Is the third time the charm for New York Jets quarterback Justin Fields?

We’ve seen plenty of current journeyman quarterbacks bounce around the NFL before finding a suitable destination.

Baker Mayfield didn’t reach the Pro Bowl until he played for his fourth franchise, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Ironically, two former Jets castaways have, too, revitalized their NFL lives.

There’s some evidence the same success story can occur with Fields.

“Everybody’s journey is different. Nobody’s journey is the same. Those guys it happened for them on their third our fourth team. Of course, I’m definitely hoping for it to happen here in New York,” Fields said to the media during his first press conference since signing with the Jets. “Those guys kept their head down. They didn’t let too many things in the outside world shake them and they flourished of course.”

Sam Darnold, on his fourth club since leaving New York, resuscitated his career with the Minnesota Vikings and earned a contract worth over $100 million with the Seattle Seahawks. Geno Smith revived his career at his fourth stop, the Seattle Seahawks, and is now reunited with Pete Carroll in Las Vegas.

After a rocky three-year stint in Chicago that included a 10-28 record as a starter and no playoff appearances, Fields showed signs of improvement in his lone season in Pittsburgh last year, albeit in a limited sample size. In 10 games, which included six starts, he produced career-bests in completion percentage (65.8) and passer rating (93.3). He was 4-2 as the Steelers starting quarterback before he was benched in favor of Russell Wilson.

Of course, the Jets have notoriously had bad luck at the quarterback position. The Jets haven’t had a QB earn a Pro Bowl nod since Brett Favre in 2008. New York’s started six different quarterbacks since 2022, in a quarterback merry-go-round that was highlighted by the failed Aaron Rodgers experiment. Poor quarterback productions contributed heavily to the team’s NFL-high 14 seasons without a playoff appearance.

However, aside from Fields’ marked progression in 2024, there are two other reasons to be cautiously optimistic this time around.

Fields already possesses a rapport with wide receiver Garrett Wilson from their two years together at Ohio State.

“When I saw him, it’s really just like the old days,” Fields said of Wilson. “I don’t think our relationship skipped a beat. Of course, I’m definitely excited to play with him.”

Maybe most importantly, there’s affirmation that new Jets general manager Darren Mougey and head coach Aaron Glenn chose Fields to be their quarterback after the Bears gave up on him and his Steelers demotion.

It’s a similar type of averment Mayfield, Darnold and Smith received following multiple stops.

“My confidence never left me. I feel like when your confidence leaves you, you have zero chance. You can take however many losses in life and this game, but you can never lose your confidence,” Fields said. “You can never lose your will to work and get things done. No matter how many losses and stuff like that, I’m never gonna lose my confidence in life or in this game.

‘I’m excited to be here and get to work.”

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

From the Hoodie to no hoodies allowed.

Oftentimes, NFL head coaches in new situations set the tone, standards and expectations for their players immediately. That much is exemplified by new New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel.

Vrabel made sure that his first impression was a lasting one for his players. In his intro speech to Pats players that surfaced this week, the former Titans head coach set some ground rules for his players, including a cell phone policy and proper decorum and respect to staff while in the building.

Among Vrabel’s requests, he mentioned the following:

Hoods down while in meetings;
No cell phones in meetings or the weight room;
Be on time.

Vrabel’s last point in the video was especially poignant; making sure that his players treat the Patriots staff with the utmost respect and dignity. 

‘The training staff, the equipment staff, the kitchen staff – these people are all here to do what? To help you. They’re here to help you do your job. They aren’t here to be your valet, to be your housekeeper, to be your maid, to be your butler. You get where I’m going? We’re going to treat those people with the utmost respect.’

The new Patriots head coach spent a year out of the coaching game after his firing from the Tennessee Titans in 2023. After courtships from the New York Jets and Chicago Bears, the former New England linebacker inked a deal to return to Gillette Stadium, this time as head coach.

Vrabel will look to exceed the successes left by Jerod Mayo, who was fired after a single, 4-13 season at the helm.

