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FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- Justin Fields will be the New York Jets' eighth different Week 1 quarterback in the past 14 years.

Yes, he's walking into a tough job. Then again, the one he left was no picnic.

"It was, of course, different for me and a space where I wasn't necessarily comfortable," Fields said Wednesday in his first media availability since signing a two-year, $40 million contract last month as a free agent.

He helped the Pittsburgh Steelers to a 4-2 start last season, but he was benched for the first time in his life when Russell Wilson was deemed healthy after a calf injury. Fields never got another shot, even when the offense cratered late in the season.

Instead of looking back with bitterness, Fields said he believes the experience will make him a better quarterback for the Jets. He replaces future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers, who was released after an uneven season.

"Coach [Mike] Tomlin made a decision he thought was best for the team, and I'm never going to go against that," Fields said, reflecting on the benching. "I'm not a selfish guy whatsoever, so I just tried to change my perspective, get better each and every day in practice."

He was a backup for the past 11 games, plus a playoff game, leaving him in "a place where I wasn't, really, never in ... in my entire life," he said. The Steelers tried to re-sign Fields, but the Jets came in strong with a $30 million guarantee and an opportunity to establish himself as their long-term answer.

Fields insisted the benching had no bearing on his decision to leave the Steelers.

"You can't take things personal," he said. "That's one thing I've learned over the years, not to take anything personal. At the end of the day, I was just excited of what the Jets had going on here with AG [Aaron Glenn] and just with the coaching staff, so it didn't really have anything to do with Pittsburgh."

This is Fields' third NFL stop. He was the Chicago Bears' first-round pick in 2021, then was replaced by 2024 No. 1 pick Caleb Williams. He was traded to Pittsburgh, where he threw five touchdowns, ran for another five and posted a career-high 66% completion rate after three spotty years in Chicago.

"I think I'm progressing and getting better each and every year, and I'm excited to get things rolling this year," Fields said.

The Jets appear to be in all-in on Fields, 26, with Glenn saying that the former Ohio State quarterback still hasn't reached his ceiling.

"I think he's a dynamic player, and I think there's more we can get out of that player," Glenn said at the recent owners meetings. "I'm looking forward to that."

Glenn wasn't being critical of the Steelers and Bears, but he suggested that Fields can do more as a dropback passer. His running ability is well-documented; he averages 50 rushing yards per game.

"I think I did what I was asked to do and I've never had a problem with that," said Fields, looking back on his time in Chicago and Pittsburgh. "I've always been a team player."

Wasting no time, Glenn already has named Fields the starting quarterback, with Tyrod Taylor remaining in the backup role. Glenn did it, in part, to give Fields the chance to establish himself as a team leader.

They're only three days into the offseason program, but Fields already has made a good impression.

"I think he's the right man for the job," said newly signed cornerback Brandon Stephens, formerly of the Baltimore Ravens. "I think he has what it takes to lead this offense, to lead this team. I think the sky's the limit."

Sacramento Kings guard Malik Monk will be reevaluated in two weeks because of a left calf strain, sources told ESPN on Wednesday.

This timetable sidelines Monk, who is averaging a career-high 17.2 points, for the remaining three games of the regular season, including Wednesday's matchup with the Denver Nuggets, as well as postseason games in the NBA's play-in tournament.

Monk sustained the injury late in the first quarter of Monday's win over the Pistons in Detroit, a game the shorthanded Kings entered without forwards Keegan Murray (back) and Jake LaRavia (thumb).

The Kings, who already clinched a play-in berth, are currently in ninth place in the Western Conference standings, holding a one-game lead over the Dallas Mavericks.

Sacramento hosts the LA Clippers on Friday and the Phoenix Suns on Sunday to close out the regular season.

TORONTO -- Raptors forward Brandon Ingram has been shut down for the rest of the season after receiving an injection in his injured left ankle, coach Darko Rajakovic said Wednesday.

Ingram has been sidelined since early December because of a sprained left ankle. He has not played for the Raptors since being acquired from New Orleans on Feb. 6. He signed a three-year, $120-million contract extension with Toronto on Feb. 11.

Toronto hosted Charlotte in its home finale Wednesday. The Raptors have two games left.

Rajakovic said Ingram visited a specialist in New York City last week, when the Raptors were facing the Brooklyn Nets. Ingram received a platelet-rich plasma injection Tuesday, his coach said.

"It's what he needs," Rajakovic said. "He's been recovering really well."

Rajakovic said Ingram was expected to be healthy in time for Toronto's summer training program.

The No. 2 pick in the 2016 draft, Ingram averaged 22.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5.2 assists in 18 games this season.

Ingram sat on the bench Wednesday wearing a University of Houston Cougars basketball jersey with his teammate Jamal Shead's name and No. 1 on the back. Ingram, who played one season at Duke, had to wear the jersey after losing a wager when the Cougars rallied to beat the Blue Devils last Saturday in a national semifinal game.

Shead played for Houston from 2020 to 2024.

