Penn freshman quarterback Miles Teodecki hesitated when he extended his hand for a handshake. His palm and fingers were covered in a thick coat of white chalk, to give him a better grip on the football. Though he had just ended nearly five hours of team practice, his freshly dusted hands looked like he was about to throw for the first time that day.
On Monday, Penn coach Rick Santos announced that Teodecki would be the starting quarterback, reversing the August decision to start junior Karson Siqueiros-Lasky.
“Those two have battled all camp,” Santos said ahead of Saturday’s season opener at Bucknell (3 p.m., ESPN+), “and honestly it was one of the hardest decisions I’ve had as a coach.”
Santos is entering his first season as head coach after Ray Priore stepped down in November, capping an 11-year tenure that included Ivy League titles in 2015 and 2016. Last season’s stars — quarterback Liam O’Brien and wide receiver Jared Richardson — are at Cincinnati and Duke, respectively, following their graduation from Penn.
Many questions loom over this new team, and the Ivy League preseason poll placed Penn fourth. Not that Santos cares.
“In ’22 at New Hampshire, we won the [conference] championship and we were picked ninth out of 13 team[s],” said Santos, who was the head coach at his alma mater from 2022 to 2025, “So at the end of the day, that’s up for the media to talk about and decide what they think. … The rankings matter at the end of the year, so that’s what we got to focus on one week at a time.”
Anyone’s name can stand out on the team’s blank slate, and Santos found that Teodecki, Penn’s highest-rated recruit since 2000, fit what he and his staff had been looking for.
“He’s very competitive. He’s got a moxie about him and a confidence, and we’re excited to see him going game day,” Santos said.
Teodecki, who’s from Austin, Texas, was thankful for the opportunity.
“First off, just got to thank God,” he said. “I got to thank Coach Santos and the coaching staff for believing in me, giving me this chance. I got to thank my teammates for supporting me and going out there doing their jobs, putting trust in me, allowing me to trust in them. I’m fired up for the opportunity.”
Santos said he’s been “encouraged with the senior leadership” on the team, which includes captains Siqueiros-Lasky and senior defensive back Josh Narcisse, and Narcisse noted that relationships have been built across all levels.
“[The coaches have] been really intentional with getting to know each of us on a personal level outside of football,” he said, “And as a player, I can say that goes a long way when it’s Friday night, the lights are bright, you look to the sideline, you want to see people that have your back on and off the field.”
For Narcisse, that’s the identity of this year’s team.
“I think a lot of old Penn teams were more individualized, and it was about what this guy or this guy is going to do any given Saturday, but now when you watch the team, you’re going to be more focused on, ‘What is our defense going to do? What is our offense going to do? How are they going to handle themselves on special teams?’” he said.
Even with the change in starting quarterback, Santos and Teodecki were quick to say that the plays remain the same, regardless of who is under center.
“We have two bona fide studs at quarterback, two guys that can start at this level, two guys that are good enough to lead us to a championship,” Santos said. “So I would expect both of them to play at some point this year, but we decided to give Miles the nod for the opener.
“There [are] no solidified jobs here. Every single day you need to earn the right to be on the field.”
“Confidence through preparation” seems to be the motto of the Santos era. The team hits the field every day at 6:15 a.m. — “We want to get up before the enemy and get a bunch of work in while everyone’s still sleeping,” Santos said — and has been methodical in watching film, running plays, taking notes, and adopting the right mindset.
“I feel 1,000% confident, not only in my own ability, but also our game plan and what our coaches have dialed up for us to be able to make plays and be successful on Saturday,” Narcisse said.
The defense this year, he said, would be “fast, violent, relentless.”
Santos said the defense is “really smart, instinctual in terms of being able to diagnose presnap reads and what the opposing team offense is doing. … And then ultimately when you get to the opener, it’s about how well we tackle.”
