BUFFALO, N.Y. - The NFL and NFLPA found that the steps required by the concussion protocol were correctly followed in evaluating and clearing Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen during the Bills' 23-20 loss to the Houston Texans on Sunday.

The NFL and NFLPA released a statement stating, "The NFL and NFLPA have reviewed the reports from the Unaffiliated Neurotrauma Consultant and Booth Spotters and those reports confirm that the steps required by the concussion protocol were followed in the evaluation and clearance of Bills' quarterback Josh Allen in last Sunday's game. The protocol has been jointly developed and is jointly administered by the NFL and NFLPA. Under that program the parties jointly identify, retain and train the Unaffiliated Neurotrauma Consultants and Booth Spotters."

The NFL and NFLPA reviewed video of the play and agreed that Allen did not lose consciousness, the same conclusion as the neurotrauma consultants, booth spotters and team medical staff.

With just over six minutes remaining in the game, on third-and-8 from the Buffalo 42-yard line, Allen ran to his right to try and get a pass downfield to wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling. As he threw the pass, he was tackled around the legs by defensive tackle Mario Edwards, while linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair flew over top of the quarterback, and Allen's head bounced off the turf.

Allen said after the game that he took a "big shot to the chest and rolled my ankle there. They flagged me for hitting my head but felt good enough to go back in the game."

In addition to a left hand injury he suffered in Week 1, Allen is also on the injury report this week with an ankle, but has been a full participant. Players who receive an in-game evaluation are monitored throughout the remainder of the game by the medical experts and have a follow-up evaluation conducted by a member of the club medical staff the day following the game.

The quarterback was attended to by athletic trainers on the field before walking off to the bench. He was then brought to the medical tent. A punt and four Texans offensive plays followed while Allen was brought to the tent and evaluated. The Bills then recovered the ball and Allen missed one offensive snap before being cleared.

"I obviously went into the tent. I can only control what I can control," Allen said on Wednesday. "What we talked about there, they deemed me cleared to play, and that's what happened. That's as deep as I'll get into it."

Worcester, along with Wasps, have also stated their intention to resurrect their women's side.

"We respect the process that the RFU has laid out and will update you as and when we have more information on progress," Worcester's club statement said.

"In the meantime, we will be hosting service and legend rugby matches from early 2025 and we are at an advanced stage with a possible return for women's rugby in Worcester, which forms an important part of our rugby strategy going forward."

Lyndsay Whiting, nee O'Donnell, played for Worcester for 12 years and is welcoming a potential return for the club.

"It's really exciting and and I'm sure the great supporters we had will be delighted," she told BBC Hereford & Worcester.

After the Warriors men's side went into administration, the women's team secured separate funding to finish the 2023-2024 season.

"It was difficult at the time (when the club went into administration) as we thought we were separate from the men's side and we had started the season," Whiting added.

"But we got pulled out and then people had to find new clubs and jobs because it wasn't just the players but the staff as well."

The side pulled out of Premiership Women's Rugby in October 2023 after sponsors Cube International withdrew their financial backing.

"We still have our team WhatsApp group and message on it," said Whiting.

"I'm not sure if people will return to the club as they had to change so much and relocate to keep playing rugby.

"There might be some who would go back but there would need to be guarantees in place as no one wants to go through that again."

AUSTIN, Texas - United States men's national team head coach Mauricio Pochettino hailed Christian Pulisic as one of the world's best offensive players but said he was concerned about the AC Milan star's workload amid his stellar start to the season.

Pulisic has scored six goals and added two assists in all competitions for Milan, having started all nine games this season.

"I think he's a fantastic player, one of the best offensive players in the world," Pochettino said about Pulisic in a news conference Friday.

"I think that we are a little bit worried that sometimes we need to protect [Pulisic]," Pochettino said. "We see because he arrived a little bit tired, but that is a thing that I told him before is to build a very good relationship with the club and try to help.

