Giants news: Jameis Winston, good injury news, more

Good morning, New York Giants fans! Here are the stories you need to know for the Giants battle with the New Orleans Saints set for 1 p.m. tomorrow at MetLife Stadium.

Giants hint at ‘explosive’ change to offense: ‘You’ll see a lot more’ | NJ.com

Scheme matters, too. And to that end, Tracy and Skattebo offered some interesting insight into the Giants’ rushing problems — and how they might solve them this week.

“We’ve had mental errors,” Tracy said. “We had a lot of plays that were one block away or one cut away. We’ve just got to feel like one. There were a couple times we were seeing things differently — whether it’s o-line, running backs, even quarterback making the checks…if we all see it the same way,” results will improve.” He said this wasn’t just an issue in Washington. “It has come up before,” he said.

Giants RB coach on fumbling issues

"Just imagine if that's your paycheck you were carrying around, you're going to do a damn good job taking care of the football…that's the number one job as a running back. They'll get it corrected."

RB Coach Willie Taggart on the Giants' fumbling issues: pic.twitter.com/vgMTh0US7M

— SNY Giants (@SNYGiants) October 16, 2026

The Giants are embracing accountability — for themselves and one another | New York Post

There was one priority as the Giants were moving toward a potential game-winning field goal in overtime. 

“Coaches were echoing on the sideline, ‘Protect the football.’ And we just kept running the clock out, protecting the football and the game was over,’’ tight end Theo Johnson said. “I think that’s what everyone was thinking.’’ 

Giants-Saints prediction: Why New York can keep winning even with Jaxson Dart sidelined | The Athletic

Beginning with a home matchup with the 1-4 New Orleans Saints on Sunday, the Giants’ next four games are against teams with a combined 5-14-1 record. The schedule will stiffen later with matchups against the Jacksonville Jaguars (4-1), San Francisco 49ers (5-0) and Seattle Seahawks (3-3) looming during a four-week stretch, but in a division full of flawed teams, the Giants might be able to stack enough wins to capture the NFC East for the first time since 2011.

That the Giants are having success while having so much room to improve is a positive considering the strength of the coaching staff. But the margin for error has been impossibly small. The common refrain after close wins has been that the team would have lost similar games in recent seasons. It’s impossible to argue that point. Having an edge in those tight games is the reason Harbaugh’s hiring was celebrated as a franchise-altering move.

Does Anyone Actually Want To Win NFC (L)East? Predicting NFL’s New Worst Division | FOX Sports

Why they can win the division: Well, a lead at the quarter pole isn’t nothing. Also, they may have the best coach in the division in John Harbaugh, who is certainly the best they’ve had in New York since the Tom Coughlin days. They still play strong, opportunistic defense and they can run the ball. QB Jameis Winston sure does have a bunch of good weapons to throw to as well, at least when he’s throwing to the right team.

Prediction: They will hold the line and the lead until just before Thanksgiving, when they’ll run into a four-week brick wall, of sorts, with home games against the Jacksonville Jaguars and San Francisco 49ers while hitting the road to take on the Indianapolis Colts and Seattle Seahawks during that stretch. That will be their reality check. Maybe they’ll have a big enough lead that it won’t matter. But more likely that stretch will drag them back to the pack, where at the very least they’ll be in the chase until the end. Second place, 8-8-1.

Orlovsky on the use of the Giants top two offensive weapons

I really love how the @Giants are using Nabers off likely #nfllivepic.twitter.com/4DN17f93ez

— Dan Orlovsky (@danorlovsky7) October 15, 2026

Malik Nabers: Off-field bond with Jameis Winston fueling on-field production | USAToday.com

“Well, me and Jameis always had a great relationship, just personally, just outside of the field,” said Nabers. “So, I feel like that’s where you really start off is when you have a relationship outside the field, when you understand what somebody else is fighting for when they go home and their story, their backstory. It just winds up just connecting on the field.”

