years that she does not feel like she has a target on her back.
"Honestly, I'm just looking at [this run] as a bonus," she said. "I don't have anything to prove. I don't have anything to win. I have absolutely nothing to lose.
"Honestly, I never get to play like this since '98 really. Literally, I've had an 'X' on my back since '99. It's kind of fun.
"I really enjoy just coming out and enjoying it. It's been a long time since I've been able to do that."
Lastly, Williams talked about what it will be like to step back out onto the doubles court with sister Venus Williams on Friday night.
"I'm so excited for doubles," she said. "It's like, it's been so long. We got to play again, we got to bring the reunion back.
"I'm excited to play with Venus, get some more practice – because I could use the matches."
Carolina Panthers quarterback Baker Mayfield has denied saying he wants to "f*** them up" about his former side the Cleveland Browns who they will face in their September 11 season opener.
Mayfield has been given the nod as the Panthers' starting QB after a prolonged battle with Sam Darnold to start the 2022 NFL season.
Mayfield's exit from the Browns, who took him with the first pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, occurred after they traded for quarterback Deshaun Watson.
As a result, Mayfield requested that the Browns trade him, joining the Panthers in July, although he has been reluctant to criticise his former franchise publicly.
NFL Network analyst Cynthia Frelund claimed on Monday night's Around The NFL podcast that Mayfield echoed the remark to her, albeit innocuously, after last week's preseason finale against the Buffalo Bills.
"First, I didn't say it," Mayfield told reporters. "Everybody is going to write whatever story they want.
"There's history because I played there the last four years. I'm an extremely competitive person. Everybody knows that. If I wasn't wanting to win, then there would be a really big issue of me being the quarterback here.
"I want to win in everything I do. That'll never change. But it's not how I phrased it. It's not even what I said, so let's leave it at that."
He added: "I didn't even say anything. All I did was, 'Great, hope we win.' Pretty plain and simple. I'm competitive. I want to win. I don't think that should be harped on.
"That's the extent of it. It's obviously a bigger story because I haven't given the media what they've wanted me to give them this year in this offseason."
Mayfield conceded that the season opener against his former side meant something to him although he did try to downplay the narrative.
"Obviously, there's a lot of attachment there," he said. "I'm not going to sit here and be a robot and say it doesn't mean anything. It will.
"It's a great storyline. It really is because I wasn't expected to be out of Cleveland. But after Week 1, there's 16 more that really, really matter. That's how I'm approaching it."
Mayfield started 59 games in his four seasons in Cleveland and helped lead the Browns to their first playoff victory since the 1994 season in 2020. The QB went 29-30 in 59 regular-season starts with the Browns.
Serena Williams gave the celebrity-laden crowd in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Wednesday night a taste of her very best, pulling through in the third set to defeat world number two Anett Kontaveit 7-6 (4-7) 2-6 6-2.
The two-hour-and-27-minute victory sees Williams, who has announced her intention to evolve out of playing tennis after the US Open, move into the third round where she will face Australian world number 46 Ajla Tomjlanovic.
The opening set had Williams' power serving game on full display, winning 89 per cent (24-of-27) of the points when she landed her first serve fair, while producing six break point opportunities in her return game while only facing three.
She could only convert one of those break point chances, going up 5-4 with a chance to serve out the set, before handing the break straight back, leading to a tiebreaker.
Of the 11 tiebreaker points, only one went against the serve, with Williams seizing her opportunity to secure the opening frame.
As Williams' serve fell off in the second set – only winning 50 per cent of her successful first serves – Kontaveit fought her way back into the game, producing a clean set as she hit 13 winners to only three unforced errors, wrapping up the frame in a snappy 36 minutes to take it to a decider.
After holding serve to open the set, Williams then took a 2-0 lead as she was able to convert her third break point chance of the marathon 13-point game. That was followed with a 12-point game where Kontaveit was able to break back, as the 40-year-old American was visibly slowing down the longer the match dragged on.