"And when we really need him, he needs to be in form, happy, strong and the quality is there because he has an enormous talent."

After a difficult spell with Chelsea in England's Premier League where he struggled for game time, Pulisic has become arguably the key figure for Milan in his second season at the Serie A giants.

"It's tough to explain," Pulisic told reporters. "I think you have moments in your career where it feels like everything you touch goes in and you have other times when it feels like you're trying everything and the ball just won't go in.

"As an attacking player, we've all gone through it. So just trying to live in that moment right now when things seem to be going well and just continue like this. I mean, for me, it's a result of all the work I've put in my whole life, so it shouldn't be a surprise. I know I have this ability and just kind of ride that high."

After being hired Sept. 10, Pochettino is preparing for his first games as USMNT coach, with friendlies against Panama in Austin, Texas, on Saturday and versus bitter rival Mexico in Guadalajara three days later.

And the former Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham coach said that the most important takeaway from the current national team camp is for the players and staff to get to know one another.

"There are nearly 40 people working all together, and to have the capacity to organize and to know each other and to settle the way that we want to work is the most important thing from the beginning," he said.

"Always, soccer is about to compete and to win because our fans, for sure, they want to win, But in the same time they need to understand that our first contact with the whole organization and player, we cannot push [the players] too much. They need to adapt to use our ideas."

Pochettino added that he's been impressed by the team's "discipline to work" and the overall effort the players have shown.

There has been plenty of talk about the intensity of Pochettino's training sessions this week. Part of that is simply getting used to a new manager. The Argentine is aware of how that is factoring into the players' performance, and that intensity isn't just about the physical aspect but the mental as well.

In terms of implementing his philosophy, Pochettino said he'll be flexible in terms of his tactical plan, especially when it comes to playing out of the back.

"People sometimes say, 'No, that's my philosophy, my idea and I going to die with my idea.' No, I want to live," he said with a laugh. "It's amazing. I want to be clever. I want to win. I don't want to die. Sometimes we cannot play. Sometimes we need to find different way to put our player in a comfortable zone, not in an uncomfortable zone to reduce ... the confidence we play [with].

"You need to adapt yourself, your ideas, your philosophy, because we are coaching the player, we are not coaching ourself," he said. "We need to be a coaching staff that we coach the team. We coach the player because if not we start to coach ourself and then always blame the player.

"We don't want to blame the player. We want to provide all the tools for them to perform, depending on the characteristics of the team in the best way."

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Colts are dealing with mixed injury news regarding three of their most important offensive players heading into Sunday's game against the Titans.

Quarterback Anthony Richardson (oblique) is preparing to return to the lineup while receiver Michael Pittman Jr. (back) is surprisingly questionable and running back Jonathan Taylor (ankle) has been ruled out.

Richardson, who missed last week's loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, is on track to play after participating in the past three practices. Coach Shane Steichen said Richardson "had huge strides this week, for sure."

Richardson was seen throwing on the run this week and making aggressive movements during practices, something he did not do during the portions of practice last week that were open to media. He also took a majority of the snaps with the first-team offense, according to a team source. Backup Joe Flacco handled all the starter's reps in last week's practices.

Meanwhile, in a surprising development, Pittman practiced Friday after news surfaced earlier this week that he was facing a potential multigame absence because of a back injury. Pittman has been dealing with an unspecified back issue for several weeks, but the problem became exacerbated in the Jacksonville game.

Earlier in the week, a team source indicated that placing Pittman on injured reserve was discussed, though not ultimately decided upon. Two days later, Pittman was catching passes and running routes during individual drills in practice. He has not been ruled out for Sunday.

"I want to be out there for everybody in [the locker room]," Pittman said. "So, we'll see what happens. But nothing's guaranteed. Everything is kind of still on the table."

Said Steichen: "He's feeling really good, so we'll see where that goes."

