CLEVELAND, OH - AUGUST 27: Deshaun Watson #4 of the Cleveland Browns signals to teammates during the first half of a preseason game against the Chicago Bears at FirstEnergy Stadium on August 27, 2022 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images) | Getty ImagesThe Cleveland Browns and Chicago Bears faced off in their first preseason game of the 2026 season, with the home team sitting many key players while the visitors were trying to evaluate some key players. The final score was far from the most important thing for the Browns, but DBNers spent the game chatting through all the details of the game and noticing a lot of key things.Final score: 34-10 Bears with the victory.A few key takeaways from Clevelands first preseason game under HC Todd Monken:Deshaun Watson crisp, then not; far from perfectThe game against the Bears gave Watson a chance to clearly establish himself as the QB leader heading into the Buffalo Bills joint practices. To start the game, it looked like that was very possible as Watson looked comfortable in the pocket, made some good throws across the middle, and his only incompletion was a drop by TE Harold Fannin Jr.Then as things sped up, Watson looked more uncomfortable, and the offense stopped producing. The QB was not the only problem (see below), but the veteran left the door wide-open for Shedeur Sanders to run through next week. On 4th down, Watson failed to get the ball out quickly, leading to a fumble and turnover (line seemed to be quick setting, expecting a quick throw):Jamree Kromah forces and recovers the fumble!CLEvsCHI on @nflnetworkStream on @NFLPluspic.twitter.com/4N2OKC5Yut NFL (@NFL) August 15, 2026A breakdown of the data:Deshaun Watson in the first half vs. the Bears:18 dropbacks11/15 (73.3% completion rate)129 passing yards (4 rushing yards)98.2 passer ratingSacked once (one lost fumble)2.75s avg. time to throw4.4 air yards per attempt pic.twitter.com/GTeKCGzUCa Daniel Oyefusi (@DanielOyefusi) August 15, 2026OLine struggles, especially in run blockingIt was not surprising to see the new Cleveland OLine looking better than last year; almost anything would be, but it wasnt pretty as a whole. Rookie Spencer Fano, who has had a very good training camp, was left in much longer than the rest of the starters and didnt look great overall. Rushing up the middle was almost non-existent, and the second string looked outmatched by the second and third stringers from Chicago. The run game, as a whole, just did not look good.Pass protection was okay at times, but the line lacks power for sure.Rookie WRs, especially KC Concepcion, look goodMonken looks like he plans to make Concepcion his Zay Flowers, with the ball in his hands in as many ways and times as possible. Concepcion caught three passes, including a pop pass, and took an end-around for a touchdown. His speed is a real threat and Monkens use of rub routes will open up things for his quickness as well.Denzel Boston had just one reception, but his size-and-speed combo fits perfectly along with Concepcion.Chris Edmunds struggles; Michael Coats Jr. does not A lot of questions in the Browns defensive backfield, including whether they will keep four or five safeties and the cornerback depth chart after Denzel Ward, Tyson Campbell, and Myles Harden. The more experienced Edmunds did not help his cause in the safety room, but UDFA cornerback Coats did. Not only did Coats have an interception, but he had a nice pass breakup as well:Michael Coats Jr. with a well-executed PBU. Recovers to the outside shoulder, stays patient, and rips through the catch-point. pic.twitter.com/uWMwdnktqQ Browns Film Breakdown (@BrownsFilmBDN) August 15, 2026Coats did leave the game with an ankle injury in the second half, something to watch.Todd Monken aggressive on 4th downFor fans who were hoping that Kevin Stefanskis penchant for going for it on 4th down had left with him will likely be disappointed. As it is almost universally around the league, Monken seems likely to go for it regularly. Preseason isnt always indicative with 4th down attempts, but Monken didnt take the points or punt it away and play defense.Where is the pass rush?Given the Browns bringing in a number of old pass rushers, it seems the team is not happy with their depth at the defensive end position. Except for a few snaps against former Cleveland OT Jedrick Wills, the Browns pass rush was mostly toothless in the game. Probably not a big deal, with vanilla plans, but something to watch with DE Myles Garrett traded away. Special teams no longer uglyA big return from Concepcion was great, but overall not having terrible plays on special teams, which normally includes a bunch of flags, was nice.Defense got gashed, concerning for nowAs a whole, the defense wasnt terrible, but there were quite a few gash plays where defenders were out of position or overpursuing. Given the Garrett departure and replacing Jim Schwartz with Mike Rutenberg, Cleveland fans have a right to be concerned that the unit that carried the squad for a couple of years is going to take a step back. Far from certain, but for now a concern.Shedeur Sanders with the good and badPlaying against a lot of backups, Sanders needed to not look bad, and he didnt to start the second half; then, similar to Watson but against more backups, things got worse. A couple of good throws on his first drive, including slightly drifting in the pocket to make this throw:deep shot through pressure #CLEvsCHI on News 5 and NFL Network pic.twitter.com/QzfpBciGE0 Cleveland Browns (@Browns) August 15, 2026While incomplete, the ball placement to Gage Larvadain on the sideline was nice in the Cover-2 hole near the end of the third quarter. Overall, everything felt slow with Sanders, including time in the huddle.Sanders overthrow, by about five yards, led to an interception. Looks like a terrible throw, but always a chance that the receiver (Malachi Corley) ran the wrong depth, or a different depth than Sanders expected. The dots seem to indicate that it was an overthrow:Yep, it was schemed up well. Just overthrew it. https://t.co/JP99uESSQHpic.twitter.com/D4spM9wkFu Daniel Oyefusi (@DanielOyefusi) August 15, 2026Dillon Gabriel took over after the interception.What were your takeaways from the Browns preseason game versus the Bears?Join the conversation!Sign up for a user account and get:Fewer adsCreate community postsComment on articles, community postsRec comments, community postsNew, improved notifications system!