We’re still a ways away from finding out if Vrabel’s message is received, but if it is, it certainly won’t be on a cell phone.

The NBA’s decision to fine Morant $75,000 after multiple gun gestures led to the Memphis Grizzlies guard changing his 3-point celebration to one in which he mimics throwing a grenade. According to Morant, that’s the celebration fans can get used to seeing for the time being.

‘That’s my celebration now until somebody else got a problem with it, and I’ll find another one,’ Morant said at Thursday’s shootaround, according to the Memphis Commercial Appeal, part of the USA TODAY Network.

Morant used the celebration, where he mimics pulling the pin on a grenade, throwing it into the stands and then covering his ears, in Thursday night’s 141-125 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Smith and Barkley reacted to Morant’s new celebration on the ‘NBA on TNT’ show.

‘He has a history that maybe he should leave the celebrations where people might die alone,’ Smith said.

Said Barkley: ‘I know one person’s happy right now. Taylor Jenkins ain’t got to deal with this crap.’

The Grizzlies fired Jenkins as head coach with less than a month remaining in the regular season.

Asked Thursday about his reaction to the fines, Morant smiled, paused and then said: ‘You really want to know? I wasn’t surprised. Just was showing people what’s pretty much been evident for the last two years.’

WASHINGTON — Tommy Edman can do just about anything for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Except pull rank.

The reigning National League Championship Series MVP, their leader in home runs on this young season and the superglue that holds the middle of their diamond together, Edman, at 30, would be a decorated elder on most rosters.

With these Dodgers, who feature seven players with nine-figure contracts, four likely Hall of Famers and an industrywide expectation that they’ll repeat as World Series champions, he’s fortunate just to get his hacks in.

“I talked to him yesterday and he was struggling to get some cage time, because he’s so low on the totem pole,” says his former St. Louis Cardinals infield mate, Paul DeJong, who’s now the Washington Nationals’ third baseman. “With the amount of vets and guys on that team, I thought that was pretty funny. Because on this team he’d be one of the veteran players.

“To see him back toward the bottom of the service time rank, that would be humbling. But he’s the type of guy that’s going to get his work in no matter what the case is.”

And the work, quite often, is excellent.

Edman parlayed his late-season heroics after a July trade from St. Louis into long-term security, signing a five-year, $74 million extension this offseason, one year before he was eligible for free agency. And while his 11 hits and 11 RBIs in the NLCS tied a Dodgers franchise record, they’ll experience the full spectrum of Edman’s talents this season.

He’s already slugged five home runs in 14 games, tied with Teoscar Hernández for the team lead, and ranks second or third in hits, RBIs, runs and slugging percentage. While most of his starts have been at second base, he’s also logged time in center field and is available if needed at shortstop.

The marriage of Edman and the Dodgers is practically perfect: He’s perhaps the most deluxe edition of the versatile star, a fellow who can toggle excellently between positions as needed, an art previously mastered by the likes of Chris Taylor and Kiké Hernández.

Yet Edman is both a switch-hitter and the 2021 Gold Glove winner at second base. As the Cardinals faded from perennial contender to .500 franchise, it was like Edman’s skills were hiding in plain sight.

Strength and skills

He accumulated 6.2 WAR in 2022, the Cardinals’ last playoff season, and stole 32 bases in the final year before rules designed to juice stolen base totals arrived.

After arriving with the Dodgers and completing his recovery from wrist and ankle injuries, Edman has scarcely looked back.

He banged out 20 postseason hits and an .862 OPS in 16 games, motivating both sides to reach agreement on his contract extension. Edman, a San Diego native with a young son, saw the upside of living close to parents who could help he and his wife with their child.

And on the field, he realized the gains seemed to come even quicker in L.A.

“With the help of the team I think I’ve gotten better at doing everything with a purpose,” says Edman. “Every swing has a purpose behind it. I’m working on something every day in the cage. Everything I do in the weight room is to address something I feel I need to work on. Whether that’s a strength deficit in one area, or something that allows me to be explosive and be the player I am.

