Travis Hunter remains one of the most intriguing second-year players heading into next season, and the Jacksonville Jaguars now appear to have a clearer vision for how they plan to use him. The organization still intends for Hunter to continue as a two-way player. Despite skepticism surrounding that role, general manager James Gladstone and head coach Liam Coen reiterated that the plan remains unchanged. "The plan has not changed at all," Coen said in a video produced by the Jaguars. "Hes going to play both sides of the football just as we drafted him to do. We have the same vision for him in terms of being able to give him opportunities." Prior to suffering a season-ending torn LCL, Hunter split time on both sides of the ball, logging roughly 61% of his snaps on offense and 37% on defense as a rookie. Gladstone provided an update on Hunters recovery during an appearance on "The Rich Eisen Show" on Wednesday morning, offering insight into his progress as he works back from injury. "Hes in a good spot," Gladstone said. "Hes out on the grass in a limited fashion and thats the case throughout the remainder of the offseason program. As we get going into training camp, hell be full go." Speculation about Hunter potentially shifting to cornerback full-time this offseason has drawn national attention, but Gladstone made the Jaguars plans clear when addressing his role. "Absolutely not," Gladstone said. "He is set to play both sides of the ball. The piece I think we can expect is an uptick in corner usage. Last year, he had a higher volume and a higher percentage of snaps at wide receiver than he did at corner." The growing national buzz around Hunters breakout potential was also highlighted by our reporterGreg Auman. Auman named Hunter as his top second-year breakout candidate poised to make a leap next season. "Hunter's on course to be fully recovered by the start of training camp, and it should be a simpler second season for him," Auman wrote. "It remains to be seen how much work he'll get on offense the Jaguars traded for Jakobi Meyers during last season and gave him a lucrative extension, and they've held off on trading third-year receiver Brian Thomas Jr., with Parker Washington enjoying a breakout season last year. Hunter should be an every-down corner, and that side of the ball should be his focus and the best chance for him to shine. Jacksonville let Greg Newsome leave in free agency and didn't draft a corner, setting Hunter up for a central role." Hunters increased usage is also tied to the departures of Greg Newsome II and Tyson Campbell in free agency. As currently constructed, the cornerback room is set to feature Hunter, Jarrian Jones, Montaric Brown, and Jourdan Lewis. "Our roster construction is different than it was a year ago," Gladstone said. "Its more fitting to slot him in at corner in a different way than it was this time last year or even as the season progressed." For now, the Jaguars remain committed to that vision as they manage Hunters recovery and refine how his workload will be balanced on both sides of the ball. "He wants to play both ways," Gladstone said. "He wants to do exactly what he set out to do when he first started putting that into action all those years ago and thats his dream. Well look to support that in the best way that we can."

Arsenal reached the Champions League final for the first time in 20 years as Bukayo Saka sealed a 1-0 win against Atletico Madrid on Tuesday.

Trainer Cherie DeVaux said the Derby winner will instead be pointed to the Belmont Stakes on June 6

Will Michigan State football snap its four-year bowl drought in 2026? One national writer currently doesn't believe that to be the case.Brett McMurphy of On3 released his post-spring bowl projections this week and he unfortunately didn't have the Spartans included. At this moment, McMurphy believes Michigan State will once again miss out on the bowl season.Michigan State has the longest current active bowl drought in the Big Ten, with the Spartans last playing in a bowl game in 2021. That, of course, was the year Michigan State finished 11-2 with a victory over Pitt in the Peach Bowl.The Spartans are coming off a 4-8 season last year, but under a brand new coaching staff led by Pat Fitzgerald. Despite a complete overhaul of the roster and coaching staff, expectations are still extremely low of the Spartans on the national level. This is only furthered by the latest bowl projections published by McMurphy this week.I personally am predicting Michigan State to extend expectations and reach six wins to become bowl eligible this upcoming season. I also understand, though, how that is not a common perception of the program after a rough four-year stretch.Click on the post below to see the complete bowl projections from McMurphy:NEW: My @On3 post-spring bowl projections are here. Some major changes from 2 months ago We've added new bowls: Poinsettia (Boise State-UNLV) & Puerto Rico (Ohio-Liberty), Miami to win it all; Penn State & North Dakota State now in the playoff fieldhttps://t.co/mYxfGe1Jsx Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) May 6, 2026Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWireon X (formerly Twitter) and like our page onFacebookto follow ongoing coverage of Michigan State news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Robert Bondy on X @RobertBondy5.This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: Will MSU go bowling in 2026? National writer provides his post-spring prediction