As Williams' energy reserves began to run low, she tried to compensate with as many one-shot rallies as possible, going for sink-or-swim drives down the line and across the court – resulting in some spectacular winners, but also an increase in unforced errors.
It turned out to be the right strategy as Kontaveit continued to have trouble with Williams' power, giving up the late break again to go down 3-1 before the living legend consolidated her advantage with a hold-to-love, sending the crowd wild as they could see the finish line.
With Tiger Woods in her players' box cheering her on, Williams secured a point from a 19-shot rally as the atmosphere hit fever pitch, and despite the effort required in that point, she was able to repel another break point opportunity to hold and go 5-2 up.
Ultimately, the cauldron inside the sold-out stadium proved too much for Kontaveit, who could not find winners down the stretch. She posted three winners and 11 unforced errors in the final set, including a double-fault in her final service game as she was broken-to-love to secure the stunning result.
Data Slam: Serena continues to win the big matches
Williams has now won her last 10 grand slam matches against opponents ranked in the top-two, with her last loss coming to Justine Henin 15 years ago at the 2007 US Open.
She has also only lost three of her previous 104 US open matches when she has won the first set, and is 42-0 in the opening two rounds at Flushing Meadows.
WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS
Williams – 38/39
Kontaveit – 30/27
ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS
Williams – 11/6
Kontaveit – 5/5
BREAK POINTS WON
Williams – 5/12
Kontaveit – 5/11
The Chicago White Sox have confirmed manager Tony La Russa is out indefinitely as he undergoes further medical tests.
La Russa was not present for Tuesday's 9-7 loss to the Kansas City Royals after participating in pregame activities, with doctors advising him to step away from the evening game.
The 77-year-old, who was re-appointed White Sox manager in October 2020, will be absent for an indefinite time following a Wednesday morning medical evaluation requiring further testing over the coming days. The medical issue remains unspecified.
"His absence from the club will be indefinite pending the results of these evaluations," the White Sox said in a statement.
Bench coach Miguel Cairo will lead the White Sox, who have had an underwhelming season with a 63-66 record in the American League Central, in La Russa's absence.
"He was fine yesterday," Cairo said prior to Wednesday's game against the Royals. "He was feeling fine. I talked to him today. He was fine."
The Tampa Bay Rays received some good news on All-Star Shane McClanahan’s injured shoulder.
An MRI on Wednesday confirmed the initial diagnosis of a left shoulder impingement for McClanahan, which was a "best case scenario" according to Rays manager Kevin Cash.
Cash said he’ll get a cortisone shot and could be back on the mound in as soon as 15 days.
The Rays got a scare Tuesday when McClanahan cut short his pregame warmup in the bullpen because “something just didn’t feel right” and he ended up being a late scratch for his scheduled start against the Miami Marlins.
''I think we made the right decision to shut it down and just catch it early,'' McClanahan said. ''When I was told ‘best case scenario,' I was very, very pleased. This could have gone a lot of different ways. For it to be what it is, it's a sigh of relief.''
The Rays could ill afford to lose their top starting pitcher for an extended period of time as they battle for a playoff spot with just over a month to go in the season.
Tampa Bay, which ended up placing McClanahan on the 15-day injured list, entered play Wednesday a half-game ahead of the Seattle Mariners and one game up on the Toronto Blue Jays for the AL’s top wild-card spot.
McClanahan, who was the AL’s starting pitcher in July’s All-Star Game, has been instrumental to the Rays’ success, having gone 11-5 with a 2.20 ERA and a 0.86 WHIP with 182 strikeouts over 147 innings in 25 games.
Cameron Smith said he retains hope of featuring at the majors despite joining LIV Golf, as he labelled the lack of world ranking points on offer on the breakaway tour "unfair".
Smith, the current world number two, became the highest-ranked player to join the controversial Saudi Arabia-backed circuit on Tuesday, when he was announced as one of six new players ahead of this week's event in Boston.
The Australian, who clinched his first major title when winning the Open at St Andrews in July, joined compatriot Marc Leishman, as well as Joaquin Niemann, Cameron Tringale, Harold Varner III and Anirban Lahiri in signing up to the Greg Norman-headed tour.
