CBS Sports placed Tony Romo, its lead NFL analyst, on leave on Friday, July 31.The network really had no other choice.Former Arizona Cardinal J.J. Watt will work with play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz during preseason broadcasts. And who knows, maybe for a long time after.Romo, the former Dallas Cowboy quarterback, was arrested in Milwaukee on July 23 on suspicion of driving while impaired. He told officers he was on his way to see his grandparents and hadnt had any alcoholic beverages. Bodycam footage released by the Milwaukee County Sheriffs Office did Romo no favors. Nor did the discovery of an open alcoholic beverage container.There's more to the Tony Romo story than just his arrestNow wait just a second, you might be thinking. Innocent until proven guilty and all that. Which is true. Romo will have his day in court a hearing is scheduled for Sept. 21, in fact. If his case goes to trial, he may well be found not guilty.Thats not all thats in play here. Romo serves at the pleasure of CBS Sports. I dont know if there is a clause in his contract that covers this kind of situation. And the network didnt fire him. But its obviously a terrible look for Romo and CBS Sports, so placing him on leave sounds like the right move until the legal aspects are sorted out.There is more to the story here. Romo has been on something of a downward slide for a while now not, as far as anyone knows, personally, but professionally. It hasnt been a fall from grace (though depending on how this turns out, it may qualify). But theres no question among NFL fans that Romo hasnt been the sharp, insightful analyst he was before.Romo retired from the Cowboys in 2016, and signed with CBS Sports the following year. It was a bit of a surprise; Romo seemed like he had several years of playing ahead of him, had he wanted to continue. He was a divisive figure. Cowboys fans didnt like him because they thought he choked in big games. Every other teams fans hated him because he played for the Cowboys. (Thats how NFL fandom works. As a Washington and Arizona fan, I approve.)Is an analyst worth $18 million a year? AbsolutelyHe was assigned to the No. 1 NFL broadcast team, working alongside Nantz. And Romo turned out to be surprisingly good at the analyst gig, bringing insight, as well as a willingness to criticize players and teams, that a lot of former players dont. He showed an uncanny knack for knowing what plays a team was going to run, real magic-trick stuff. And in 2020 CBS Sports signed him to a contract that pays him $18 million a year.People lost their minds. I didnt; I actually defended Romo and the contract. NFL games are by far the most popular thing on TV. By far. And in 2020, Romo was the hottest analyst out there. Of course, I later argued that Tom Brady was not worth the $350 million Fox Sports is paying him to analyze games. Apples and oranges, I think, or maybe a lack of consistency. But the money is an order of magnitude greater in Brady's case. (And in fairness, I was the worst football announcer of all time.)Other announcers have signed huge contracts in the meantime. Troy Aikman, the No. 1 analyst for Fox Sports, makes about the same per season as Romo. Which is also fine. Again, NFL games are uniquely popular, and they serve as an unmatched promotional platform for networks. People watch, and people listen.Boy, do they listen. It's not the money that people complain about in Romo's case now. The play-prediction magic wore off somewhere along the line, which is OK. It's not essential to good analysis. The bigger complaint against Romo is that he got lazy, that his analysis was boring or subpar, that he wasn't preparing the way he should be. When you're paying someone $18 million a year, you expect a little work in return.J.J. Watt will replace Romo, at least temporarilyDuring the 2022 offseason, CBS Sports staged an intervention of sorts, according to reports, to try to force Romo to prepare more. The network said it wasn't an intervention, that it meets regularly with on-air talent. Which doesn't exactly sound like a denial.Whatever the case, the arrest couldn't have come at a worse time for Romo. Or, for that matter, a better time for Watt, who is the current flavor of the month among NFL analysts. (And not without reason; he's really good.)It wouldn't be a big surprise if CBS promoted Watt full-time to the No. 1 broadcast team. I doubt they would fire Romo, but a demotion to another team is certainly a possibility. Though you don't pay someone $18 million a year to be second-best.I hope it works out for Romo. It's a sad story, really. But the NFL is a brutal game, the business of broadcasting even more so.Failing upward: I was a terrible football announcer. It was a blastReach Goodykoontz atbill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com.Facebook:facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm.Media commentary with a side of snark? Sign up forThe Watchlist newsletterwith Bill Goodykoontz.This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: CBS had to put Tony Romo on leave. Not just over his arrest | Opinion