Aug 13, 2026; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; New England Patriots center Ben Brown (77) warms up before a preseason game against the Indianapolis Colts at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Natalie Reid-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters ConnectThe New England Patriots offensive line depth suffered a blow in the first quarter of their preseason opener against the Indianapolis Colts. Ben Brown, who had started the game at center and projects as the top interior backup entering 2026, exited the contest and was unable to return.According to head coach Mike Vrabel, he wont be for a while.Ben is going to be a few weeks, Vrabel said during a press conference ahead of the Patriots training camp practice on Saturday. Four-to-six, eight, 10, 12. Even numbers. But it will probably be extensive throughout the rest of the preseason for sure.Brown remained down following a sack against backup quarterback Tommy DeVito on Thursday night. He required assistance walking off the field and into the blue medical tent on the sideline, which he left straight for the locker room. In his place, undrafted rookie Jacob Rizy took over as New Englands center.Whether or not that arrangement will remain in place heading into next weeks joint practices and preseason game with the Philadelphia Eagles will be seen. The Patriots did sign two free agent interior linemen Darrian Dalcourt and Joe Michalski to their active roster on Saturday to improve the depth at the position.Brown, 28, started his career as an undrafted rookie with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2022, and through stints in Seattle, Arizona and Las Vegas found his way to New England during the 2024 season. He has since played 31 games with 14 starts for team, and after signing a two-year, $5 million contract extension in December 2025 projects as its No. 4 interior linemen behind starters Alijah Vera-Tucker, Jared Wilson and Mike Onwenu.

WESTFIELD -- The Colts hold their tenth 2026 training camp practice at 4 p.m. Saturday, August 15, 2026.Practice will last 60 minutes and IndyStar Colts Insiders Nathan Brown and Joel A. Erickson will have all the highlights for you here.This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Colts hold tenth 2026 training camp practice, all the highlights are here

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Newcastle open talks with Bayern over permanent signing of PalhinhaAfter Bayern Munich's talks with Aston Villa over Joao Palhinha broke down, Newcastle United have seemingly moved to the front of the queue for the Bayern midfielder.According to Sky Sports, Newcastle are in talks with Bayern over a permanent deal for the 31-year-old Portuguese international.The report suggests that the Magpies have turned their attention to Palhinha after their move for Pierre-Emile Hjbjerg collapsed and they are now hoping to get a deal over the line before the transfer window closes.Palhinha has also attracted interest from Benfica and Sporting CP in his native Portugal, but the former Fulham man reportedly prefers a return to the Premier League, where he spent last season on loan at Tottenham.The 31-year-old was left out of Bayern's squad for Saturday's 3-1 Telekom Cup win over RB Leipzig.

