Monday Night Fights.

The New York Giants might be eliminated from playoff contention, but they aren’t going quietly into the night. Especially as the New England Patriots take aim at Big Blue’s rookie quarterback.

Jaxson Dart cleared concussion protocol ahead of the Giants’ Week 13 trip to New England, allowing him to retake his spot at the starting quarterback.

The Patriots certainly didn’t waste any time reintroducing the rookie to the pros, however, as Christian Elliss laid the boom on Dart.

Both teams sparred following the play, but only the Giants’ Theo Johnson was flagged for a personal foul.

It was the second time in as many drives that Dart took a big hit from a Patriots’ defender and the second time it drew a reaction from the visiting team.

Reports indicated that the Giants were going to protect Dart from himself, opting to remove designed runs from the playbook to avoid any unnecessary hits, according to ESPN’s Jordan Raanan.

While the hit didn’t look good, it was a legal one from Elliss. The linebacker hit the quarterback in the shoulder while he was still in bounds.

The Giants are hoping to coach that out of Dart, encouraging him to prioritize his health more going forward.

Early returns aren’t promising, but Elliss’ hit was yet another teaching moment for the rookie quarterback.

FOXBOROUGH, MA — For the second time in three games, New York Giants rookie defensive lineman Abdul Carter was nowhere to be found when the “Big Blue” defense took the field for the first time. 

And neither he nor interim head coach Mike Kafka wanted to discuss after the Giants’ thrashing at the hands of the New England Patriots, 33-15. Kafka repeatedly said it was ‘my decision’ during his postgame news conference, while Carter’s refrain to reporters was ‘(expletive) happens.’

In fact, Kafka repeated the phrase ‘my decision’ 11 times during his back-and-forth with reporters, who continually pressed him on his reasoning. Kafka said he did not regret the choice.

Carter wore a long blue overcoat near the Giants’ bench as the defense allowed a field goal on the opening drive of the “Monday Night Football” matchup and remained on the sideline for their touchdown drive later in the quarter. 

‘Listen, when he came back in the game you saw the kind of impact he had and the player this guy is,’ he said. ‘This is a kid that I, again, I back, I support this kid highly and for any young player that we have on the roster, whether it’s Abdul or any rookie or young player, we’re going to make sure we him under our wing and continue to develop these guys because they’re important to us. They’re important to me.

‘That was my decision, my decision only. Anything else outside of it is going to be kept in house.’

Kafka benched Carter for the first defensive series against the Green Bay Packers on Nov. 16 because he missed a walkthrough while in a recovery bed; Carter disputed reports he napped through a team activity and said the treatment was part of his training. 

‘Again, those are tough decisions to make, but that was my decision and, again, the kid, nothing with him,’ Kafka said. ‘Everything that we did was my decision and obviously I’m sure he wasn’t happy about it, which I understand, but I thought that was the best thing for the team and it was my decision to move forward with it and that’s where we’re at.’

The Giants selected Carter third overall out of Penn State in the 2025 draft. He rejoined his unit in the second quarter in search of his first full sack of the season, which came three plays later when he took down Patriots quarterback Drake Maye at the line of scrimmage.

‘Like I said, I have to be better,’ Carter told reporters. ‘I have to take pride in what I do, be where I have to be at. Simple as that.’

The reliever market is starting to heat up, and the latest maneuver signals a significant change for the New York Mets.

The Mets agreed to terms with two-time All-Star Devin Williams on a three-year contract, The Athletic reported, a sign the club is almost certainly moving on from stalwart Edwin Diaz.

Williams, 31, was the 2020 NL Rookie of the Year and earned an NL reliever of the year nod with the Milwaukee Brewers, when he played for current Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns. After a trade to the New York Yankees, struggled for significant stretches and lost his closer job.

Yet with his trademark changeup and career marks of 14.1 strikeouts per nine and a 1.04 WHIP, Williams remains one of the game’s elite relievers. And with a reported value of more than $50 million, the Mets’ investment in Williams likely marks their major relief splash this winter.

That means Diaz, who transitioned from volatile closer to folk hero, will likely move on. He opted out of the final two years of his five-year, $102 million deal with the Mets after posting his second All-Star campaign with the club.

Diaz should easily top Williams’ guaranteed dollars on the open market, where the Los Angeles Dodgers and other top spenders are expected to vie for his services. He struck out 118 batters in 62 innings in his epic 2022 season, when his trumpet-fueled Citi Field entrance became a part of franchise lore.