It was the best of months, it was the worst of months. Well, actually it wasn't either of those things. But July did at least achieve one distinction: it was the most TKO-ified month in WWE's existence.There have been strong contenders in the past of course. There was this past Aprils WrestleMania month, with the hours upon hours of commercials and the whole botched Pat McAfee angle. There was last years June, when WWE confirmed the rumors that it was taking WrestleMania away from New Orleans in order to make more money for a second go-round in Vegas. Then there was last September, with the expedited launch of the ESPN deal, the shafting of Peacock and the painfully-poor Wrestlepalooza.Still, none of them quite match the dizzying heights of this July, which has to take the prize as the most commercially-ruthless month we've seen since the world's biggest pro-wrestling promotion became part of Ari Emanuel's entertainment empire.First off, we saw Saturday Night's Main Event return to MSG only to become a forced crossover with the NBA universe. A star-studded tag match pitting Cody Rhodes and CM Punk against Gunther and Sami Zayn ended up getting shunted from the main event slot for an "acknowledgment ceremony" for the New York Knicks' Jalen Brunson. That's right: an NBA star was given the top billing over a match featuring four WWE world champions.He was indeed acknowledged.WWE via Getty ImagesWhat was the reason for the whole Roman Reigns and Brunson love-in in the first place? It certainly didn't exactly add anything to the build of Reigns vs. Rollins for this weekend's SummerSlam. It didn't exactly involve any wrestling. But it did allow WWE to do exactly what TKO likes to see: which is to put non-wrestler A-listers front and center as a way of drumming up more buzz for the product on social media. Job done on that front.Of course, it also helped that the whole NBA crossover (which also featured appearances from Karl-Anthony Towns and Tyrese Haliburton) could play well with ESPN, a company which pays $300 million for some WWE broadcasting rights and obviously has a massive stake in basketball too. That kind of crossover is always going to please the networks, even if it doesn't play so well with the fans.But it wasn't just basketball players who got the red carpet treatment this month. When it came to rampant TKO-ification, we also had the massive celebrity celebration at Fanatics Fest, something that received its own highlights package on "Raw." How many times have we seen the clips of Tom Brady and Justin Bieber now? Is it more or less than the "Club WWE" trailer? You could get a good Vegas line out of that question.Then there was "Raw" itself, which wasn't much to write home about. Indeed, the last two shows in July were widely judged to be among the worst of the year something else you can partly blame on TKO.What does the notorious Slophausen concert have to do with TKO, you might ask. Well, surely it can't be a coincidence that the payoff was a cameo appearance from Ryan Garcia to take out Joe Hendry and ally himself with the Judgment Day ahead of SummerSlam. In other words, the whole point of the segment was to promote Zuffa Boxing, the Saudi-backed venture in which TKO has a significant commercial stake.Just TKO things.WWE via Getty ImagesThe celebrity stuff and commercial crossovers might be easier to stomach if we weren't seeing constant reminders of the old WWE drifting away in front of our eyes. This month was a biggie on that front, with the sudden release of Sheamus, one of the most reliable workers in the company and a man who still had a strong personal story left to finish to cap off his 25-year WWE career.The latest reports are that he refused to take one of TKO's notorious pay-cut deals. That's not exactly the sort of thing that is going to endear the fans to the new management.Yes, of course: not everything is terrible. There are still plenty of positives on the horizon. We're about to see Chad Gable win a singles title, for example. Grayson Waller just delivered a bombshell promo over on NXT. Bron Breakker is probably going to run riot on Logan Paul and Austin Theory before long. And we might get Rhea Ripley vs. Iyo Sky at Crown Jewel. By anyone's count, that's enough to keep watching this fall.But all of the positives are still happening in a wider ecosystem where everything is pointing in one direction: filling up TKOs coffers as quickly as possible. Obviously WWE isn't some kind of community sports league. It has to keep making money. But can anyone really look at what's transpired over the past few weeks and say this is the best way to do it?As the dust settles on a thoroughly frustrating month for pro-wrestling fans, I can't help but think nervously about that old meme of Homer and Bart Simpson. Will July end up being the most TKO-ified month of our lives or just the most TKO-ified month of our lives so far?