Scuffling for weeks, the Dodgers slumping offense received a gift from Lance McCullers Jr. during a fortuitous trip to Houston. Then another. And another. The Astros starter nearly escaped Wednesdays second inning unscathed, but he spiked a two-strike changeup to Hyeseong Kim that skipped past catcher Csar Salazar to bring in the tying run. His control issues cascaded from there. An inning later, McCullers threw a nearly identical pitch to Freddie Freeman that darted into the dirt to bring in the go-ahead run. Later in the same at-bat, McCullers, who was dealing with a fingernail issue during the outing, brought in a third run on a pitch that went to the backstop. The three wild pitches alone led to more runs (three) than the Dodgers averaged over their previous seven games (2.9) and set the stage for the elusive knockout blow. With McCullers laboring in the third, Andy Pages sent the eighth pitch of his at-bat 393 feet into the Crawford Boxes in left field for a three-run home run, his first in more than three weeks. As he left the box, he cathartically thumped the knob of his bat into the dirt, releasing some of the built-up tension. Pages would have more reason to celebrate the rest of the night as the Dodgers outfielder ended his 20-game homerless drought with three home runs on Wednesday, the last of which came off Salazar after the catcher transitioned to mop-up pitching duty at the end of a 12-2 Dodgers win. With that, a slumbering offense in need of a jolt might have finally found its spark against an Astros pitching staff that has surrendered more runs than any team in the sport. "I thought today there was just more intent to scare them out of the zone," said manager Dave Roberts. "I thought the swings were with more conviction. It wasnt as much in-between, I felt. And its hard to kind of explain it, but thats just kind of what I saw from the side. A lot less indecisiveness and conviction behind the swings." The slugging struggles Before roping seven extra-base hits on Wednesday, the Dodgers were mired in a weeks-long power outage. At times, Roberts thought his players were too passive. Other times, they uncharacteristically chased. The Dodgers ranked last in the majors in slugging percentage (.323) over their last 14 games entering the series finale in Houston, an astonishing mark even over a small sample for a lineup that includes Shohei Ohtani, Kyle Tucker, Will Smith, Teoscar Hernndez and Freeman. All of those standouts are performing below their usual offensive standards to begin the year. The Dodgers hit a combined five home runs during those 14 games, the second-fewest in MLB over that stretch. They also endured a six-game homerless drought their longest since 2014 before finally breaking out with two homers Monday in an 8-3 win. The euphoria was fleeting, however, as they followed that eruption with a 2-1 loss Tuesday in a game in which Ohtani was unable to help his own cause. On the mound, Ohtanis Cy Young bid continued with seven innings of two-run ball in his longest outing since 2023, but the two-way star was notably absent from the lineup for the third time in his last four pitching starts. His 0.97 ERA through six starts is by far the best mark of any qualified pitcher, though his work on the mound appears to be coming at a cost, even if hes hesitant to admit it. "I dont think so, personally, that the pitching has been affecting my hitting," Ohtani said through an interpreter. "At the same time, it has been a little bit longer than my expectation in terms of the hitting side of things." Ohtani entered his start Tuesday hitless over five games, just the second time that has ever happened in his career. Roberts initially planned to let Ohtani assume his usual two-way duties but changed course in the midst of another hitless night Monday that dropped his batting average for the year to .240 and his OPS to .814, a dramatic decrease from the combined 1.025 OPS he posted over his first two seasons with the Dodgers. "The offense, including myself, hasnt done a great job scoring runs," Ohtani said. "If I was hitting well, Im sure the team would want me to pitch and hit as well. But I understand in a situation where, Hey, just focus on pitching, turn the page on the hitting, I understand why the team might think like that." Starting to turn at the top? The Dodgers overall offensive numbers this year arent bad theyre back to being the league leaders in OPS but it has primarily been the bottom of their lineup carrying them to this point. The Nos. 6-9 hitters in their lineup have an .876 OPS, the best mark in MLB. The top five hitters in their lineup, meanwhile, rank 16th with a combined .742 OPS. An early-season oblique injury to Mookie Betts and an illness that has circulated lately around the clubhouse havent helped matters, but the struggles of the Dodgers top sluggers this year are still difficult to explain. One sign of the frustration: Ohtani and Freeman both hit on the field pregame this week, a rare occurrence that only happens when theyre searching for something. The underlying numbers suggest both should be performing better than they have to this point, though Ohtanis bat speed and hard-hit rate are notably down from last year, which could be a sign of fatigue as he assumes full pitching duties this year. Freeman, meanwhile, has the highest average exit velocity of his career, is whiffing far less than he did last year and has a slugging percentage more than 100 points lower than what is expected based on his quality of contact. But he hasnt lined the ball over the shortstops head as often as he likes and has the lowest launch angle of his career, making it difficult for him to access his pull-side power. He has started tinkering with his stance, turning his front foot in more to avoid his hips flying out, and has seen better results. Freeman has a hit in every game this month and reached base three times Wednesday, including an opposite-field double. Ohtani also reached base three times, including a double that ended an 0-for-18 skid, as did Kyle Tucker in a game that served as a step in the right direction for a number of scuffling Dodgers stars. Tucker has been a league-average hitter to this point certainly not what the Dodgers paid for this winter when they gave him four years and $240 million and seems to be pressing early in his first year in Los Angeles, as evidenced by his highest strikeout rate since 2020, his highest chase rate since 2022 and the highest first-pitch swing rate of his career. But he now has a hit in five straight games, including three extra-base hits over that stretch. "It was good to see guys like Shohei swing the bat well," Roberts said. " I thought Freddie swung the bat well, Kyle Tucker had a really good road trip. Just across the board, I thought it was good." The Dodgers scored more runs in Wednesday's series finale (12) than they had in their last five games combined entering the series in Houston (11). Only time will tell whether the breakout against an Astros team that sports a 5.82 ERA by far the worst mark in MLB is a harbinger of a turnaround or simply a brief respite against a dreadfully depleted pitching staff. This weekend, when the Dodgers host a Braves team with the best record in baseball, should help provide an answer. Rowan Kavneris an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on X at@RowanKavner.

