Collins' Big Test Will Be Walking Into Locker Room

After upgrading the roster on both sides of the ball, the Chicago Bears hope to be in more close games in 2023, the kind in which a key play here or there on special teams can make the difference. The Bears lost by nine or more points seven times during last year’s 3-14 season.

A long layoff and serious shoulder injury can create uncertainty in which version of a pitcher comes back, even with Kyle Hendricks’ pedigree. The Chicago Cubs’ inconsistencies over the last five weeks continued in a four-game series split against the San Diego Padres, getting shut out twice, including Monday’s 5-0 loss.

The Ravens’ offseason has been a sea of change. Quarterback Lamar Jackson got a new contract, and Baltimore got a new offensive coordinator and a cadre of new wide receivers. But there’s also a familiar face among all that restructuring. Tee Martin, who spent the past two seasons as Baltimore’s wide receivers coach, was named quarterbacks coach in February, taking over for James Urban. For Martin, it’s a return to his natural position — he quarterbacked Tennessee to a national championship in 1998.

Mark Jackson was heckled by Denver Nuggets fans because he left Nikola Jokic off his official MVP ballot. And while Jackson downplayed the taunts, there’s some discrepancy over the level of nastiness. “Mark is being kind to some of those fans. Some of those fans were clowns at the game,” said Jeff Van Gundy, who sat next to Jackson during the heckling as the ESPN analysts both called the Western Conference finals in Denver.

Adam Silver’s biggest tweak to the NBA since taking over for David Stern — the play-in tournament — produced this year both a finalist and semifinalist. The Heat and Lakers got through Silver’s extra game(s) and demonstrated there’s hope for the play-in teams beyond extra revenue for postseason gates. On a broader scale, the league is wide open because the Warriors and LeBron James lost their fizzle.

Kayvon Thibodeaux says he has always thought outside the box. He attributes the origin of his curiosity to his father Angelo’s creativity and unorthodox mindset in the construction business growing up in South Central Los Angeles. “I watched him build houses, I watched him fix things, and I think for him there was an understanding that nothing is actually broken,” Thibodeaux, 22, the Giants’ pass rusher, told the Daily News on the phone Thursday.