MILWAUKEE -- With the team on a six-game losing streak, the Bucks are making a change to their starting lineup, inserting second year wing Andrew Jackson into the lineup to replace Gary Trent Jr.

Jackson, who turns 23-years old next week, will make his first start of the season. He has seen his minutes increase steadily since the start of the season, from playing in just one minute of garbage time through the first two games to a season-high 24:55 on Monday night against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

"We keep looking for that position just to be a good role player," Bucks coach Doc Rivers said prior to Thursday's game against the Utah Jazz.

"[We want Andre to] just be an athlete. Be quick to the ball. Defend, understand your role."

Rivers did not commit to the lineup change long-term, but said he made the shift on Thursday to help Trent snap out of his early season skid. After signing a veteran minimum deal with Milwaukee this offseason, Trent has struggled in his first seven games, shooting 28% from the field and 23% from 3.

"I'm just trying to give him room to breathe," Rivers said. "And get out of his little thing because I know he will."

In other team news, Giannis Antetokounmpo returned to Milwaukee's lineup Thursday after missing a game with a right adductor strain. The Bucks' injury report had listed Antetokounmpo as questionable.

Milwaukee entered Thursday's game with a 1-6 record, tied for the worst in the NBA along with the Philadelphia 76ers and Jazz.

MANCHESTER, England -- Ruben Amorim still has to prepare for one more Sporting Lisbon game before taking over as Manchester United's new head coach, but Amad Diallo can only hope his soon-to-be boss was watching his performance against PAOK FC.

The 22-year-old winger struggled for opportunities under former manager Erik ten Hag, who was sacked by the club last week. Recalled to the team by caretaker Ruud van Nistelrooy for Thursday's Europa League tie against the Greek champions, he was United's best player and scored both goals in a 2-0 win.

Amad's back post header early in the second half helped his team edge in front in a game, which had been finely balanced up until that point. His second, a curling effort from the edge of the penalty area, sealed United's first win in European competition for more than a year.

Amorim will be busy balancing his preparations for Sporting's game at Braga on Sunday with early assessment of the squad he will inherit when he starts work at Old Trafford on Monday. In that sense, it was perfect timing for Amad -- he did more than enough against POAK for his new coach to put a tick next to his name.

"He is a great character," Van Nistelrooy said of Amad. "A hard worker and he shows it in every training session. Every day after training he comes to me and wants to do extra finishing, extra crossing, how can I improve my heading.

"He's constantly focused on learning and getting better, living in a professional way and he's very motivated to get the best out of his career. I was very pleased for him."

On the final whistle, United's official Instagram account posted a picture of Amad with the caption, "let him cook." The problem, though, is that he's hardly been allowed in the kitchen. It became a mystery to some United fans as to why he was continually overlooked by Ten Hag.

The Ivorian was responsible for one of the best moments of Ten Hag's reign, when he ran half the length of the pitch to score a stoppage time winner against Liverpool in the FA Cup last season. Despite his heroics that day, he struggled to regularly break into the team.

Amad scored on a rare Premier League start against Brighton in August, but was dropped for the next game against Liverpool a week later. Handed another start against Southampton, he registered an assist for Marcus Rashford in a 3-0 win. Since then, his involvement has been largely limited to the role of impact substitute.

In from the start against POAK, he made the most of his chance. He was unlucky not to win a penalty when a quick and direct run into the box was only ended by a clumsy challenge from Baba Rahman. Shortly afterwards, his ferocious pressing, which ended with a crunching tackle on the opposite side of the pitch was met with a huge cheer from the Stretford End.

His looping header in the 50th minute put United in front, but Amad's second goal was better. After robbing Rahman of the ball, he took a couple more touches and bent his finish into the far corner. He went off in the 80th minute, the game won, and got a bear hug from Van Nistelrooy and a standing ovation from the home fans.

Van Nistelrooy wasn't happy with United's first-half performance -- POAK had more shots and more shots on target in the first 45 minutes -- but Amad saved the Dutchman from an embarrassing blemish on his caretaker CV.

"The first half wasn't good, that's clear," said Van Nistelrooy. "I addressed the positioning a lot at half-time. We left positions too much in the first half and that's why we couldn't get going.