Having reportedly agreed a deal worth over $100million to sign for the LIV Series, a decision which will earn him an indefinite suspension from the PGA Tour, Smith believes barring the circuit's players from majors is unfair on fans.
"I hope that these world ranking points will sort themselves out before my exemption is up. I think to the fans of major championship golf, it may be a little bit unfair on them," Smith said.
"I think, you know, majors are about having the best guys in the best field on the best golf courses and hopefully we can sort that out.
"I haven't resigned my membership on the PGA Tour. I think my life has definitely changed over the last couple of months after the Open, I've had a few phone calls with players.
"It has been a little bit different, but this, for me, was the right decision. I think this is the future of golf. I think it's been the same for a very, very long time and needs to be stirred up a little bit."
Aged 29 and ranked second in the world, the signing of Smith arguably represents one of the greatest coups managed by LIV to date, and he is hopeful the new circuit will soon be able to award rankings points.
"I think it's really a shame that we're not getting world ranking points out here," he added.
"I think, you know, to have 48 of the best guys around the world playing and not to get world ranking points, I think is perhaps a little bit unfair."
Meanwhile, Smith admitted upon joining LIV that the circuit had made him "an offer I couldn't ignore", but says being able to enjoy more time at home and play in his own country were also key motivations.
"Yes, it was a business decision as well. But you know, there's so many positives to come out of this thing," Smith said.
"For me, I haven't been back in Australia for three years. To spend more time at home, you know, not miss it out on friends' and family's weddings and you know, a couple of my friends have had kids over the last four or five years that I still haven't met. So that's going to be a part of my life that I can't wait to get back."
Asked whether there was anything the PGA Tour could have done to prevent his switch, Smith added: "Not particularly, to be honest. I think for me the biggest attraction was spending more time at home, getting that part of my life back.
"It's something that I've really missed. I think obviously the pandemic that we've had over the last couple of years didn't really help out."
Andy Murray is a "legend" of the sport who Matteo Berrettini knows he must play his best tennis against in the US Open third round.
Berrettini had to come from behind to beat Hugo Grenier on Wednesday at Flushing Meadows, setting up a fourth career meeting with Murray.
Like Berrettini, former world number one Murray came from a set down to defeat Emilio Nava 5-7 6-3 6-1 6-0.
Berrettini holds a 2-1 lead in his head-to-head series with Murray, who won the first match between the pair in Beijing in 2019.
Murray lost to Berrettini as the Italian went on to win at Queen's Club in 2021, with the Scot going down to the 26-year-old again in the final in Stuttgart earlier this year.
"We played in different conditions. We played 2019 in Beijing, so was hard, but best-of-three. Then twice on grass. All the matches were great fights," Berrettini said in a press conference.
"I think obviously Andy now is in way better shape than he used to be, especially last year. He's a legend of the sport. I think it's going to be a great match, a tough match for me, but feeling confident. I always like to play here, especially in big stages, big matches like the one I'm about to play. Yeah, I think it's going to be a tough one, but I'm ready."
Berrettini also revealed he and Murray have practiced together, though he does not think that will help much in Friday's tie.
He said: "We're friends, but we're not like best friends. A good relationship.
"He had a crazy hip surgery. Everybody saw it. It's not easy to come back, especially when he was number one in the world. Mentally it must have been, like, really tough for him. But I think it's inspiring the will that he has, the love that he has for this sport. I always admired that.
"We often practice together, as well. When I was a kid I was watching him on TV, for me it's still a dream coming true playing against this kind of player.
"I remember 2016 he played against Paolo Lorenzi here. My brother, he played quallies here, the juniors. I was like, Wow, you're playing next to Andy, and now I'm playing against him. It's something that I really appreciate. That's why I'm even happier for the match now I'm going to play.
"But it doesn't matter. When you play Andy Murray, you're playing Andy Murray. You have to play your best tennis."
It was hardly the start Rory McIlroy had envisioned.
