BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Leading Buffalo Sabres scorer Tage Thompson left Monday's game against the Montreal Canadiens in the second period with a lower-body injury and did not return.

Thompson, who scored his 11th goal of the season in the first period of the Sabres' 7-5 loss, played one shift of the second period before he left the game. Sabres coach Lindy Ruff did not have an update on Thompson's condition following the game.

"He's a huge piece on our team, and we need him out there," Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin said.

Thompson has 11 goals and seven assists for 18 points this season.

Sabres defenseman Mattias Samuelsson also left the game in the second period with a lower-body injury. There also was no update on his status after the game.

Bukayo Saka and Cole Palmer are among eight players to have pulled out of the England squad with injuries for their UEFA Nations League fixtures this month.

Levi Colwill, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Aaron Ramsdale and Declan Rice will also be unavailable for the matches against Greece and Republic of Ireland.

The injury exodus has seen Aston Villa's Morgan Rogers handed a first-ever callup. The uncapped duo of Tino Livramento and James Trafford have also been added into the squad along with Jarrod Bowen and Jarrad Branthwaite.

Saka went down with a leg injury in the latter stages of Arsenal's draw with Chelsea before being withdrawn in the 81st minute. Saka's teammate Declan Rice started at Stamford Bridge despite sources telling ESPN that he had a broken toe. The midfielder was later replaced by Mikel Merino in the 71st minute.

Post-match, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta sad that both injuries "don't look good."

There had been doubts over Cole Palmer's involvement in Sunday's clash due to injury concerns and while the 22-year-old played the entire 90 minutes, his performance was largely subdued.

Alexander-Arnold went off clutching his hamstring in the first-half of Liverpool's win over Aston Villa on Saturday with Slot saying post-match that the injury was "not a good sign."

Sources told ESPN that it is a low-grade injury that will keep him out for around two weeks.

Grealish's withdrawal doesn't come as a surprise, given his last game for Manchester City came on Oct. 20. His selection to the original squad drew consternation from Pep Guardiola, who said England interim-boss Lee Carsley hadn't consulted him before picking the forward.

The upcoming set of fixtures will be Carsley's last in charge of England before the arrival of Thomas Tuchel.

BEREA, Ohio -- Cleveland Browns left tackle Jedrick Wills Jr.'s "business decision" to sit out a recent game with a knee injury might have backfired.

Wills was recently benched in favor of second-year tackle Dawand Jones, who was moved from right tackle to the left side in hopes of improving a Cleveland line that has been beset with injuries.

Wills said it was his decision not to play against the Baltimore Ravens on Oct. 27 after he hyperextended his left knee -- the same one he had surgery on in December -- on the game's first play the previous week against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Then, after the Browns (2-7) upset the Ravens with Jones at left tackle, Wills said coach Kevin Stefanski told him that he would no longer start but instead would serve as a "swing" tackle. He backed up both Jones and right tackle Jack Conklin for the Nov. 3 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.

A first-round draft pick in 2020 out of Alabama, Wills had started all 57 games in which he was healthy before the demotion.

"It was pretty shocking," he said Monday as the Browns returned from their bye week. "I mean, I decided myself. I made a business decision not to play after the Bengals game going into that Ravens game because I was injured. And then the next week is when I received the news."

Wills was asked whether the Browns misinterpreted his decision to sit out.

"I'm not sure," he said. "Maybe."

Wills understands the situation, but that doesn't make it any easier on the agreeable 25-year-old.

"I think upset isn't a good word to use," he said when asked about his feelings. "I would say it's more frustrating. But, I mean, it's not my decision. I can only do what I can do."

From their side, the Browns might have been making their own business decision in demoting Wills.

He is in the final year of his rookie contract ($14.175 million), and it's possible Cleveland's front office no longer views him as part of its future. Jones, 6-foot-8 and 375 pounds, performed well as a rookie while replacing an injured Conklin, and the Browns might want to see whether he can be their left-side anchor.

The team restructured Wills' deal to make it more salary cap friendly, and if he doesn't re-sign with Cleveland, the Browns will take a $11.8 million cap hit in 2025.

"I'm not trying to say anything about [Wills]," Stefanski said last week. "I'm just trying to put Dawand out there and let him get better. Jed is still a player that we believe in, and right now he's got to be ready to go."