Pittman has been the team's leading receiver in each of the past three seasons, with a career-high 1,152 receiving yards in 2023. But he has perhaps been slowed by the back injury this season. He has his fewest receptions per game (4.4) since his rookie season in 2020.

Taylor, the NFL's 2021 rushing champion, will miss his second consecutive game with an ankle sprain after not practicing for a second straight week, according to Steichen. Backup Trey Sermon is expected to start in his place.

ABC will simulcast six more ESPN "Monday Night Football" games, including Monday's AFC East matchup between the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets.

The addition of the six games means ABC will air 17 this season -- 14 simulcasts with ESPN (including two playoff games) and three games exclusively on ABC.

The decision to simulcast more games was a joint decision between the NFL and Walt Disney Company, which owns ABC and ESPN.

The other added games are Baltimore at Tampa Bay (Oct. 21), Tampa Bay at Kansas City (Nov. 4), Houston at Dallas (Nov. 18), Baltimore at Los Angeles Chargers (Nov. 25) and New Orleans at Green Bay (Dec. 23).

The only two Mondays the rest of the regular season when ABC will not have a game are Nov. 11 and Dec. 2.

ABC had games all 18 weeks last season due to an agreement with the NFL since there was no new original fall programming because of the Hollywood writers and actors strikes. With more games on network television, "Monday Night Football" averaged 17.36 million viewers across ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC, a 29% increase over 2022.

It was the best audience number for the league's seminal prime-time package since 2000. Last season's Super Bowl LVII rematch between Philadelphia and Kansas City averaged 29.03 million.

Coming into the season, ABC had eight scheduled simulcasts, including two Saturday Week 18 games and two playoff games, and three exclusive MNF games when there were doubleheaders.

It also continues Disney's move toward putting more sports programming back on ABC. Super Bowl LXI from Los Angeles in 2027 will be on the network and the College Football Playoff championship game will also move to ABC the same year.

More games on ABC will also boost the ratings. Kansas City's 26-13 victory over New Orleans on ESPN averaged 15.91 million, the fourth-most-watched Monday night game not simulcast on ABC. However, the audience was down from the 17.38 million that viewed last season's Week 5 game between Green Bay and Las Vegas.

The upcoming game not only includes the quarterback matchup between the Jets' Aaron Rodgers and Bills' Josh Allen, it is the first for the Jets under interim coach Jeff Ulbrich after Robert Saleh was fired following a 2-3 start to the season.

PITTSBURGH -- With a full week of practice under his belt, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson is poised to be active for the first time this season, serving as the No. 2 quarterback behind Justin Fields against the Las Vegas Raiders, coach Mike Tomlin said Friday.

"He's probably going to be active as the No. 2 quarterback," Tomlin said after practice. "Like what I've seen out here, but health and rust are two different things. I thought he had a good week displaying his health, his ability to protect himself. Now it's just the process of getting reacclimated to the ball."

Though he was named the starter after training camp, since aggravating his calf injury on Sept. 5, Wilson, 35, has been inactive in every game this season and served as the emergency third quarterback.

But earlier this week, Tomlin acknowledged the situation with Wilson was changing after five weeks of limited practice participation.

"We're in a little bit different place as I stand here today with Russ this week than we have been in recent weeks." Tomlin said Tuesday. "Just met with him and the training staff in preparation for [Wednesday]. Tomorrow will be the first Wednesday that he'll be a scheduled full participant. We'll see what that leads us first. We'll see if he's able to obviously pull it off and get through the session and if he does, what does the quality of that work look like?"

On Friday, Tomlin said Wilson did indeed pull off the full week of work.

"I thought he had a good week," Tomlin said. "He's proven his health now. It's just a matter of knocking the rust off."

Asked about his expectations for Sunday's game, Wilson stayed away from definitive answers when he spoke with local media Thursday.

"That's a big question," Wilson said with a chuckle. "I think for me, I'm preparing my mind to get ready to go and everything else, so that's kind of my mentality and help us win and whatever that is."

