JJ MCCARTHY FINED $11,593 FOR TAUNTING KEISEAN NIXON. SEE THE FULL STORY.
A stiff-arm, a collision, and a 15-yard penalty: find out why the league hit Vikings QB JJ McCarthy with a heavy five-figure fine.
The Packers were just going through the motions in Week 18 against the Vikings, but someone forgot to tell JJ McCarthy. Right out of the gate, McCarthy dodged pressure, stiff-armed linebacker Ty’Ron Hopper into the turf, then ploughed into cornerback Keisean Nixon, knocking him backwards and finishing off the run with authority.
Instead of getting buried for a big loss, McCarthy managed a decent gain, then got right in Nixon’s face and let him have it. The officials didn’t miss that—he got flagged for a 15-yard penalty. The NFL didn’t let it slide either. A few days later, the league hit McCarthy with an $11,593 fine for taunting.
Meanwhile, the Packers left Minnesota with no league punishments. Honestly, most of their key guys never even suited up. The game meant nothing for playoff spots or seeding, so Green Bay played it safe.
Now, sitting at 9-7-1, the Packers locked up the NFC’s No. 7 seed for the second year in a row. Next up: a Wild Card game at Soldier Field against the Bears, who finished 11-6 to win the NFC North and grab the No. 2 seed. Despite Chicago’s record, the oddsmakers at DraftKings gave Green Bay the edge—Packers by 2.5 points right before game time.
The two teams split their regular-season games, each winning at home. Both matchups happened in December, but Green Bay probably should’ve swept the series. They blew a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter of the second game and lost in overtime by six.
Jordan Love, the Packers’ quarterback, hasn’t taken a snap since that overtime loss to Chicago. He got knocked out with a concussion late in the first half. He missed the next week against Baltimore because of concussion protocol, and then the coaches rested him against the Vikings to keep him healthy.
The final injury report on Friday didn’t look great. Several players showed up as questionable: DT Warren Brinson (foot), safety Javon Bullard (knee), LB Nick Niemann (pectoral), OT Zach Tom (back/knee), WR Dontayvion Wicks (concussion), and backup QB Malik Willis (right shoulder/hamstring). Wicks is already ruled out, and the rest of the inactives won’t be announced until about 90 minutes before kickoff.
Out of everyone, Zach Tom is probably Green Bay’s biggest worry. He’s been the second-best right tackle in football this year, at least according to Pro Football Focus, but he’s missed three straight games with those nagging injuries—five total this season.
They really need Willis to be ready in case something happens to Love. If Love goes down and Willis can’t play, the Packers would have to hand the offence to third-stringer Clayton Tune. That’s not a spot they want to find themselves in, especially with their season on the line.
YANKEES DEBUT ALERT: LEFT-HANDER RYAN WEATHERS OFFICIALLY STARTS TOMORROW NIGHT AGAINST THE NATIONALS
Bronx debut: Discover how Ryan Weathers' new "bullet slider" and 97 MPH heat will lead the Yankees against the Nationals tomorrow.
Ryan Weathers is set to make his Yankees debut on the mound tomorrow night, according to Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News. The lefty will face a familiar team in the Nationals; he saw plenty of them back when he pitched for the Marlins in the NL East. The Yankees are still getting their starting pitchers ready for the 2026 season, so this outing gives them a chance to see what Weathers can do.
They picked up Weathers from Miami this offseason. He’s only 26, but he’s already been busy trying to sharpen his game. He's been working on a new two-seam fastball and a tighter bullet slider, hoping to finally show why he was once the seventh overall pick in the draft.
Before that, though, the Yankees take on Toronto today at 1:07 PM EST. Will Warren gets the start, and both Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger are in the lineup.
Now, back to Weathers. Last year with the Marlins, he made eight starts and put up a 3.99 ERA, striking out over 22% of the batters he faced. The Yankees believe he has even more to offer. They’re betting that these new pitches, a better two-seamer and a firmer slider, will help him take that next step.
He throws hard; his fastball averaged 96.8 MPH last season, which got plenty of teams interested. The upside is real, but so is the risk. Injuries have slowed him down the last couple of years, cutting short what could have been breakout seasons.
First, Weathers has to prove he can stay healthy. Then, he needs to show that these tweaks to his pitch mix can help him avoid the hard contact that led to seven home runs allowed in just 38.1 innings last season. The Yankees are betting on his talent, though, and they see him as a possible future star in their rotation.
Tomorrow’s game is at George M. Steinbrenner Field, and it’ll be the Yankees’ first night game of the 2026 Grapefruit League, starting at 6:35 PM EST.
OLYMPIC FAMILY LEGACY: INSIDE TOM BRADY’S PLAN TO TURN VIVIAN INTO A SUPERSTAR OLYMPIAN
Sports news: Tom Brady's Olympic dream. Get the report on Vivian’s volleyball talent and Team USA’s wins in Milan.
Tom Brady, now retired and a seven-time Super Bowl champ, took his kids, Benjamin and Vivia,n to Milan for the 2026 Winter Olympics. They spent the week soaking up the city, meeting new faces, and cheering for Team USA on the ice. The real rush came on Thursday; the USA’s women’s hockey team pulled off a wild comeback against Canada, winning 2-1 in overtime. Megan Keller scored the game-winner, and Brady got to watch it all unfold right next to tennis legend Billie Jean King.
Four days later, the men’s team kept the momentum going. Jack Hughes scored another overtime winner against Canada on Sunday. You’d think that would be the biggest story from the Bradys’ trip, but no, what really got people talking was something way more personal.
Tom posted a sweet shoutout to his daughter Vivian on Instagram. Just after all the Olympic action, he shared a photo of 13-year-old Vivian, captioning it: “Future summer Olympian” with a string of volleyball emojis. Fans immediately caught on that Brady wasn’t just being a proud dad; he was dropping a real hint.
Vivian, whom he shares with Gisele Bündchen, already plays volleyball at school. She swims and plays soccer, too. What’s cool is that every sport she loves is a Summer Olympics event. Brady’s caption didn’t feel random; it felt like he meant it.
And this isn’t their first Olympic adventure together. Brady and Vivian hit up the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics and packed their days with nine different events: gymnastics, beach volleyball, swimming, and diving. Vivian even got to play some volleyball on the sand with Brazilian legend Juliana Felisberta da Silva.
After seeing all the winter action in Italy, Brady’s “summer Olympian” tag for Vivian sounds even more hopeful. He knows exactly where he sees her going.
With the Olympics set to land in Los Angeles in 2028, Vivian will be 15 when the Games kick off in July. Club volleyball is probably her next step. And Brady himself? He’s hinted he’s got his own Olympic goals for 2028, turning the dream into a full-on family mission.
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