DEAR ABBY: My husband and I married 20 years ago. We have a blended family of eight kids, but it’s just us now. Our kids are scattered across the country. Over all these 20 years, we have never taken a vacation just for us. We have always visited family.
Now, after scrimping, saving and planning, our dream trip is finally happening. We are visiting Disneyland! Problem is, our youngest just relocated to L.A. I bought tickets, scheduled tours and reserved meals for just the two of us. But my husband has included our son in everything now — all park visits, dinners, etc. Don’t get me wrong — I love my kids, but this was supposed to be “our” time.
I agreed to one dinner with our son, but other than that, we are on our own. My husband wants to include him in everything because he lives close by. Now my husband says he doesn’t want to go at all. He insists that our son partake in everything we do, but I want this trip to be about us. We deserve this! How do I convince him that we need this trip?
— DISAPPOINTED IN OHIO
DEAR DISAPPOINTED: You shouldn’t have to convince your husband to follow through on your dream vacation. He should have consulted you before inviting your son and telling him he will be included in everything. You wrote that you scrimped and saved for years to afford this vacation. How does he intend to pay for all those extra expenses for a third person? If your husband doesn’t want an experience “just for the two of you,” allow me to suggest it may be time to schedule something just for yourself. You have earned it.
** ** **
DEAR ABBY: I was engaged to my husband for three years before we got married. A little more than a year ago, he was told that he had two years to live. Six months later, we celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary, and 10 days after that, he passed away.
I have met a man who is two years younger than I am who makes me laugh again. I feel like a schoolgirl when I’m around him. He wants to be a roommate, live with me and sleep upstairs. I sleep downstairs, but I don’t know if I should let him or not. Advice?
— FEELING A BIT SCARED IN INDIANA
DEAR FEELING: Would this man be paying you rent and buying food, or would you be picking up the tab? If all he wants is to be your platonic roommate, but you are physically attracted to him, I recommend against proceeding with the arrangement. You would find it increasingly painful and frustrating, and when you finally had had enough pain and frustration, you might have to hire an attorney to help you get him out. What seems attractive now could be a huge pain in the posterior, and I guarantee it wouldn’t leave you laughing. Keep things as they are until the relationship becomes more defined.
SUNRISE, Fla. — Standing outside the locker room on Wednesday night in the bowels of Amerant Bank Arena, Flyers coach Rick Tocchet asked if his team was done playing the Florida Panthers.
When told the season series was complete, he said, “Thank God.” But hold on there. The Flyers took two of three games against the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers with a last-minute 4-2 victory on Thanksgiving Eve.
Tyson Foerster scored the game-winning goal with 45.2 seconds left in regulation, and Sean Couturier added a deflection up and over goalie Sergei Bobrovsky with 25 seconds left to give the Flyers the win.
Foerster’s goal came after his initial shot was blocked by Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad, and the puck went right back to him. He patiently waited and picked his spot to give the Flyers a 3-2 lead.
Couturier’s goal came off a heads-up play by Christian Dvorak to put the puck on net. Up by a goal, Tocchet also had Noah Cates on the ice, and the center was ready to pounce just in case.
The Flyers have won three of their past four games and four of their past six. They also lead the NHL with 10 comeback wins.
The Flyers came out ready to play. Before the Panthers got their first shot on goal 4 minutes, 33 seconds into the game, the Flyers had four shots on goal and six more that were either blocked or missed the net.
But, like usual, the Flyers fell into a 1-0 hole in the first period.
“Yeah, I liked our start, and then obviously they flipped the table on us. [Dan Vladař] was unreal, and of course, he saved our bacon,” Tocchet said. “Getting out of [the first period down] 1-0, kind of regrouped, and made a couple of adjustments, and stuff like that. But I thought the resilience of the guys, give them a lot of credit.”
The ice started tilting when Emil Andrae skated out from behind the net, and the puck slid off his stick. It led to a barrage of shots by the home team.
Within 19 seconds, the Panthers put six shots on Dan Vladař, with another hitting the crossbar. The Flyers got the puck out, and at the other end, Nick Seeler had his stick break on a point shot, creating a turnover.
