OXNARD, Calif. – Three fights were enough.

Irritated by the series of scuffles that interrupted Wednesday’s practice, Brian Schottenheimer came up with an alternative for the Dallas Cowboys: He ordered wind sprints before calling off the practice.

Talk about putting your foot down. And the rookie head coach left no gray area in expressing his disgust. Before and after the players ran several times from sideline to sideline, Schottenheimer gathered the team for huddles in the middle of the field for some expletive-laced messaging.

George Pickens could be explosive for Cowboys – one way or another

“He’s got a standard,” Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott told USA TODAY Sports after practice. “He’s preaching about being competitive and not combative. He’s also preaching living on the edge of toughness and competition, and not to go over it.

“We don’t want to hurt each other. We don’t want to be fighting. Those are the things that get you kicked out of the game, and things that hurt you on Sundays. So, yeah, he did make a great point.”

Of course, fisticuffs often come with the territory during NFL training camps. There are intense battles for jobs. Heat and fatigue. The monotony of practicing against the same competition before seeing other faces in the preseason games.

Yet it got a bit too chippy during the Cowboys’ shorts-and-shells session on Wednesday. After one of the fights, Schottenheimer kicked rookie tackle Ajani Cornelius out of the practice for an early shower. The wind sprints came later, which might have taken some of the players back to their college, or even high school days.

Someone asked Cowboys star receiver Cee Dee Lamb if he could sum up a “PG version” of Schottenheimer’s message to the team.

Said Lamb: “Do we want to be champions?”

It is hardly lost on Lamb, a sixth-year pro, that the mistake-prone Cowboys had the fourth-most penalties (128) and committed the fifth-most turnovers (28) in the NFL last season while stumbling to a 7-10 finish.

“Throughout the years of us being here, talent was never the question,” Lamb said. “It was always discipline. How do we get ahead and not behind? How do we not shoot ourselves in the foot? How do we not hurt ourselves when the momentum is going our way? We need to keep our foot on the pedal…and always think about the team.”

Clearly, Schottenheimer is reiterating that point. For all the talk in the Cowboys camp about the energy that Schottenheimer, 51, and his staff have injected into the routine, there’s also the matter of demanding accountability.

“How many times has he been on coaching staffs and watched flare-ups in the competition? How many times has he seen coaches address that?” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones pondered during an interview with USA TODAY Sports. “That was the bargain I got.

“You’ve got 30 years being around the game and watching some of the best coaches in the business deal with situations. And I got the newness and the freshness: ‘Now it’s on my watch. I’m the head coach.’”

Time will reveal whether Schottenheimer’s methods work to change the bottom-line results for the underachieving Cowboys.

Contact Jarrett Bell at jbell@usatoday.com or follow on social media: On X: @JarrettBell

On Bluesky: jarrettbell.bsky.social

In a startling move that sends the game’s most dominant reliever across the state and to another league, the Athletics have agreed to trade Mason Miller to the San Diego Padres, perhaps signaling a greater revamp to come at Petco Park.

Miller, 26, has struck out 14.2 batters per nine innings in his two full seasons as a reliever, and this year has posted a 1.01 WHIP while fanning 59 batters in 38 ⅓ innings and nailing down 20 saves.

The Padres also acquired left-hander JP Sears, a workmanlike back-end rotation presence who has a 4.95 ERA in 22 starts this season.

While Miller might have been seen as a franchise cornerstone as the A’s make their way from Oakland to their Yolo County stopover in Sacramento all the way to Las Vegas – perhaps by 2028 – the club clearly saw too much upside in San Diego’s return.

San Diego paid a stiff price to pry Miller from the A’s, sending them 18-year-old high Class A shortstop Leo DeVries, a consensus top five prospect in the game and the Padres’ top trade chip. 

The Padres, meanwhile, are perched just three games behind the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West, and hold the No. 3 NL wild card spot. Reports indicated the club might be willing to buy and sell this deadline, and perhaps flip All-Star closer Robert Suárez to gain payroll flexibility.

Now, they have the roster latitude to do so. Or, they could keep Suárez and pair him with Miller alongside an utterly dominant bullpen featuring All-Stars Jason Adam and Adrian Morejon along with Jeremiah Estrada.