Even while the team seems poised and eager to kick off a new chapter this Saturday, Teodecki admits that “there’s a little bit of nerves; if you’re not nervous, that either means you don’t care or you just — you really don’t care.”
After practice ends at 11 a.m., he chalks his hands and throws the football with a teammate for a few extra minutes.
“We’re blessed to play this game, and we get to play this game,” Teodecki said.
WASHINGTON — Most of the Phillies were already gone from the clubhouse to catch the team bus. But for the benefit of any stragglers, Kyle Schwarber took it up an octave.
“It’s going to be a grind,” he said here the other night. “It’s not like it’s guaranteed.”
Not even when it should be a walk in the park — or lots of walks in Nationals Park. Not for these Phillies. Not with 10 games left and a playoff spot still to be clinched.
Case in point: Wednesday night. The Phillies knocked a rookie opener from the game after six batters. They worked seven walks through four innings, including four in the first — and 13in all, their highest total in a game in … checks notes … 22 years.
And yet they ground out only a 3-0victory over the Nationals behind seven workmanlike innings from old reliable Zack Wheeler, once again the most effective and healthiest of the Phillies’ Big Three starters.
“It’s win games and get in the playoffs at this point. So they’re all must-win,” said Alec Bohm, who drove in the first run with a bases-loaded single and reached five times (two hits, three walks). “We just want it in our control. We win, then it’s in our control. If we don’t win, we’re scoreboard watching and who knows what can happen.”
Cue the nightly check of the playoff race:
The Phillies (84-68) remained a half-game behind the (85-68) Cubs for the top National League wild card. The Phillies were one game clear of the Padres (83-69) going into Thursday’s games for the second wild card.
With any combination of six victories or Diamondbacks losses, the Phillies will clinch a wild card.
Chicago, which holds a tiebreaker over the Phillies, is off Thursday. The Phillies will begin a four-game series in New York against the out-of-contention Mets, who have played better after a brutal first half.
Got all that? Good.
NL wild-card standings
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The Phillies are struggling to reach base at last month’s majors-leading clip. But even they couldn’t avoid taking what the Nationals gave them in the first inning, chiefly enough walks to score twice.
Wheeler said he sought to exploit the young Nationals by throwing pitches off the plate early in the count “to try to use their aggressiveness against them.” It worked. He held them to four hits (three singles) and completed seven innings in 91 pitches.
“I threw a lot of first-pitch balls, but that was kind of on purpose just to see if I could get weak contact,” Wheeler said. “If I was going in, I was trying to throw it off the plate. If I was going away, I was trying to make them chase a ball or two off the plate.”
Luis Arraez doubled in Bryce Harper for insurance in the seventh inning. Arraez reached four times, including his first three-walk game since 2024. Maybe it all gets the offense refocused. Maybe it was one game.
Say this: Bohm has hoisted his average above .250 for the first time since the third game of the season. He’s batting .293 against lefties, including .500 since the beginning of August.
“I was in a pretty deep hole early on,” Bohm said. “For me, it was focusing less on what’s my batting average today and more on let’s go out and try to win a game today. Because the numbers are what they are. Can’t really do much about it at this point, so let’s try to go help the team win and contribute in some way.
“Getting lost in that for a while, they’ve found their way back to, I guess, more of the norm for myself.”
Alec Bohm (right) is batting .293 against lefties, including .500 since the beginning of August.Nick Wass
It’s a mature outlook for a player who has often been criticized for immaturity. But it’s undoubtedly the correct one in the second-to-last week of the season.
At this late juncture, interim manager Don Mattingly is still trying to bring order to the bullpen. He put the lead in the unsteady hands of lefty José Alvarado, who sidestepped a one-out walk by getting dangerous James Wood to line out and Daylen Lile to fly out.
Jhoan Duran, who hadn’t pitched in five days, went to a full count on the leadoff batter in the ninth before striking him out. He popped up CJ Abrams to win a seven-pitch duel before ending the game with a strikeout.