"In the first half Amad was our best player and in the second half he decided the game for us. He was excellent. The second goal had everything in it that for me is Amad Diallo. He fought to take the ball off the PAOK defender, pushed through to get the shot and had the quality to curl it round the goalkeeper."

As impressive as he was, Amad still has reason to feel nervous about Amorim's arrival.

As an out-and-out winger, his position doesn't really exist in the Portuguese coach's favoured 3-4-3 system. Instead of forwards ordered to stay high and wide, Amorim usually picks two narrow attackers behind a central striker. It's possible Amad could fill one of the wing-back roles, but that would require more defensive responsibility than he's used to.

Concerns about where they might fit in under Amorim are not limited to Amad. Established senior players like Bruno Fernandes and Rashford will also be trying to work out what their role might be once he takes charge.

Van Nistelrooy is in the same boat. He's overseen two wins and a draw from his three games as interim boss, but ahead of his final assignment against Leicester on Sunday he's still waiting to hear whether or not he will be retained as part of the new-look backroom staff.

"I've got to check my phone now, we'll see later," he joked during his post-match news conference.

The next time United play in the Europa League against Bodo/Glimt in three weeks' time, Amorim will be on the touchline. Amad and Van Nistelrooy can only hope they get prominent roles when the new era gets underway.

BALTIMORE -- For the previous seven seasons, when Baltimore Ravens offensive linemen left the field after a drive, they would head to the sideline to hear a trusted voice. Then, Joe D'Alessandris would get down on one knee and instruct "my boys" on what needed to be improved.

When the Ravens host the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday (8:15 p.m. ET, Prime Video), the unit will get together after each series at the same spot at M&T Bank Stadium, but their longtime offensive line coach won't be there.

D'Alessandris died of a heart attack at the age of 70 on Aug. 25. The loss of the man affectionately known as "Joe D" 11 days before the season kicked off devastated a group that was already undergoing the biggest changes on the team. Now, as the Ravens head into the second half of the season, the sadness of not getting to say goodbye to D'Alessandris has been replaced by the motivation to make him proud.

"His presence is always felt here," right tackle Roger Rosengarten said.

All they have to do is look at the wall behind their bench or glance at the back decal of their helmets -- where the "Joe D" is displayed prominently in white lettering, in white lettering, along with "Jacoby 12," which honors former Super Bowl star Jacoby Jones, who died on July 14.

Others see D'Alessandris' imprint in the old-school work ethic and toughness that has made the Ravens' offensive line the muscle behind a team that leads the league in yards per game (445.9). The line is clearing paths for Derrick Henry, the NFL's rushing leader, and blockading pass-rushers from quarterback Lamar Jackson, who is the second-favorite to win his third NFL MVP trophy.

When you ask the Ravens how D'Alessandris might react to their success, they smile.

"He would still be getting on us in the meeting rooms," Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum said. "He certainly would. He'd be still impressed. He'd always be impressed with Lamar and the things he's able to do. He would love watching Derrick Henry run the football, just saying, 'Hey, we got to block for this guy. He's going to make guys miss.' But he's certainly going to find a lot of things that we can work on, that's for sure."

Hard work and discipline were instilled in D'Alessandris while growing up in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, a blue-collar town outside of Pittsburgh. When he was a teenager, D'Alessandris spent his summers with his father working at the steel mill. The grizzled workers taught him that one shot of whiskey got you ready for your long day of work.

It's no surprise hard work was the trademark of D'Alessandris' offensive lines over his 45 years of coaching. Under D'Alessandris, the Ravens' offensive line was the first group on the practice field and typically the last to leave it.

"He was a very serious coach," left tackle Ronnie Stanley said. "He always wanted to do more. I don't think it was ever enough. He was always looking for an advantage."

The first time Ravens coach John Harbaugh spoke with D'Alessandris was when he interviewed for the offensive line coaching job in 2017. Harbaugh was immediately impressed with D'Alessandris' concepts to pick up blitzes.

"He's an old-school coach, but he's got this really flexible system that is really kind of new-school relevant," Harbaugh said. "I think his No. 1 superpower was pass protection."

