The PBS program News Hour presented interviews with the head of the players’ union and president of the NFL Physicians Society. The league declined to make an official available to the program. The NFL is making strides at reducing concussions, citing statistics that showed a 13 percent drop in such head injuries last season. There is a darker side here. Retired players with brain damage have committed suicide, notably Hall of Famer Junior Seau....

Brees said in the past he supports athletes using their platforms to speak out against police brutality, but he never supported them kneeling during the national anthem, saying it disrespected the American flag and service members. During an interview Wednesday with Yahoo Finance, Brees was asked about players potentially kneeling during the national anthem for the upcoming season. “I will never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America or our country,” Brees responded....

You’ve undoubtedly seen the little radio-frequency identification chips installed on certain merchandise in retail outlets. Retailers have used them for years to track merchandise and prevent shoplifting. MORE: Speed reigns in SN wide receiver rankings | How RFID can transform fan experience The RFID chips — which are about the size of a postage stamp — that will be carried by each NFL player work on the same principle, sending out radio signals that are picked up by a series of receivers in each NFL stadium....

Both sides of the ball were clicking, with the offense putting together five touchdown drives against a tough Buccaneers defense. Dak Prescott played one of the best games of his career, overcoming criticism of his struggles late in the season. The defense, meanwhile, looked like it had the same speed as it did early in the season and made life difficult for Tom Brady all night. It’s a milestone win for the Cowboys, who picked up their first road victory in the playoffs since 1992, but they’re hoping the journey is only beginning....

Since 1999, there have been 16 conference championship games with a spread of six points or more and the favorite is 11-5 straight up and 5-11 ATS in those games. That bodes well for underdogs Green Bay and Tennessee, who are looking to pull off the upset and play for a Super Bowl title in Miami. MORE: Get the latest NFL odds & betting trends at Sports Insider San Francisco 49ers (-7....

With two weeks left in the season, only three teams — Saints, Rams and Bears — have clinched their divisions. The Chiefs, Texans, Patriots, Steelers and Cowboys have chances to join that group this week. At the top of each conference, Kansas City and New Orleans have chances to clinch the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the AFC and NFC playoffs, respectively. Below are the NFL playoff clinching scenarios in play for Week 16, plus the overall playoff picture as the 2018 postseason draws near....

It’s another homecoming for Philly-area product Matt Ryan, but only one of the previous four return trips resulted in a victory. Last season, Atlanta lost in November in Philadelphia, 24-15, losing a lead in the fourth quarter. MORE: Stream Falcons-Eagles live and on-demand with fuboTV (7-day free trial) Coming off a 26-13 victory in L.A., the Falcons have great momentum and confidence. The Eagles had a well-earned bye, but there are growing concerns about how well Nick Foles will be able to replace Carson Wentz at a quarterback in a game with so much at stake....

After all, in the Los Angeles Rams and Kyler Murray it contains the defending NFC champions and the number one overall pick of the NFL draft. Meanwhile, the Seattle Seahawks have added one of the best pass-rushers in the league in the shape of Jadeveon Clowney and the San Francisco 49ers welcome back Jimmy Garoppolo after a season out. Here’s what to expect from NFC West this time out....

The Chiefs and Chargers finished with the same record (12-4) last season. Both ended up falling short of the Super Bowl after falling to the Patriots in the playoffs. The Raiders, in their second year under Jon Gruden, are looking to start fresh after the coach’s hands-on, massive overhaul assisted by Mike Maycck. The Broncos are undergoing even more transition, with Vic Fangio and Joe Flacco as their new veteran coach-quarterback combination....

John Parry’s crew tried to stress to both sides that the league is really, really serious this year about cracking down on defensive holding, illegal contact and illegal use of hands. According to NFL.com’s play-by-play, 16 such fouls were called. Ten were accepted, accounting for almost half the 21 total penalties in the box score. The breakdown: Illegal use of hands: nine (seven accepted) Defensive holding: four (one accepted, one offset)...