New Jersey Devils defenseman Brenden Dillon’s 1,000th career game was cut short on Monday, Dec. 1.

He was shaken up and needed help getting off the ice after a fight in the second period.

The incident happened soon after Devils television announcers did a segment on the career of Dillon, who reached the milestone despite going undrafted. The announcers noted his physical play and showed a couple of his fights.

As play resumed, a scrum broke out in front of Devils goalie Jake Allen. Columbus’ Dmitri Voronkov and Dillon squared off. Dillon’s helmet came off, and Voronkov tied up the defenseman and threw a couple punches, knocking him down.

Dillon was down for a while, was wobbly when getting up and was helped off the ice by teammates. Another Devils player served his fighting major.

The Devils lost another defenseman soon after when Jonas Siegenthaler received a game misconduct for not having his jersey tied down during a fight.

Dillon came back to the bench in the second period and skated three shifts before intermission. He didn’t come out for the third period and the Devils played the rest of the game down two defensemen.

Dillon has 42 goals, 179 assists and 949 penalty minutes in 1,000 career games with Dallas, San Jose, Washington, Winnipeg and New Jersey.

Kevin Patullo’s house was vandalized following the Philadelphia Eagles’ loss on Black Friday to the Chicago Bears, according to multiple reports.

It comes on the heels of a viral video initially posted on TikTok, which surfaced on Dec. 1, that claimed rocks were being thrown at Patullo’s home in Moorestown, New Jersey.

Police confirmed that the vandals were throwing eggs, not rocks, at the residence.

The incident occurred around 2:50 a.m. ET on Nov. 29 – just hours after the 24-15 loss at Lincoln Financial Field.

Detectives are still working to determine the identities of those involved in the incident, according to Moorestown PD.

USA TODAY Sports reached out to Moorestown PD for comment.

The Eagles’ offensive coordinator has been heavily criticized for the team’s struggles on offense this season. Patullo took over for Kellen Moore, who held the same position during the 2024 season before being hired as head coach of the New Orleans Saints after Super Bowl 59.

It is Patullo’s first year as the play caller, but not his first in the organization.

The 44-year-old has been with the Eagles since the 2021 season, when he joined Sirianni’s staff as the passing game coordinator.

He took on the added title of associate head coach for the 2023 and 2024 seasons before being promoted to offensive coordinator in Feb. 2025.

Philadelphia’s offense ranks 19th in points per game and 24th in yards per game, after finishing top-10 in both statistics for three straight seasons.

Sirianni told reporters on Nov. 28 that the team isn’t considering a change regarding Patullo.

‘We’re not changing the play-caller, but we will evaluate everything,’ Sirianni said. ‘It’s never just about one person. You win as a team, you lose as a team and you try to evaluate everything, win, lose or draw, and get better from it.

Despite the struggles, the Eagles are 8-4 and remain firmly in first place in the NFC East with just five games to go.

There’s optimism that Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert’s hand injury won’t sideline him.

Herbert underwent surgery to repair a fracture in his left hand on Dec. 1. The Chargers provided an update in the afternoon after Herbert’s procedure.

‘Justin Herbert underwent successful surgery today in Los Angeles to stabilize a fracture in his left hand. Herbert’s return to play is considered day-to-day, and his status for next Monday’s game against Philadelphia will be determined later in the week.’

Herbert injured his left non-throwing hand during the first quarter of the Chargers’ 31-14 win over the Las Vegas Raiders.

The injury occurred during Los Angeles’ opening drive when Herbert scrambled and was brought to the turf by Raiders safety Jeremy Chinn. Herbert and the Chargers went on to score on the 14-play, 74-yard touchdown drive to start the game. However, Herbert exited to locker room after the Chargers’ opening series.

Herbert returned in the second quarter with a white glove and tape on his left hand and finished the game. He passed for 151 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in the win. The Chargers quarterback said postgame he was confident the injury wouldn’t cost him any games.

‘I’m treating it as if I’m playing on Monday,’ Herbert said on Sunday. ‘I think they’re very hopeful for that. I think that’s just something that we’ll see tomorrow and we’ll get a feel for. But I think they were really hopeful. So that’s always a good thing.’

Monday’s update from Harbaugh is another positive sign that Herbert’s hand injury won’t keep him out of action. The Chargers have a difficult five-game stretch to close the regular season as they attempt to clinch a playoff spot. They are currently fifth in the AFC playoff race.