In the previous seven seasons, Baltimore tied for eighth in fewest sacks allowed with 268. Over that time, Ravens quarterbacks had an average of 2.53 seconds in the pocket, which is the fourth-highest rate in the league.

Every Wednesday during the regular season, D'Alessandris announced, "It's time to get back to basics." Every lineman knew what that meant.

D'Alessandris would get out the chute. The linemen get in their stance and charge under the 4-foot high metal apparatus and block a teammate, which was a way to emphasize staying low and balanced.

The drill wasn't the players' favorite, but they couldn't argue with the results. From 2017 to the 2023 season, the Baltimore offensive line ranked in the top 10 in win rates for run and pass blocking.

"He loved to coach for coaching's sake," Harbaugh said. "He was a teacher and a developer of talent."

D'Alessandris' passion was connecting with players and getting the most out of them. He mentored five Pro Bowl linemen in Baltimore in Marshal Yanda, Orlando Brown Jr., Kevin Zeitler, Stanley and Linderbaum. But D'Alessandris beamed as much about the mid- to late-round picks and undrafted players who became starters like Patrick Mekari, Bradley Bozeman, Ben Powers, Matt Skura and Daniel Faalele.

D'Alessandris used tough love in the meeting room and on the practice field. He wasn't known as a screamer but would raise his voice when ticked off enough.

When Mekari was an undrafted rookie, one of his first meaningful interactions with D'Alessandris was asking him about a combination block that he thought was called "a ping."

"A ping? A f---ing ping?," D'Alessandris responded. "It's called a f---ing plug."

Every year, D'Alessandris would tell the rookies this story.

Still, no matter how much D'Alessandris would criticize or correct a player, he'd pull up a chair next to him in the cafeteria a half hour later and ask about their family. He had a knack for remembering the names of everyone's wife, cousin and even pets.

"He never wrote a player off," Harbaugh said. "He always gave every player the same attention, whether he was the All-Pro player or the guy that was the free agent that nobody thought would make the team. He was genuinely interested in people."

D'Alessandris was in charge of the biggest question mark on the Ravens. Baltimore revamped its offensive line this offseason, replacing three starters.

The Ravens didn't re-sign right guard Kevin Zeitler and left guard John Simpson in free agency and then traded right tackle Morgan Moses to the New York Jets. Baltimore eventually replaced their starters with Mekari at left guard, Faalele at right guard and Rosengarten at right tackle.

But there was another change that no one expected. When the players reported to training camp in July, D'Alessandris revealed he had "a procedure" and it could limit what he could do in drills.

D'Alessandris underwent heart valve repair surgery when minicamp ended in June, which allowed him to get back for the start of training camp. Doctors had been monitoring the situation for 10 years, and the procedure wasn't considered a big concern. He had to pace himself and limit the number of late nights at the facility.

D'Alessandris didn't want to burden others with his issues. If he had a doctor's appointment, he would say things like, "I got to go see a guy about a dog."

"The last thing I think he wanted is for someone to worry about him," Linderbaum said.

D'Alessandris' wife of 42 years died in May 2022, but his three daughters were there to help him. He also took comfort in his other family with the Ravens.

It went well for a few weeks until the preseason opener at home against the Philadelphia Eagles on Aug. 9. D'Alessandris was sitting down more than he normally would.

"He wasn't himself," Rosengarten said. "We could tell something was wrong."

After the game, Mekari told D'Alessandris to go home and take it easy and offered to drive D'Alessandris from the stadium. "No, I'm good," the coach responded.

A day later, D'Alessandris was absent from the early-morning meetings at the facility. He had collapsed at his condo and was rushed to the hospital.

The Ravens announced on Aug. 14 that D'Alessandris was taking a leave of absence and hired George Warhop, a 27-year offensive line coach, as the temporary fill-in.

"The prognosis was positive," Warhop said. "I just thought I would hold the fort down for him. When he came back, we'd work together."

Linderbaum was woken up by his girlfriend. It was the morning after the Ravens had finished the preseason, and the players had the day off.

She needed to tell him the news a teammate's wife had told her: D'Alessandris suffered a heart attack and had died.