Wills doesn't regret sitting out last month. He played with ankle injuries early in his career instead of taking more time off.

"You wouldn't want to go out there and put forth 70% of your effort while you're injured, and then you have somebody else who can go out there and give 100%," he said. "I don't want to be out there the whole time thinking about my knee. I got to focus on my assignment."

For now, Will wants to stay locked in on the present. He said his decision to not play had nothing to do with his future.

"I don't think I would play hurt regardless of any time it was in my career," Wills said. "If I'm healthy enough to play, I'll play. If I'm not healthy enough to play, then I won't play."

Whether he'll play for the Browns next season is uncertain, but he insists he still likes it in Cleveland.

"I like wherever I'm wanted," he said. "You know what I mean?"

ESPN's Daniel Oyefusi and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The SEC has fined Ole Miss $350,000 and LSU $250,000 for incidents involving fans during Saturday's home games against Georgia and Alabama.

Ole Miss incurred a $250,000 fine for a second offense of the league's policy prohibiting fans from entering the field. The school received an additional $100,000 fine because Rebels fans entered the field with 16 seconds left in Saturday's win against Georgia. The field was eventually cleared before another storming, which resulted in fans carrying one of the goalposts out of Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Ole Miss' first violation of the SEC's policy against field storming occurred following last year's win against LSU.

The $350,000 fine will go to Georgia, in accordance with SEC policy for violations in conference games. If Ole Miss incurs a third offense for field or court rushing, it would be subject to a $500,000 fine.

LSU's fine stems from fans throwing bottles and other debris on the field during Saturday night's game against Alabama. The SEC's sportsmanship, game management and alcohol availability policies require LSU to pay the fine and use all video resources to identify those who threw objects onto the field at the opposing team. Those identified will be prohibited from attending LSU athletic events for the 2024-25 academic year.

LSU also must review its game management and alcohol availability policies, and report to the league its plan for penalizing violators. If requirements are not met, the SEC could eventually suspend LSU's ability to sell alcohol at its athletic events.

The fine for LSU, which falls under the SEC's spectator sportsmanship policy, will go toward the league's postgraduate scholarship program.

Former NFL coach Jack Del Rio, the senior adviser to Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell, will resign after he was arrested early Friday and cited for operating a vehicle while intoxicated following a crash in Madison, Wisconsin.

Del Rio, 61, was arrested shortly after midnight Friday after a vehicle he was driving hit a street sign, broke a fence and came to a rest in a yard, according to a Madison Police incident report. Officers were dispatched to the scene, located west of campus and Camp Randall Stadium, at 12:35 a.m.

Witnesses directed the officers to the driver, who was walking away from the area, according to the incident report. No injuries were reported.

Del Rio "showed signs of impairment" and admitted to driving the vehicle. He was arrested for first-time OWI and released.

"I'm grateful to Coach Fickell and the University of Wisconsin for the opportunity to work with such a talented coaching and support staff and some of the best young football players in the country," Del Rio said in a statement Monday. "I have decided to step away from my position with the team, so they can focus all their attention on the remainder of the season."

Wisconsin issued a statement saying they were aware of the incident and "take matters like this very seriously."

The former Jaguars and Raiders head coach joined Fickell's staff at Wisconsin in August. Del Rio had previously served as the Commanders' defensive coordinator and had held coordinator roles with Carolina and Denver.

"He's going to move forward and he's going to resign and move on," Fickell said Monday. "But it's a tough situation. Decisions that all of us have to be able to take full responsibility for. So that's what Jack will do, and we'll continue to move forward."

Del Rio played linebacker with four NFL teams before embarking on a coaching career entirely spent at the pro level until he came to Wisconsin.

The Badgers are coming off a bye week heading into Saturday's showdown at home against No. 1 Oregon.

MIAMI GARDENS -- Since joining the Miami Dolphins, wide receiver Tyreek Hill has been vocal about his desire to be the first receiver in NFL history to eclipse 2,000 receiving yards.

In 2022 -- his first season with the Dolphins after six years with Kansas City Chiefs -- his 1,710 yards were second in the league to Minnesota's Justin Jefferson, despite starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa missing four games due to multiple concussions. Last season, with Tagovailoa healthy, Hill led the NFL, recording a career-high 1,799 yards en route to his second straight All-Pro selection, and fifth of his career, but he fell short of his goal.

