On top of the flurry of wide receiver trades that the NFL already has seen in recent weeks, there was one more in the making.

The Steelers were in the process of trying to get a deal done for Christian Kirk, and league sources told ESPN there was a reasonable chance that the Jaguars wide receiver was going to wind up in Pittsburgh until he broke his collarbone last Sunday.

Pittsburgh's hope of upgrading its receiving corps was derailed, at least temporarily. But the Steelers are not giving up, a league source told ESPN.

The Steelers have been making calls and checking on any and all available wide receivers before Tuesday's 4 p.m. ET trade deadline, including the Jets' Mike Williams and the Panthers' Adam Thielen, according to league sources.

The Steelers will continue pushing in an attempt to improve by the deadline, but they are far from the only team looking to better position themselves for the second half of the season.

The Lions continue making calls about pass rushers, and have spoken to the Browns about former Pro Bowl defensive end Za'Darius Smith, who already has played in the NFC North for both the Packers and Vikings, according to sources.

The Falcons also have been aggressive about making pass rush calls, and are expected to purse a potential deal for Giants edge rusher Azeez Ojulari, according to sources.

The surprising Cardinals, tied for first place in the NFC West entering Sunday, also are exploring the acquisition of pass rushers such as Ojulari.

Another pass rusher who could be available is Calais Campbell, whom the Dolphins have received inquiries about, according to league sources.

If the Dolphins don't win Sunday in Buffalo, they could be more open to dealing Campbell to a contending team, according to sources.

The Saints have gotten calls about Marshon Lattimore, according to league sources. One of the potential holdups of a deal is Lattimore's health, sources said.

The four-time Pro Bowl cornerback is not playing Sunday against the Panthers, but it hasn't stopped teams from calling about him, including the two-time defending champion Chiefs.

The Chiefs already have traded for DeAndre Hopkins and Joshua Uche, but some sources around the league believe that whether it's Lattimore or another player, Kansas City could push to make another move.

The Chiefs host the Buccaneers on "Monday Night Football" and are prepared to act quickly with the trade deadline coming hours after their game.

One team that could continue trading players is the Jacksonville Jaguars, who already have traded defensive tackler Roy Robertson-Harris to the Seahawks and offensive tackle Cam Robinson to the Vikings, in addition to working on a potential trade for Kirk.

The Jaguars will continue fielding calls and entertaining offers, and other players who could draw interest include five-time Pro-Bowl guard Brandon Scherff.

The big trade this week involved the Carolina Panthers sending wide receiver Diontae Johnson to the Ravens. Johnson will make his Baltimore debut Sunday against the Broncos, but as it turns out, he already feels right at home with fellow Ravens wide receiver Nelson Agholor.

Both Agholor and Johnson are from Tampa, Florida, and have been close for years. Though they are three years apart in age, with Agholor being 31 and Johnson 28, the receivers got to know each other through youth sports during their teenage years and went to high schools on opposite sides of town.

Since then, they've remained close and train together in the offseason. After Johnson was traded to Baltimore this week, he even stayed at Agholor's house.

Now the Ravens, Chiefs, Falcons, Cardinals and others will be looking to add more players by Tuesday's deadline. What happens in Sunday's games also could help influence who is buying and who is selling, but there is expected to be one final flurry of moves ahead of the deadline.

Here's a sentence that hasn't been written or uttered this century -- since before Dan Snyder owned an NFL franchise: Players want to wind up in Washington playing for the Commanders.

In recent weeks, there have been players who privately stated or told their agents they want to be traded to the Commanders, league sources told ESPN.

It's possible the Commanders could comply by Tuesday's 4 p.m. ET trade deadline. The Commanders have explored adding a cornerback and also could use help at wide receiver, according to league sources.

But even if the Commanders can't complete any trades by the deadline, the fact that certain players would like to land in Washington bodes well for the franchise in free agency and in years to come, league sources told ESPN.

It's a function of new ownership, a new front office, a new coaching staff and, maybe most importantly, rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, who is contending not only for the NFL's Offensive Rookie of the Year but also potentially the most valuable player.

Daniels has helped turn around a franchise that now is 6-2 and in first place in the NFC East entering Sunday's game against the Giants, a team that explored but could not trade up to draft the former LSU star.

Daniels is coming off a week in which he made the play of the NFL season -- his 52-yard Hail Mary touchdown pass to Noah Brown that lifted Washington to an 18-15 victory over Chicago this past Sunday.