And for his part, Wilson, who continued to take reps in 7-on-7 and individuals while he was a limited practice participant, wasn't concerned about a rust accumulation from missing 11-on-11 practice periods.

"I've been getting all the reps," Wilson said. "It's not like I haven't been out there. I've gotten a lot of reps over all this time and everything else, and I feel really confident with our guys who we are. You guys saw some of the plays guys are making just a lot of good things and so I feel confident about that, and I'm not worried about that part."

Not only will Wilson likely be active against the Raiders, but the Steelers could also get a boost in the run game from Jaylen Warren. Though Tomlin said Warren, who has missed two games with a knee injury, was doubtful to play against the Raiders earlier this week, the coach said Warren would be listed as questionable after a good week of practice.

"He was a full participant today," Tomlin said. "Good trajectory, on the upswing."

Week 7 is here as we look toward some exciting conference matchups this weekend that you won't want to miss.

The Red River Rivalry game is Saturday as No. 1 Texas will face No. 18 Oklahoma at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. In just his second career start, Oklahoma's true freshman quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. will be making history. Oklahoma has won four of the past five Red River Rivalry games, but will Hawkins' poise be enough to take down its top-ranked opponent?

No. 3 Oregon and No. 2 Ohio State will face-off as conference opponents for the first time this weekend, but this isn't their first time playing against each other. Ten years ago, Ohio State leaned on its third-string quarterback to rally the Buckeyes after injuries rocked the team at the position. Ohio State and Oregon met in the national championship game that year and the Buckeyes' third-string quarterback did indeed step up.

Our college football experts preview big games and storylines to know about and share quotes of the week ahead of Week 7.

Jump to a section:
Ohio State-Oregon | Red River Rivalry
New conference enemy | Quotes of the Week

How Cardale Jones stepped up when the Buckeyes needed him most

Safety Tyvis Powell remembered "all the oxygen" evaporating from Ohio Stadium when J.T. Barrett couldn't get up with a fractured right ankle. Tailback Ezekiel Elliott called it a "shock" seeing Ohio State's quarterback get carted off the field against Michigan a decade ago.

"J.T. was having a crazy season," Elliott said. "He probably would've won the Heisman."

The Buckeyes had already lost star quarterback Braxton Miller in the preseason to shoulder surgery. With the season on the line, Barrett was headed for surgery, too.

"It was like, 'Oh man, here we go again,'" Powell said. "We overcame the Braxton [injury], which was hard enough. We finally got this train rolling and boom, we get hit by another quarterback injury."

Powell, Elliott and the Buckeyes felt devastated. But they also knew their third-string quarterback, Cardale Jones, owned a rocket arm.

"I don't know if I've played with a quarterback with a stronger arm," Elliott said. "We knew he had all the tools. We just hadn't seen it yet."

Saturday in Eugene, Ohio State visits Oregon in their first showdown as Big Ten rivals -- 10 years after facing off for the national title in Arlington, Texas, where Jones and fourth-seeded Ohio State completed an unlikely championship season.

"The closest person to do what Cardale did was a fictional character by the name of Steamin' Willie Beamen," said Powell, referring to the Miami Sharks backup quarterback played by Jamie Foxx in the 1999 film "Any Given Sunday."

With Jones, the Buckeyes didn't miss a beat. They finished off Michigan, then annihilated Wisconsin 59-0 for the Big Ten championship, to slip into the inaugural four-team playoff. They stunned Alabama in the Sugar Bowl semifinal 42-35. Then, they took down Oregon 42-20 for the national championship. Over those three games, Jones passed for 742 yards, rushed for another 90 and totaled six touchdowns.

"I knew the expectations. I knew the culture we developed," said Jones, who, until Barrett's injury, had never played a meaningful snap. "Everybody was expected to do their job, and that's how they treated me, from the coaching staff on down. No one babied me, no one tried to walk me into things. It was, 'Hey, you know your f---ing job, let's do it.''