Hill had been so outspoken about his goal, in fact, that he was asked about it when the Dolphins opened training camp in July. This time, however, he decided broadcasting individual goals was unbecoming of a two-time team captain.

"That's very selfish of me," Hill said. "So here moving forward, the individual goal I've been talking about this whole entire offseason with my teammates and with my family is, I would want us to, (A) win a playoff game. I would love that. We're going to start with that. Then moving forward continuing to build on that, we're going to move to the Super Bowl.

"If I'm able to help this team do something special as a team goal, I would definitely count that as an individual goal as my own. ... That'd be something that I could live with for the rest of my life."

But with the Dolphins at 2-6, those goals may have to wait. And through nine weeks, Hill's third season in Miami has been his least productive to date. Heading into Monday night's game against the Los Angeles Rams (8:15 p.m. ET, ESPN), his 441 yards on 34 catches has him on pace for 949 yards, which would be his lowest mark since 2019 when he posted 860 receiving yards over 12 games. Tagovailoa's four-game absence after suffering a concussion in Week 2 has not helped. Neither has Miami opting for a more balanced offense after Tagovailoa admitted efforts to get Hill past the 2,000-yard mark in previous seasons rendered the unit one-dimensional.

Despite his down season statistically, Hill has not panicked. He has emerged as a critical blocker in the Dolphins' run game. And with Tagovailoa back, he's begun to show signs of slowly returning to the form that's made him the league's leading receiver over the past two years.

But even he'll admit, 2024 hasn't been easy.

"This process is hard, bro. Losing sucks," Hill said. "Everybody wants to think, 'Oh, it's time to make plays, it's time to go outside the scheme.' Nah man, we just got to stick together as a team and just trust the process."

HILL'S 2024 SEASON on the field began in familiar fashion: He caught seven passes for 130 yards and a touchdown -- an 80-yarder -- in the Dolphins' Week 1 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. But everything changed in Week 2. Tagovailoa suffered a concussion in Miami's loss to the Buffalo Bills, causing him to spend the next four games on injured reserve as he rested and recovered.

In Tagovailoa's absence, Miami's offense was plagued by poor quarterback play. The team ranked last with a 17.7 QBR from Weeks 3 through 7, 31st in yards per dropback (4.52) and 30th in completion percentage over expectation (-5.4%).

When Tagovailoa missed two games early in the 2022 season, Hill joked with a reporter that he could put up numbers "with you" at quarterback.

That wasn't the case in 2024.

Without Tagovailoa, Hill struggled with 14 catches for 140 yards -- his worst four-game stretch since his rookie year -- as the Dolphins lost games and fell behind in the AFC playoff race. Hill ranked 68th among qualified receivers with 10 yards per catch, 70th in first downs (6) and 67th in yards after the catch per reception (2.4).

According to ESPN Analytics, Hill's wide receiver score -- which tracks a receiver's performance in getting open, making a catch and generating yards after the catch -- of 46 represents his lowest since 2017, the earliest season the metric tracks. His open score of 65 ranks 27th among qualified receivers this season.

Since 2016, no player heading into Week 10 had more receptions of 20 or more yards than Hill's 154. This season, he has six, good for 26th in the NFL.

Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel says defenses have been extra careful to prevent Hill from hitting big plays this season, which "forced a lot of the offense to get better," including Hill's blocking.

Hill, though, has taken his struggles in stride. He says the anticipation of a new daughter has helped him keep things in perspective.

"You're going to have ups, you're going to have downs. I'm going on Year 9 now, so I understand how it goes," Hill said in Week 8. "I'm not finna dwell on it, I'm not finna lose my head over football.

"I'm going to control what I can control, which is running the right route, being in the right spot, being a good teammate for my teammates."

HILL'S SEASON HIT rock-bottom in the Dolphins' Week 7 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. His 8 yards on one catch marked the lowest single-game yardage total since the second game of his rookie season.

After the game, when asked how he could get Hill and fellow wideout Jaylen Waddle more involved in the offense, McDaniel didn't focus on the lack of catches or yards. Instead, he hailed Hill and Waddle's contributions away from the ball.

"They were phenomenal all game," McDaniel said. "They've really looked at their role in an expansive way. They've been trying to do whatever we can to win the football game. When you run the ball 40 times, it does minimize your opportunities and then if you're trying to take advantage of a defense over playing and doubling them and getting the ball to the tight end, then they have less (opportunities)."