The Panthers skated out with Sam Bennett eventually getting the puck back in the Flyers’ end. Bennett skated around Matvei Michkov, who got back but pulled down the forward as he cut across the crease with the puck sliding under Seeler. Michkov would have been called for a penalty if Brad Marchand hadn’t buried the puck.
It is the 16th time this season the Flyers have trailed 1-0. They have played only 22 games. They are 9-5-2 when trailing first.
“Yeah, we always get scored on first, it seems like,” Foerster said. “But it’s not a good thing, but it’s great that we always come back and we give a good effort every night.”
Flyers right wing Matvei Michkov scored his fifth goal over his last nine games on Wednesday night against the Panthers.
Andrae the Giant
The Hockey Gods certainly love to dole it out. Andrae had a rough start and was also on the ice for the Panthers’ second goal in the second period, with Carter Verhaeghe finishing off a pretty passing play.
But he bounced back with authority.
“What I really like about that is, yeah, he had a tough first, right? But the game’s not over. There’s 40 minutes left, and he was a factor,” Tocchet said.
Andrae cut the Panthers’ lead in half with his first goal of the season. After some sustained pressure by the Flyers, Andrae got the puck at the left point and threw it on net. With a ton of traffic in front, which included Trevor Zegras, Dvorak, and two Panthers, the puck threaded the needle and got past the former Flyers goalie Bobrovsky, who did not have his stick.
“Obviously, you have your ups and downs in your season and in the game. So it was a little slow start in the first there, and just trying to get back to simple and hard, and let the game come to me,” Andrae said. “So think that worked pretty well tonight.”
Less than a minute later, Andrae was in the penalty box for high-sticking, but the Flyers entered the night with the fourth-best penalty kill (85.5%) — it finished a perfect 3-for-3 — and held the Panthers to one shot on goal and one blocked shot.
On his next shift after serving his time, Andrae helped tie the game up. Controlling the puck, Andrae and Jamie Drysdale used their best commodity — their footwork — to cross atop the circles. Andrae then got the puck back and sent a shot on goal that Michkov deflected in. The goal is Michkov’s sixth of the year and his fifth in the last nine games.
“I think that’s something we’re trying to emphasize in our offensive game as a team. So yeah, I mean, we’re both good at moving our legs and trying to create shooting lines that way,” Andrae said. “So, yeah, it was a great play, and glad it went in.”
Andrae’s miscue tilted the ice away from the Flyers, but his offensive game tilted it right back as the visitors started to take over control of the game.
Vladař comes up big again
People questioned the signing of goaltender Vladař on July 1, but he has been nothing short of the Flyers’ best player this season.
“Just from the beginning of the year, just the buy-in, the excitement he brings to our team as a goalie, coming by the bench [during the] timeouts and obviously standing tall for us when it wasn’t good for the last 10 minutes of the first,” Tocchet said. “We had a little rope-a-dope, and he kind of held it together for us.”
The Panthers put 15 shots on goal in the first period, with several coming from high-danger areas, and he allowed just one goal. He stopped a Gustav Forsling point shot with his pad before robbing Verhaeghe from seven feet out. Vladař also stopped Noah Gregor as he weaved through the Flyers’ defense.
Despite trailing 1-0 after the first period, Vladař stayed positive.
“At the end of the day, it’s just hockey,” he said. “We are here for each other. And I’m pretty sure if we’re going to keep sticking up for each other, then good things are going to happen to a good team. So I think we are a good team.”
In the second period, things settled down, and he faced just five shots on goal. But it’s about quality and not quantity, and Vladař robbed A.J. Greer as he sneaked behind the defense and tried to score on the backhand.
And with the game tied 2-2, he reached back to make a sliding glove save on Uvis Balinskis. Vladař finished with 25 saves to earn his ninth win of the season in 13 games.
While there is the “Great 8,” in Alexander Ovechkin, according to Foerster, his teammates call Vladař, “The Great 8-0.”
“Don’t want to get it too high and at the same time too low,” the goalie said. “As I’ve said a lot of times, [it’s] a long year. So got to keep grinding, keep getting better every day. And, hopefully, we are going to accomplish something till Game 82.”
Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar earned his ninth victory Wednesday night in 13 games this season.
Breakaways
Defenseman Egor Zamula and forward Nic Deslauriers were the healthy scratches. … Forward Owen Tippett had the secondary assist on Andrae’s goal for the 100th of his NHL career. … Couturier snapped a 17-game goal drought with his third of the year.