Herbert and the Chargers host the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 14 on Monday night. Herbert’s 2,842 passing yards and 21 touchdown passes this season both rank in the top 10.

Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Tyler Dragon on X @TheTylerDragon.

The U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team has closed out the calendar year with its 12th victory. 

The USWNT defeated Italy 2-0 at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Monday, marking the American’s second consecutive sweep of the Italians and fourth consecutive win to end the year.

Catarina Macario got the USWNT on the board in the 20th minute with her eighth goal of the year. Macario is the first U.S. player to score in three straight games since Mallory Swanson scored six in a row from November 2022 to February 2023. Jaedyn Shaw tacked on another goal in the 41st minute to pad the USWNT’s lead, while goalkeeper Claudia Dickey turned in a clean sheet with a save on the Italians’ lone shot on goal.

USA TODAY provided live updates and highlights from Monday’s action:

66′ – USWNT 2-0 Italy

What a chaotic sequence! Avery Patterson got a cross pass to the middle of the box, which was headed toward the goal by captain Lindsey Heaps. Italy’s goalkeeper blocked the attempt, but Cat Macario was there to clean up the shot to put the USWNT up by 3-0. But not so fast. A foul was called on Lily Yohannes for holding, resulting in the goal and Macario’s brace being wiped off the board.

61′ – USWNT 2-0 Italy

Emma Sears was assessed a yellow card following a collision with Italian goalkeeper Francesca Durante.

USWNT subs

Avery Patterson, Kennedy Wesley and Emma Sears are subbed in at halftime for Naomi Girma, Emily Fox and Alyssa Thompson.

Italy subs

Sofia Cantore replaced Agnese Bonfantini at halftime.

HT – USWNT 2-0 New Italy

The USWNT has a 2-0 lead at halftime. It was all U.S. in the first half with the Americans possessing the ball 63.7% of the time, compared to just 36.3% for Italy. The USWNT had two shots on the goal and five shot attempts, while Italy was held in check with one shot on the goal and two shot attempts.

45′ – USWNT 2-0 Italy

Alice Corelli tried to get Italy on board, but USWNT goalkeeper Claudia Dickey saved the attempt.

41′ – USWNT 2-0 Italy

Jaedyn Shaw put the USWNT up 2-0 over Italy ahead of halftime. Fresh off a NWSL championship with Gotham FC, Shaw launched a strike from the outside the box to the top right corner to snap her 13-game USWNT scoring drought. Alyssa Thompson was credited with an assist.

20′ – USWNT 1-0 Italy

Cat Macario didn’t miss this time. Lily Yohannes found Macario in stride and Macario chipped it in right over Italian goalkeeper Francesca Durante. The impressive shot drew an amazed reaction from USWNT head coach Emma Hayes. Macario has been on a heater and her goal marks her third against Italy in the last two games. She’s up to eight goals on the year.

7′ – USWNT 0-0 Italy

USWNT’s Claudia Dickey nearly had a goalkeeper assist to start the match. Dickey connected with Cat Macario, who sprinted past two defenders up the middle of the field with the ball. Macario was close to getting the Americans on the board first, but Macario’s shot on the goal went wide and missed to the right.

Kickoff

We are underway at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida!

USWNT lineup vs. Italy

USA: Claudia Dickey (18); Jordyn Bugg (2), Naomi Girma (4), Lily Yohannes (7), Jaedyn Shaw (8), Kate Wiesner (9), Lindsey Heaps (10-Capt.), Claire Hutton (15), Cat Macario (20), Alyssa Thompson (21), Emily Fox (23)

Available Subs: Mandy McGlynn (1), Avery Patterson (3), Kennedy Wesley (5), Croix Bethune (11), Lilly Reale (12), Olivia Moultrie (13), Emily Sonnett (14), Rose Lavelle (16), Sam Coffey (17), Emma Sears (19), Jaelin Howell (25), Jameese Joseph (26)

Italy vs USWNT lineup

When is USWNT vs. Italy?

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. ET on Monday, Dec. 1.

Where is USWNT vs. Italy being played?

The USWNT-Italy friendly will be played at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

How to watch USWNT vs. Italy

The match will be televised on TBS, with Spanish-language television broadcast available on Universo.

How to stream USWNT vs. Italy

The match will stream on Max and Peacock. Streaming is also available on Sling.

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