AARON RODGERS STORMS OUT OF PRESS CONFERENCE FOLLOWING REPEATED MIKE TOMLIN QUESTIONS

Aaron Rodgers defends Mike Tomlin after a brutal 30-6 playoff loss to the Texans. Is the Steelers QB heading toward retirement?

Aaron Rodgers Storms Out Of Press Conference Following Repeated Mike Tomlin Questions
Aaron Rodgers Addresses NFL Future After Brutal Wild Card Exit

Aaron Rodgers isn’t sure what’s next for him in the NFL, but after the Steelers got trounced by the Texans in the playoffs, he made it clear he’s standing by Mike Tomlin.

After the Steelers’ ugly 30-6 loss in Pittsburgh, Rodgers talked about Tomlin during his postgame press conference. Reporters wanted to know if Tomlin was on the hot seat, since the Steelers have now lost seven straight playoff games. Rodgers didn’t hold back.

“When I came into the league, nobody even thought about putting guys like that on the hot seat,” Rodgers said. “But now, with the way people cover football, the snap judgments, and how everyone on Twitter or TV acts like they know everything—it’s a joke. To think guys like Tomlin or LaFleur are really in trouble says a lot about where we’re at right now. Matt’s done a ton in Green Bay, and I’ve been part of a lot of that success.”

The numbers from Monday’s game were rough for Pittsburgh. Houston outgained them 408 to 175 in total yards. The Steelers only managed 63 rushing yards, way below their already weak average. The Texans’ defence dominated—four sacks, two forced turnovers, and two defensive touchdowns.

C.J. Stroud threw for 250 yards and a touchdown (plus an interception) for Houston. Woody Marks ran for 112 yards and a score. Christian Kirk caught eight passes for 144 yards and a touchdown.

Rodgers didn’t have his best day either. He completed just 17 of 33 passes for 146 yards, with an interception and a lost fumble. Sheldon Rankins scooped up that fumble and ran it back 33 yards for a touchdown. Calen Bullock returned Rodgers’ pick 50 yards to the end zone.

Honestly, it’s kind of wild that the Steelers even made the playoffs. They won the AFC North, sure, but their offence ranked near the bottom of the league, and their defence wasn’t much better. Still, under Tomlin, they finished their 19th straight season without a losing record. But the playoff story stayed the same: another quick exit.

Tomlin’s track record is solid—he won a Super Bowl in his second year and started 8-5 in the postseason. Bill Cowher, the guy before him, went 12-9 in the playoffs over 15 years and nabbed a Super Bowl, too.

“Mike T. has had more success than just about anyone in the league in the last 20 years,” Rodgers said. “And when you’ve got the right guy and the culture’s strong, you don’t think about making a change. But outside noise puts pressure on teams, and sometimes that sways decisions. Honestly, that’s not how I’d do things, and it’s not how the league used to work.”

Tomlin said he feels “optimistic” about the future when asked, but he wasn’t ready to talk big picture or address his own job security. He’s under contract through 2026, with a team option after that.

“I’m not even thinking about that right now,” Tomlin said. “I’m thinking about what just happened out there—what we did and what we didn’t do. Not looking at the big picture yet.”

As for Rodgers, he’s heading into free agency and stayed quiet about whether he’d return in 2026. He’s already hinted that 2025 might be his last year, but when asked about playing for Pittsburgh if he keeps going, he didn’t want to get into it.

“I’m not making any emotional decisions right now,” Rodgers said. “It’s been a fun year, a lot of adversity, but a lot of good times, too. This team’s been a big part of that for me. So yeah, it stings to be sitting here with the season over.”

Now the Texans, sitting at 13-5, move on to face the top-seeded Patriots in Foxborough on Sunday.

TIMBERWOLVES CONFIRM DONTE DIVINCENZO IS OUT FOR THE SEASON WITH TORN ACHILLES

Anthony Edwards injury update, Donte DiVincenzo torn Achilles, Minnesota Timberwolves injuries, NBA playoff injury news.

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Edwards and DiVincenzo injured in Wolves win - Photo Credit: Getty Images

The Minnesota Timberwolves just got hit with some tough news right in the middle of their first-round playoff series. They won Game 4 against the Denver Nuggets, 110-96, taking a 3-1 lead, but that win comes with a high cost. Two starters, Anthony Edwards and Donte DiVincenzo, both left the game early with serious injuries, and suddenly, the rest of the playoffs feel a lot more uncertain.

The biggest worry is Anthony Edwards. He messed up his left knee late in the first half, landing awkwardly after contesting a shot. He went down right away and needed help getting to the locker room. Tests confirmed what Timberwolves fans feared: Edwards suffered a bone bruise and a hyperextension. There’s some good news here: no ligament damage, but he’s still expected to miss “multiple weeks", according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. That rules him out for the rest of the first round, and maybe even longer.