With Justin Herbert on the sidelines for the Chargers' first game of the preseason, it was the Trey Lance and DJ Uiagalelei show.Lance started things off for the Chargers in their preseason opener against the Texans. The former No. 3 overall pick played for the first three quarters, leading the offense through six drives before checking out.Uiagalelei then took over the reins, playing exclusively in the fourth quarter. He completed six of nine passes for 120 yards, including a three-yard touchdown pass for Devonte Ross with 10 minutes left in the contest.Head coach Jim Harbaugh loved what he saw from both his signal callers."Trey Lance, thought he played really well, thought DJ played really well," Harbaughsaid. "Both of those guys operating drives, a lot of first downs it was good to look at moving the football."While Lance and Uiagalelei led the offenses to scoring drives, this first battle may have gone to Uiagalelei. It's fair to say that Uiagalelei outplayed Lance, as he handled short-to-intermediate routes cleaner and used his legs to extend plays.While Lance wasn't terrible, he made some costly mistakes, including an interception right before halftime. On top of that, he barely survived other near-interceptions dropped by Texans defenders.Overall, Uiagalelei looked smoother under center and running the offense as a whole. It'll be interesting to see how Harbaugh decides to split the time moving forward."Can you move the football team, can you the team in 11-on-11 and pick up first downs, end the drives with field goals or touchdowns? More times than not, those points were [there]," Harbaugh said. "Things to get better on, yeah."You got to give the quarterback a lot of credit for that," Harbaugh added. "It's really encouraging the way both quarterbacks acquitted themselves in this game."Lance is currently the QB2 in the Chargers' unofficial depth chart. If Uiagalelei can continue to shine and outperform his counterpart, Harbaugh may elevate the former undrafted quarterback to second string. This article originally appeared on Chargers Wire: Where the Chargers' QB2 battle stands after preseason opener

Benjamin Nygren: Man of the MatchBenjamin Nygren deservedly earned the Man of the Match award in the 4-0 win over Dundee United on Tayside and was involved in a few of the goals as well.And no more so than in the 63rd minute when he rounded off the scoring with a strike of his own that was also the goal of the game.The midfielder said after the victory: It was a great win today. I think we kept going from last week's result with scoring a lot of goals.The energy was top today. I'm very happy.It was a very good performance, the whole team was good today.And I think we find each other really, really well up front. So, yeah, I'm pleased with it.It was a classic team performance with cohesion and interconnection throughout the 90 minutes and the Swede put the display on the players constant dialogue on the training pitch, and in games.He said: We talk a lot and try to get our chemistry as good as possible.We talk with each other about what we think in certain situations and what to do to find each other, and what we like and so on.It's been feeling very good. And me and Seb have spoken a lot.So now finally I find him for his goal, and he finds me for my goal. So that was very nice.For the full interview, watch the video below.More on the game:Celts to the fore at Tannadice:Match reportManager hails Celts League Cup victory: Read moreFixturesDundee United Vs. Celtic - Sat, Aug 15th 2026, 17:45 Final score: 0 - 4