“I would say any up or down, he’s going to stay here. When we’re down, he’s going to lift everybody up. Even when he’s down, he’s lifting himself up out here, talking to himself on the sideline. He’s always implementing the same thing. If I’m not on my game, he’s always telling me, ‘Look, come on, next play, flush it. Let’s go out. Cause I need you at the end of the game’.”

Why Giants’ Arvell Reese is a running back’s worst nightmare | The Record

Rachaad White is among the NFL’s best running backs in pass protection, and the blocking metrics have validated that opinion as fact over the last two years and counting.

That’s what made New York Giants rookie linebacker Arvell Reese’s posterization of White in videos that went viral on social media since Sunday’s 27-27 tie with the Washington Commanders even more impressive.

NFL Week 6 preview | ESPN.com

The Giants are playing at home and became underdogs as the week progressed. That didn’t seem to sit well with the team. “We love playing at MetLife Stadium and being underdogs,” defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson said. “Everybody counts us out.” The Giants are admittedly playing with a chip on their shoulders after RB Cam Skattebo said it was dumb for them to be underdogs in their previous home game against the Cardinals

From Big Blue View

• The Jameis Winston experience: What it means to his Giants teammates
• Giants-Saints final injury report: Good news for New York
• Giants’ DC Dennard Wilson: ‘We like playing with a chip on our shoulder’
• Giants vs. Saints matchup: How will New York attack the New Orleans defense?
• Ex-Giants wide receiver released by Indianapolis Colts
• A look at Saints-Giants history | Mixtape Rewind
• Giants vs. Saints, Week 6: News, injuries, analysis, more

This week’s opponent

• Our Defense vs. Their Offense: New York Giants | Canal Street Chronicles
• Concerns rising for unbalanced New Orleans Saints offense | USAToday.com
• Chris Olave returns to practice on Saints injury report vs. Giants | SaintsWire.com

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SB Nation Reacts: #2 Option P?

CLEVELAND, OHIO - OCTOBER 08: Jayson Tatum #0 and Payton Pritchard #11 of the Boston Celtics sit on the bench during the first quarter of a preseason game against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Arena on October 08, 2026 in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) | Getty Images

The Celtics are deep. Really deep.

Heading into Opening Night, there’s a possibility that Mike Conley who started fifteen games last year in Minnesota may not even see the floor. Ron Harper Jr. signed a three-year contract over the summer and he might be the odd man out. Fifteen points and six rebounds a night over the preseason? That may not be enough for Luka Garza to get off the bench in Detroit next week.

As the poll results suggest, playing time and pecking order don’t really matter because “the vibes are good.” But we asked anyway, “who will be the Celtics’ second leading scorer” presumably behind Jayson Tatum?

Conventional wisdom suggests that veterans Derrick White and Paul George would pick up the mantle of being Robin to JT’s Batman. That might still happen, but our readers resoundingly voted for Payton Pritchard to be the #2.

Here’s reader ldrpr on Pritchard and the potential non-scoring roles for White and George and how that opens the door for PP:

I clicked on “Doesn’t matter, vibes are good” but I agree it’s likely PP, not only because he’s a talented scorer but also because I expect PG & DW will be more focused on being all-around “contributes to winning” players than on scoring.

So far in the preseason, the former Sixth Man of the Year has returned to the bench with head coach Joe Mazzulla opting to start the more complementary Jordan Walsh. There’s no guarantee that that’s what it will look like on October 21 against the Pistons, but for now, Pritchard becomes the designated scorer of the second unit.

After a 4-0 preseason and Pritchard falling into a familiar role, Our friends at FanDuel remain bullish on Boston and still have the Celtics (+1400) with the fifth highest odds to win a championship behind the Thunder (+240), Spurs (+270), Knicks (+1000), and Sixers (+1000).

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Jon Morris, Patriots AFL All-Star and franchise’s first Pro Bowler, dead at 84

patriots jon morris

Patriots great Jon Morris has died, the team announced Thursday. 

He was 84.

Morris spent 11 seasons with the organization from 1964 through 1974 during a career that New England described as “one of the franchise’s earliest stars and among the most accomplished centers of his era” in a statement. 