His opening drive on Thursday at the Tour Championship careened over the boundary fence and out of bounds, eventually leading to a triple bogey. Making matters worse, a bogey followed at the second, and suddenly, McIlroy was a distant 10 strokes behind the FedEx Cup leader, Scottie Scheffler.
The gritty Northern Irishman must be a glass-half-full kind of guy, though, and McIlroy wasn't about to let the stumble dictate the direction he would take in the Playoff finale at historic East Lake Golf Club.
Indeed, he fought back on Thursday, shooting a back-nine 31 and finishing with a 67 to stay in the mix and by Sunday McIlroy had worked his way into the final group with Scheffler, albeit six shots in arrears.
The battle between the world number one and the third-ranked McIlroy for the PGA Tour's biggest prize on a sun-drenched afternoon didn’t disappoint, either. It was, as McIlroy would later say, a "spectacle", as entertaining a match as they come.
As McIlroy doggedly pushed forward on Sunday, Scheffler, a four-time winner this season, began to flounder. McIlroy tied for the lead with an improbable 31-footer at the 15th hole and took sole possession at the next when the Texan couldn't get up-and-down from a greenside bunker.
Two scrambling pars later and McIlroy became the first three-time winner of the FedEx Cup, earning $18million in the process. He closed with a 66 and finished at 21-under while Scheffler shot 73, making just one birdie all day, and tied for second with Sungjae Im.
McIlroy was nothing if not magnanimous in victory. He hugged Scheffler's parents and wife, who were standing near the scoring area, telling them their man deserved the title, too. Then he said as much on television as he was interviewed by NBC's Mike Tirico.
"What a week, what a day," McIlroy said as he gripped the gleaming silver Tiffany trophy tightly. "I feel like Scottie deserves at least half of this today. He has had an unbelievable season. I feel sort of bad that I pipped him to the post, but he's a hell of a competitor. He's an even better guy.
"It was an honor and a privilege to battle with him today, and I'm sure we'll have many more. I told him we're 1-1 in Georgia today: He got The Masters; I got this."
The dichotomy of the way he started the tournament and the way he finished was not lost on McIlroy, either. He couldn't help but remember the resiliency shown just four weeks earlier when Tom Kim started the Wyndham Championship with a quadruple bogey to fall 13 shots off the pace before going on to win.
"I guess it just shows you anything's possible, even when you're a few behind or a few in front in the tournament," McIlroy said. "Anything can happen. I'm going to remember this week mostly for that. Your mind can go one of two ways when you start like that, and automatically I thought about Tom Kim at Greensboro.
"I could have easily thought the other way and thought, I've got no chance now; what am I doing here? But I just sort of, I guess, proved that I was in a really good mindset for the week, and I didn't let it get to me too much and just stuck my head down and got to work."
The 2021-22 season was another standout one for McIlroy, whose third victory of the year brings his career total on Tour to 22. He's still looking for his fifth major championship – and first since 2014 – but the consistency of four top 10s, including second at The Masters and third at The Open Championship, has to be heartening.
McIlroy likened this season to his 2019 campaign, when he won The Players Championship and RBC Canadian Open before beating Brooks Koepka, then the top-ranked player in the world, at East Lake. And not even McIlroy's good friend Tiger Woods has won three FedEx Cup crowns.
"I played great golf. I had some good wins but didn't pick off a major, but I felt like Harry [Diamond, his caddie] said it to me on the 18th green today. He goes, all the good golf you played this year, you deserve this," McIlroy explained.
"Look, it's really cool to do something in golf that no one has ever done before. Obviously, the history of the FedEx Cup isn't as long as the history of some other tournaments, but to be walking out of here three times a champion, it's very, very satisfying and something that I'm incredibly proud of."
In some ways, and with all due respect to Scheffler, McIlroy was the perfect winner at East Lake. He and Woods were at the heart of a players-only meeting at the BMW Championship that was the catalyst for some of the sweeping changes that PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan announced in Atlanta a day before the Playoff finale began.