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. (AP) Cam Skattebo is all systems go at practice. His signature celebration is on hiatus.Skattebo declared himself nearly fully healthy at New York Giants training camp, nine months removed from his gruesome right ankle and leg injury. But after getting into some hot water with the organization for doing a backflip and landing awkwardly on that surgically repaired ankle earlier this month, he's planning to stay grounded for a while.Obviously, I do some dumb things here and there, but I learn from it, Skattebo said Friday. Well see when game time comes around. But right now, were focused on training camp, and well keep the backflips off the field for now.Skattebo alarmed, among others, coach John Harbaugh and general manager Joe Schoen when they saw video of the backflip at Fanatics Fest in New York on July 18. He turned out to be fine, but a text message and some difficult conversations followed.Hes a young man thats still getting used to the spotlight and in New York City, and you've got to be conscious of your actions, not only from a health standpoint but a perception standpoint, Schoen said. He knows Id rather him not do that, especially this close to camp.It is not the first time Skattebo has been second-guessed for something off the field since reaching the NFL and getting hurt. He took part in a WWE show in November, weeks after surgery, took criticism from radio hosts but was not worse for the wear.The botched backflip was a much riskier endeavor the Giants would rather he not repeat.The big picture message is you want to take care of yourself," Harbaugh said. "You want to take care of your team: do everything you can do to be healthy, be back, be right, be good.The 24-year-old running back declared in May he'd be ready for the season opener Sept. 13 against Dallas. Skattebo also told the coaching staff he'd be good for the start of camp and hit that deadline. As a result, he has no limitations and is doing just about as well as he can.I've felt 99%, Skattebo said. I think the 100% is when I put shoulder pads on and I'm able to hit someone. That's when I tell you I'm 100%, but for now I'm 99.9% OK."Skattebo will get that chance when the pads go on beginning Monday. A 2025 fourth-round pick out of Arizona State, Skattebo rushed for 410 yards and five touchdowns on 101 carries before having his rookie year cut short Oct. 26 at Philadelphia. This past spring, he set a goal of playing 17-plus games and rushing for over 2,000 yards on 300 carries.Skattebo didn't shy away from those lofty aspirations which would give him a top-10 season in league history but his main focus is on moving past the injury and rehab process and getting back to what he does best."It was a long, hard road," Skattebo said. Its time to play football.Malik Nabers did not practice FridayAfter being the talk of the start of camp for getting on the field for individual drills after his own lengthy rehab from a torn ACL, Malik Nabers did not take part in practice Friday. Harbaugh called it part of the process.Well work through it, and every single day will be what it is that given day, Harbaugh said. Hes worked real hard, made a lot of progress and thats what we decided to do today for practice.Neither Nabers nor the Giants have set a timetable for his return to game action.___AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Vinicius Junior has yet to agree to a contract extension with Real Madrid -Credit:SOPA Images, SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty ImagesThe tide appears to be turning in Arsenal's favor in the pursuit of Vinicius Junior's potential blockbuster transfer from Real Madrid, according to football.london.Real Madrid have not, and seemingly will not, barring a dramatic change of stance, budge from their current position regarding a contract renewal offer to the Brazilian star.Reports from Marca on Friday indicated that the latest proposal put to Vini Jr and his representatives is considered 'final.'Donald Trump sparks outrage with Harry Kane World Cup commentsArgentina World Cup Final red card rescinded, face potential FIFA disciplinary action -Credit:Koji Watanabe, Getty ImagesVinicius Junior's preference has been to remain with Los Blancos; however, Madrid's reluctance to negotiate beyond their current offer has seen sentiment begin to shift.This is opening the door for Arsenal, who at every level are united in their determination to secure a deal should the player's future at Madrid remain unresolved