A little nugget from NHL stats on the #Flyers win.
WASHINGTON – Two National Guard soldiers were shot on Wednesday near the White House in what officials described as a targeted ambush, and the suspect was in custody after suffering gunshot wounds during the attack.
Investigators identified the suspect as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national from Washington State, according to a Justice Department official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The attack is being investigated as an act of terrorism, the official said.
Lakanwal came to the U.S. in 2021 on a special visa program for Afghans who assisted the U.S. during the Afghanistan war and were vulnerable to reprisals from the ruling Taliban after the U.S. withdrawal, the official said. But he overstayed his visa and is in the country illegally, according to the official.
President Donald Trump was in Florida at the time of the attack, which prompted the White House to go into lockdown as law enforcement from multiple federal and city agencies swarmed the area.
The two soldiers, members of the West Virginia National Guard, were part of a “high-visibility patrol” around 2:15 p.m. ET (1915 GMT) near the corner of 17th and I streets, a few blocks from the White House. The suspect came around a corner and “ambushed” them, Metropolitan Police Assistant Chief Jeff Carroll said at a press briefing.
After an exchange of gunfire, other National Guard troops were able to subdue the shooter, he said. The two wounded soldiers were in critical condition at local hospitals, FBI Director Kash Patel said.
“This is a targeted attack,” Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said at the briefing.
The shooter appeared to have acted alone, officials said.
Trump is at his resort in Palm Beach ahead of Thursday’s Thanksgiving holiday, while U.S. Vice President JD Vance is in Kentucky.
In a social media post, Trump called the suspected shooter an “animal” who would “pay a very steep price” and praised the National Guard.
He also ordered 500 more guard soldiers deployed to Washington, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told reporters, joining about 2,200 already in the city as part of the president’s contentious immigration and crime crackdown targeting Democratic-led cities.
Witnesses describe chaotic scene
The shooting unfolded near Farragut Square, a popular lunch spot for office workers just a few blocks from the White House. The park, where light posts are wrapped in wreaths and bows for the holiday season, is flanked by fast-casual restaurants and a coffee shop, as well as two metro stops.
Witnesses described a chaotic scene after shots were fired, with pedestrians fleeing.
Mike Ryan, 55, said he was on his way to buy lunch nearby when he heard what sounded like gunfire. He ran half a block away and heard another round of apparent gunfire.
When he made his way back to the scene, he saw two National Guard soldiers on the ground across the street, with people trying to resuscitate one of them. At the same time, other guard troops had pinned someone on the ground, Ryan said.
Another witness, Emma McDonald, said she saw one of the soldiers carried away on a stretcher minutes after the shooting, his head covered in blood and an automated compression system attached to his chest.
National Guard soldiers have been in Washington since Trump’s initial deployment in August, a move that was opposed by local officials and criticized by Democrats. The guard troops in the city include contingents from the District of Columbia as well as Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, South Carolina, West Virginia, Georgia and Alabama.
Trump, a Republican, has suggested repeatedly that crime has disappeared from the capital as a result of the deployment, an assertion at odds with the police department’s official crime statistics.
SUNRISE, Fla. — There are a few X accounts that ask the question, “Is [blank player] playing today?”
It’s starting to feel like one of those accounts should be made for Nikita Grebenkin. If it were to be up and running on Wednesday, it would simply say, “Yes.”
After sitting for the last three games, the Russian left winger will slot back in on the fourth line alongside Garnet Hathaway and center Rodrigo Ābols when the Flyers take on the Florida Panthers tonight at 7 (NBCSP). Nic Deslauriers will come out of the lineup.
So what does Rick Tocchet want to see from Grebenkin?
“I’ve got to see some good forechecking. He’s got to know where he goes sometimes in the D zone,” Tocchet said after morning skate. “Obviously, I want him to play mind-free. And just really, kind of don’t think too much.
“I think when he’s out there, sometimes he thinks too much, and he plays a slower game. So I think if he just kind of reacts off a puck and just goes, that’s when he’ll be at his best.”
This is a game in which Grebenkin can show what he can do. The Panthers like to play man-on-man in the defensive zone, and the key to beating that, according to Tocchet, is to keep the feet moving, beat your check to the net, and bring energy.