O'Connor set an Irish record with 6,751 points [Getty Images]Kate O'Connor said her late grandmother "would have been jumping for joy" after the Ireland athlete claimed gold in the heptathlon at the European Championships in Birmingham.The Newry-born 25-year-old entered the final event with a 51-point lead on nearest challenger, Emma Oosterwegel of the Netherlands.O'Connor needed to get to within 3.4 seconds of Oosterwegel in the 800m to seal overall victory and did just that with the Dutch woman winning the race in 2:10.87, but O'Connor - in third behind Sveva Gerevini of Italy - was within a second in 2:11.74.It meant that O'Connor came top with 6751 points - a national record - with Oosterwegel taking silver on 6713 and Netherlands' Sofie Dokter claiming bronze on 6664.This success builds on the gold O'Connor won at the Commonwealth Games for Northern Ireland in July and silver at last year's World Championships."A couple of years ago, I probably wouldn't have thought this would happen to me," O'Connor told RTE Sport."It's been a long two years. I know there's been medals [won], but there is an increase in pressure with every competition, so each has been different to try and navigate that and this competition has been no different. It's been difficult from start to finish and I didn't have it easy for a second. "This year has been really tough from outside - my granny dies earlier this year and I don't think I give my dad enough credit, but it hit home for him and the way he turned up to training day-in and day-out..."This is my dream, but it's his dream too and I have to dedicate this medal to my granny because she was both of our biggest fans and would have been jumping for joy if she was here."'That was the most nerve-racking 800m of my life'O'Connor remained close to nearest challenger Oosterwegel in the 800m [Getty Images]O'Connor entered day two in third place after four events, 42 points behind overnight leader Adrianna Sulek-Schubert, after PBs in the 100m hurdles [13:30] and 200m [23.79] on Friday which also saw her equal her best of 1.86m in the high jump and throw 13.96m with the shot put.Her personal best form continued in the long jump on Saturday morning with a leap of 6.55m and a throw of 50.16m in the javelin took her overall total to 5,812 points, 51 ahead of Oosterwegel who had moved into second with Dokter third as Poland's Sulek-Schubert dropped to seventh after a disappointing start to the day.It all came down to the 800m on Saturday evening and O'Connor raced into an early lead before Oosterwegel took the initiative, but the Dundalk St Gerard's AC athlete remained on her shoulder as Gerevini then mounted a charge.While Oosterwegel passed the Italian to win the race, O'Connor was within a second which was enough to claim a second gold medal in a matter of weeks."That was the most nerve-racking 800 of my life," O'Connor said."I had a job to do and I know I've had quite a few jobs to do over these last few days - some I've executed and some I haven't."I was so nervous before that run but when I hear cheers like that for me [from the Irish support] going around those two laps, there was no way I was going to let that gold medal slip through my fingers."I did want to win the race, but with 50 metres to go I knew I had enough in me to stay within the three seconds and I just wanted to leave here injury-free and with a gold medal around my neck."'It was important I finished' - Johnson-ThompsonGreat Britain's Katarina Johnson-Thompson stayed the course in the 800m metres but finished last in the first heat to finish 21st overall.The 33-year-old Olympic silver medallist came into the competition after competing just once - a shot put event in Loughborough in May - since claiming bronze at last year's World Championships in Tokyo.Johnson-Thompson entered Saturday 324 points off the pace in 16th but her challenge faded in the long jump and javelin earlier in the day, while she came in last in heat one of the 800m."It is obviously far from my best," Johnson-Thompson told BBC Sport."Not the competition I would have wanted, but in a way it is. I finished."As a heptathlete it is not easy to come into a competition not in shape. You can't get knocked out in a heat and go home. It was important to me that I finished. I wanted to do it for them [coaching team and physiotherapist] as we worked so hard to be here."I have been coming here since English schools. I have been coming here a long time and I have been an athlete for a long time. It has been great to experience the stadium."Fellow GB team-mate Jade O'Dowda finished 13th with 6191 points after a fifth-place finish in heat one of the 800m.

The Chargers have set themselves up to potentially have the league's best offense. A lot of that optimism can be attributed to the addition of offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel. The expectation is that McDaniel will unlock the Chargers' offense, with many experts and former players believing Los Angeles could have the best unit in the NFL.Former Pro Bowl wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh is among those believers. During his podcast,Speakeasy, he predicted the Chargers will have the NFL's best offense while highlighting Tre Harris as a player poised for a breakout.I'll go with an outlier, Ill say the Chargers with Mike McDaniel, Houshmandzadeh said.You think about that offensive line, you think about [Justin] Herbert. The receivers, if they give Tre Harris opportunities, Tre Harris gonna burst on the scene this year like why he didn't play much last year. That's that's what's going to happen.McDaniel is expected to modernize and elevate the offense into an explosive, top-tier unit. The Chargers were a middle-of-the-pack offense in 2025, ranking 12th in total offense, 18th in passing offense, 12th in rushing offense and 20th in scoring offense.With a quarterback like Herbert, that should not be the case. With McDaniel at the helm, there are high expectations for how he could transform the Bolts' offense.As for the Harris part of things, he's expected to play a big role in 2026. Harris has every chance to take a major leap and be the true second or third wide receiver for Los Angeles.The 2025 season was an underwhelming one, recording only 324 receiving yards. However, Harris is expected to be heavily involved in the offense, which could lead to a breakout season.This article originally appeared on Chargers Wire: Could Chargers have NFL's best offense? Former Pro Bowl WR thinks so