this summer.football.london understands no decision has yet been reached, and the player will not rush into a choice, but the picture is clear where both Madrid and Arsenal now stand.This is precisely the scenario currently developing in the Spanish capital. Mikel Arteta outlined an ambitious vision for the club's summer plans, much of which would be fulfilled by securing the arrival of Vinicius Junior.To listen to the latest episode of 'All Out Soccer' - CLICK HERE"A lot is happening," Arteta said in his first interview of the summer. "We all know about the context of this transfer window."From ownership to the board, the sporting director and myself, we know that we want to take this club to a different level. That is going to require a better squad, better individuals."We have identified where we have opportunities to grow and to improve and to evolve our game and what is going to be needed to achieve that. Hopefully, very soon we can start to put things in a very concrete way."The club are also edging closer to securing Newcastle United midfielder and Vini Jr's Brazilian compatriot Bruno Guimaraes.A fee in the region of 80 million ($107.7 million) is anticipated to be reached, with intermediaries playing a pivotal role in behind-the-scenes negotiations and add-ons expected to prove decisive in sealing the final deal.

Jul 28, 2026; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots wide receiver Cameron Dorner (88) and safety Peter Manuma (34) do a drill during training camp at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters ConnectFor a second straight day, the New England Patriots put on their full pads on Friday. This meant that, for a second straight day, the intensity was high in Foxborough.To recap the sixth practice of the summer, please make sure to head over to our Patriots training camp notebook. In the meantime, here is who caught our eye during the session.Standout of the dayQB Drake Maye: The Patriots starting quarterback was close to perfect on Friday, stacking a second straight strong practice. Maye completed 19 of 21 combined pass attempts in 7-on-7s and 11-on-11s, with his lone incompletions being by choice: he took one throwaway in 7s and another in 11s, even though the latter was seemingly picked off by Christian Gonzalez for the interception.Still, Maye impressed. Not only is he spreading the ball around well, he also is making multiple highlight-reel throws each day. On Friday, a 7-on-7 touchdown to Romeo Doubs over Gonzalezs outstretched arms was a highlight, as was a deep touchdown to A.J. Brown.The connection with those two is developing nicely, and so is the Patriots passing offense as a whole. Ultimately, it all goes back to No. 10.Other performances of noteWR Romeo Doubs: After A.J. Brown had his best of camp on Thursday, the other high-profile offseason addition at wide receiver followed suit on Friday. Doubs had his best practice of the summer, having successful reps in 1-on-1s, 2-on-2s and 7-on-7s the latter including a contested touchdown versus Christian Gonzalez. He was not targeted in 11-on-11s, but it still felt like big step in the right direction.WR Cameron Dorner: The Patriots undrafted rookie receivers are unlikely to compete for roster spots; there simply is too much talent ahead of them on the depth chart. They are in a fight for the practice squad, however, and Dorner seems to have started separating himself from the bunch. He had another good practice on Friday and has built a good rapport with third-string quarterback Behren Morton.OT Caleb Lomu: With Morgan Moses limited, the Patriots rookie tackle saw increased action on Friday. He responded with an up-and-down performance. While Lomu did look solid during team drills, he had a rough 1-on-1 blocking period. Most of the media tent had him going 0-4 in his matchups with losses to Bradyn Swinson twice and once each against Elijah Ponder and Amari Gainer. He seemed to particularly struggle with speed.OL Mehki Butler and OL Caedan Wallace: It looks like the second-string offense has a new member. After the former third-round pick Wallace served as both a backup left and right guard during the spring and early training camp, sophomore Mehki Butler filled that role on Friday. That is a nice promotion for Butler, while the end of the road might be nearing for Wallace.The Patriots will hold their seventh practice of training camp on Saturday. Gates are scheduled to open at 9:15 p.m. ET for that session, with practice again set to start approximately an hour later.