Those changes include additional elevated events for 2023 that will feature purses of at least $20m and are designed to bring the game’s top players together 20 times a year. McIlroy is a member of the PGA Tour Policy Board and has emerged as its most ardent spokesman.
"Look, it's been a tumultuous time for the world of men's professional golf in particular,” he said. "I've been in the thick of things. I guess every chance I get, I'm trying to defend what I feel is the best place to play elite professional golf in the world.
"It's in some ways fitting that I was able to get this done today to sort of round off a year that has been very, very challenging and different."
As eye-popping as the money on offer at the Tour Championship was, as well as what will be offered at the elevated events in the future is, though, McIlroy will be the first to say it’s the competition that fuels him. Not dollar signs.
"There's a lot of cool things that come along with winning the FedEx Cup," McIlroy said. "The trophy, I have three sterling silver Calamity Jane replicas in my house, which is really cool. To think about here at East Lake and Bobby Jones, the greatest amateur player to ever play the game, the sort of history and traditions of the game of golf. He sort of exemplified all that.
"Look, the money is the money. It's great, and we are professional golfers, we play golf for a living. That is a part of it. But I think at this point in my career, the winning and the journey and the emotions and who I do it with mean more than the check."
After years of coming up short, an insatiable hunger drove Ashley Khalil to her first ever Caribbean Senior Squash Singles title in Jamaica last week.
It's no surprise that at the end of this latest PGA Tour season it was Rory McIlroy ultimately hosting the FedEx Cup, considering the statistically dominant campaign the Northern Irishman put together.
Though his three-win season might not appear at the top of his career highlights - the major championship triumphs in 2012 and 2014 may never be matched - it nevertheless culminated in one of the best statical campaigns of his heralded career.
After lifting the FedEx Cup for the third time, the first player in Tour history to do so, McIlroy capped off a season that saw him earn his fourth scoring average title, at 68.67, the only player on the PGA Tour to finish with a sub-69 average (the overall average for the 2021-22 season was 71.092).
Only Vijay Singh (2003) and Tiger Woods (eight different times) have matched McIlroy with a season-long average below 68.7.
McIlroy's six-shot comeback over Scottie Scheffler at the Tour Championship also cemented the 33-year-old’s fourth season of at least three wins, as he also jumpstarted his campaign with a victory at the CJ Cup before claiming the RBC Canadian Open midway through the year.
"I'm back to playing the golf that I'm used to playing, and the golf that I know that I can play," McIlroy said prior to the FedEx St. Jude Championship. "COVID was a weird time for everyone, and then coming out of it and going into the 2021 season, with my swing where it was, I was trying to change a couple of things and was going down a path I realised wasn't the path for me. [I'm] coming back out of that and now getting back to playing the golf I know I can play."
The late-season rise was in no doubt due to McIlroy's impressive resurgence across several aspects of his game. After ending The Masters ranked next-to-last among 209 TOUR players in average proximity from 50 to 125 yards (24 feet, one inch), McIlroy went on a tear that saw him close out the season with an average of 14 feet, one inch, best among all players with more than 30 attempts in that span.
But that wasn’t the only area where he’s upped his play. McIlroy ranked No. 131 in scrambling percentage last season, only to finish 30th this year, while also improving more than 50 spots in Strokes Gained: Around the Green (63rd in 2020-21 to 12th this season). Perhaps most importantly, the 22-time PGA Tour winner was 16th for Strokes Gained: Putting per round, after he finished 66th in 2021 and 122nd in 2019-20.
McIlroy ended the season ranked inside the top-50 in all four primary Strokes Gained categories (off-the-tee, approach the green, around the green and putting), only the second time he's done that, joining the 2018-19 season. That season he also won the TOUR Championship and RBC Canadian Open, along with The Players Championship.
"This year feels very similar to the way I played in 2019," he said. "It's a carbon copy in terms of the consistency and the numbers and the strokes gained numbers, but my finishes in the majors have been better and that's been – that's been a real positive looking ahead into next year and the future."