Powell realized Jones meant business when he got home from class the Monday after the Michigan game. Powell usually found his roommate playing Call of Duty in the living room. That evening, Jones was at the football facility studying film with then offensive coordinator Tom Herman.

"That was a calming thing, like 'Oh, you're locked in,'" Powell said. "At that point, I knew we're going to be fine."

Later that week, Herman compiled a highlight tape of Jones' best plays from Cleveland Glenville High School and showed it to him.

"He wanted to make sure I was reassured that hey, I belong here," Jones said, "and that I have all the ability in the world to help us."

Barrett kept telling him the same: "You're here for a reason."

After thumping Wisconsin, the Buckeyes didn't gather to watch ESPN's playoff selection show. In fact, Jones was driving home to Cleveland when he started getting texts and calls from teammates and coaches, telling him Ohio State had jumped TCU and Baylor, to secure the selection committee's coveted No. 4 seed.

Ohio State fell behind No. 1 Alabama early in their semifinal matchup. But in the second half on third-and-long, Jones lofted a 47-yard touchdown strike to Devin Smith to give the Buckeyes the lead. They never handed it back.

Against Oregon in the title game, Jones kept on completing big passes, matching the play of Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota. Along with a stingy defense -- highlighted by Powell's fourth-down, goal-line stuff -- and Elliott's relentless rushing, the underdog Buckeyes rolled past the Ducks.

Elliott, who ran for 246 yards and four touchdowns, earned offensive MVP title game honors. Powell, who also had the game-ending interception against Alabama, was named defensive MVP. And Jones, in just a little over three games, cemented an Ohio State legacy. -- Jake Trotter

The presence of Oklahoma's Michael Hawkins Jr.

Dontonio Jordan is the founder of 940 Elite, a Denton, Texas-based, 7-on-7 program. And before Michael Hawkins Jr. started eluding SEC defenders, Jordan chased the young quarterback for the better part of two years.

It took until the spring of 2023 for Jordan to finally get Hawkins to join his team for a training session. When Hawkins stepped onto the turf, Jordan needed all of two minutes to identify the young quarterback's poise, the same aura Hawkins has oozed since taking over as No. 18 Oklahoma's starter against Tennessee on Sept. 21.

"I saw it before he even tied his shoes," Jordan, who played wide receiver at Stanford from 2012 to 2015, told ESPN. "I trained with Andrew Luck and I played with Christian McCaffrey. Guys like that have a certain energy. They don't even try to do it. It's just their presence. And Mike Hawkins has that kind of presence."

Hawkins' composure, as well as his propensity for hurling himself into and over opposing defenders, has defined a brief, yet bright start to life as Oklahoma's quarterback. At the Cotton Bowl on Saturday, 38 miles from the high school field where Jordan first worked with Hawkins, the Sooners' freshman will make Red River Rivalry history against No. 1 Texas.

Hawkins will become the first Oklahoma true freshman quarterback to start against the Longhorns in the 120-game lore of this bitter rivalry, in the same Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex where he once tormented opposing high school defenses and learned to throw under the tutelage of Kyler Murray's father.

"It means a lot just going to a big stage," Hawkins said last week. "It's my first time playing in this stadium and against this team, too. So this is a big moment for me."

Murmurs of Hawkins' immediate promise and maturity flowed out of the Sooners' spring and fall camps earlier this year. But ESPN's No. 7 dual-threat quarterback in the 2024 class only took center stage after Brent Venables pulled Jackson Arnold before halftime against Tennessee last month, benching the former five-star passer just five games after handing him the reins. Hawkins's composure showed when he steadied Oklahoma in an eventual 25-15 loss to the Volunteers. A week later, when Hawkins made his first career start at Auburn, his poise overflowed during an 11-point, fourth-quarter comeback, which Hawkins flourished by careening into the end zone on a pivotal, late-game 2-point conversion.