"I was speechless," Linderbaum said. "It was sad. I mean, the last I heard, he was getting better."

Doctors had diagnosed D'Alessandris with an infection, and he was getting better with medication. The update from D'Alessandris' family had been that he was getting strong enough to redo the heart valve procedure.

"I was just in shock. I couldn't really believe it," Stanley said. "And then just kind of thinking that I didn't get to say bye. I didn't get to see him. So that was kind of the whole emotional kind of roller coaster in that moment."

The Ravens lost their season opener to the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs 27-20 on Sept. 5. The next day, the team attended D'Alessandris' funeral.

Baltimore then fell to 0-2 after a 26-23 upset loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. The offense was struggling, and the reworked line took the brunt of the blame.

The Ravens made a lineup change, moving Mekari from right tackle to left guard to replace an injured Andrew Vorhees. That allowed Rosengarten to start at right tackle.

But the bigger challenge was the emotional weight of losing D'Alessandris.

"It was definitely uneasy when he passed and just getting the whole thing rolling on the season," Rosengarten said. "We started out pretty slow and then kind of started to pick it up. I definitely could say that there was some change within the start of the season with that. But now it's just all about taking that momentum and running with it."

The Ravens felt fortunate that Warhop, who coached offensive lines for eight NFL teams, was available. Warhop remembers being in the World League of American Football with D'Alessandris in the 1990s, and he worked under Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken when they were both with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers six years ago.

Harbaugh praised Warhop for how he has handled the unusual situation of coming into a situation where the scheme and calls were already in place. Over the last three months, Warhop has leaned on the players to explain some terminology to him while he has slowly made changes to fit how he coaches the offensive line.

The players talk about D'Alessandris every day. They'll bring up one of his quirky sayings like, "don't mix your mashed potatoes with your peas and carrots." They'll refer to run blocking as "snowplowing," as D'Alessandris would.

"It's still his room," Warhop said.

Since the two season-opening losses, the Ravens' linemen have become the unsung heroes of an offense that leads the NFL with 445.9 yards per game. In a 35-10 win over the Buffalo Bills, the linemen blocked so well that Henry went untouched on an 87-yard touchdown run. In a 41-10 victory over the Denver Broncos, Jackson was hit one time by the then-No. 3 defense in the NFL, which allowed him to record a perfect passer rating.

At the midway point of the season, Jackson leads the NFL in QBR (77.3) and Henry tops the league in rushing yards (1,052). After nearly every game, Jackson and Henry have thanked the offensive line, which has been playing for a higher purpose this season.

"They always wanted to make him proud and happy," Harbaugh said. "Joe was always easy about letting them know when they didn't do it right and he let them know when they do it right. He was an open book that way. The guys respect that. His approval was really valuable to those guys."

CINCINNATI -- There were a couple of things on Joe Burrow's mind in the hours leading up to a surgery that had many unknowns.

One of them was whether all passengers on airplanes had parachutes. When Jake Browning, the Cincinnati Bengals' backup quarterback behind Burrow, texted Burrow good luck ahead of a wrist surgery last November, Burrow replied with the question about evacuation methods for an emergency landing.

"That's just how he is," Bengals receiver and longtime teammate Ja'Marr Chase said last December. "He's just never thinking about 'in the moment.' He's thinking about something else."

But the other thought on his mind was more pressing. As someone who had a surgery during his rookie year in 2020, when he tore ligaments in his right knee, Burrow knew one of the toughest parts wasn't going under the knife but the wait to start the recovery process.

"You're just excited to get that process going," Burrow told ESPN. "Because it doesn't start until surgery happens. Sometimes a month, sometimes six weeks after surgery. Those weeks are always tough because you know what's coming up, and it hasn't started yet."

On Thursday, Burrow will suit up under nearly identical circumstances to when he sustained the injury last season -- a Thursday night contest on the road against the Baltimore Ravens. On that night last November, Burrow was tackled and ruptured a wrist ligament in his throwing hand. The specific injury was one that no NFL quarterback is known to have experienced. His return has been one that not everyone expected.

Burrow has not only recovered but is playing the best ball of his career. Through nine weeks, he's second in QBR at 76.3, behind the Ravens' Lamar Jackson at 77.3.