Since Sporting News ranked all 32 starting quarterbcks in the preseason, based on a combination of upcoming upside and recent past performance, there have been some exciting developments near the top and disappointing results that have caused reshuffling elsewhere. The past two league MVPs are off to hot starts, but there’s one quarterback who’s played at a level above all the rest going into Week 3. In other cases, top-10 caliber QBs have struggled for some reason or another, giving rise to younger upstarts and old reliables alike....

Of course, in 2019, chatter around NFL officiating has been as loud as ever, leaving referees to explain questionable calls made by their crews after most games. With the addition of pass interference to the NFL’s replay review system this year, senior vice president of officiating Al Riveron’s performance is also under the microscope. Each week, the NFL announces its referee assignments for its slate of games on Thursday, Sunday and Monday....

A source told Sporting News on Sunday that Joseph has spoken with Mike McCoy about returning to the Mile High City in the same role. MARVEZ: Broncos suddenly face biggest crossroads in Elway’s tenure McCoy’s work with the Broncos and success with quarterbacks who had very different styles — Tim Tebow and Peyton Manning — helped him parlay four seasons as a Broncos assistant into becoming the Chargers’ head coach in 2013....

Irreconcilible differences, then? Yeah, that’s what we’ll call them. Irreconcilible differences between elite NFL wide receivers and cornerbacks such as Odell Beckham Jr. and Josh Norman is real. IYER: NFL’s top 10 CBs can talk trash all they want For fans who are diametrically opposed to the culture of buddy ball that exists in the NBA, where LeBron James and Chris Bosh join forces with Dwyane Wade (2010) and Kevin Durant decides to tag along with Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green (2016), one-on-ones on the edge in football might be one of the last matchups in professional team sports in which two dudes who probably won’t kick it off the field go at it....

But Brady’s return didn’t just impact the NFL’s on-field product. It had an off-the-field impact as well. MORE: Tom Brady explains why he returned to NFL after brief retirement The NFL was in the process of building its schedule for 2022 when Brady announced that he was coming back. While that provided a boost to the overall strength of competition in the NFL, it also prompted schedule-makers to restart the scheduling process basically from scratch....

Week 15 began with 20 teams either in or within one game of a playoff spot, including 11 teams that did not advance to the postseason in 2017. Since the 12-team playoff format began in 1990, at least four teams have qualified for the playoffs in every season that were not in the postseason the year before. Two teams that finished in or tied for last place in their division in 2017 — Chicago (NFC North) and Houston (AFC South) — are currently in first place in their respective divisions this season....

Through the first two weeks of the season, there have been 174 total touchdowns scored, the most in NFL history through Week 2, and the 1,506 total points are the second most in league annals (1,556 in 2012) through the first two weeks of a season. As for the close games, 25 of the season’s 32 games (78.1 percent) through two weeks have been within one score in the fourth quarter, tied for the third most in NFL history through Week 2....

The NFL released its schedule for 2022 on Thursday, and that revealed the three Thanksgiving matchups. We knew that the Lions and Cowboys would both be playing, as they both have since 1978, but we now know who they are playing and which two teams get the marquee Thanksgiving night contest. Below is all the information you need to know about the NFL’s Thanksgiving schedule for 2022. That includes the history of the NFL playing on the holiday, which dates all the way back to 1934....

The NFL will take center stage on Thursday, with the traditional triple-header of games punctuating America’s national holiday. The fourth Thursday in November is arguably the biggest football day of the calendar year for casual fans, but the impact of football on Thanksgiving stretches far beyond the fans attending the games and watching it on TV. The holiday is circled in red on the calendars of bookmakers across the country....

In the letter, obtained by ESPN.com, the NFL imposes an ultimatum requiring Packers linebackers Clay Matthews and Julius Peppers, Steelers linebacker James Harrison and former Packers linebacker Mike Neal to meet with league investigators before Aug. 25 or face discipline. MORE: Deflategate timeline, from beginning to end “For those players whose interviews do not take place on or before (Aug. 25), or who fail meaningfully to participate in or otherwise obstruct the interview, their actions will constitute conduct detrimental and they will be suspended, separate and apart from any possible future determination that they violated the steroid policy,” Adolpho Birch, the NFL’s vice president of labor policy and league affairs, wrote....