Enter Grebenkin, who is not only an energy guy but excels below the hash marks.
“Plain as day, is very good,” Hathaway said of Grebenkin’s play in the bottom half of the offensive zone. “It’s a big part of his game, and it can allow us to create offense. We’ve played together against a few man-on-man teams, I think, and it’s our job now to say, hey, how can we get the puck down there? How can we puck possess? And then how can we get a guy like Grebby the puck who can puck protect and then create offense out of that?”
According to Natural Stat Trick, the line of Grebenkin, Hathaway, and Ābols has played 26 minutes, 16 seconds together this season. They have allowed one goal and have been out-chanced, 12-6. But they do have 22 shot attempts to the opposition’s 20.
Flyers coach Rick Tocchet wants Nikita Grebenkin (left) to be more predictable and responsible.
Grebenkin has played in 12 of the Flyers’ first 21 games and has just 19 total NHL games under his belt. He notched his first NHL point in his season debut on Oct. 11 against the Carolina Hurricanes and his first NHL goal on Nov. 4 in Montreal.
Tocchet recently said the 6-foot-2, 210-pound Grebenkin needs to be more predictable, which is something he has wanted to see more of from his group as a whole. The Ābols line will meet before puck drop to discuss how to hit Tocchet’s request.
“We’ll talk about the keys that as a line we need to focus on that will make us more predictable,” Hathaway said. “I think that’ll allow us to keep our speed, stay in lanes to support each other. We’ve talked a little bit about having our toes facing the same way when we’re forechecking. We’re in there together and a closeness that allows us to keep puck possession and hold on to pucks.”
Skating with the veteran Hathaway and Ābols, who doesn’t have many more NHL games than Grebenkin under his belt but played a long time in Europe before joining the Flyers last season, will help Grebenkin. He is under a bit of a microscope and assuredly wants to stay in the lineup. Hathaway said they will pull out the iPad if needed, and when the timing is right, Ābols also speaks Russian and can chat with the young winger.
“Yeah, those situations you can see when they talk to their coaches, and you kind of see their lost face, then I kind of slide in,” Ābols said. “I’m going to try any way I can, whether it’s translating or helping any way I can.”
Dan Vladař (8-4-1, .912 save percentage) will start against the Panthers. He is 1-1-0 this season against them with a 2.02 goals-against average and .933 save percentage. The Flyers lost the season opener, 2-1, and beat Florida, 5-2, in the home opener at Xfinity Mobile Arena. … Defenseman Noah Juulsen will return to the lineup after being a healthy scratch for the last two games. Egor Zamula will sit.
Campbell’s Co. said on Wednesday that a vice president reportedly caught on an audio recording disparaging the Camden-based soup giant’s products — claiming the company uses bioengineered meat, which Campbell’s denies — and allegedly making racist comments is no longer an employee.
The allegations emerged after Robert Garza, another former employee, filed a lawsuit last week claiming that he was fired for reporting in January to his manager that Martin Bally, who had a position at Campbell’s as chief information security officer, had made problematic comments to him during a meeting in November 2024.
According to the five-page lawsuit, Bally “made several racist comments about Indian workers at the company.”
Bally also told Garza that Campbell’s products were highly processed food for “poor people,” according to the lawsuit, which was filed in Michigan, where both Garza and Bally live and worked for the company.
Garza, who worked as a cybersecurity analyst for Campbell’s, did an interview last week with WDIV-TV, an NBC affiliate in Detroit, and provided at least some portions of secretly recorded audio of the meeting to the station for broadcast.
The audio recording is not mentioned in the lawsuit. However, it is legal in Michigan for one party in a conversation to make a recording without the consent of the other party.
The person in the recording, alleged to be Bally, says: “We have s— for f— poor people.” The speaker then acknowledges rarely buying Campbell’s products, saying they are unhealthy.
The voice says that Campbell’s uses “bioengineered meat. I don’t wanna eat a piece of chicken that came from a 3D printer.” The speaker then goes on to make racist comments about coworkers.
“After a review, we believe the voice on the recording is in fact Martin Bally,” Campbell’s Co. said in a statement on Wednesday.