The whole thing was imperfect. The Phillies went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position. They left 13 on base. They became the first team since the Tigers on June 8, 1955, to walk at least 13 times and score three runs or less in a nine-inning game.
“I look at it as, we won tonight,” Mattingly said. “That’s what I look at. No matter how we do it, we got the win. So, that’s really what matters at the end of the day.”
Indeed. And in winning for only the second time in six games, they crossed Game 152 off the calendar in their quest to just get into the playoffs, reset everything, and take their chances.
“After losing [Tuesday] night, we had to come out here with a win today,” Wheeler said. “I was just trying to do the best that I could and at least split.”
It wasn’t easy, even though the Nationals tried to make it so. And it isn’t about to get easier, just as Schwarber warned.
The sound inside the locker room was already overwhelming, Father Judge’s coaches and players shouting and singing after their 52-46 victory over Archbishop Wood in the Philadelphia Catholic League boys’ basketball semifinals last February. And every time someone opened the door to exit, the noise in the room rose, because a sold-out Palestra crowd was now roaring over the night’s second game: Neumann Goretti vs. Bonner-Prendergast.
Still, the kid who had been the primary cause of the celebration, the 6-foot-4 senior guard who had made the night his, was calm. Derrick Morton-Rivera had scored 27 points on an array of three-pointers and pull-up jumpers, leading the Crusaders back from an early 16-point deficit.
“Playing in front of 10,000 people every year, there’s nothing like it,” Morton-Rivera, now a freshman at Temple, said after the game. “I never knew about the PCL until my eighth-grade year. That’s when I learned.”
How did he end up at Judge?
The coaches “recruited me,” he said.
Father Judge graduate Derrick Morton-Rivera after he sank a three-point shot during the 2026 Catholic League boys’ championship.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
With that one verb, recruited, Morton-Rivera touched the live wire that crackles among coaches, parents, administrators, and players throughout the high school sports scene in Pennsylvania. House Bill No. 41 — a measure that would allow the PIAA to create separate postseasons, one for public schools and one for private, parochial, and charter schools — passed the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives in April. And of all the factors that play into the longtime dispute over whether boundary and non-boundary schools should compete against each other for championships, none generates as much heat and controversy as recruiting.
“It’s two different worlds,” longtime Lower Merion boys’ basketball coach Gregg Downer said. “If you don’t put massive talent out in basketball or football or soccer or lacrosse, you’re going to get run over.”
Mark Ostaszewski with Archbishop Ryan athletic director Joe Zeglinski after the Raiders won the Catholic League Blue Division title in 2024.Courtesy of Archbishop Ryan
‘Philly is Philly’
Since the Catholic League joined the PIAA in 2008, just one of its coaches, Archbishop Ryan football coach Mark Ostaszewski, has been suspended for recruiting violations. At a January 2025 football camp, Ostaszewski asked a student from the Bensalem School District if he wanted to apply to Ryan. District 12, the association’s umbrella for the Philadelphia Catholic and Public leagues, banned Ostaszewski for a year; he has returned to his role this season.
Locally, recruiting accusations often put programs from District 12 at odds with those from District One, which comprises schools in Philadelphia’s suburbs. And that confirmed example is tame compared to the more intense efforts that coaches have allegedly made to coax athletes to their programs.
A former basketball standout who graduated recently from a District One public school and his father told The Inquirer on the condition of anonymity that, while the student was in eighth grade and throughout his high school career, representatives from three Catholic League programs pursued him. One head coach offered him free tuition, a stipend, and the use of an apartment near campus. The coach also had his team’s star player send several direct messages on Instagram to the player in an attempt to persuade him to attend the school.
Another program had an assistant coach and a parent take the player’s father out to lunch twice, telling him at both meals that he would not have to worry about paying any tuition for his son. The third program’s head coach told the father that, if his son helped the team win the Catholic League championship, a booster would provide a house for the player. Each of the three schools were located between 15 and 35 miles from the player’s home.
