Catégorie : Sport News

George Russell has done tremendously well to get the better of Lewis Hamilton for the second time in their three seasons as teammates. In 2024, his qualifying pace in particular has been miles clear of the seven-time world champion, who is himself known for his supreme one-lap pace.

However, the way Russell outperformed Hamilton this season led to several fans and some experts claiming that Mercedes may be deliberately sabotaging the 39-year-old’s season as he will join rivals Ferrari next year. Former Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg, though, disagrees with such claims.

“I am pretty sure they didn’t,” were the words of Rosberg on the Sky Sports F1 podcast when one of his fellow experts claimed that there was a possibility Mercedes were favoring Russell, who is the team’s long-term future leader. Rosberg used an anecdote from the recently concluded Abu Dhabi GP to explain why he disagrees.

The German former driver highlighted the moment in the race when Mercedes boss Toto Wolff came on the radio to motivate Hamilton to chase down Russell. The Austrian gave this encouragement to the seven-time world champion when he was 14 seconds behind Russell and feared that he may not be able to catch his teammate.

Wolff said, “You can do this”, highlighting that the 52-year-old and the rest of his Mercedes team backed Hamilton till the very end. While Rosberg believes that there is ample evidence to suggest that Mercedes did not favor Russell, he believes that there is another reason why the Silver Arrows could not afford to sabotage Hamilton.

Rosberg explains why Mercedes could never sabotage Hamilton

During the same podcast, Rosberg explained how Mercedes would have gained a very bad image had they even tried to favor Russell over Hamilton. The German believes that Hamilton, being a seven-time world champion, has such a huge image today that Mercedes would not want to damage their relationship with him or his fans.

“They were under a lot of pressure, the team, because…a lot of fans, every time Lewis gets beaten by George, a lot of fans are like sabotage, so the pressure was on Mercedes,” Rosberg explained. “And for Toto, it was so important to show the world that there was no preferential treatment towards George”.

After the chequered flag at the Abu Dhabi GP, which was Hamilton’s last race for Mercedes, emotions ran high in the Brackley outfit’s camp. However, none were perhaps more emotional than Hamilton and Wolff, who enjoyed the highest of successes together during the turbo-hybrid era.

So, after Hamilton crossed the finish line, both had nothing but good things to say for each other. “I love you, guys. I really really do,” said Hamilton, to which Wolff replied, “We love you too and you’re always going to be a part of that family. And if we can’t win, you should win”.

Titans quarterback Will Levis was a full practice participant on Wednesday, but that doesn’t mean he’s fully healthy.

Levis missed three games earlier this season with a right shoulder injury and he aggravated the AC joint sprain in the first half of last Sunday’s loss to the Jaguars. Levis took a painkilling shot in order to get through the game and said on Wednesday that he doesn’t know if he’ll do the same before this Sunday’s game against the Bengals, but that he does know it is something he expects to keep dealing with through the end of the season.

“It’s definitely something that I’m using every day so it’s hard to give it proper rest,” Levis said, via Nick Suss of the Tennessean. “I was able to give it that rest when I had those few weeks off, which was nice. But it’s definitely a different scenario now. We’re just going to take it day by day and see how it feels.”

While it doesn’t sound like the shoulder issue will sideline Levis, it could still have an impact on the Titans as they move into 2025. Evaluating Levis and establishing their future plans at quarterback are among the things the Titans will need to do as the season comes to an end, so playing at less than 100 percent is less than ideal for Tennessee.

Back in 2005, Snoop Dogg started a youth football league to develop talented kids of the age group 5 to 13. While CJ Stroud is now known for being a notable alumnus of that league, the chances of this not being a reality were higher due to his mother’s initial skepticism.

CJ’s introduction to Snoop Youth Football League happened when Pomona Steelers coach Priest Brooks wanted a top-ranked QB for his team. The coach found his fit in a 12-year-old CJ, who was all the rage back then. He was, therefore, invited to an unofficial practice along with family members. But at first glance, Kimberly wasn’t a fan of this decision.

Apart from the Stroud family living 40 miles east of where the League was organized, Kimberly wasn’t a fan of the reputation the League had. CJ’s doting mother hesitated too much, leading to her being vehemently against joining the program.

“When we first went there, I was like at first, no offense Snoop but I was super against it but that was only because of the reputation. I just had all these images in my head and I was like no, we’re not doing that,” reminisced Kimberly on ‘The Mom’s POV’ podcast.

While Kimberly didn’t go into detail about what the reputation of the league was back then, it was bad enough for her to dread going to the private practice. But it was the young CJ who pushed for his spot in the league. “He was like ‘Mom, I have to do this. I have to, l want to go, so he tried to get on the team,” she recalled.

Once the decision to go for the practice was confirmed, Kimberly recalled how nervous she was. On one hand, she had the whole reputation angle playing in her mind, and on the other, there was the anxiety of seeing her son perform in a new environment. Luckily, it all went well, and in his first session, the 12-year-old CJ impressed everyone.