"He's a guy to bet on just from a maturity, process-driven, consistency [standpoint]," Venables said of Hawkins this week. "How he handles tough moments ... he's got a lot of really good qualities that maybe sometimes a younger player doesn't have."

Those qualities quickly became clear to Jordan. From that initial training session, Hawkins joined 940 Elite, and soon, he was a commanding presence within the 7-on-7 program that has produced players such as Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby, Texas Tech freshman All-American linebacker Ben Roberts, Arizona State wide receiver Jordyn Tyson and a handful of Hawkins' Oklahoma teammates, including defenders Peyton Bowen and Eli Bowen and tight end Davon Mitchell.

At Frisco Emerson High School, where Hawkins transferred for his senior season after three years at Allen High School, head coach Kendall Miller saw Hawkins' traits, too. Beyond the physical tools that powered Hawkins' 4,211 all-purpose yards and 55 touchdowns in 2023, Miller saw something special in the maturity of the quarterback who led Emerson to the 5A state semifinal in his lone season at the school.

"He had the same demeanor in the semifinal as he did in Game 1," Miller said. "I think he's just got something inside of him. If I could just find what he has, I'd go get some of it and give it to a lot of other guys."

Before he became Oklahoma's freshman quarterback, Hawkins' poise was a driving force of his game. When he steps onto one of college football's biggest stages Saturday, it may be his greatest asset. -- Eli Lederman

Get to know your new conference enemy

These two programs are not totally unfamiliar with each other. In 2017, James Franklin and Penn State held a 14-point lead heading into the fourth quarter of the Rose Bowl Game. USC then scored 17 points, including a game-winning field goal in the final seconds to win one of the most thrilling versions of the bowl game in recent years.

Now, seven years later, the No. 4 Nittany Lions are headed back to the West Coast to face the Trojans again, this time as a conference opponent.

The Trojans are 1-0 (beat Wisconsin) in home games against Big Ten opponents and 0-2 on the road (lost to Michigan and Minnesota).

The Nittany Lions have one of the best defenses and USC's offense has looked overpowered in the trenches when facing tougher opponents, which has, in turn, asked a lot of its improved but not flawless defense. This is not exactly the kind of get right game that the Trojans needed after a brutal loss in Minnesota. But it also may be the kind of trap game that Franklin's team needs to avoid on its quest for a playoff spot.

As Lincoln Riley explained recently, Big Ten games have had fewer possessions and are slower paced than what he and the Trojans are accustomed. Franklin and Penn State, perhaps more than most teams, thrive in such games.

Riley has argued that the Trojans are two plays away from being 5-0. On one hand, that's not necessarily wrong. On the other, they have allowed themselves to lose two games because of two plays. Whether it's the slower-paced games with fewer plays, the physicality or simply the travel, USC has struggled to perform. It dropped being ranked No. 11 to unranked after its most recent loss.

This week, the task won't be any easier. The Trojans will need a win to keep any slim playoff or conference hopes alive. -- Paolo Uggetti

Quotes of the week

"[They're] not a measuring stick for myself or for this program. Their success doesn't have anything to do with ours. And their lack of success doesn't have anything to do with ours. So we're focused on us -- the things that we can control. We compete on the field once a season, and it's a big game, always is." -- Oklahoma coach Brent Venables, on whether his job is more difficult when Texas is riding high.

"I'm buddies with him. He's a good guy. ... Man, he's a good player. He can sling it. Ball comes out of his hand well. ... He's a dude, for sure. I'm excited to go against him in this big matchup." -- Ohio State quarterback Will Howard, on facing former Big 12 rival and Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel. The two previously faced each other when Howard was at Kansas State and Gabriel at Oklahoma.

"One of the things I think we have to discuss is increasing the size of the runway here and the size of the airport for a lot of reasons, for the university, for the community, for businesses, and for the athletic department. You're talking about adding another two hours on top of your flight. ... That's pretty much a whole day." -- James Franklin, on Penn State having to drive to Harrisburg to be able to fly across the country to Los Angeles and face new Big Ten member USC.