The Padres will also send RHP Braden Nett, RHP Henry Báez and RHP Eduarniel Nuñez to the A’s in the deal.

Mason Miller trade details

San Diego Padres receive:

RHP Mason Miller
LHP JP Sears

Athletics receive:

SS Leo De Vries (MLB.com’s No. 3 overall prospect)
RHP Braden Nett
RHP Henry Báez
RHP Eduarniel Nuñez

Mason Miller contract

Mason Miller is making $740,000 in 2025 and is under team control through 2029.

This story has been updated to include new information.

The UFL is going to relocate one of its existing franchise to Columbus, Ohio, ahead of its 2026 season.

‘We’re excited about Columbus as a market,’ Repole said. ‘We know how good Ohio State is and how big football is in Columbus. We’re excited about the local businesses in Columbus and the fan base.’

Repole did not disclose which of the league’s eight existing teams would be relocated to play in Columbus. However, he did communicate that at least two of the UFL’s eight franchise will be moved ahead of the league’s third season.

‘There will definitely be two new locations next year,’ Repole said. ‘And within the next 30 days, there could be up to four.’

Why UFL is playing in Columbus

Repole noted Columbus was an ideal location for a UFL franchise because it has already shown it can support professional sports franchises — the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets and Major League Soccer’s Columbus Crew — and also has a strong football culture as the home of Ohio State.

But perhaps more importantly, Columbus sports what Repole believes is an ideal venue for a UFL franchise: Historic Crew Stadium, the former home of Columbus Crew and current home of their MLS Next Pro affiliate.

Historic Crew Stadium was built in 1999 and has a seating capacity of 19,968. Repole opined playing in arenas of that size could help the UFL improve the in-stadium experience, which has suffered amid the league’s struggle to fill larger venues.

‘Outside of pro football and college football, there aren’t too many sports that can draw 50,000 to 100,000 at a game,’ Repole explained. ‘NBA arenas are 18,000. NHL arenas are 17,000.’

Repole expressed hope that the crowd in Columbus could end up being similar to the one the DC Defenders have been able to draw at Audi Field, the 20,000-seat home of DC United.

‘That’s a good venue,’ Repole said of Audi Field. ‘We draw 12,000 in a [20,000-seat] arena. There’s a fan base. It looks great.’

That’s why Repole, and the greater UFL ownership group, are confident putting a team in Columbus will work.

‘When the team was able to agree on a deal with the Columbus market, it was really a no-brainer,’ Repole said. ‘We’re really excited about the Columbus market.’

Latest UFL relocation updates

Repole did not provide details about which UFL franchises might be moved ahead of the league’s third season. However, he did confirm the league would not be expanding.

‘We’re gonna play with eight teams,’ he said. ‘We’re gonna have eight teams. We’re gonna have eight names. We’re gonna have eight venues. We might even stay in a city and change the venue. I mean, right now, everything is on the table.’

Repole further explained the league would not hesitate to make changes it believes will be best for the league’s long-term future.

‘In all honesty, maybe a city – we’re not right for the city,’ Repole said. ‘And we’re OK with that, because we know that there are other cities and venues that we are right for.’

Repole also detailed 31 cities filed ‘an application for the potential to have a UFL team.’ Columbus was one of the 31, but the other 30 have yet to be identified.

There is no hard deadline for the UFL to decide on where its teams will play in 2026, but Repole expressed his hope the league will have a set plan for the upcoming season by mid-September.

‘We’re going to speak to all the markets,’ Repole said. ‘Nothing is signed, sealed or delivered, except Columbus.’

I initially thought Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne’s idea for how to tweak the College Football Playoff selection process must be self-serving. After all, most playoff ideas that originate from a university or conference administrator are rooted in self-interest.

But, the more I considered Byrne’s idea to more greatly reward non-conference strength of schedule during the at-large selection process, the more I liked it.

My lasting thought: Byrne suggested a worthwhile idea for how to improve the college football season.

This came after I asked Byrne, one of the nation’s most prominent athletic directors, last spring how he’d address the playoff. He shared a few thoughts, but he emphasized he felt most passionately about the selection process needing to place additional merit on non-conference strength of schedule.