Daniels' pass alone stood out, but after the game, so did his actions.

As Washington's locker room rejoiced, one Commanders official noticed Daniels at his locker, watching everyone else in the room celebrate. Daniels looked calm, composed and seemed as if the dramatic victory was what he expected to happen that day, according to the team official. In his rookie year, Daniels already carries himself like a confident seasoned player.

Now the Commanders have put themselves in a position to compete for a division title and a playoff spot but also, just as important, shifted the perception of the franchise.

The Commanders are 6-2 for the first time since 2008 and 4-0 at home for the first time since 2005.

Daniels, the No. 2 overall pick in this year's draft, has completed 71.8% of his passes -- the second-best percentage in the NFL -- for 1,736 yards, seven touchdowns and only two interceptions while also rushing for 424 yards and four scores.

According to ESPN Research, Daniels is the second player in NFL history with 1,500 passing yards and 400 rushing yards through his first eight career games, joining another Washington rookie star -- Robert Griffin III in 2012.

For years, decades even, Washington was viewed as an NFL wasteland, a toxic environment plagued by issues under Snyder's ownership that dragged down the franchise.

But with all the changes the Commanders have made, the newest and ultimate sign of how much has changed can be gauged by the fact that players want to come to Washington by the deadline.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Carson Beck threw for 309 yards and two touchdowns to offset three interceptions, and No. 2 Georgia escaped "The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party" with a 34-20 victory over Florida on Saturday.

The Bulldogs (7-1, 5-1 Southeastern Conference) won their fourth straight in the series, their longest streak since winning six in a row between 1978 and 1983. They took advantage of Florida's quarterback woes and a special teams error in this one.

Standout freshman DJ Lagway left the game on a cart in the second quarter with a left hamstring injury and with the Gators (4-4, 2-3) leading 10-3. Without him, it was mostly ugly.

Walk-on Aidan Warner was 7-of-22 for 66 yards with an interception. Warner was thrust onto the field because Florida starter Graham Mertz tore a ligament in his left knee at Tennessee last month and is out for the season.

The Gators kept the game close thanks to a stingy defense that forced Beck into more mistakes. Jack Pyburn, Aaron Gates and Devin Moore had picks that led to a combined 10 points for Florida.

But the most significant turnover belonged to the Gators. Punter Jeremy Crawshaw failed to handle Rocco Underwood's low snap on a 51-yard field goal attempt late in the third. It resulted in a 31-yard loss, setting up Beck's first TD pass.

The Gators tied the score on Ja'Kobi Jackson's 15-yard TD run. But Beck and the Bulldogs answered with a 75-yard drive, highlighted by Beck's completions of 34 and 21 yards, and capped by his 10-yard TD pass to Dominic Lovett.

Warner threw an interception on the ensuing play, and Georgia scored two plays later to ice it.

SAN ANTONIO -- San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich missed the Spurs' game Saturday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves because of an undisclosed illness.

Assistant coach Mitch Johnson took over the head coaching duties. Johnson said he was informed about 2 1/2 hours before tipoff that Popovich, 75, was unavailable.

"He's not feeling well," Johnson said. "This has happened before. I think everybody's just always got to be ready for the next man up. We've had it with injuries and sometimes people get sick or don't feel well or things come up in life. He's just not feeling well."

Popovich is the NBA's career leader with 1,390 victories and another 170 postseason wins while winning five NBA titles. He is in his 29th season, all with San Antonio.

Six-year NBA guard Jaylen Nowell has agreed to a deal with the New Orleans Pelicans, sources told ESPN on Saturday.

Powell joins a Pelicans team that's been crushed by injuries to start the season.

Dejounte Murray, its top offseason acquisition, broke his hand late in New Orleans' season-opening victory over the Bulls and is expected to miss an additional three to five weeks.

CJ McCollum has a right adductor strain that is expected to sideline him for two to three weeks. Herb Jones has a right shoulder strain and small low-grade partial thickness tear in his rotator cuff and could be out from two weeks to a month. And Trey Murphy III has yet to play this season due to a a right hamstring strain that is expected to keep him out for one more week.

Still, New Orleans is off to a 3-3 start.

Nowell holds career averages of 8.9 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists. He spent his first four NBA seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves and split time last season between the Washington Wizards and Memphis Grizzlies.