INDYCAR HEADQUARTERS (Indianapolis) I got to see the 2028 INDYCAR. And there is a lot to like. Well, it wont be exactly what will run at the track starting in 2028. With 19 months to go before it actually is used to race, it will undergo more tweaks and adjustments. Testing starts Saturday and Sunday, with Alexander Rossi in the car on Saturday and Alex Palou in it on Sunday. It wont have the actual race engines, as Chevrolet and Honda are still developing their power plants. Instead, it will have a 2.4-liter V-6 engine that was developed a few years ago but never used. It wont have the hybrid system operational. But the tests over the next few months will inform INDYCAR about what might need to be changed before parts and pieces are started in mass production. INDYCAR doesnt expect full tests of the entire field until after the 2027 season. "This weekend ... is just some very basic metrics that we need to get off the car," INDYCAR VP of Competition and Race Engineering Mike OGara told me and other reporters Friday afternoon when showing us the car. "Lap time is not even on our radar just yet. For a brand-new car, you really need to make sure it starts, it steers, and it stops. And then you start looking at more and more data and measuring more things. "If we get through these next couple days with a car that we know the braking system and the steering system work fine and the new damper system is doing what it's supposed to, it'll be a good test." But leave no doubt, this car is well into its development. And for 2028, here are eight things that seem cool. Elements of the car that folks really might like. Things that are noticeable when taking a close look at the car. It's designed to be faster without compromising safety. And also, it's about 100 pounds lighter than the current car used today. Well get into more of the tech elements after the test, but this is more what strikes me at first look. 1. LED Lights This was tried a handful of years ago. But trying to incorporate the system into an existing car produced too many problems with overheating and vibrations. It also caused issues with the car's ability to work properly overall. But now the LED lights, which will show a cars place during a race and potentially the time of the pit stop, should be good to go. Used in other series including IMSA, it will help fans know what place the car is in while it races. "Anti-vibration is built into it, everything in terms of the way that that carbon was built, so that it fits perfectly in there," INDYCAR Senior VP of Competition and Operations Mark Silba told me and the gathered media. "There's also been technical advances that have happened, and we worked with Dallara on that to build a panel that would be more robust. ... Thats something we absolutely wanted to bring back for the fans." 2. Front Wing The front wing still looks good. And for Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the design of the big curved sidepods should help with air flow to allow drivers who are third, fourth, fifth in line to be able to have an easier time making passes. Im not sure if it is just the way the nose now looks toward the ground, but the front wing is distinctly INDYCAR. 3. It's Sleek The car appears a little more narrow. It still has that soda-bottle look. It looks cleaner than the current car, and frankly it should. The current car, which debuted in 2012, has had things bolted on and added for safety or aerodynamic reasons. "There's been a conscious effort to look at the nose-up attitude of the car in different yaw situations and to reduce lift," OGara said. "The current car we've sort of piled all these things on. We have flaps on the tire ramps at the speedway, and we have flaps on the back of the under tray at the speedway. "We ran a spine on the current car. This car has none of that. Because all of the learnings from what those have all helped the cars from blowing over. From trying to make them more stable when you're sideways or sliding backwards we've seen those aero effects, and they've been integrated into the actual shape of the body of the car." 4. Aeroscreen & Halo More Crisp The aeroscreen and halo, now incorporated into the car, definitely look better. Its not as bulky. They describe it as having more of a fighter pilot look, and it is hard to argue with that. "When you see the car head-on, the windscreen and cockpit, it just fits better," OGara said. 5. Clear Rear Panel There is a clear panel at the rear of the car that will allow people to see the engine cover. It will allow for engine manufacturer branding to be seen through the panel. There's also a small area where fans when just looking at the car