The news release did not state a cause of death. 

Boston Patriots’ Jon Morris (56) prepares to receive a snap from quarterback Mike Taliaferro (17) during an AFL football game against the Buffalo Bills in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, Sunday, Nov. 23, 1969. Sports Illustrated via Getty Ima

“Jon Morris was one of the great players who helped build the foundation of our franchise,” Patriots chairman and CEO Robert Kraft said in a statement. “For generations of Patriots fans, he represented the toughness, dedication and pride of those early teams. It meant so much to me to call Jon in 2011 and tell him he had been selected to our Hall of Fame, ensuring that his contributions would always be remembered. On behalf of our family and the entire Patriots organization, we extend our deepest condolences to Jon’s family, friends and former teammates.”

He started his career with the Patriots while they were still the Boston Patriots in the AFL and appeared in six AFL All-Star Games. He was also the franchise’s first NFL Pro Bowler in 1970. 

“The Patriots extend their heartfelt sympathies to all who knew and loved him,” the team added. 

Morris was selected by the Patriots in the 1964 AFL Draft and by the Packers in the NFL’s draft that same year. The Holy Cross product opted to start his pro career in New England. 

He later played for the Lions from 1975-77 and the Bears in 1978 before retiring at the age of 36.

Boston Patriots Jon Morris (56) blocks Buffalo Bills Bob Tatarek (71) during an AFL football game in Chestnut Hill, Mass., Sunday, Nov. 23, 1969. Sports Illustrated via Getty Ima

Morris came back to New England to work as a radio color commentator starting in 1979 and remained in the role until 1987, and he later provided analysis for NBC.

Morris was selected by the senior selection committee to be placed into the Patriots Hall of Fame in 2011, which he described as the “crowning achievement of my football life.”

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Texans are 1-4, but Will Anderson is playing like a Defensive Player of the Year

On a Texans team that hasn't had much to celebrate this season, defensive end Will Anderson is the NFL's leading candidate for the Defensive Player of the Year award.

Anderson leads the NFL with 7.5 sacks through five games, which puts him on a record pace of 25.5 sacks in a 17-game season. Anderson has had at least half a sack in every game this season, and he's coming off his best game of the season, with three sacks on Titans quarterback Cam Ward.

Anderson, who also has 10 tackles for loss, is the first NFL player to have at least 7.5 sacks and 10 tackles for loss in his team's first five games since 2012, when J.J. Watt did it, also for the Texans.

Unlike the league MVP award, which almost always goes to the quarterback on one of the best teams in the league, the voters are willing to give the Defensive Player of the Year award to players on bad teams. Last year it was Myles Garrett on the 5-12 Browns, and this year it may go to Anderson even if the Texans don't turn things around.

The current betting odds have Anderson as the overwhelming favorite to win Defensive Player of the Year, with +125 odds. He's followed by Pittsburgh's T.J. Watt and Minnesota's Dallas Turner, both at +850.

Houston made a huge investment in Anderson, first trading two first-round picks, a second-round pick and a third-round pick to move up and draft him third overall in 2023, then signing him to a three-year, $150 million contract extension this year. On a team that has been a massive disappointment, Anderson has been a bright spot.

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Bills coach boldly threatens star James Cook of ‘consequences’ notice as fumble issue persists

bills

James Cook might be third in the league in rushing, but that doesn’t mean he can abandon his main task for the Bills — holding on to the football.

Cook has 532 rushing yards through five games this season but has already fumbled the ball four times this year, a problem head coach Joe Brady insists he wants to be solved sooner rather than later.

The four fumbles are tied for the most in the league for a running back with the Giants’ Cam Skattebo.

Brady, in a video press conference on Tuesday after the Bills’ thrilling Monday night win over the Rams, said there could be “consequences” for the turnovers.