CLEVELAND -- Chicago White Sox catcher Korey Lee had to be helped off the field after he rolled his left ankle during the sixth inning of Wednesday night's 3-2 loss to the Cleveland Guardians.

The White Sox said Lee was ruled out with left ankle soreness and will undergo further testing.

Lee was trying to get back to first base after pinch hitter Nick Maton struck out when he stepped awkwardly on the first-base bag on catcher Austin Hedges pickoff throw. Lee got back in time but was tagged out by Cleveland's Carlos Santana after he rolled off the bag for the third out of the inning.

Lee was helped off the field by the training staff and was replaced by Matt Thaiss, finishing 0 for 2 on the night with a walk and a strikeout. He's now batting .333 (5 for 15) on the season.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on Wednesday said it was a "big relief" that he and the Toronto Blue Jays were finally able to finalize a long-term deal.

"If I tell you that it's not a big relief, I'd be lying to you," Guerrero said Wednesday. "It's always been my goal to be here. And I feel like I accomplished that, and I'm very, very happy to stay here and to be a Blue Jay."

The 14-year, $500 million contract, which starts in 2026, includes a record $325 million signing bonus that protects the money from a possible work stoppage in 2027.

The deal was officially announced Wednesday, and a news conference is scheduled for Monday at the Rogers Centre.

Guerrero agreed in January to a $28.5 million, one-year contract that avoided arbitration, and the four-time All-Star first baseman had said he wouldn't negotiate after he reported to spring training in mid-February. Still, talks with his agent continued well into the regular season.

"It wasn't that hard," Guerrero said of the time that it took to get the deal done. "Like, I would say maybe, I was just trusting the process, every step with my family, my agents, my close ones. I mean, have faith, everything, the outcome was going to be good. So, I mean, trust, I was trusting everything. But thank God, it went well."

He got the third-largest contract in total dollars behind outfielder Juan Soto's $765 million, 15-year contract with the New York Mets that started this season and two-way star Shohei Ohtani's $700 million, 10-year agreement with the Los Angeles Dodgers that began last year and is heavily deferred.

Guerrero's $35.71 million average annual value under the new deal ranks eighth among current contracts.

"I've never seen an organization that's a class organization as a family," Guerrero said. "It's been 10, 11 years that we've been here. I mean, like I say, this is family for me -- the team, the city, the fans, it's family. To tell you the truth, I wasn't really feeling to go elsewhere and meet new people."

He said his own family played a role in his decision.

"That's one of the hardest ones right there -- when your daughter comes to you and asks you 'Daddy, are we going to stay in Toronto?'" Guerrero said. "Knowing that your family really wants to stay in Toronto, that was [the main one]. But all along they really wanted to stay in Toronto and thank God it happened."

A son of Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero, the Blue Jays star would have been a free agent this fall at a relatively young age. The elder Guerrero shared some advice with his son: "To trust God. My dad told me to trust God and to try to get the last penny that I could from the organization."

The younger Guerrero is a .287 career hitter with 160 homers and 511 RBIs. He is batting .255 with no homers and four RBIs in the first 12 games this season.

"Just so powerful for the organization," Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins said. "I think it's monumental for Toronto and the game. A historic deal for what will be a historic player. I think he's just getting started. He's already done tremendous things thus far as an individual, and with this team. He's going to continue to do those things."

Seeking its first World Series title since winning championships in 1992 and 1993, Toronto notably failed to land Ohtani, Soto and Roki Sasaki. The Blue Jays agreed to a $92.5 million, five-year contract with outfielder Anthony Santander; a $15.5 million, one-year contract with right-hander Max Scherzer; and a $33 million, three-year contract with reliever Jeff Hoffman.

"This is a monumental moment in franchise history," Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro said in a statement. "Vlad has been part of our Blue Jays family since he was 16 years old and has captured the heart of our city and country.

"There are very few in the game today that can say they have played for more than two decades with the same team, and we are immensely grateful Blue Jays fans will get to see Vlad finish his career where it all began. The name Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will forever be synonymous with the Toronto Blue Jays."

Toronto shortstop Bo Bichette, a two-time All-Star, remains eligible for free agency after this year's World Series.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

ARLINGTON, Va. -- Alex Ovechkin finished practice by replicating his belly-flop celebration from scoring the record-breaking 895th goal of his NHL career, delighting the 895 schoolchildren and other Washington Capitals fans in attendance.

The previous 45 minutes -- and the next several days -- are about getting back to work.

Ovechkin and the Capitals got back on the ice Wednesday, 72 hours after he broke Wayne Gretzky's record to end the "GR8 Chase" and set in motion several nights of celebrations. They had such a comfortable lead atop their division and the Eastern Conference that the past month has been all about getting Ovechkin the record, but that coincided with a dip in play that can't continue with the playoffs fast approaching.