Burrow has been at his best at a time when the Bengals have never needed it more. Cincinnati (4-5) is trying to get back to .500 and fighting to not miss the playoffs in consecutive seasons; the Bengals have reached the postseason each time Burrow has finished a season healthy. And from the time he went down last season until now, he has rebuilt himself into a franchise quarterback.

Even that was never a sure thing.

"You can throw all you want, but you're not really sure how it's going to work out until you get out there," Burrow told ESPN. "That's with every injury when you're coming back from it. That's part of it."

THE BENGALS WERE trailing the Ravens 7-3 late in the second quarter on Nov. 17 when Burrow threw a short pass to Joe Mixon, who ran in from 4 yards out for a touchdown. As Mixon was crossing the goal line, Burrow was flexing his right wrist, which he landed on during the previous play.

That was the last play of Burrow's season. He briefly went to the locker room before returning to the sideline, tried to throw a couple of passes, dropped into a deep squat and winced.

Burrow suffered a ruptured scapholunate ligament injury in his wrist. Eleven days after the injury, he went to Pennsylvania to have surgery performed by Dr. Thomas Graham, team sources confirmed to ESPN.

There was no blueprint for an estimated time of return. Unlike his previous injuries that had precedent for quarterbacks -- an ACL and MCL injury that ended his year in 2020, a ruptured appendix in 2022, a strained right calf at the beginning of 2023 -- this was unique.

Around the locker room, Burrow found solace in teammates who had recovered from the same ligament injury.

A glimpse of what Joe Burrow is dealing with on what the team now says is a right wrist injury: pic.twitter.com/nOW3qR0RhR

Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 17, 2023

When Bengals linebacker Joe Bachie was at Michigan State, he broke a wristbone in 2016 and then blew out his scapholunate ligament against Michigan in 2017. He said he doesn't remember what happened in the game other than his fingers went numb. He wore a cast on the wrist, played through the rest of the season and then had surgery.

Bachie said he has no pain in his wrist following the procedure. However, he does have a limited range of motion compared to his other wrist, something Burrow has not had to deal with.

"Me and him do different jobs," Bachie told ESPN. "I can't bend it all the way. But I have no pain."

Dr. Steve K. Lee, the chief of the hand and upper extremity service at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, said approaches for repairing the scapholunate ligament vary among orthopedic surgeries. Once completed, Lee told ESPN, concerns for recovery include having the same velocity and accuracy as before the procedure, a risk of reinjury, and arthritis in a ligament that Lee called the "keystone" ligament in the wrist.

"If that falls apart, the wrist mechanics get all thrown off, kind of like an unbalanced washing machine," Lee told ESPN.

Burrow put in the work to be ready for the upcoming season. By the time the Bengals started their offseason program in April, Burrow was in uniform and throwing, staying on track for the next step in his recovery process.

THE PROCESS OF throwing again began with tossing small medicine balls, Burrow told ESPN in May. When the offseason program started, Burrow was less than five months removed from the surgery.

And while Burrow was participating, his workload had to be managed. When Burrow did not throw one day, Bengals coach Zac Taylor revealed it was a mandated rest day to protect Burrow from doing too much.

Bengals offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher told ESPN recently that the coaching staff installed this year's offense around a throw limit for Burrow, which made sure things went as smoothly as possible.

"Maybe he goes through individual drills and then doesn't throw a ball," Pitcher said.

When the team wrapped up mandatory minicamp, Burrow stood next to Chase, who was a limited participant because of a contract dispute, flexing his wrist as a spectator. In order to help improve his wrist dexterity, Burrow started watching YouTube videos to learn how to play the piano.

That was his idea. Eventually, he picked up a few songs. The string of notes that serve as the intro and main melody of Kanye West's "Homecoming" became one of his favorites to play.

In his last news conference of the offseason, before the players departed for the summer break, Burrow acknowledged that the accumulation of injuries over the course of his career made him ponder his "football mortality."

"They stack, and you continue to think about how you can get better from those," Burrow said on June 11, "how you can come back an improved player when maybe you aren't getting the reps you had because of your injuries.