CLEVELAND -- Detroit Tigers slugger Kerry Carpenter was undergoing treatment Friday and resting a hamstring injury that could keep him out of Saturday's decisive Game 5 of the AL Division Series against the Cleveland Guardians.

Carpenter, who hit a three-run homer to win Game 2, got hurt while rounding third and scoring in the sixth inning Thursday night. His run gave Detroit the lead before the Guardians rallied to win 5-4 and even the back-and-forth series.

Manager A.J. Hinch said the team is waiting to see how Carpenter's injury responds before making any lineup or roster decisions.

"We're going to take as much time as we can to see what he can and can't handle," Hinch said before the Tigers worked out in Progressive Field. "It's obvious what he's dealing with and we're going to hope for the best as we move forward because he's important to our team and our lineup.

"I don't know right now what that's going to be and we'll make a game-time decision."

Hinch's comments came before MLB changed the start time seven hours, moving first pitch from 8:08 p.m. to 1:08 p.m. The switch was made due to the potential for inclement weather, MLB said in a news release.

The visiting Tigers will send Tarik Skubal to the mound, while the Guardians counter with Matthew Boyd.

Carpenter is a vital part of Detroit's lineup. His stunning three-run homer off Cleveland All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase gave the Tigers a 3-0 win in Game 2. He hit 18 homers in just 87 games during the season despite missing significant time with a stress fracture in his lower back.

If the Tigers have to replace Carpenter on their roster, he will be ineligible if the team advances to play the New York Yankees in the ALCS.

Hinch said his focus was only on finding a way to advance.

"There is no series if you don't win tomorrow," Hinch said. "The No. 1 goal is to win and we'll make the right decision for us that we feel is best for us."

Bligh Madris, who has been working out with other Detroit players in Toledo, Ohio, during the series, is with the Tigers and would be the likely replacement for Carpenter. Madris batted .269 in 21 games for Detroit this season.

Also, Tigers catcher Jake Rogers said he was sore but otherwise fine after being hit with two foul balls on the left hand in Thursday's game.

CLEVELAND -- Citing a chance of inclement weather, Major League Baseball moved the start time of Saturday's decisive Game 5 of the AL Division Series between Detroit and Cleveland from 8:08 p.m. ET to 1:08 p.m. ET.

The change was announced Friday as the Tigers were going through a workout at Progressive Field.

Cleveland evened the back-and-forth series by rallying to win Game 4 on Thursday night. Pinch-hitter David Fry's two-run homer in the seventh inning helped the AL Central champions avoid elimination.

While the seven-hour switch could be inconvenient to some, it will allow Ohio State and Guardians fans to avoid having to switch between the baseball broadcast and the No. 2-ranked Buckeyes' game at No. 3 Oregon, which starts at 7:30 p.m. ET

The visiting Tigers will send Tarik Skubal to the mound, while the Guardians counter with Matthew Boyd in the decisive affair.

LOS ANGELES -- Mookie Betts spent part of his 32nd birthday practically locked inside Petco Park's batting cage. It was Monday afternoon in San Diego, an off day from an impassioned National League Division Series and an opportunity for its participants to separate from it. Betts took the opposite approach. He swung and swung and swung, outside and indoors, against soft tosses and high velocity.

Two nights later, after a series-tying Game 4 victory, relief filled the Los Angeles Dodgers' clubhouse. Their season, volatile as it might be, had been saved. And Betts had been a catalyst, homering in a second consecutive game and following with a run-scoring single. Perhaps, his teammates and coaches hoped, Betts had put his confounding 0-for-22 postseason slump behind him. Perhaps, as the Dodgers prepare to confront the rival San Diego Padres in a winner-take-all Game 5 on Friday night, he can once again drive their offense.