“The comments were vulgar, offensive and false, and we apologize for the hurt they have caused. This behavior does not reflect our values and the culture of our company, and we will not tolerate that kind of language under any circumstances,” the company said.
“As of November 25, Mr. Bally is no longer employed by the company,” Campbell’s said.
Bally could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.
Campbell’s said in its statement that the company makes food from high-quality ingredients, including real chicken meat.
“We’re thankful for the millions of people who buy and enjoy our products and we’re honored by the trust they put in us,” the company said.
Campbell’s has a new page on its website to answer questions about its food that were raised by the former vice president’s alleged comments.
One section responds to the question: “Is Campbell’s chicken 3D printed?”
“No. We do not use 3D-printed chicken, lab-grown chicken, or any form of artificial or bioengineered meat in our soups,” the website said.
On Monday morning, James Uthmeier, the attorney general of Florida, responded to a post on X from an account apparently based in Ohio raising concerns about “FAKE MEAT that comes from a 3-D printer.”
Uthmeier said: “Florida law bans lab-grown meat. Our Consumer Protection division is launching an investigation and will demand answers from Campbell’s.”
By the end of Sunday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys, it seemed possible that the Eagles — on a short week — could be missing three starters in the secondary for Friday’s contest against the Chicago Bears.
Reed Blankenship, Adoree’ Jackson, and Drew Mukuba were hurt in the second half of the loss and did not return to action. But only Mukuba, who will require surgery to repair a right leg fracture, sources told The Inquirer, is expected to miss the Week 13 game against the Bears.
That’s good news for Jackson, who was evaluated for a concussion Sunday just five weeks after he suffered one against the Minnesota Vikings. The 30-year-old cornerback did not enter concussion protocol, though, and decided not to return to the game as a precaution.
The concussion scare occurred halfway through the third quarter when Jackson said he hit his head on the turf while tackling Cowboys receiver George Pickens. Jackson immediately popped up and threw his helmet down out of frustration, he said, because he knew he had to come out of the game.
Ultimately, the decision not to go back in after he checked out OK was mutually made between Jackson and his evaluators, he said.
Adoree’ Jackson leaving the field after he suffered concussion against the Vikings on Oct. 19.
“I had one, literally, [five] weeks ago,” Jackson said Wednesday. “So if I know I hit my head and playing fast and throwing my body around, I ain’t about to go and do it again, you know what I mean? It could have been worse. I go back out there and I do some [stuff], and now it’s something else, and now I’m out. Like, out out. You know what I mean? So it’s one of those situations where we were both being precautious of the situation at hand.”
Jackson was a full participant Wednesday in practice, the lone session of the short week. That made practice all the more important, Jackson said, because he could marry the mental side of his preparation so far this week (film study and walk-through) with his physical movements on the field.
With Jackson healthy, defensive coordinator Vic Fangio has the option to start the same trio at cornerback — Jackson, outside cornerback Quinyon Mitchell, and nickel cornerback Cooper DeJean — that started against the Cowboys. When Jackson came out in the third quarter, DeJean moved to the outside, and Michael Carter took over in the slot.
But Fangio will have a different starting duo at safety with Sydney Brown set to take over for Mukuba. Blankenship, who exited Sunday’s game with a thigh injury, said Tuesday that he’s still a “little sore” with just a brief respite to recover.
Blankenship was a limited participant in practice and expects to be available to play. While he’ll have a new partner alongside him on Friday, he won’t change who he is as a player and a leader in the secondary.
Eagles safety Reed Blankenship (32) says his thigh injury remains “a little sore.”
“I don’t like to change who I am as a person, regardless if you played with me a lot or not,” Blankenship said. “I want to give them the exact same thing I would if they played 1,000 snaps next to me because I feel like I’m not doing my job if I change for them. But I’m going to try and do my best to be more vocal, communicate a little bit more, little bit better, kind of say stuff and let [Brown] anticipate stuff that’s coming if he [doesn’t] really realize it at times. But I guess just be a shoulder to lean on.”
Friday will mark Brown’s first start at safety since Week 2 against the Kansas City Chiefs, when he was rotating with Mukuba. By Week 4 against the Los Angeles Rams, Mukuba was the full-time starter.