James Cook fumbles the ball forced by Nate Landman (53) during the third quarter of the Bills’ 37-34 overtime win over the Rams on Oct. 12, 2026 in Inglewood, Calif. Getty Images

Joe Brady threatens James Cook’s playing time: “We’re putting the ball in harm’s way.. It’s negating all the positive.. I have confidence in him.. At some point there has to be consequences..It’s gotta improve or the carries are gonna decrease.” pic.twitter.com/QdtGWnHmji

— alex brasky (@alexbrasky) October 13, 2026

“Look, he’s doing so many good things running the football,” Brady said. “I don’t want to lose sight of how great he is running the ball right now. But putting the ball on the ground, it’s negating all the positive. I have all the confidence in him. That’s why I put him right back out there. But obviously, at some point there has to be consequences to when we’re putting negative stuff out there.”

Cook lost the ball twice in the win in Los Angeles, including once in overtime that ultimately didn’t cost the Bills the game because Buffalo blocked a potential game-winning field goal before kicking one of its own. Pro Football Focus hasn’t been friendly to Cook this season, grading him as the 25th-best running back out of 44 in the league.

“It’s going to cost us football games,” Brady added. It almost cost us one. We can’t confuse because we won the game that that’s OK. It’s got to improve or the carries are going to decrease.”

Buffalo head coach Joe Brady stands on the sideline during the second half of the Bills’ overtime win over the Rams. AP Photo/Gregory Bull

Cook, a Pro Bowl selection in each of the previous three seasons, recorded a career-worst six fumbles last year after posting four in 2023.

He led the league in rushing yards with 1,621 last year and is on pace to eclipse the 1,000-yard plateau for the fourth straight year.

If Cook were to lose carries, Ray Davis and Ty Johnson slot in behind him on the depth chart and could get more action. But because of quarterback Josh Allen’s ability to run and Cook is entrenched as RB1, neither of those two has registered more than four attempts this season.

Fumble issues or not, the Bills are still in first place in the AFC East with a 4-1 record.

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Rams keep finding new ways to sabotage their championship hopes

It is getting harder to trust the Rams.

Harder to believe the next promising possession signals a breakthrough. Harder to watch their talent flash across the screen and assume they are finally figuring things out.

Harder to take their championship ambitions seriously when they keep playing football that undermines them.

Too sloppy. Too undisciplined. Too susceptible to the kind of killer mistakes that turn opportunity into regret.

Those are the characteristics of a team that has not shown it is serious enough to win a championship.

And until the Rams demonstrate otherwise, consistently and convincingly, why should anyone view them differently?

Buffalo Bills’ Josh Allen dives against Los Angeles Rams’ Aaron Donald during the first quarter. Getty Images

Monday night’s 37-34 overtime loss to the Bills was another reason to question whether this team can be trusted to do anything beyond periodically reminding everyone how good it could be.

The possibilities remain obvious, including segments and stretches that offered a clear view of just how majestic the Rams can be.

So do the special teams’ carelessness, like the two missed field goals by Harrison Mevis, including the potential game-winner in overtime that got batted away by Buffalo’s Greg Rousseau.

The Bills made them pay by driving into range for Tyler Bass to kick a 48-yard game-winning field goal.

And how about the lack of discipline that led to 11 penalties for 84 yards, a handful of which directly led to important points for the Bills, to turn what could have been a satisfying win into a gut-wrenching loss.

Five games into the season, the 2-3 Rams should be tired of hearing about their potential. Everyone else is getting tired of waiting for them to do something meaningful with it.

Yes, there are stretches when they resemble the team we expected. A crisp touchdown drive. A sequence when the offense finds its rhythm and the talent becomes overwhelming.

Then comes another penalty. Another breakdown. Another reason to throw the sofa pillow at the television and wonder why everything has to be so difficult.

At some point, those glimpses stop being encouraging.

They become an indictment.

Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford rolls out of the pocket and looks to pass during the second quarter. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Because if the Rams can play that way, why do they keep burying it beneath so much avoidable nonsense?

The trouble Monday began before their offense touched the football.

Buffalo opened with a 70-yard kickoff return, immediately forcing the Rams’ defense to clean up a mess it had no part in creating.