"It's always a challenge, it always is. But I'm built for it."

DESPITE ALL OF the injuries he's suffered in his five NFL seasons, Burrow has never missed Week 1. The openers haven't always been pretty, such as in 2022 when he threw four interceptions in a loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers just weeks after being hospitalized for an emergency appendectomy.

In this season's opener against the New England Patriots, Burrow had six pass attempts of 10 or more air yards, according to ESPN Research. That 16-10 loss was one of the biggest upsets in recent years.

The next week, the Bengals faced Kansas City, a team Cincinnati played in the AFC Championship Game following the 2021 and 2022 seasons. The Bengals won the first meeting to go to the Super Bowl, where they lost to the Los Angeles Rams, and lost the following year on a field goal with three seconds left.

It was only Week 2, but after what happened the week earlier, Burrow knew what was required.

"[The Patriots game] ended up being a little tighter than I expected and didn't work out the way we wanted," Burrow said. "After that, there was not really any other option other than to go out and let it rip."

Burrow had 258 yards and two touchdowns in a game the Bengals lost on a walk-off field goal. Since then, Burrow has showed the form he had before the injury and has started to hit new career heights.

So far, that hasn't translated to consistent winning. But if there's hope the Bengals can turn it around and make a run, it starts with the 2020 first overall pick, who threw five touchdown passes in a rout of the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday.

"I know we have one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL," Bengals special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons said. "That's always a great place to start."

He isn't playing as much piano as he used to and hasn't been flexing his wrist as much either. After a stretch in his career that has been as good as any, Burrow is no longer contemplating his football mortality.

"I don't know what to tell you," Burrow said, sitting at his locker before looking up and flashing a wide grin. "We're back."

The Memphis Grizzlies ruled out star guard Ja Morant for their game Friday night against the Washington Wizards because of hip soreness.

Morant played just 24 minutes in Wednesday's 131-114 win over the Los Angeles Lakers, leaving in the third quarter because of what the team said was a right hamstring injury.

Morant took a hard fall with 3:45 left in the third quarter while attempting a left-handed dunk. He walked to the locker room and did not return. The Grizzlies had no update on that injury after the game.

Morant had 20 points and five assists before leaving the game.

Diamond Sports Group, bankrupt operator of what was previously called Bally Sports, announced a new linear rights and digital rights agreement with the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday.

The Cardinals have joined the Atlanta Braves as teams that will stay with Diamond if it emerges from bankruptcy, though a new deal with the Miami Marlins is expected to be announced in the near future. The company is still in talks with at least some of the other teams that were in its portfolio during the 2024 season.

Major League Baseball initially faced a 5 p.m. ET deadline to file an objection to Diamond's restructuring plan, but that has since been postponed to 3 p.m. ET Friday. Diamond, which announced a new naming rights deal with FanDuel last month, has its confirmation hearing in Houston bankruptcy court scheduled for late next week, from Nov. 14 to 15.

The length of Diamond's deal with the Cardinals was not announced.

Its broadcasts will air under FanDuel Sports Network Midwest, but fans will also have an in-market, direct-to-consumer option under the FanDuel website, making this the first MLB deal in which Diamond has acquired streaming rights it did not possess.

"We are pleased to enhance and expand our long-term partnership with Diamond and FanDuel Sports Network Midwest," Cardinals president Bill DeWitt III wrote in a statement. "We valued the continuity for our fans of staying on the same network as the [NHL's St. Louis] Blues, and we are excited to expand access to our games and other great Cardinals content across multiple platforms next year."

Diamond finished the 2024 season with 12 MLB teams under its portfolio, a list that will be whittled down significantly.

In early October, the company submitted a reorganization plan that called for it to shed broadcasting rights for every baseball team except the Braves. Though negotiations with other teams on both lesser rights fees and the addition of a streaming component would continue, the Cleveland Guardians, Milwaukee Brewers and Minnesota Twins -- all on expiring deals -- chose to join MLB, which will broadcast at least six teams in 2025.

The Texas Rangers, another team on an expiring contract, are considering other local media options.

That leaves the Tampa Bay Rays, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Angels, Cincinnati Reds and Kansas City Royals as teams still in limbo.