Indiana Pacers center Isaiah Jackson has sustained a torn right Achilles tendon, the team announced on Saturday.

An MRI earlier Saturday confirmed the tear. Jackson is set to undergo surgery on Monday.

Jackson suffered the injury in the fourth quarter of Friday's 125-118 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. He landed awkwardly while trying to block a shot by Brandon Ingram and had to be helped off the floor.

The 22-year-old had six points and eight rebounds before leaving the game.

Jackson becomes the second Pacers big man lost for the season due to a torn Achilles. Pacers center James Wiseman suffered an Achilles tear Oct. 23 in the team's first game.

The Pacers are now expected to explore the market for frontcourt depth behind Myles Turner.

Jackson is in the final season of his rookie contract after being drafted in the first round in 2021 by the Los Angeles Lakers and landing in Indiana as part of a five-team trade that summer.

It made sense at the time. In the grey matter and guts alike, the rationale felt right.

With 62 minutes on the clock, and an eight-point advantage on the scoreboard, you tighten the grip, not chance your arm.

Steve Borthwick chose that point to withdraw fly-half Marcus Smith, architect of his teams only try.

On came George Ford, a 97-cap arch game manager, the hero of England's World Cup win over Argentina, to snuff the life out of New Zealand and nurse the scoreline through to victory.

But, thats the thing: it always feels right at the time.

By the time referee Angus Gardner blew the final whistle, that reasoning, for many, had been exploded.

England had ceded momentum, territory and finally the lead, with New Zealand scoring 10 unanswered points in the final quarter and Ford missing two kicks one penalty, one drop-goal that would have snatched back victory.

Ford hasnt played for more than a month because of a quad injury. He wasnt ready. Smith was having a fine game. He should have been pulling the strings, not cooling his heels on the bench, when the final stages played out.

Now, that is the theory that fits. The events seem to bear it out. The narrative of where England lost the game is an easy tale to spin.

But Borthwick and his team will know there were more moving parts to Englands latest defeat than just an exchange of 10s.

Recency bias the phenomenon that loads greatest importance on the freshest events doesnt last long in the video review.

When the tape rolls at Pennyhill Park this week, Englands new defence coach Joe El-Abd will highlight the holes too easily opened by two blind-side darts that led to All Black tries.

The six replacement forwards an Anglo-Saxon answer to South Africas bomb squad failed to detonate, falling foul of Gardner at scrums and breakdown.

An overall lack of an attacking threat, beyond Smiths smart intercept, meant that England could never get out of the range of a late All Black surge.

Smith himself had two fluffed drop-goal attempts, both uglier shanks than Fords effort.

Ford, who was also shrugged off by Mark Telea on the way to a match-winning try, undoubtedly had a day to forget.

But Englands latest heartbreak after a string of narrow defeats has more sources than one man.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Penn State coach James Franklin made the familiar walk after a big-game loss, stopping to speak with former players and other notables on his way off the field Saturday at Beaver Stadium.

He walked through the end zone where No. 3 Penn State had twice failed to score from first-and-goal inside the 5-yard line against No. 4 Ohio State. Before reaching the Victory Bell next to the team tunnel, Franklin had a brief exchange with two fans questioning the playcalling on the second goal-to-go sequence of Saturday's 20-13 loss before 111,030, the largest crowd ever at Beaver Stadium. Then, Franklin headed up the tunnel to address his team after its eighth consecutive loss to Ohio State, the fourth at home.

Penn State's latest big-game defeat under Franklin came down to two failed chances inside Ohio State's 5-yard line, several untimely penalties, a few critical officiating calls and an offense that couldn't reach the end zone even once, despite being spotted a 10-0 lead less than 10 minutes into the game. But the outcome, no matter how it occurred, will be grouped in with others under Franklin, who fell to 1-12 against AP top-10 teams at Penn State and 1-15 overall as an FBS coach.

Franklin said he "understands" the fans' frustration.

"We get an unbelievable crowd here; we get unbelievable support," he said. "You don't do that without passion, and there's great things that come from that, and there's hard things that come from that. That's part of the job, and I own it all."

Franklin, seeking his first College Football Playoff appearance despite a 95-40 record at Penn State, has not beaten Ohio State since 2016, which marked the Lions' last Big Ten title. The Buckeyes improved to 10-1 against Franklin, who has six AP top-20 finishes since 2016 but none in the top five.