Edwards wasn’t just the Wolves’ leading scorer; he basically carried them through much of their playoff push. Now, with him out, everybody else has to pick up the slack. The pressure is real, but in Game 4, the team didn’t blink. Ayo Dosunmu came off the bench and dropped a career-high 43 points; it was just the fourth time in NBA history someone had scored 40-plus off the bench in a playoff game. Players like Mike Conley are expected to do even more now, and rotations are going to look pretty different as they scramble to adjust without their star guard.

As if that wasn’t enough, Donte DiVincenzo’s injury makes things even rougher. He went down only 79 seconds into the game. Nobody was near him; he was just chasing his own rebound and ended up tearing his right Achilles tendon. He walked off the court, but soon after, he needed a wheelchair and a splint. The Timberwolves quickly confirmed he’s out for the season.

After the game, Coach Chris Finch sounded gutted. “Completely devastating for Donte. He’s had such a great season. He’s the heart and soul of so many things that we do. You could see the look in his eye when it happened, and you knew. We’ll love him and be there for him.” DiVincenzo has been huge for Minnesota, both shooting from the perimeter and creating havoc on defence.

So now, with two major pieces missing from their backcourt, the Timberwolves are staring down the rest of this series and maybe the playoffs shorthanded. Sure, they showed resilience by winning Game 4 without their main guys, and that 3-1 cushion gives them some breathing room. But this isn’t a minor setback. It’s a test, a big one. Can the rest of these guys keep the ship steady? Game 5 will have a different look, and the pressure’s on for everyone left to step up and keep the season alive.

MARC MARQUEZ WINS CHAOTIC SPANISH GP SPRINT AFTER CRASHING IN HEAVY RAIN

MotoGP history made at Jerez! Marc Marquez takes his 17th sprint win in the first flag-to-flag Saturday race in 2026.

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Marquez’s Jerez masterclass proves he remains the undisputed king of unpredictable racing conditions - Photo Credit: Getty Images

Marc Marquez pulled off a wild comeback to win a rollercoaster Spanish Grand Prix sprint. It was the first flag-to-flag sprint since the format started in 2023, and Marquez turned his first pole of the season into another Saturday win, though it certainly wasn’t straightforward.

He started strong, but things got hairy with five laps to go when heavy rain hit. Marquez crashed out of second, scrambled across the grass, and dashed into the pit lane for his wet-weather bike. He joined Pecco Bagnaia and Brad Binder in the swap, and when Binder made a mistake, the door cracked open for Marquez.

A gutsy pass on Bagnaia with three laps left put Marquez back out front. From there, he didn’t look back, stretching his lead to just over three seconds by the chequered flag.

Bagnaia, who started 15th in the dry, battled his way to his first sprint podium of the year, while Franco Morbidelli came from 18th to snag third for VR46.

Meanwhile, title leader Marco Bezzecchi had a nightmare from the start. A tear-off strip tangled things up, so he bogged off the line and dropped from fourth to 17th. He later swapped to wets but crashed out before the end. His Aprilia teammate Jorge Martin pulled in early with a technical problem.

Alex Marquez briefly grabbed the lead from his big brother, but the rain got him too; he crashed two laps later while leading.

At the start, Marc Marquez got off to a sharp launch, immediately taking the holeshot with the track still mostly dry. Alex wasted no time chasing him, passing Johann Zarco and cutting Marc’s early advantage. Marc played it safe as the weather turned nasty, but with six laps to go, Alex pounced for the lead at Turn 9, and almost instantly, Marc hit the deck at the last corner.

After a quick grass detour, Marc dived into the pits for wets. Bagnaia, Binder, Morbidelli, and Alex Rins followed. For a moment, Binder emerged as the leader with the rest still out on slicks, but those odds didn’t last.

Alex Marquez and VR46’s Fabio Di Giannantonio stayed out on slicks a bit longer, but Alex crashed at Turn 8, and Di Giannantonio finally swapped bikes a lap later.

Fermin Aldeguer hung on with slicks while everyone else had already switched. Up front, Binder held the net lead, but a mistake at Turn 2 opened the door wide.

That put the Ducati factory pair Bagnaia and Marquez on top. Marc dived inside at Turn 9 to grab the lead, never looking back. That makes 17 career sprint wins for him and jumps him to fourth in the championship, now just 24 points from the top.

Binder hung on for fourth, Di Giannantonio salvaged fifth after his late stop, and Raul Fernandez took sixth for Trackhouse Aprilia. Fabio Quartararo was seventh for Yamaha, with Zarco in eighth and Luca Marini grabbing the last point for Honda.

Crashes piled up: Joan Mir (Honda), Bezzecchi, Lorenzo Savadori, Toprak Razgatlıoğlu, and Pedro Acosta, although Acosta did remount to finish 12th.

Despite wiping out, Bezzecchi keeps the championship lead, just four points ahead of his Aprilia teammate Jorge Martin.

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