Diamond remains in talks with at least some of those teams and is also in negotiations with Amazon on a commercial arrangement that would provide it access to its direct-to-consumer platform, Prime Video.

Diamond maintains linear and digital rights with 13 NBA and eight NHL teams.

Ospreys flanker Jac Morgan, who has also not played for Wales in more a year, is struggling to shake off a minor injury.

Leicester open-side Tommy Reffell is in line to continue in the number seven shirt with Morgan potentially named as a replacement on a bench that could include six forwards.

Bath tight-head prop Archie Griffin has recovered from a minor temporary heart condition and could retain the number three jersey he wore against Australia, while locks Adam Beard and Will Rowlands could return after missing the summer programme.

Wales have lost their last nine internationals in a losing Test record that stretches back 13 months.

Another defeat will equal Wales' record of 10 successive international losses which stretches back to Steve Hansen's side of 2002 and 2003.

Wales open their autumn campaign against Fiji before facing Australia seven days later and finish with the visit of South Africa on 23 November.

With more than 30 players now on full-time deals, Wales ran in tries for fun with convincing wins over Ireland, Scotland and Italy.

They rose to an all-time high world ranking of sixth and secured their place in the top tier of a new global tournament, WXV1.

But on their return to New Zealand, Wales were given a sobering reminder of the gap that exists between them and the top nations, with defeats to Canada, New Zealand and Australia. Still they insisted they wanted to play the best to be the best.

Then came the dismal 2024 Six Nations, with Wales managing just one win against Italy and earning the dreaded wooden spoon.

They qualified for WXV2 via a play-off with Spain and beat Australia for the first time in their history in a friendly at Rodney Parade as part of their preparations.

But that feat could not be repeated when it mattered in South Africa. Wales were woeful as they were outclassed by the Wallaroos and Italy, before salvaging a win against Japan.

England hope Ollie Lawrence's switch to outside centre against Australia will enable the Bath star to bring his ball-carrying power to the fore on Saturday.

The 25-year-old started at inside centre in England's opening Autumn Nations Series defeat by New Zealand, but has been instrumental in Bath's rise to the top of the Premiership from 13.

Henry Slade previously started every Test for England this year at outside centre, and his positional switch with Lawrence was Steve Borthwick's only change for Saturday as he looks to end a three-game winless run.

"I want Ollie to touch the ball in as much space as he can, he is go-forward for us," England senior assistant coach Richard Wigglesworth told BBC Sport.

"I want the players to show exactly what they can do and put their best on the pitch.

"The numbers on their back have been interchangeable in some specific transition stuff and how we can get them into the best positions to show off their skills."

Despite being a kick away from beating the All Blacks, Borthwick's side only managed one breakaway try through wing Immanuel Feyi-Waboso.

Lawrence only made two carries in the game - the joint-lowest alongside props Ellis Genge and Will Stuart - but he topped England's tackle stats with 27.

It will be the eighth game in a row both Slade and Lawrence will pair up in England's midfield and while their shirt numbers are changing, both have previously swapped positions during Test matches.

One standout example came during this year's Six Nations when Slade set up Lawrence for a vital try against France in Lyon right before half-time.

The decision was not fully down to the coaches after both England centres raised their views to staff on how a shift might help get the best out of their dangerous backline.

"We do it anyway, if it is attack or defence we are always switching about, but there is more emphasis this week in me being in the wider channels and it is something we think we can explore," added Lawrence.

"Credit to Steve he's given us the green light to give it a crack."

The NCAA Division I council voted Thursday to make Canadian Hockey League players eligible for NCAA Division I hockey in 2025, in a decision that could reshape the landscape of both college and major junior hockey.

The council ruled players can compete in the CHL -- comprised of the Ontario Hockey League, Western Hockey League and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League -- without jeopardizing their NCAA Division I hockey eligibility, provided they aren't "paid more than actual and necessary expenses as part of that participation."

The effective date of the rule change is Aug. 1, 2025. The new eligibility for CHL players does not apply to NCAA Division III; CHL players are still ineligible for NCAA Division III hockey.