Waddle was blunt when asked how he and his fellow receivers could make their presence felt.

"Block," Waddle said.

The following week, a Dolphins fan responded to one of Hill's posts on social media, saying that he liked when Hill made "impact plays on Sundays."

"Same now I'm a blocker," Hill responded.

The numbers back up his answer. Among 42 wide receivers with at least 30 receptions this season, Hill's 14 run block wins are tied for 11th in the NFL. Among 48 receivers with at least 10 run block wins, his 87.5% win rate is tied for 13th.

Since Week 5, the Dolphins have the third-most rushing attempts per game and average 170 rushing yards per game -- also third-most in that span. Compared to last season, when they were the league's sixth-ranked rushing offense, the Dolphins are averaging two fewer rushing yards per game this year on a slightly less-efficient clip (5.1 yards per carry in 2023, to 4.4 yards this season).

Miami averages 30.2 rushing attempts per game in 2024, up from 26.8 last season, in part because its fledgling passing offense without Tagovailoa hasn't supported a more balanced approach. The Dolphins led the NFL with 265.5 passing yards per game in 2023; that's down to 191 yards per game in 2024 -- 24th in the league.

Tagovailoa said Hill's and Waddle's willingness to block prevents opposing defensive coordinators from being able to key on the run or pass based on Miami's personnel.

"What's so cool is you turn that film on, you get to watch what him and [Waddle] do with the blocking game," Tagovailoa said Thursday. "They allow our runners some pretty big holes outside of the O-linemen, but those guys are getting to the second level quick and I really think that it translates to the way that they play in the pass game, as well."

During his four games out, Tagovailoa said he paid attention to conversations Hill and Waddle had about how to help the team, even if they weren't able to have their normal impact on the game.

That mentality, he said, provided a critical element to Miami's offense -- which ranks second in the NFL in expected points added in Tagovailoa's first two games back.

Running back De'Von Achane has been a primary beneficiary of Hill's and Waddle's blocking. He emerged as a focal point of the Dolphins' offense in his second NFL season, compiling 722 total yards on a team-high 130 touches.

Achane has built on an impressive rookie season, accounting for 28% of the Dolphins' offense in 2024 -- up from 15% last year.

Since Week 5, Miami ranks third in the NFL with 170 rushing yards per game; their 194.8 passing yards per game ranks 24th, but it's a byproduct of the Dolphins' new-look offense.

"When I came back for the Cardinals game, it just felt different with those guys," Tagovailoa said. "They were in more, the efficiency went up with the run game. The efficiency went up with the passing game as well and it's due to everyone, but those guys definitely played a big role in that."

IN THEIR LOSS to the Bills in Week 9, Dolphins cornerback Jalen Ramsey's interception early in the second quarter gave his offense the ball at their own 3-yard line.

Tagovailoa and the Dolphins drove 97 yards on 14 plays; neither Hill nor Waddle touched the ball.

It was Miami's first game at near-full strength on offense, with offseason signees Odell Beckham Jr. and Jonnu Smith both active. Nine different players touched the ball against the Bills, reflective of the offensive balance Miami wants to implement.

Hill has commanded 29.2% of his team's total targets since joining the Dolphins in 2022, trailing Davante Adams for the league lead. That number is down to 22.6% in 2024.

Last season, 75% of Miami's total offensive yards came from four players -- Hill, Waddle, Achane and Raheem Mostert. This year, that production is spread out, with six players accounting for 90% of their 2,599 yards through eight games.

"As we've grown together as an offensive unit, finding conviction in things that guys do well, then you're looking at an opponent that loves to double [Hill] and [Waddle]," McDaniel said. "I've used the basketball analogy before; you can either try to split the double or you can get an assist. There were a lot of guys involved by intention, and I thought Tua played one of his best games (in Week 9)."

Miami's opponents are keying on the big play; it's faced two-high safety coverage on a league-leading 161 snaps this season. While this isn't new -- Miami played the second-most offensive snaps in the league last season against two-high safety looks -- It has had an impact on the Dolphins' ability to generate big plays.

Last season, they ranked third in the league with 124 explosive plays, defined as runs of at least 10 yards and completed passes of at least 20 yards. They rank 24th in that same category this season and are on pace for 106 such plays.