Brown is eager for his opportunity to start, especially considering his NFL journey so far. Brown, the Eagles’ third-rounder out of Illinois in 2023, suffered a season-ending ACL tear in his rookie year that set him back in his second season, too.
“It’s going to be amazing,” Brown said Tuesday about starting. “That’s what I came here to do, and just embracing the opportunity for what it is. I feel horrible for Drew. He’s been having a great season so far, doing a really good job in the secondary as a safety. I hate to see that as a young player. I can relate to him, ’cause I went through it. I know what he’s going through is a tough process, but he’s going to get through it. He’s going to be better on the back end of it.”
Sydney Brown (right) is set to start at safety in place of the injured Drew Mukuba.
The strength of the secondary will be all the more important against Caleb Williams and the Bears’ passing offense, which ranks 12th in the league at 227 yards per game. Williams, the Bears’ first overall pick in the 2024 draft out of Southern California, can test defenses deep and has completed 23 passes of 25-plus yards this season (fifth among NFL quarterbacks).
The Bears beat the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday as Williams had his fourth career game in which he passed for at least three touchdowns with no interceptions.
While Williams & Co. will provide yet another test for Fangio’s secondary, Jackson is optimistic that the unit will find stability after the way the game against the Cowboys ended.
“Everybody wants to be out there and to play and have yourself accessible and ready to go, but at the end of the day, the final judgment comes from above,” Jackson said. “But to have all hands on deck is always glass half full.”
Injury report
DeVonta Smith (shoulder/chest/illness) did not participate in practice. The illness was a new addition to the injury report for the 27-year-old wide receiver, who was listed with the shoulder and chest injuries on Tuesday’s estimated injury report. (The Eagles held a walk-through that day.)
In addition to Smith and Mukuba, Xavier Gipson (shoulder) and Lane Johnson (foot) did not participate. Meanwhile, Blankenship, Saquon Barkley (groin), Landon Dickerson (knee), and Brandon Graham (groin) were limited participants.
The Eagles’ final injury report will be released on Thursday.
On Black Friday, the Eagles will try to bounce back from a loss to the Dallas Cowboys when they host the Chicago Bears for a Week 13 matchup. The last time the teams met was during the 2022 season, a 25-20 road win for the Birds.
Despite a loss that saw the Eagles (8-3) squander a 21-0 lead to their division rivals, they enter Friday’s game as seven-point favorites. The Bears, who are also 8-3, are heading into the game riding a four-game winning streak, with their latest coming over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Will the Eagles bounce back from a loss? Or will the team fall to an NFC North opponent for the first time this season? As both teams prepare, here’s what the Bears are saying about the Birds …
‘This is a heavyweight matchup’
At this time last year, the Bears were on a five-game losing streak heading into a Thanksgiving matchup with the Detroit Lions. This year, Bears fans have more to be excited about, with Chicago winning eight of its last nine games.
Bears safety and Philadelphia native Kevin Byard has history with both sides. After getting released by the Eagles in March 2024, following half a season with the Birds, he signed a two-year deal with the Bears. The 32-year-old defensive back is excited to make his return to one of the most “hostile” environments.
“This is a team that was just in the Super Bowl,” Byard told reporters. “They have a winning culture, they have a winning mentality. We preach 60 minutes. We know they’re going to be a 60-minute team as well. … This is a heavyweight matchup for sure, and obviously we’re going into a hostile environment in a stadium that I played in, played against.
“For example, if their offense goes three-and-out starting the game, they’re going to start booing them. It’s one of those environments where it’s going to be very hostile. So, hopefully we can start fast and kind of get the crowd against their own team.”
Kevin Byard spent the second half of the 2023 season with the Eagles.
‘They’re finding ways to win’
Although the Eagles have struggled to find an identity on offense, Byard isn’t underestimating the defending Super Bowl champs.
“Stats for the entire offense have been down, but they’re finding ways to win,” Byard said. “I mean, look at us, our stats haven’t been great on defense but we’re finding ways to win. … Stats is something we can all look at and judge. But at the end of the day, they’re finding ways to win. I think that’s just a testament of their culture and our culture. So, it’s definitely going to be a challenge for us. Just culture against culture — whose culture is better?”
