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In today’s Touchdown Collective there’s the latest news from around the NFL in Press Coverage, while Get to the Post has stars seeing stars.
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📰 Press Coverage
Houston Texans
Texans co-founder and senior chair Janice McNair died yesterday in Houston, the team announced. She was 89. Mrs McNair became the Texans’ principal owner after her husband, Bob, died in 2018.
“Janice McNair was a woman of extraordinary generosity, grace and faith, whose impact on the Houston community and the NFL will be felt for generations,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. “Alongside Bob, she helped bring the NFL back to her beloved Houston and played an essential role in building the Texans into an organisation that reflects the values held dear - service, integrity, and commitment to community.”
Texans chair and CEO, Cal McNair, said: "It's impossible to describe the profound gratitude that my sisters, Ruth and Melissa, and I feel for having her as our mom. Outside of our family, nothing mattered more to her than her beloved Texans."
Buffalo Bills
Bills running back James Cook says the players have to step up to reach a Super Bowl this season.
“It’s on us. It’s on us,” Cook said on Good Morning Football when talking about playing for the Vince Lombardi Trophy. “We control our own destiny, I feel like. We always get close every year and just never get over the hump. So, I just feel like, just getting over that hump and just doing something special in Buffalo by winning a Super Bowl is gonna be big for us.”
New England Patriots
Patriots safety Kevin Byard says AJ Brown completely changes how defenses will have to play against Drake Maye & Co this season.
Speaking on SiriusXM NFL Radio, Byard spoke on how facing a genuine No.1 wide receiver alters the game plan for a defense.
“When I was in Chicago, we obviously played against a guy in Justin Jefferson, and, for the most part, you need to point out where Justin Jefferson was on every single play,” Byard said.
“It’s the same thing with AJ. When I’m lined up at safety, and I’m deep back there, 12, 14, 15 yards, whatever, I’m going to identify where’s AJ? You know what I mean? Like, where’s he at? Let's identify where he is, and now I can kind of get a good base on, OK, this is where the No.1 player is. The running back's here, tight end's here.
“So, it just shifts your philosophy on how you want to play defense.”
Dallas Cowboys
Cowboys outside linebacker Charles Snowden will be suspended for the first three games of the upcoming season – but can play in pre-season.
There was no reason given for the suspension, but Snowden did reach a plea agreement earlier this year linked to a DUI arrest from 2024 (via ESPN) when he played for the Raiders.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Baker Mayfield has detailed the injuries which affected him last season for the Buccaneers in the latest “Quarterback” documentary series. Evan Closky of WTSP-TV had early access to the show and says Mayfield dealt with:
Week 2: sprained MCL, PCL; bone bruise (knee)
Week 3: bicep/tendon injury
Week 7: aggravates bone bruise
Week 12: AC joint injury
"Pain is miserable, but toughness shows how bad you want something," Mayfield says in the show. Class.
Chicago Bears
State Sen. Sue Rezin said yesterday that she thinks the Bears’ stadium search is still a flip of a coin between staying in Illinois and moving across the state line to Indiana.
Last month, the Bears’ board approved a proposed development in Hammond, Ind.
“I would give it a 50-50 chance to have the Bears stay in Illinois,” Rezin said during a legislative update, reports the National Football Post.
Green Bay Packers
The Packers signed veteran linebacker Isaiah McDuffie to a contract extension on Monday afternoon, worth a reported $8.8m over the next two years. It includes a $1m incentive with regards to playing time (via ESPN).
LA Rams
Rams offensive lineman Alaric Jackson is not facing charges related to his arrest last month on suspicion of domestic violence, the Los Angeles City Attorney’s office confirmed, report the Los Angeles Times.
New York Jets
An investigation into Geno Smith for an incident where he was accused of battery is no longer active and the Jets QB will not be charged, Florida police told ESPN yesterday.
Las Vegas Raiders
Maxx Crosby was traded early in the off-season before that switch eventually fell through and has also been dealing with injury rehab, but he is still happy with his lead up to the 2026 campaign.
“It’s been a different road for sure going through knee surgery,” he told reporters at his annual Sack Summit event, report the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “But ultimately I think it’s been my best off-season so far in general and I’m excited to get back out there.”
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📩 Who am I? I’m Michael Ham, the Daily Star Sunday and Sunday Express Sports Editor – and an avid NFL fan. I have over 20 years of experience in sports news journalism and I’m the writer behind The Touchdown Collective.
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