"Ultimately that's what we're trying to achieve every week is the balance where you can't overplay a part of your defense to defend an area," offensive coordinator Frank Smith said. "And as guys try to overplay an area, that allows us to attack with different guys. I think it's just basically for us, when a defense tries to overplay an area, we've got to be able to attack the matchups that are presented from it, and I think that's an area that we wanted to focus on for growth."

HILL'S PRODUCTION HAS seen an uptick since Tagovailoa returned in Week 8, but it hasn't been restored to his pre-2024 days.

He's averaged 76 receiving yards per game over the past two weeks, which averages out to 1,292 yards over a 17-game season. But that's a long way from the 112.4 yards per game he averaged last season.

At this rate, he'll finish the season with 1,130 yards -- his fewest in a Dolphins uniform.

Adding to his uphill climb to 1,000 receiving yards is a wrist injury that flared up after Week 9 and held him out of consecutive practices leading up to Monday's game against the Rams.

He was listed as questionable to play, with McDaniel telling reporters Saturday that Hill would play "if his body lets him."

Hill didn't speak to the media this week; the media is barred from speaking with players if they don't practice. But he did offer a message in a video posted to Snapchat on Saturday.

"Just boarded our plane on the way to Los Angeles -- and it's about to go down, bruh," he said.

LOS ANGELES -- As the 2022 Los Angeles Rams wrapped up a 5-12 season, the front office recognized the 2021 core that had won Super Bowl LVI was aging.

"You're going to naturally want to run it back [or] repeat, and you bring a lot of those players back," Rams general manager Les Snead said. "When it didn't work out at that point, you got to say, 'OK, who's the core? How many years does that core have together? It's not going to last forever. When is it best to start trying to engineer a new core?'

"That's probably when it really began. ... I don't want to say the clock struck midnight, but the core, that team, that senior class ... it just doesn't last forever."

So, changes were made -- including trading star cornerback Jalen Ramsey to the Miami Dolphins for a third-round pick. To many, the move signaled the Rams' championship window was closing, as they recouped draft capital and started to rebuild instead of sticking to the philosophy famously worn by Snead in the Super Bowl LVI championship parade, on a shirt with his photo and the line, "F--- them picks."

The Rams, after all, won the Super Bowl by taking huge swings to improve their roster, including trading for quarterback Matthew Stafford during the offseason, adding linebacker Von Miller at the trade deadline and signing Odell Beckham Jr. soon after. The moves were made to add to edge rusher Aaron Donald and receiver Cooper Kupp -- two players along with Stafford whom Snead later called the "weight-bearing walls" of the roster.

As the Rams try to put together another Super Bowl contender, they've returned to building the roster in a more traditional way: through the draft. It's an attempt to build a new core alongside the veterans on offense, including Stafford and Super Bowl LVI MVP Kupp. Though it's early in the careers of the team's two draft classes since Ramsey's departure, the success they have had so far indicates the Rams are on their way.

"We'll continue to try to evolve," Rams coach Sean McVay said. "It's different than what it looked like a couple years ago. It's different than what it looked like my very first year in 2017, all of which have allowed us to be able to continue to formulate a lot of good decisions."

Trading Ramsey, who will line up for the Miami Dolphins against Los Angeles on "Monday Night Football" (8:15 ET, ABC/ESPN/ESPN+), in 2023 was the first sign in a changing approach to the Rams' team-building philosophy. The Rams have evolved from 'F--- them picks' to today's 4-4 team featuring its first first-round draft pick in years.

THE RAMS WERE 7-1 at the trade deadline in 2021, and there was "a confidence level based on where Donald was at in his career" and the fact that outside linebacker Leonard Floyd was "really rolling," McVay said.

"You're saying, 'Hey, a Von Miller-caliber of player comes available. Well, let's go make an attempt to be able to go get him,' and then Odell Beckham Jr. becomes available."

Those moves were just the latest in the swings the Rams had taken to get there, including trading for Ramsey in October 2019 for two first-round picks and one fourth-round pick and then sending quarterback Jared Goff, their first-round picks in 2022 and 2023 and a third-rounder in 2021 to the Detroit Lions for Stafford.

"At a time when I stopped liking football as much, I got traded to L.A., and it just drastically changed everything for me," Ramsey recalled of his time with the Rams. "It was just amazing."