"Guys, whether they want to admit it or not, and whether I want to admit it and acknowledge it or not, as much as I want to block it out, as much as I want to say, 'No, we're strictly focused on the Winnipeg Jets, the Minnesota Wild,' whatever the opponent was -- it's impossible to block the record and what was going on inside of the games out," coach Spencer Carbery said.

"That's going to be our biggest challenge coming off of such a unique, thrilling experience celebrating that achievement and now having to completely reset mentally and focus on the task at hand of playing well as a team and making sure that we're putting ourselves in the best position possible to play well in the playoffs."

Washington was the league's first team to clinch a playoff berth this season, wrapped up first in the Metropolitan Division with Carolina's loss Tuesday night and is close to shoring up home-ice advantage until at least the Stanley Cup Final.

The Capitals ranked second in the NHL in goals allowed through 64 games, giving up an average of 2.54. Over the past 13, they're 24th at 3.38 a game.

"We just need to be really sharp in our details," defenseman Martin Fehervary said. "I think that's a key: Don't give up too many chances. We obviously can score the goals, but we need to be sharper in our D-zone."

Goaltender Charlie Lindgren, who is shouldering the starting load with Logan Thompson injured, criticized himself for allowing so many goals. But so many of them came because of chaos in front of him, opposing odd-man rushes and a series of other mistakes by the skaters in front of him.

It's not a coincidence they've lost five of their past seven games.

"Our team game slid a little bit," veteran defenseman John Carlson said. "It's a good point of the year where we can refocus ourselves and what we know it's going to take. And whatever you want to say, I'm not blaming it on what we've been through and what we're striving for, too, but I think everybody in here is smart enough to know that we've got to play a better brand of hockey."

Washington has not won a playoff series since hoisting the Cup in 2018, and making a long run this spring is the next goal after 895.

"'O' even said it right after he scored that goal that the big games are still to come this year, and we've got a special group and you don't want to waste years like this when things are going well," defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk said.

"It happened at a perfect time to a perfect guy, and now we have time to kind of refocus. I think our last few games definitely haven't been our best, so it's a nice time to kind of reset, focus and get dialed in before playoffs are here."

After being in the spotlight for an individual achievement, Ovechkin is ready to get back to being team-first and winning.

"All that's happened during the year is one thing, but in the playoffs it's a total different season," Ovechkin said. "It's a total different energy level, pace. So, yeah, I think right now we have five games left and we just have to prepare for that time of year and we have to understand how we have to play."

Having clinched a playoff berth for the first time since 2017 on Tuesday, the Ottawa Senators are considering holding out injured captain Brady Tkachuk for the final four regular-season games.

Tkachuk, 25, has missed the past five games with an upper-body injury suffered on a hit from Pittsburgh defenseman Ryan Graves in the host Penguins' 1-0 overtime victory on March 30.

Senators general manager Steve Staios said Wednesday that Tkachuk might play if the playoffs started Thursday, but he couldn't give a definitive answer.

"[Tkachuk] continues to progress," said Staios, also the team's president of hockey operations. "Now that we've clinched a playoff spot, I think every team goes through these discussions. Like, what is the best situation? Do you rest players? How do you manage that? We haven't figured that part out yet, but to me, you always want to keep the team moving along and competing at a high level to roll into the playoffs at the right time. But certainly, those will be discussions that we'll have, as far as lineup for the last four games."

Tkachuk has a team highs with 29 goals and 123 penalty minutes, as well as 26 assists, a plus-2 rating, 33 blocks and 227 hits in 71 games.

The Senators (42-30-6, 90 points) have the first wild-card berth in the Eastern Conference. Their regular-season schedule continues Friday with a visit from the Montreal Canadiens, followed by home games against Philadelphia on Sunday, Chicago on Tuesday and Carolina on April 17.

Ottawa selected Tkachuk with the fourth overall pick of the 2018 NHL Draft, a year after the Senators lost to the Penguins in the conference finals. He made his NHL debut in 2018 and has 191 goals, 404 points, 750 penalty minutes, 193 blocks and 1,758 hits in 511 regular-season games.

The Minnesota Wild on Wednesday activated forwards Joel Eriksson Ek and Kirill Kaprizov from injured reserve and long-term IR, respectively.

Kaprizov has been out since Jan. 26 with a lower-body injury. Eriksson Ek last played Feb. 22 after suffering a lower-body injury.

Kaprizov, 27, underwent surgery after the injury and resumed skating in late March. He was leading the Wild with 52 points (23 goals, 29 assists) through 37 games prior to the surgery. He also missed 12 games due to injury in late December and January.

Eriksson Ek, 28, was injured during practice in late February, the latest setback to the Swede. Eriksson Ek has been limited to 42 games this season. He has 24 points (nine goals, 15 assists).

Despite the absences, the Wild hold the second wild card in the Western Conference with four games remaining, including Wednesday night's contest against visiting San Jose. The Wild enter Wednesday's action four points ahead of Calgary for the second wild card spot.

In corresponding moves, the Wild reassigned forwards Brendan Gaunce and Devin Shore to their AHL affiliate in Iowa.