The defense held the Bills to a field goal. Under the circumstances, that was good work.

The circumstances were the problem.

Buffalo led 3-0, gifted favorable field position and an immediate foothold in a game the Rams needed to build on their victory over the Eagles.

The offense then took its turn complicating things.

Two penalties interrupted the Rams’ opening possession. The most damaging was a holding call against tight end Tyler Higbee that erased a nine-yard run and a first down by Kyren Williams.

Instead of a fresh set of downs and another opportunity to move toward the end zone, the Rams were pushed backward.

Mevis eventually missed a 50-yard field goal.

A possession that had offered promise produced nothing.

Los Angeles Rams’ Puka Nacua runs with the ball after a catch against Buffalo Bills’ Davison Igbinosun. Getty Images

How about the two defensive penalties that kept Buffalo’s third-quarter touchdown drive alive?

First, Quentin Lake’s pass interference penalty turned first-and-20 into a fresh set of downs. Then Josh Wallace’s holding penalty on third-and-goal from the 13 handed Josh Allen and the Bills first-and-goal at the 2.

Buffalo scored two plays later to take a 19-14 lead.

The Bills had enough weapons. They did not need the Rams’ help.

The Bills deserve credit for their victory. But the Rams should be embarrassed by how often they contributed to their own difficulties.

They were penalized on three of their first four offensive possessions.

On the only possession without a penalty, they scored a touchdown.

There is your frustration, laid out neatly enough that nobody needs to spend the night studying film to understand it.

Give this offense a clean chance, and it can hurt people.

Make it repeatedly recover yards it already earned, and you give the defense help it should never receive.

The Rams keep providing that help.

And no, one penalty does not explain a loss. Neither does one kickoff return or one missed field goal.

That is precisely the point.

There is always something else to add to the list.

Buffalo Bills tight end Dalton Kincaid celebrates after making a catch for a two-point conversion during the second half. AP Photo/Gregory Bull

Another mistake to absorb. Another possession to salvage. Another situation requiring someone to compensate for a teammate’s failure to handle an assignment.

Eventually, the rescue operation breaks down.

Against Buffalo, it did.

Sean McVay has to own that. So do the players responsible for turning reasonable expectations into this recurring exercise in exasperation.

A team with championship ambitions should not need repeated reminders that field position matters, that penalties wreck possessions and that good opponents do not require assistance.

Those are basic requirements of winning football.

The Rams keep treating them like details they can overcome with enough talent.

Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua, left, fails to reach a pass in the end zone. AP Photo/Gregory Bull

Talent can erase a mistake. It cannot be the weekly plan for surviving them.

And whatever confidence the Eagles victory restored took another hit Monday, when the Rams had an opportunity to establish momentum and instead supplied more reasons to doubt their reliability.

Meanwhile, the unbeaten 49ers keep setting a standard the Rams are chasing.

That pursuit becomes considerably more difficult when you spend so much of a game wrestling with yourself.

The troubling question is no longer whether the Rams can produce championship-caliber stretches.

We have seen enough to know they can.

The question is whether they have the discipline to sustain them, the attention to detail to protect them and the urgency to stop wasting them.

Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Davante Adams, left, celebrates his touchdown with wide receiver Puka Nacua during the first half. AP Photo/Scott Strazzante

Until those answers change, the championship talk amounts to borrowing credibility from a version of this team that shows up only occasionally.

The actual version keeps committing penalties, surrendering opportunities and asking its best players to make everything right.

That is a dangerous way to navigate October.

It is a disastrous way to approach January.

The Rams still have time to become more dependable. But time alone will not correct what keeps happening, and another impressive possession will not prove the problem is solved.

They need complete games. Sustained concentration. Evidence that the mistakes bother them enough to change the behavior producing them.

Because trust is earned through what a team does repeatedly.

And right now, the most dependable thing about the Rams is that sooner or later, they will make winning harder than it needs to be.