Along with trading draft picks, the Rams also paid those superstars, leading to a top-heavy roster, especially after paying Stafford, Donald and Kupp after the Super Bowl victory.

"It's a different approach," McVay said of the ways the Rams built the Super Bowl roster. "Some of it was by necessity. I think you've seen a lot of models that work. I think you have to be able to be committed to whatever that approach is based on all the parameters."

Though the Rams didn't make a trade at the deadline 2022 -- they were 3-4 -- they took two big swings: negotiating with the Carolina Panthers for running back Christian McCaffrey and linebacker Brian Burns. The Panthers traded McCaffrey to the San Francisco 49ers but did not trade Burns at the deadline.

Once it became clear that the 2022 version of the Rams couldn't run it back the way the roster was built, the team started keeping its draft picks and saving salary cap space.

At the time, team president Kevin Demoff referenced the change in mindset happening out of necessity: "[We're] probably a few players away from winning in the Super Bowl. How do we go start to acquire those players rather than saying, 'Hey, we're going to go create all this space for one player.'"

In September 2024 -- after his first season in Miami -- Ramsey signed a three-year contract extension worth $24.1 million per year, making him the highest-paid cornerback in NFL history for a second time in his career. The Rams had done the same for Ramsey four years earlier, signing him to a five-year, $105 million extension after trading for him in 2019.

On Thursday, McVay said Ramsey knows "the respect, the admiration I have for him as a player and what he meant to this team."

"There were a lot of tough decisions that were on the horizon for us as a football team," McVay said. "And it didn't have anything with us not wanting him here. There was a lot of things that we had to do as a result of some previous years and things of that nature.

"He understood that, so it was important for us based on what he had done for us to try to be able to find a situation that suited both parties. Miami was somebody that was interested ... [and] he was excited about that."

During the league meetings in March 2023, after trading Ramsey and a quiet free agency period, Snead quipped, "We're the boring Rams this year."

At those same meetings, Demoff made it clear the Rams weren't punting on the 2023 season. The Rams started 3-6 before winning seven of their last eight games to make the playoffs.

"There is always going to be at the macro level, some version of where ... hey, you have players that have grown up together," Snead said Tuesday. "They're in their prime and then there is going to be the natural recourse of somewhat starting over with that as you begin anew, start afresh and start adding new players. That's the big picture thing of what we've gone through from a standpoint of back in 2021."

WHEN THE RAMS drafted linebacker Jared Verse in April, it was especially significant because it was the team's first first-round pick since trading up to select Goff in 2016.

But while this might be a different way to build a team compared with their last Super Bowl roster, the Rams are beginning to see the method pay off.

Rams rookies have seven sacks and six interceptions this season, both the most in the NFL, according to ESPN Research. In the 2024 draft, the Rams selected five defensive players: Verse, defensive lineman Braden Fiske (second), Kamren Kinchens (third), outside linebacker Brennan Jackson (fifth) and defensive tackle Tyler Davis (sixth).

Verse (3.5) and Fiske (3.0) rank first and second, respectively, among rookies in sacks this season. Verse also entered Week 10 leading rookies with nine tackles for a loss, 24 pressures and 13 quarterback hits.

This group is built around defensive players drafted last year, including tackle Kobie Turner and linebacker Byron Young. Last season, Rams rookies had 19 sacks, the most in the NFL.

And in 2024, the Rams have 15 sacks by players in their first two seasons, which is the most in the NFL, according to ESPN Research.

The success was especially apparent in the Rams' Week 9 victory over the Seattle Seahawks. In that game, Verse had a sack, Fiske had two, Kinchens had two interceptions and Davis had half a sack.

Fiske is one of two rookies this season to record multiple sacks in a game, according to ESPN Research. The Rams paid a significant cost to trade up for him. According to ESPN's draft pick valuations, Los Angeles' trade of picks No. 52, 155 and a 2025 second to Carolina for pick No. 39 was the most expensive Day 2 "overpay" of at least the past six drafts.

"There was an investment in this draft class, especially when you look at Jared Verse and Braden Fiske," McVay said. "I thought both of those guys made their presence felt in a big way [against Seattle]. I thought [Week 9] was kind of a coming-out party for Braden Fiske in a way. He's done some really good things. It's tough that he only was charted with two sacks. He sure had an impact on a lot more than that when you go back and you watch the film."