as it sits on the grid can see a little bit of the suspension underneath the body. 6. Steering Wheel And Fewer Knobs More of the controls will move to the steering wheel, giving the cockpit area a slightly cleaner look, while still boasting a steering wheel that looks cool. Plus, theres a safety element. "We've tried to limit the number of controls in the car, so you'll see a lot less knobs and buttons and levers and things like that," OGara said. "The anti-roll bars are electronic now in the car, so they're on electric actuators, and itll be up to the team to configure. But probably the thumb wheels that are on the steering wheel will adjust the anti-roll bars. "It's going to allow the drivers to not pull their hand off the wheel when they're making these adjustments for one, but it's also less stuff in the cockpit for them to hit their hands." 7. Bigger Cockpit The cockpit is bigger, allowing drivers of all sizes to be more comfortable in the car. It will also potentially be cooler. And were not talking about the looks in this instance but about the temperatures inside. "It's safer because there's more padding now around the driver," OGara said. "It allows for a wider range of drivers." Also, the seat doesnt adjust but the controls can be moved to come toward the driver. 8. Cool Factor Which brings us to the last part of this piece. The cool factor when it comes to temperatures doesnt mean it wont be hot. The drivers, though, hopefully wont feel that they are in an oven just baking throughout a race. The infrastructure needs of the current cool suit system are part of the car and there are many other ways the car is designed to be more comfortable. "The helmet cooling will be through the radiator ducts," OGara said. "There's cooling up top on the shock cover where we currently have cooling, and then underneath the car, there's an area where ... the bottom of the tub is sort of boat shaped, and at the very tip of that is a screen that comes right in under the steering column, blows air right on the driver. "So a lot more cooling for the driver." Whew. Thats a good thing. Its time to get started. "Teams will start receiving cars in about June of next year," OGara said. "We're going to coordinate the testing with all the teams. So, initially, it'll be one car per team starting once the 2027 INDYCAR season finishes."

More than 100 women's college basketball players have teamed up to form a union for college athletes as part of their growing push to collectively bargain with their schools, an organizing group announced Friday. The United College Athletes Association said as part of the push, members of the Oregon State women's team filed a petition with state regulators, marking a formal effort to seek collective bargaining rights under state law.The announcement comes two years after a group of women's basketball players co-signed letters to Southeastern and Big Ten Conference leaders in 2024, requesting a formal collaboration process on issues affecting college athletics. Since those efforts were denied, more than 100 female athletes have signed union authorization cards with the UCAA, agreeing to representation in collective bargaining. The announcement comes a few days after the College Football Players Association revealed that Stanford has become the first football team to organize a player-led chapter another effort by college athletes to unionize.The UCAA says its mission is to represent and protect athletes through collective bargaining, ensuring that college sports are safe, fair, sustainable and that athletes have a say in decision-making.As interim president of the UCAA, Im proud to help lead a movement that gives college athletes a real voice in the decisions that shape our lives and careers," University of Maryland basketball player Oluchi Okananwa said in a statement. NCAA leaders have long opposed the idea of players becoming employees of their schools, though the idea isn't universally opposed by college leaders. Tennessee athletic director Danny White has been among those who have said collective bargaining is the only real solution to the problems that confront schools that are now paying millions to their players.Attempts to create unions for college athletes at Dartmouth and Southern California stalled in 2024 due to the changing landscape in college sports and the then-incoming Trump administration's new National Labor Relations Board, which wasn't expected to approve the moves.___Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP womens college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball

"WWE SmackDown" is in Green Bay, Wisconsin on this final Friday of the month July 31 to send us into the SummerSlam weekend in Minneapolis, Minnesota. One more spot in Sundays Interim Women's Championship match needs to be decided, while tag-team gold is also on the line.None of WWE's three sets of tag-team titles will be up for grabs over the weekend at SummerSlam, so that means a title match is in order for tonight when Damian Priest & R-Truth defend their WWE Tag Team titles against the AAA champions, The War Raiders.Giulia and Lash Legend will also be in action, as they aim to fill out Sundays five-person ladder match to determine the new Interim Women's Champion at SummerSlam Night 2. The winner from the weekend will have their hands full with current champion Rhea Ripley once she's ready to return from her knee injury.Additionally, Cody Rhodes and CM Punk will go face-to-face one final time before their highly anticipated title tilt at SummerSlam. On a house show yesterday, the pair came to blows when Rhodes elbowed Punk to elicit a pull apart.Check out the full "WWE SmackDown" lineup below, which starts at 8 p.m. ET on USA Network:WWE Tag Team Championship: Damian Priest & R-Truth (c.) vs. The War Raiders (Erik and Ivar)Interim WWE Women's Championship Ladder Match Qualifier: Giulia vs. Lash LegendAppearances from CM Punk and Cody RhodesFor complete coverage of "WWE SmackDown" on USA, follow along with Uncrowned's live blog below:

It isn't as if he needs to, but Zay Flowers has never lacked confidence or playmaking ability. Those traits helped make him one of the NFL's most dangerous young receivers almost immediately after landing with the Baltimore Ravens.Now, the organization that placed so much faith in him is watching another part of his game emerge. After placing a second training camp in the books, one that doubles as the second for new head coach Jesse Minter and offensive coordinator Declan Doyle, Flowers is taking on more responsibility. That isn't because anyone has asked him to become the loudest voice in the locker room. Instead, his preparation and daily approach have naturally positioned him as one of the team's leaders.While speaking with media members, Coach Minter made it clear, after the second workout session, that leadership isn't measured by who delivers the biggest speeches. Instead, he pointed to Flowers' consistency, professionalism and energy as qualities teammates naturally follow."He's a great example of just consistency every day. He's got a smile on his face every day. He comes to work. He practices hard. He finishes. He competes."Zay Flowers' preparation is setting the example.Flowers' own comments revealed just how seriously he has embraced that responsibility. Rather than relying on two productive NFL seasons, the Pro Bowl receiver approached Baltimore's new offense as if he were starting from scratch and building everything from the ground up."It's really back to square one. Learning everything all over again."He also described spending extra time with quarterback Lamar Jackson during the offseason, including early morning workouts, to build chemistry before training camp began. Flowers admitted he wanted to make a strong first impression on Doyle and the new offensive staff while helping ensure the offense could hit the ground running once practices began.That mindset mirrors the culture Baltimore's coaches have consistently emphasized throughout camp. Veterans and young players alike have spoken about accountability, mastering the details and earning trust through daily work rather than reputation. Flowers appears to have fully embraced those expectations. His willingness to attack a new playbook with the mindset of a rookie, despite already establishing himself as one of the league's ascending receivers, reflects the kind of maturity coaches hope their best players will demonstrate.As Baltimore continues installing its offense, Flowers also stressed that the focus isn't on individual statistics but on creating opportunities for everyone. The Ravens drafted him believing he could become a dynamic playmaker capable of changing games with the football in his hands. That vision hasn't changed. What's evolving is everything that comes with it.Leadership doesn't always come from standing in front of the locker room and delivering a speech. Sometimes it's found in the player arriving early to work with his quarterback, embracing a new system without ego and setting the standard through preparation. If that's the type of leader Baltimore envisioned when it made Flowers a first-round pick, the Ravens are beginning to see that vision become reality.This article originally appeared on Ravens Wire: Ravens are seeing another side of Zay Flowers emerge at training camp