“Everything means something, instead of just going through the motions sometimes.”

Edman’s 5-foot-9, 193-pound frame might not leap out amid a bench-clearing brawl, say. Yet it seems almost ideally structured for the speed and surprising power he can generate and allows him to move freely among positions.

So far this season, his average exit velocity of 92.2 mph is 3 mph harder than his peak in 2023 and he ranks in the 87th percentile of the majors with a 55.3% hard-hit rate. He’s batted third five times in All-Star Freddie Freeman’s absence due to ankle injury, yet also has batted as low as eighth.

And while he’s stolen just one base so far, he’s been caught just 17 times in his seven-year career, his 113 thefts in 130 tries producing an elite 87% success rate.

“It’s a very vast skill set,” says Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “He’s a guy that is very low maintenance on my side of things. He just plays and prepares. And it’s almost like whenever you need somewhere to plug, he’s there. Whether you need need a two hitter, you need a four hitter, you need somebody to hit behind somebody or get on base.”

Looks like another perfect day

He’s blended smoothly into the Dodgers fabric, and with the array of superstars on the roster – Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani and Freeman are former MVPs, to start – Edman can operate easily under the radar.

It’s essentially SoCal vibes with a dash of salt.

“His attitude is what a lot of people don’t understand,” says DeJong. “How much of a competitor he is but also how positive he is about his daily process. And his outlook on life is super special.”

Edman has learned to walk proudly among giants, having played in St. Louis with the likes of Yadier Molina, Paul Goldschmidt, Adam Wainwright and Nolan Arenado.

These Dodgers are another planet entirely, with dozens of reporters following Ohtani’s every move and nearly 4 million fans expected to jam through the turnstiles this season.

Edman hardly gets lost in the shuffle, even if he’s far from long in the tooth. When Freeman returns, Edman will outrank only Will Smith – by a few days – and outfielder Andy Pages in service time among the Dodgers’ 13 position players.

That might cause him to take a number at the batting cage. But the payoff is worth it, for both club and player.

“It’s a cool opportunity to get to learn from guys who have had Hall of Fame careers already,” says Edman. “To have that long-term contract and know that I’ll be in L.A. for a while, it means a lot.

“I feel very blessed to be in L.A.”

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Near the final stretch of his first round of The Masters Thursday, Jose Luis Ballester felt something even stronger than the pressure to perform in golf’s most storied tournament and on the game’s most fabled course.

He had to relieve himself.

Shortly after notching a birdie on the 12th hole at Augusta National Golf Club, the 21-year-old Ballester, an amateur who’s a senior at Arizona State, had forgotten there were restrooms to the left of the 13th hole tee box and went to the tributary to nearby Rae’s Creek to urinate while his playing partner, Justin Thomas, was still on the 12th green.

“I’m like ‘I really need to pee,’’ he said after his round. ‘Didn’t really know where to go, and since (Thomas) had an issue on the green, I’m like ‘I’m just going to sneak here in the river and probably people would not see me that much,’ and then they clapped for me. Probably one of the claps that I really got today real loud, so that was kind of funny.”

Not surprisingly, Ballester wasn’t able to pee in total privacy, with thousands of patrons scattered across the Augusta National grounds. 

“They saw me,” Ballester said. “It was not embarrassing at all for me. If I had to do it again, I would do it again.”

Succumbing to a natural and understandable urge may have ultimately paid off for Ballester. After going 4-over on his opening 12 holes of the round, the Spaniard went even par on the final six holes.

Ballester finished the round with a 4-over 76, tying him for 73rd in the 95-player field. He was tied for second among the tournament’s five amateurs.

Adding to the tributary’s liquid volume was the highlight of an eventful day for Ballester.

Without some of the same sponsorship obligations that other golfers have, Ballester wore an Arizona State hat in which “Sun Devils” was written upside down and backwards. While it’s a popular style for Zoomers, the hat drew widespread attention and, in some circles in what can be a stodgy sport, criticism.