It is Verse' attitude and edge on the field that stood out to McVay in the draft process and his "toughness" reminded him of Donald and Ramsey.

"He's got some s--- to him that I really like," McVay said of Verse. "That's been big for our defense. I think guys feed off that and it's a good thing. You need some guys like that. Aaron [Donald] had that to him too. He just might not have talked as loud, but the way he would stare a hole through people they knew. Ramsey was like that.

"Sometimes those best defensive players, they have some stuff to them that you're like, 'Oh man, we need that.' You need that edge, that energy, that swagger and Jared Verse definitely has that."

And while Snead and McVay were adamant all offseason that replacing Donald -- a future Hall of Famer -- was not a task for one player, it is also clear that they have built a group they hope can be the core of their next Super Bowl team. One built through the draft.

Sleightholme, 24, came on as a replacement and scored twice in the second half to register his first two international tries.

Marcus Smith's touchline conversion from the Northampton wing's second try put England into a 30-28 lead heading into the final 10 minutes.

However, two Wallaby tries - either side of Itoje's 78th-minute score - saw Australia register only their second win against England in their past 12 meetings.

The frantic finale also prevented a dream first game at Allianz Stadium for Sleightholme, who won his third cap on Saturday.

"It was nice to score but it doesn't mean anything if you don't win," he added.

It is the fourth game in five matches that Borthwick's side have fallen on the wrong side of the final play, following two close Tests against the All Blacks in July and a 33-31 defeat by France in their final game of this year's Six Nations.

On Saturday, England will face world champions South Africa, who defeated Scotland in their opening match of the autumn on Sunday.

"We're testing fans' patience, testing our patience," admitted England number eight Ben Earl. "It feels like we won the game twice against Australia and then managed to lose it. Frustrating.

"Not the same old problems, different problems, but the same overwhelming feeling of another game that we've let slip. So food for thought."

Manchester City defender Rúben Dias has implored anyone daring enough to write off his side's chances at winning the Premier League title this season to do so, saying it only adds to their motivation.

City suffered a 2-1 defeat at Brighton on Saturday taking their losing run to four games -- the longest in Pep Guardiola's managerial career -- leaving them five points behind leaders Liverpool.

Dias, speaking outside British Parliament's House of Lords as part of an anti-bullying campaign, told reporters that City have been through difficult spells but they will always have a chance to win silverware due to the squad's character.

When asked if this is the toughest period of his City career, Dias said: "Difficult to say. Last season we had a tough period around the same time before Christmas ... even the treble season. I think when we did the treble, we even call it [as a joke] the dark January. We had a tough period over then.

"Always what matters is how you bounce back from these moments, and that's why our team has won so much because in moments of difficulty, the characters come up and we stay together.

"We don't find people to kill. We find people to bring into the cause and fight together and that's what we need to do once again."

Dias has enjoyed a trophy-laden career at City since he joined in 2020. Under Guardiola, he has been a part of four Premier League title triumphs and has lifted the Champions League, among other trophies.

This season has been less promising so far, with City already out of the Carabao Cup and under pressure not to let Liverpool extend their already-healthy league lead.

"It's our legacy at stake," Dias said. "Even though we've won so much, it's very easy to choose to relax and just accept it. Accept the fact that we've done enough. But you've only done enough when you're finished and we're all very aware of it and we all want to keep pushing."

When asked what he would say to anyone thinking about writing off City's chances at the league title, Dias was definitive.

"Please doubt us," he said.

The Portugal defender has not played since he exited City's Carabao Cup defeat to Tottenham at half-time. The injury was described as a muscular injury, and he revealed on Monday that it is a calf issue, although he hopes to be back for City's next game -- against Spurs on Nov. 23 -- after the international break.

Shortly after speaking to reporters, Dias made an appearance at the House of Lords to help tackle the issue of bullying, becoming a patron of the Anti-Bullying Association.

"My biggest drive was the word respect," he said when describing why he wanted to be a part of the cause.

"The word kindness as well, but mainly respect. I think when you put together anti-bullying with respect, it makes perfect sense. If there's a starting point and an end point, that's the word I would choose."

He added that he hopes his involvement can help reduce bullying in schools.

"I still don't have kids, but hopefully one day I will," he said. "And you start to think, when should I give it a phone? Should I even give him a phone? These things are worrying. The more you think about them, the more worrying they get."