“The first practice… man, I don’t even think my nerves were so bad. But then after the first snap, my son got out that pocket so quick and that was all he needed…”

Once the nerves settled in, Kimberly realized how wrong she was to give in to the reputation of the league. She observed that the atmosphere and the personnel at Snoop’s league were super cordial and friendly — 180 degrees from the image outside.

“When we went to the actual practices, we saw how everybody was so professional and great people… so don’t judge a book by its cover.”

All that said, the move turned out to be fruitful for CJ in the bigger scheme of things. While he dazzled the league with his performances, he also picked up skills like communication and collaboration, which have shaped his leadership and composure.

Raiders owner Mark Davis said on Wednesday that any evaluation of head coach Antonio Pierce and General Manager Tom Telesco will come after the team’s season is over, but there is one spot where he already knows the Raiders have to take action.

Gardner Minshew, Aidan O’Connell, and Desmond Ridder have seen time at quarterback for the Raiders this season and their play is a big reason why the team is 2-11 and set to have one of the first picks — if not the first overal pick — of the draft. No one’s going to be making any selections in December, but Davis acknowledged a likely direction for the team to take.

“You’re always looking for a quarterback,” Davis said, via Tashan Reed of TheAthletic.com. “There’s no question about it.”

The first overall pick of the draft could be Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders and his father/college coach recently asked Pierce to draft his son and the younger Sanders has made other signals that he’d like to be in Vegas. It’s not clear if that’s tied to Pierce or not, but Sanders is sure to be given strong consideration by the Raiders under any circumstances as the draft draws closer.

Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa heads into Week 15 with the highest completion percentage in the league and one of the highest single-season completion percentages of all time.

Tagovailoa has completed 73.8 percent of his passes this season and former Saints quarterback Drew Brees is the only quarterback in NFL history with a higher percentage for a single season. Brees completed 74.4 percent of his passes in 2018 and 74.3 percent of his passes in 2019.

With four games left, there’s a chance that Tagovailoa could wind up with a higher mark than Brees managed in those seasons, but he said at a Wednesday press conference that it isn’t something that takes precedence over trying for a winning streak that could push the Dolphins into the playoffs.

“To surpass any record in the NFL, I think is an accomplishment in itself,” Tagovailoa said, via a transcript from the team. “You’re talking about legends, Hall of Famers in the past that have played this game. You’re talking about future legends, future Hall of Famers that are playing now in this game. That would mean a lot, but I think for us, right now, just trying to keep the main goal, the main goal and to find a win this Sunday and go on a run that we’ve been talking about in that locker room as a team, that would be a little more special than any other record I would say.”

Tagovailoa completed over 80 percent of his passes against the Packers on Thanksgiving, but the Dolphins lost. He was 10 percentage points lower against the Jets last Sunday, but the Dolphins won and that’s a trade the quarterback says he’ll make every time.

49ers running back Isaac Guerendo became the team’s starter last week and the rookie scored two touchdowns against the Bears, but his day ended on a down note.

Guerendo injured his foot late in the 38-13 49ers win and he was listed as out of practice on both Monday and Tuesday as a result. Guerendo was bumped up to a limited listing on Wednesday before being listed as questionable to play against the Rams on Thursday night.

Adam Schefter of ESPN reports on Thursday morning that Guerendo “feels good” and plans to play at Levi’s Stadium.

Schefter had a similar report about Steelers wide receiver George Pickens last Sunday, but Pickens wound up being inactive with a hamstring injury and he’s unlikely to play this weekend as well. That doesn’t mean Guerendo will ultimately be scratched as well, but it should be taken with at least a grain of salt until the inactive lists are released 90 minutes ahead of kickoff.

Cowboys cornerback Amani Oruwariye is trying to take what happened in Monday night’s loss to the Bengals as a “learning lesson.”

After teammate Nick Vigil blocked a punt late in the fourth quarter, Oruwariye tried to field it down the field and mishandled the ball. The Bengals recovered and scored the game-winning touchdown a few plays later.

On Wednesday, Oruwariye spoke to reporters about what was going through his mind during the play and said it was an instantaneous decision based on seeing the ball in front of him without knowing exactly how it got there.

“It was in the moment,” Oruwariye said, via the team’s website. “I was taking my guy and I heard a thump. I didn’t know what it was — could’ve been a punt, could’ve been a block — all I know is I turned around to react as any athlete would. I saw the ball there and, in a split decision, I made the decision to go try and secure the ball. That’s just part of the game. It’s something that I felt, in that moment, was a reactionary thing to do, and so I’m standing by it.”

Oruwariye said it was an “emotional moment” when he realized what happened and that Monday night was “tough” because he “didn’t want to feel like I was letting anybody down.” He said it meant a lot that his teammates “wanted to rally around me, console me and support me” in the wake of the miscue and that he plans to build off of that as he and the rest of the Cowboys move into the future.