“I am 100% convinced that (would be) good for the game and everybody around it,” Byrne told me.

He’s right. Weighting non-conference strength of schedule would encourage Power Four teams to schedule more games fans want to see and media partners want to televise. That’s good for the game.

The playoff is not broken. Neither is the selection process, subjective and controversial though it is. But, playoff ideas that would boost the season interest me. This idea would do that, by incentivizing schools to schedule better non-conference games.

I’d add an addendum to Byrne’s suggestion. Don’t just value non-conference schedule strength. Value teams that win key interleague games.

The March Madness selection process has figured this out better than college football. Consider last basketball season, when the SEC dominated non-conference play, including a 14-2 record in the ACC-SEC challenge. The SEC’s NET ranking topped all conferences, and it appropriately qualified 14 of its 16 teams for the tournament. Throughout the postseason, the SEC lived up to the reputation it built during the season.

Byrne, who serves on the NCAA men’s tournament selection committee, says he pays particular attention to non-conference metrics as he partakes in the selection process.

“One of the first things I look at is non-conference strength of schedule in men’s basketball,” Byrne said, “because I think that’s good for men’s basketball to have it not be just a January to March sport.”

Again, he’s right. Likewise, wouldn’t it be better if college football’s September docket featured more non-conference blockbusters like Texas-Ohio State or LSU-Clemson, while reducing the number of games like Houston Christian-Nebraska and Austin Peay-Georgia?

The abundance of lopsided, lackluster non-conference games creates a drag on the regular season. Too many coaches and their bosses gravitate toward the path of least resistance, after seeing that strategy rewarded.

The past two national champions, Ohio State and Michigan, finished on top after neither played a Power Four non-conference opponent. Penn State crafted a similar road map for this year. The Nittany Lions will begin the season by chowing down on Nevada, Florida International and Villanova.

Indiana wriggled into the playoff last season after rolling through a non-conference feast of Florida International, Western Illinois and Charlotte. The Hoosiers recently doubled down on this strategy, adjusting their future non-conference schedules to make them as easy as possible.

Washington coach Jedd Fisch called Indiana’s strategy of playing three non-conference nobodies “dead-on right.”

It’s doggone pathetic, too, and it doesn’t stop with Indiana.

Big Ten, SEC teams among those seeking out cupcakes

Big Ten teams will play four times as many MAC foes as they will SEC opponents. SEC teams will square off against the Ohio Valley as often as they’ll face the Big 12.

Six Big Ten teams won’t play a single non-conference game against either a Power Four opponent or Notre Dame.

Teams might lose their appetite for cupcakes if the playoff committee more heavily weighted non-conference metrics. And, if teams stiffened their non-league schedules, that would assist the committee’s task of evaluating at-large playoff contenders.

How might this idea affect playoff selection?

If non-conference metrics had been more heavily weighted last season, that might have exposed Indiana, one of the last at-large teams admitted into the field. The Hoosiers didn’t bother to play a Power Four non-conference opponent.

The committee admitted Indiana thanks to its 11-1 record and its avoidance of a bad loss.

If non-conference results had been more greatly valued, a 10-2 BYU team that beat SMU, a playoff qualifier, might have appealed more to the committee.

Two-loss Miami, which beat Florida at The Swamp, also would have merited a stronger look. Three-loss South Carolina could have gained more of a boost from winning at Clemson, the ACC’s champion.

Now, let’s revisit my original thought: Would adding weight to non-conference schedule strength be self-serving for Alabama? Perhaps.

Starting this year, through 2034, Alabama has two games scheduled per season against either Power Four non-conference opponents or Notre Dame. Adding playoff selection value specific to non-conference metrics might therefore accelerate Alabama in bubble situations.

But, shouldn’t we want teams to follow Alabama’s lead of seeking out challenging non-conference opponents, rather than ducking Power Four opponents in favor of Austin Peay?

To Byrne, the answer seems obvious.

“Good non-conference games are really good for college football,” Byrne said.

Rewarding teams that play good non-conference games would help ensure those games remain part of college football’s future.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.

Is Philip Rivers a Hall of Famer?