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6 winners and losers from Patriots’ win over Raiders

The New England Patriots stayed in the win column on Sunday. Going up against a Las Vegas Raiders team that had previously lost just one of its first four games of the season and was ranked highly in various offensive and defensive categories, the team of head coach Mike Vrabel celebrated a convincing 45-17 victory to improve to 3-2 on the season..

Here is who caught our eye for better or worse upon live-viewing the Week 5 contest.

Winners

QB Drake Maye: MVP Drake Maye was back in Gillette Stadium on Sunday. The Patriots quarterback finished the game 26-of-34 for 374 yards and four touchdowns while adding a fifth score on the ground. His +0.76 EPA per drop-back ranked in the 100th percentile. The Raiders gave Maye and the Patriots’ pass catchers opportunities downfield, which is a puzzling game plan against the group. He capitalized, completing 8-of-11 passes over 10 air yards for 206 yards and three touchdowns.

“Coach McDaniels was — it was beautiful,“ Maye said. “It was beautiful to be a part of today. He was clicking on all cylinders, making us look good, and we were executing.“

Kyle Williams and the WRs: The Patriots entered Sunday with just four wide receivers on the active roster with Mack Hollins and A.J. Brown on injured reserve. The group stepped up, led by Kyle Williams who hauled in a pair of deep passes from Maye en route to posting a career-high 91 yards and a touchdown.

Drake Maye to Kyle Williams 😍

📺 CBS pic.twitter.com/5o265S4HvW

— New England Patriots (@Patriots) October 11, 2026

Behind Williams, fellow second-year receiver Efton Chism III filled the Hollins’ role nicely leading the team in targets (6) and catches (5) to post a career-high 57 yards. DeMario Douglas then found the end zone twice while Romeo Doubs made his mark by drawing a pair of defensive pass interference penalties.

OT Caleb Lomu and the offensive line: With Will Campbell leaving the game with a knee injury, rookie first-round pick Caleb Lomu took his place at left tackle. Las Vegas immediately flipped Maxx Crosby to the rookie’s side but Lomu held up in his lone rep vs. the All-Pro. The rest of the game was much of the same as Lomu allowed just one hurry in live viewing and finished his defender to the ground on Maye’s rushing touchdown.

As for the rest of the line, the unit was called for five penalties but Maye was under pressure on just 26% of his drop-backs. Las Vegas had six quarterback hits, but there were plenty of clean pockets throughout the day for Maye to operate in.

“The first touchdown to Pop, I’m back there – credit the offensive line eating a ham sandwich, so I’ve got all day back there,” Maye said.

ED Elijah Ponder and DT Milton Williams: The Patriots’ young edge rusher continued a strong start to the season, as Ponder recorded two sacks (one strip sack) and an additional quarterback hit and hurry. On one of Ponder’s sacks, the Raiders had all eyes on Milton Williams along the interior as the defensive lineman continues to get plenty of extra attention this season. Still, Williams produced his best game of the season with a team-high five pressures.

Getting to Kirk Cousins was an emphasis on Sunday, and duo helped lead to a 48% pressure rate on the Raiders’ quarterback — which included a similar percent with a standard four-man rush.

Losers

Penalties: Speaking post game, Mike Vrabel noted his team still had plenty to improve and clean up. Among the issues to correct: penalties. The Patriots were flagged 12 times on Sunday for 116 yards, a “ridiculous” amount, according to Vrabel.

Honorable mentions

• Rhamondre Stevenson ran well after dealing with a knee injury this week, finishing with 64 yards and a touchdown while adding 21 yards through the air.
• Career-highs for Eli Raridon with five catches for 57 yards. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Raridon become more-and-more involved as the season goes on.
• Game ball for cornerback Kindle Vildor. With the Patriots down four cornerbacks, Vildor stepped up (43 snaps) and had a pass breakup and a forced fumble.
• Credit to the Patriots coaching staff on all sides of the football. They were down a handful of starters and lost more during the game, and didn’t miss a single beat. Everyone was prepared.
• Bonus shoutout to Brock Bowers. The Patriots tried all sorts of things to take him out of the game and he still finished with an 8/110/1 line. Beast.

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