"There's nobody that's looking in the mirror harder than I am," Franklin said. "Ninety-nine percent of the programs across college football would die to do what we've been able to do in our time here. But I also understand when you're at a place like Penn State, there's really, really high expectations. ... I get it, I totally get it."

Franklin added that he had planned to address several items in his postgame news conference but decided they were "not appropriate to say right now." He later referred to "a ton of calls, 50-50 calls that can go either way, and in that type of game, they're critical."

Quarterback Drew Allar said Penn State "didn't win enough moments" Saturday, including the crucial turnover on downs with 5:13 to play. After a direct snap to do-it-all tight end Tyler Warren went for 33 yards, Penn State's longest play of the game, the offense was set up at Ohio State's 3-yard line. But three Kaytron Allen runs up the middle netted little, and on fourth down Allar couldn't connect with tight end Khalil Dinkins, who was well covered.

"We wanted to get it to Ty Warren," said Allar, who returned from a knee injury to pass for 146 yards with an interception in the end zone late in the first half, and rush for 31. "The safety or nickel did a good job of playing over the top of it and driving it. It would have been a bang-bang play, short of the goal line or incomplete. I was looking at Dink. We just didn't connect on it."

Penn State's defense, which had held Ohio State out of the end zone since early in the second quarter, had a chance to make a stop and regain possession. But Ohio State's rushing trident of Quinshon Judkins, TreVeyon Henderson and Will Howard overpowered the Lions, as the Buckeyes ran out the clock.

The Buckeyes, who had a season-low 64 rushing yards last week against Nebraska, finished with 176 yards Saturday.

"Kind of a sucky feeling," linebacker Kobe King said. "We prepare all week, and we do certain things to certain packages and coverages. We just didn't execute it the way it's supposed to be. Mistakes were made. Guys have to be in the right spots."

Several Penn State players deflected blame from Franklin and reiterated their support for the 11th-year coach. In past years, losses like Saturday's eliminated Penn State from CFP contention, but the expanded field keeps the 7-1 Lions very much in the mix.

Still, there's a recognition that coaches and teams are evaluated based on games like Saturday's.

"If you're not judging yourself after a game like this, then that questions your love for the game," offensive lineman Sal Wormley said. "Like, there's no way you go into a game like this, strictly point fingers at other people. There has to be something you could have done."

Penn State finishes the regular season with four unranked opponents -- Washington, Purdue, Minnesota and Maryland -- before awaiting its postseason fate.

"OK, we lost, now we need to keep it pushing, because that could very well be the difference between you winning a national championship and you not winning a national championship," defensive lineman Dvon J-Thomas said. "So how we respond to this loss will be a big indicator as to the type of team we are, and the type of team you'll see in the playoffs."

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The Boston Celtics will be without guard Jaylen Brown for Saturday night's rematch with the Charlotte Hornets.

Brown has been ruled out with a left hip flexor strain and Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla called him "day to day" moving forward.

Mazzulla said it is an injury that has been bothering Brown recently and something that "he has been playing through." He finally decided to give him the night off to allow him to rest and heal.

Brown had 25 points in Boston's 124-109 win over the Hornets on Friday night, the first of two games in two nights at Charlotte's Spectrum Center.

Hornets center Nick Richards will also miss the game with a shoulder injury, leaving Charlotte without its top two centers. Mark Williams, the team's regular starter, has not played this season.

NEW YORK -- Left-hander Sean Manaea declined his $13.5 million option for 2025 with the New York Mets on Saturday to become a free agent for the third consecutive offseason, according to multiple reports.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team had not made the announcement.

Manaea, 32, agreed to a contract in January that included a $14.5 million salary for 2024. He went 12-6 with a 3.47 ERA in 32 starts, striking out 184 and walking 63 in 181 innings.

After dropping his arm slot in midseason, he became the Mets' most effective starting pitcher and went 6-2 with a 3.09 ERA in his final 12 starts. Manaea was 2-1 with a 4.74 ERA in four postseason starts.

He opted out of the final season of a $25 million, two-year contract with San Francisco last November, giving up a $12.5 million salary for 2024. He went 7-6 with a 4.44 ERA in his only season with the Giants.

A nine-year major league veteran, Manaea is 77-62 with a 4.00 ERA in 198 starts and 30 relief appearances with Oakland (2016-21), San Diego (2022), the Giants and Mets.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.