The NCAA had previously deemed anyone who played in the CHL ineligible because there are players who have signed professional contracts with NHL teams playing in those leagues. CHL players are also paid a monthly stipend that's capped at $250.

NCAA Bylaw 12.2.3.2 states that "an individual shall not be eligible for intercollegiate athletics in a sport if the individual ever competed on a professional team."

Despite the rule change, players who sign NHL contracts and return to the CHL are still not eligible to play NCAA Division I hockey. Players can however participate in NHL training camps provided those teams don't compensate the player beyond "beyond actual and necessary expenses."

The CHL supported the rule change in a statement released Thursday.

"While we will take time to fully review this rule change, we believe this is a positive development that will provide our players with more opportunities to continue their hockey and academic careers following their time in the CHL," the statement said. "It will also give young players and their families more options in choosing their development path, which includes opening up the CHL -- the best development hockey league in the world for players aged 16-20 -- to more players worldwide."

It's a decision that should send shockwaves across the NCAA and CHL. While dropping the restrictions will deepen the talent pool for NCAA hockey across the board, there is fear among some NCAA coaches that elite talents would opt not to play college hockey without having the current pressure point of losing eligibility if they chose Canadian major juniors instead.

"It has forced kids' hands at an early age to decide which path they want to take," WHL commissioner Dan Near told ESPN.

Former NHL stars such as Hockey Hall of Famer Paul Kariya and Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews were Canadian-born players who chose to play in the NCAA. Since 2016, there have been 15 Canadians who played in college and were taken in the first round of the NHL draft. That list includes Colorado Avalanche superstar Cale Makar (UMass), Buffalo Sabres defenseman and 2021 No. 1 overall pick Owen Power (Michigan), and 2024 No. 1 overall pick Macklin Celebrini (Boston University), who was selected by the San Jose Sharks.

The NCAA ruling alters its view of the CHL as a "professional" league, but under strict compensatory guidelines for players. The NCAA defines "necessary expenses" as ones "necessary or required for your participation in practice or competition, including but not limited to: meals, lodging, transportation, apparel, equipment, supplies, coaching, ice time, medical treatment (health insurance), and entry fees."

The rules include any team apparel the player might receive after being drafted in the CHL.

"To guarantee there is no issue with NCAA eligibility, an individual should return or pay for any celebratory item sent to them by a professional club who drafts the individual," the NCAA ruling states.

The change in policy between the NCAA and CHL has been anticipated among teams and coaches on both sides of the border -- especially after NCAA name, image, and likeness rules were loosened in 2021.

"Anyone who loves hockey and developmental leagues has been watching what's been happening in the NIL space and in the transfer portal space, trying to imagine if this will have implications on the future of how junior hockey players develop," Near said. "I think this could be the first domino to fall in that regard."

Supporters of changing the NCAA's CHL rules pointed to well-compensated athletes in other sports -- such as Olympic swimmers -- who had retained their NCAA eligibility. They also pointed out some college hockey programs welcomed players who had played professional games overseas without the NCAA barring them from playing in college.

In August, OHL player Rylan Masterson challenged the rule by filing a proposed class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Western New York against the NCAA and 10 universities for what the suit termed a "group boycott" of Canadian junior players.

It said the boycott "prevents competition between the CHL and NCAA for top-end players and thus artificially suppresses compensation for players and artificially creates less competitive leagues," which it argued was "illegal under antitrust laws."

The proposed class action suit wasn't unexpected by the NCAA. In 2023, during a review of its policies, the NCAA determined there was a legal vulnerability in a potential "group boycott" of Canadian junior players. But the programs' coaches never took formal action to drop the rule before the suit was filed.

In September, Braxton Whitehead of the WHL's Regina Pats received a verbal commitment for the 2025-26 season from Arizona State University's Division I program -- the first NCAA commitment since a proposed class action suit was filed.

"[ASU's] slogan is 'Be the Tradition' and I think they love the idea of me being a trailblazer throughout all this and paving the way with NCAA and CHL relations," Whitehead told ESPN at the time. "I'm very hopeful that [the rules] will turn over before the 2025-26 season."

ESPN's Ryan S. Clark contributed to this report..