CANTLAY REPEATS
Before McIlroy hoisted the PGA Tour's ultimate prize, all eyes were on Patrick Cantlay for a potential repeat.
Last season's FedEx Cup champion was primed to go back-to-back after he became the first player to successfully defend a Playoffs event since their 2007 inception. At the BMW Championship, the 30-year-old birdied the 17th at Wilmington Country Club to hold off Scott Stallings in a one-shot victory, his second win at the event in as many years.
A year ago, Cantlay survived in a six-hole playoff at Maryland's Caves Valley Golf Club to win the BMW Championship, before sealing the FedEx Cup with a one-shot win over Jon Rahm.
"I think every time I've tried to defend, I don't think I've been able to do it, but it's something that you definitely circle on your calendar as something you want to do," Cantlay said. "These golf courses reminded me a lot of each other, and I was glad not to go six holes in a playoff."
Much like a season ago, it was largely the putter that lifted Cantlay to a post-season victory. Over the last two FedEx Cup Playoffs, Cantlay is +18.39 in total Strokes Gained: Putting, the most of any player.
The BMW Championship was a microcosm of that, as Cantlay was ranked 49th of 67 players in the third round, losing 1.493 strokes to the field. But after a late-night putting session, the Californian ranked 10th in Sunday’s final round, gaining 1.628 strokes on the field. He was a perfect 10-for-10 on Sunday putting inside 3 feet, after missing one in 13 attempts the day before. He was 16-for-17 from inside 10 feet on Sunday and just 15 for 20 on Saturday.
ZALATORIS BREAKS THROUGH
Fans have been anxiously awaiting Will Zalatoris’s first trip to the PGA Tour winner's circle, after heart-aching playoff losses this year at the Farmers Insurance Open and PGA Championship.
Viewers finally got their wish in the first leg of the FedExCup Playoffs, as the young 26-year-old poured in a clutch par at the last to force extra holes with Sepp Straka. He ultimately outlasted the Austrian on the third playoff hole.
"It's kind of hard to say 'about time' when it's your second year on Tour, but about time," Zalatoris joked. "Obviously this was a grind considering the start that I had. I love this golf course, I played well here last year. Considering all the close finishes that I've had this year, to finally pull it off, it means a lot."
The budding superstar led the field in both Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green (+1.93) and Tee-to-Green (+2.35), becoming just the second player to lead both at the FedEx St. Jude Championship (Dustin Johnson, 2020).
All the more impressive was that he finished the first round at one over, the highest score to par after the opening round by a winner at the FedEx St Jude Championship. The previous worst opening round by a winner? Vijay Singh, who was one under after 18 holes in 2008.
Zalatoris was tied for 86th after the first round, marking the lowest position by a winner after the opening round of the playoffs (McIlroy previously held the honor, sitting at T67 after the opening round of the 2016 Dell Technologies Championship).
Andy Murray believes he is in his best physical shape for years after he made the third round of the US Open for the first time since 2016 on Wednesday.
Murray dropped the first set against American wildcard Emilio Nava, but the Scot powered back to win 5-7 6-3 6-1 6-0 in New York.
He will face 13th seed Matteo Berrettini in the last 32 on Friday, and the 35-year-old has his sights set on a lengthy run at Flushing Meadows.
"Physically this is the best I've felt in the last few years," he said. "My movement is by far the best it's been in a long time.
"I'm getting closer to where I want to be and hopefully I can have a deep run here."
Murray reunited with coach Ivan Lendl for the third time earlier this year – a decision he cites for his improved form.
"There's a lot of belief in the relationship because of results we've had in the past," he added.
"I trust that if I play with a game style he wants me to that will bring me success.
"It gives me confidence. He knows what it takes to win and perform well at this tournament. It's great to have him back."
Speaking about his next opponent, Berrettini, Murray said: "He's had a bit of an unlucky year.
"I know he got Covid at the beginning of Wimbledon. When he has been on the court he's done really well.
"We played a tough three-set match in Stuttgart. I'm expecting it to be really difficult but if I play well and my return's on point then I've got a good chance."
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