There has been a lot of chatter around Jasprit Bumrah's workload management in the past, and the conversation was reignited amid his poor run of form in the ongoing IPL 2026.

Tracy McGrady said earlier this week that Brown has issues 'deeply within the organization'

Bayern Munich's Belgian head coach Vincent Kompany reacts from the sidelines during the UEFA Champions League second-leg, semi-final football match between FC Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in Munich, southern Germany on May 6, 2026. (Photo by Odd ANDERSEN / AFP via Getty Images) | AFP via Getty ImagesBayern Munich has been eliminated of the UEFA Champions League after falling 6-5 to Paris Saint-Germain in the aggregate score during the UCL semifinal in their home stadium, the Allianz Arena.The match was marred by questionable refereeing decisions. Nevertheless, Bayern Munich was not able to convert the Allianz Arena into the fortress that it had been during the whole UCL campaign, with notable and until-now dependable players like striker Harry Kane and star winger Michael Olise offering less than stellar performances right when the team needed them to stand out.After the game, Bayern coach Vincent Kompany talked about the complexity of the tournament and how hard is for a team to have a flawless performance during the relatively few games in the Champions League, where a bad night can finish a teams whole campaign, while also throwing a dart at the refereeing decisions during the game. I know how difficult it is to win the Champions League and how much it depends on details. Well try everything to do better next season. And I also hope well have some of these [refereeing] decisions to our favor, said Kompany.The Bavarians will hope to return the next year and take another shot at the European glory, although this failure will surely hit the fans and club hard, since this was the first time had reached the UCL semifinals since the 2023/2024 season.If you are looking for more Bayern Munich and German national team coverage, check out the latest episodes of Bavarian Podcast Works, which you can get on Acast, Spotify, Apple, or any leading podcast distributor Join the conversation!Sign up for a user accountand get:New, improved notifications system!Fewer adsCreatecommunity postsComment on articles, community postsRec comments, community posts

Darwin Nez is prepared to call time on his adventure in Saudi Arabia after reaching an agreement to leave Al-Hilal at the end of the current campaign. The former Liverpool striker has endured a difficult period in the Middle East, finding himself frozen out of the squad following a registration squeeze. A brutal end to the Saudi chapter Nez is set to leave Al-Hilal less than a year after joining the Saudi Arabian giants. The Uruguay international, now 26, made the move to the Middle East last August for an initial fee of 46 million ($63m), but his time in Riyadh has quickly turned into a nightmare following a ruthless squad decision by the club management. The striker has reached an agreement with the club's hierarchy to facilitate his departure this summer. Despite earning a staggering 400,000 per week more than double his previous salary at Anfield Nez is prioritizing his playing career over financial gain after being effectively sidelined for the second half of the season. The Benzema factor and registration woes The catalyst for Nez downfall at Al-Hilal was the arrival of Karim Benzema in January. Saudi Pro League regulations dictate that clubs can only register eight foreign players born before 2003 in their 25-man squads. When the French legend arrived, Al-Hilal was forced to make a difficult choice and it was Nunez who was sacrificed to make room for the former Real Madrid captain. Consequently, the 26-year-old has not featured for the club since February. Although he recorded a respectable return of six goals and four assists in 16 league appearances, he has been forced to train away from the match day squad for months. Reports from Uruguayan outlet Referi suggest he has remained professional throughout, but his lack of game time has cost him his starting spot in Marcelo Bielsa's national team. Struggles from Anfield to Riyadh Nez moved to Saudi Arabia came after a polarizing three-year stint at Liverpool. Signed from Benfica for a fee that could have reached 85 million ($116m), he never quite lived up to the billing on Merseyside. While he helped the Reds to a Premier League title during his time there, his final months were marred by criticism from Arne Slot, who labeled his work rate as "unacceptable." During his time at Anfield, Nez scored 40 goals in 143 appearances, but his spell was often defined by high-profile misses and a lack of consistency. His final season under Jrgen Klopp saw him fall out of favor, and when Al-Hilal offered Liverpool a way to recoup a significant portion of their investment, the club opted to cash in on the forward. Back to Europe for the Uruguayan? A return to the Premier League could be on the cards as Nez looks to rebuild his reputation. Chelsea has been credited with an interest in the striker as they continue their search for a clinical edge, while Serie A giants Juventus are also reportedly monitoring the situation. Both clubs would represent a chance for Nunez to prove he can still compete at the highest level of European football. With his best form coming during his final season at Benfica, where he netted 34 times in 41 games, potential suitors will hope they can rediscover the player who terrorized Champions League defenses.

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has been in stunning form in the IPL this season, with the teenager amassing 404 runs in 10 matches at an average of 40.4.