As the former Los Angeles Chargers quarterback’s old teammate Antonio Gates is inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this weekend, Rivers’ Canton candidacy will undoubtedly be a part of the conversation.

The eight-time Pro Bowler already became a recent topic of conversation early last week after Rivers signed a one-day contract with the Chargers to officially announce his retirement.

Rivers played 17 years in the NFL, 16 of which were with the Chargers, and accumulated a 134-106 record in his 240 consecutive starts. While he doesn’t have the rings that fellow 2004 draftees Ben Roethlisberger and Eli Manning have, Rivers’ consistently high level of play led to some impressive numbers in the regular season.

USA TODAY Sports examined Rivers’ career numbers and evaluated his shot at an induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Philip Rivers career stats

Over his 17-year career, Rivers started 240 consecutive regular-season games – 16 per year from when he took over as the Chargers’ start in 2006 to 2020, when he played his last season with the Indianapolis Colts.

Here’s how Rivers’ career played out by the numbers:

Games: 244 (240 starts)
Record: 134-106 (.558 win percentage)
Completion rate: 5,277-of-8,134 (64.9%)
Passing yards: 63,440
Touchdowns: 421
Interceptions: 209
Passer rating: 95.2

Rivers finished his career with many accolades as well: eight Pro Bowl nods, a Comeback Player of the Year award in 2013 and several years with down-ballot MVP and Offensive Player of the Year votes.

Philip Rivers Hall of Fame chances

Rivers was one of the league’s most productive passers in history. At his peak, he had MVP potential, but his contemporaries – Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Drew Brees and others – tended to overshadow him.

The 17-year NFL veteran finished his career ranked fifth in career passing yards behind two Hall of Famers – Manning and Brett Favre – and two surefire future inductees – Brady and Brees. Roethlisberger passed Rivers in his one extra season of playing, and Aaron Rodgers will likely pass him this year with 500 more passing yards.

Roethlisberger and Rodgers are two other likely Hall of Fame quarterbacks.

A big part of Rivers’ productivity was his ability to stay healthy – another factor in his Hall of Fame case. After spending the first two years of his career on the San Diego bench behind Brees, Rivers took over as the starter in 2006 and never missed another start. By the time he ended his career in 2020, he had made 240 regular-season starts in a row.

Pro Football Reference has a ‘Pro Football QB Hall of Fame Monitor,’ which estimates ‘a player’s chances of making the Pro Football Hall of Fame using AV (Approximate Value), Pro Bowls, All-Pros, championships, and various stat milestones.’ The estimation is graded on a scale, with a mark of 100 being the ‘average Hall of Fame quarterback.’

Rivers grades out at a 98.06, which is below the average mark but notably above Hall of Famers like Terry Bradshaw (95.69), Kurt Warner (88.78) and Warren Moon (71.30).

Offshore betting sites, which are unregulated and illegal in some states, have also released odds for Rivers to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer at 25/1. So while his chances of making it in immediately don’t appear high, an eventual vote into Hall of Fame is rather likely.

That’s why a group of players turned to an Olympic gold medalist for help.

Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey posted a video to Instagram featuring offensive tackle Ronnie Stanley, safety Kyle Hamilton, tight end Charlie Kolar and himself asking Baltimore-born Olympian Michael Phelps for swim lessons.

‘Hey Mr. Phelps, we have a problem,’ Stanley begins.

‘Did you know that one in three Ravens cannot swim?’ Hamilton says.

‘We have a solution for you, sir,’ Kolar continues.

‘Come to Ravens training camp in this beautiful aquatic center and teach us how to swim,’ Humphrey concludes.

‘We got a problem that only @m_phelps00 can fix! From the #RavensAquaticsTeam,’ Humphrey wrote in the caption.

Within hours of Humphrey uploading the video, Phelps shot back a response in the comments section.

‘I got yall!!! Let’s do it!!’ wrote the 23-time Olympic gold medalist.

Phelps was born in Baltimore and is an avid Ravens fan. Hall of Famer and former Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis is one of Phelps’ close friends and mentors.

It’s no surprise Phelps was quick to take up the Ravens’ offer to help teach some of the players how to swim.