"Mook's our guy," Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy said. "He's one of our leaders. He's still one of the best players in baseball. I know he gets a little bit overshadowed because we have Shohei Ohtani, but that guy's still getting paid $400 million too. He is one of the best players in baseball, and he's been one of the best players in the postseason. I know these last two years haven't shown that, but, I mean, come on. Look at what he's done in the past. He can still do it in the postseason. I think he just needed to get a couple hits to get it out of his head."

IF THERE WAS a moment that seemed to epitomize Betts' struggles in recent playoffs, it came early in Sunday's Game 2. The first pitch Yu Darvish threw to Betts was a sweeper that did not tail far enough outside. Betts followed its path, lofting it deep into the left-field corner for what seemed destined for a home run. It wasn't until Betts got midway to third base that he realized Padres outfielder Jurickson Profar had reached over the wall and traversed an eager group of Dodgers fans to secure the baseball. It was an out, the first of four for Betts on this night. By the end of it, his postseason hitless drought -- spanning NLDS exits in 2022 and 2023 -- had stretched to 22 at-bats, tied for the fourth-longest ever by a former MVP.

After the game, Betts took no solace in the near-homer.

"They're all outs," he said of his at-bats. "So, all terrible."

Hitters typically embrace a process-oriented mindset. If a batter saw a pitch well, if his mechanics were sound, if he met his bat's barrel with the baseball, he's often satisfied, regardless of the outcome. So much of a hitter's results are out of his control -- after all, pitchers dictate the action -- that focusing solely on the decisions that lead up to them can serve as a useful defense mechanism.

Betts is different. He cares about his process, but it's the results that matter most. A batted ball that should have sailed over the fence but resulted in an out might bring him down; a broken-bat single that found space in the outfield might get him going. Early in the series, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts could see the pressure of snapping his hitless drought bleed into Betts' at-bats.

"It's up to all of us," Roberts said the day after Game 2, "to make sure he's in a good head space."

Roberts planned to chat with Betts after the team made its 120-mile drive south to San Diego. He wanted to remind him that he can't change the past, especially not prior Octobers. That he needed to keep his focus on the present. And that the Dodgers don't need him to be anything more than what he was during the regular season. But Roberts never had that conversation. Too many of Mookie's teammates were already in his ear.

Their message boiled down to one central point: You're still Mookie Betts.

"He's one of the best at it," Muncy said. "Sometimes you just got to remind him that."

BETTS TOOK A couple-hundred swings in the batting cage Monday, give or take a few dozen, leaving some of his teammates to sit around the clubhouse and wonder when he might be finished. As the sun was setting, he ventured outside to hit off a high-velocity pitching machine stationed atop Petco Park's pitching mound.

Betts was joined by Chris Taylor and Andy Pages, two Dodgers position players who have been used sparingly in October and needed to get reacclimated to velocity. Betts kept his focus to the opposite field, repeatedly lifting pitches toward the right-center-field gap, and spoke in detail with Dodgers hitting coach Robert Van Scoyoc after each session.

The 2024 regular season was a turbulent one for Betts. He began by transitioning to second base, shifted to shortstop near the end of spring training, got off to an MVP start offensively, missed nearly two months with a fractured left hand, then returned to right field and moved into the No. 2 spot in the Dodgers' lineup. Betts still finished with a .289/.372/.491 slash line, performing 45% above league average based on OPS+. But he developed bad habits near the end of September and watched them spill into October.

Most of the off day was spent tweaking Betts' prepitch load so that his hands got back into an ideal "launch position" before beginning his swing, Van Scoyoc said. Betts swung until he found it.

"That's what I know," he said. "I work."

WHEN BETTS FEELS right inside a batter's box -- when he feels like Mookie Betts -- he tends to lift the right side of his upper lip, a half-snarl, like a dog growling at an intruder.

Roberts saw that look emerge in Game 3 on Tuesday and took solace.