The Eagles skill positions are full of big names, including Saquon Barkley, A.J. Brown, and DeVonta Smith. Although Barkley and Brown are not putting up the same productive numbers as last season, Byard knows the threat posed by both Barkley and his former Tennessee Titans teammate Brown.
“It’s a huge challenge,” Byard said. “First and foremost, you talk about Saquon Barkley, like you said, he hasn’t had the year that he had last year. But I mean, he’s still a threat every time he touches the ball. He’s a guy that we’re going to have to corral, and I think when you talk about game plan against a team like that, I think he’s definitely priority No. 1, to stop him.
“And then you talk about A.J. and [DeVonta Smith], A.J. is still that guy. You know, I spent four years with him, just watching him on film, he’s very, very talented. But, honestly, if you watch the film, Smitty has been the guy that I think Jalen Hurts has the most chemistry with, receiver-wise. … If we can eliminate those big plays down the field, that would be good.”
Caleb Williams has the Bears playing much better than they were during his rookie season a year ago.
Hurts’ advice to Caleb Williams
The Bears’ second-year quarterback, Caleb Williams, is prepared to compete against a familiar foe on Friday: Hurts. The two have met in the past, including when Williams was getting recruited to Oklahoma as Hurts was on his way out.
Williams reflected on the “wisdom” Hurts shared with him years ago.
“[We talked about how] there’s not many like us in our position — who we are, skin tone, and all these different things — there’s not many like us,” Williams told reporters. “So, just being able to understand the opportunity that we have and I have to maximize that and put myself in the best opportunity possible. It was kind of that type of talk. Jalen, you’ve heard all his bits. He’s pretty motivational when he speaks up here.”
The Bears also say they’ve been planning a way to stop the Eagles’ signature Tush Push. And they already had some practice with the play a week early in their 31-28 win over the Steelers.
The Steelers went into their own Tush Push formation before running the ball to the outside with Kenneth Gainwell, who broke a 55-yard run against the Bears. Now Chicago is preparing to face the original Tush Push.
“Obviously, we saw it twice last week,” said Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen. “The thing that makes it more challenging is that they’ve got several plays off of it. It’s a tough play to stop. I think this team runs it better than anybody else in the league. I think the best way to defend it is to not get in those situations — trying to create more third-and-long or fourth-and-long situations. Keeps them out of those situations. It’s certainly a difficult play to stop.
“We do have a plan in place. We feel like it’s a good, solid plan in terms of not only trying to stop that play but all of the plays that come off of it. And that’s what makes it even more difficult to stop.”
For the second year in a row, Vic Fangio’s Eagles defense is one of the best in the NFL.
‘He’s like the Godfather’
Bears head coach Ben Johnson knows he faces a tough challenge when it comes to beating this Eagles defense led by Vic Fangio.
“He’s like the Godfather in a lot of ways,” Johnson told reporters. “He’s kind of taken the lead over in terms of that scheme. … He’s influenced the game significantly.
“I never worked with Vic, but a lot of respect from afar, obviously. The people that have worked with him speak so highly of how he calls a game. He’s usually a step ahead of the opposing play-callers. So, it’ll be a challenge here just to make sure that we’re trying to keep him as off balance as we possibly can.”
Trendon Watford will miss at least two weeks after an MRI revealed that the 76ers forward suffered a strained adductor muscle in his left thigh Tuesday during a loss to the Orlando Magic, the team said Wednesday.
Watford is averaging 8.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 3.6 assists, including one triple-double, in 14 games this season. His versatility will be missed on a team that played Tuesday without starting forwards Kelly Oubre Jr. (knee) and Paul George (ankle) and starting guard VJ Edgecombe (calf). Watford missed the season’s first three games with a hamstring injury.
“We were just getting ready to get used to him,” coach Nick Nurse said of Watford after practice on Wednesday. “He was kind of going to be this Swiss Army knife kind of guy that probably plays anywhere from [point guard] to [power forward] for us and [we can] move him around.
“He had a good knack of getting us some timely buckets. Good knack of setting things up for other people. … He can guard multiple positions. That’s kind of a lot of stuff.”
Reserve big man Adem Bona, meanwhile, said after practice that he is optimistic he will return from a five-game absence because of a sprained ankle on Friday against the Nets in Brooklyn.
“That’s the goal,” Bona said.
George and Edgecombe participated in practice, the team said. Joel Embiid (knee) did not, but he did go through an individual strength and conditioning session. Embiid initially was “trending” toward playing Tuesday before being ruled out, Nurse said.
Life often moves fast in MLS, especially once teams get knocked out of the playoffs. That’s been the case for the Union this week, as they had just three days after Sunday’s season-ending loss to make their end-of-year roster moves.
Most already were in the works before the weekend — and before sporting director Ernst Tanner was put on administrative leave last week amid an investigation into alleged misconduct.
Still, Wednesday’s announcement from the club served as a milestone.
The Union bid farewell to a quartet of little-used backups in goalkeeper Oliver Semmle, defender Isaiah LeFlore (who was injured for a long time), academy-bred midfielder Nick Pariano, and former Drexel striker Chris Donovan.
All four players had 2026 contract options declined.
Chris Donovan’s time with the Union is up after 3 1/2 seasons.
Two players had options picked up, to no surprise: defender Nathan Harriel and striker Tai Baribo. That sets the stage for talks on new contracts with both.
Earlier this month, Israel’s Ynet news website reported that the Union offered Baribo a $2 million contract. It remains to be seen if that proves true, or, if so, whether he’ll take it.
The major news item was that the Union have not sent Mikael Uhre packing just yet. It was expected that they would, as he’s out of contract, but the announcement said the team is “in on-going negotiations” with him.
Presumably, the team would like its joint No. 3 all-time scorer to take a big pay cut. Uhre has scored 43 goals in 155 games over four seasons in Chester, tied with former running mate Julián Carranza. The Denmark native also has 28 assists.
Mikael Uhre hasn’t always been universally popular, but some fans have come to appreciate his skills more than they used to.
Uhre has always been the first to say he knows he should have scored more, and some fans preferred to focus on what he didn’t do over what he did. They also were influenced by the fact that his $2.8 million transfer fee was the team’s record until Bruno Damiani broke it last winter.
Some people in the Union’s front office shared the negative view. Uhre would have been cast off after last season had his performance not automatically triggered his contract option for this year.
His defensive pressing efforts also didn’t always satisfy manager Bradley Carnell, which is part of why his playing time fell this year: from 2,667 minutes over 41 games last year to 1,542 minutes over 35 games this year. Though the Union weren’t in the Leagues Cup or Concacaf Champions Cup this year, the lighter schedule can’t solely account for a drop that substantial.
Other fans appreciated the breadth of Uhre’s skill set, from his runs that pulled defenses apart to an underrated cutback move on the ball. And they would not reject a player who hit double digits in scoring in each of his first three years here. This season was the first in which he didn’t, tallying six goals — though he made up for that with eight assists.
Alejandro Bedoya (center) was on a one-year contract this season.
Three other players are out of contract, and the Union said they’re in talks with all of them: third-string goalkeeper George Marks, former captain Alejandro Bedoya, and veteran midfielder Ben Bender.
Bedoya, 38, also had a role in the front office this year and has become an ambassador for soccer around town. He presumably will be allowed some of his own say in when he hangs up his cleats, though he knows as well as anyone that the time is coming.
The Union’s announcement did not say who is conducting the negotiations while Tanner is on leave. Nor did it say whether there will be an end-of-year news conference, though one is expected.
Other key figures in the front office include assistant sporting director Matt Ratajczak, scouting director Chris Zitterbart, and academy director Jon Scheer.
Union sporting director Ernst Tanner is on administrative leave as MLS investigates allegations of discriminatory behavior.
As for the players whom the Union are keeping, the club announced Tuesday that it agreed to a new contract with midfielder Indiana Vassilev. He was one of Carnell’s first signings, having previously played for the manager in St. Louis, and the 24-year-old showed why with his work rate. Early on, that didn’t produce goal contributions, but it did by the end of the year.
On Wednesday morning, a few hours before the full announcement of roster decisions, the Union announced they had picked up centerback Olwethu Makhanya’s contract options for 2026 and ’27.
The 21-year-old impressively stepped into a starting role this year. If he starts next year equally well, there might be calls to get him into South Africa’s national team. Much of the Bafana Bafana roster plays in their country’s domestic league, not in Europe, and there has been some interest in seeing how Makhanya would do for his country.