Gregg Downer has spent three decades as the Lower Merion boys’ basketball coach.CHARLES FOX / Staff Photographer
“They can twist this however they want,” Downer said. “These kids are targeted because they’re good at sports. I could list 50 examples of kids who have been recruited.”
Morton-Rivera’s path to Father Judge captures the murkiness of the entire issue. Jim Meredith, a 1992 Judge graduate who became its president in late July, noted in a recent interview that while in eighth grade, Morton-Rivera had visited the school and taken its entrance exam — and that he grew up and lived in Lawncrest, just a mile-and-a-half from Judge.
“I can say with full confidence that we’re following PIAA rules and regulations,” Meredith said. “We’re trying to put out an excellent product for our school and our students. Part of that is making sure we adhere to the guidelines that are prescribed to us.”
When asked how Morton-Rivera ended up choosing Judge, head coach Chris Roantree pointed out that Morton-Rivera’s background and family history made it natural for him to consider attending a school with a strong basketball program. D.J. Rivera, his father, finished his high school career in 2006 as Neumann Goretti’s all-time leading scorer before playing Division I ball at St. Joseph’s and Binghamton.
Father Judge coach Chris Roantree noted that Morton-Rivera’s background and family history made it natural for him to consider attending a school with a strong basketball program.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
“Philadelphia basketball is a very small community,” Roantree said. “There are different relationships that everybody has. When somebody shows interest in us, we sell the school. When we bring guys in, we show them our career-pathway center. We show them our academic center. …
“Ultimately, ‘recruiting’ is a very broad thing. It’s going to be questioned because we’re a Catholic and private school. He’s within a mile or two of the school. To me, that’s no different from [a public-school coach] talking to someone from a Plymouth Whitemarsh middle school or an Abington middle school. He’s not a transfer. We didn’t aggressively go after him like that.”
Under Article VI, Section 11 of its bylaws, the PIAA forbids “recruiting [that] is materially motivated in some way by an athletic purpose. Recruiting for athletic purposes is directly contrary to fundamental interests of PIAA and its member schools, and any school engaged in such conduct should do so with the expectation that it will be treated harshly upon proof of such conduct.”
Liz Potash retired earlier this summer after 13 years as Central Bucks East’s girls’ basketball coach.Courtesy of Diane BarryShe said, “If I wanted to recruit, I wouldn’t be a public-school coach.” Courtesy of Diane Barry
As clear as that excerpt might seem, determining whether a student’s decision to attend a particular school was “materially motivated” by athletics requires hard and fast evidence, such as text or direct messages between a coach and the athlete, said Sean Kelly, District One’s vice chairman.
If a principal or athletic director files a formal complaint charging an opposing program with violating PIAA bylaws, the association’s corresponding district committee will hold a hearing on the matter.
“Sometimes I’ll get a call from a coach or an AD or somebody who’s associated with one of the schools who says, ‘Hey, this is what we’re hearing. We’re hearing Student A is going to go to this school,’” Kelly said. “I just ask them, ‘What evidence do you have? Are you saying they’re just transferring, or are you saying they’re being recruited?’ We take some time to make sure we pump the brakes because people get very sensitive and very emotional.”
Neumann Goretti and Father Judge boys’ basketball play in South Philadelphia on Feb. 1, 2026.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Article VI, Section 11 applies to both boundary and non-boundary schools, but suburban public school coaches bemoan what they see as an inherent imbalance in the system: To play a varsity sport at a public high school, a student must live in that school district. But private, parochial, and charter schools, such as those in the School District of Philadelphia and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, can draw their students from anywhere. Too many of those institutions, several District One coaches said, bend the rules to do it.
“It’s just not fair,” said Joe Dempsey, who has been the boys’ basketball coach at Spring-Ford High School in Royersford since 2021. “They have the ability to go and get players, to which I say: Let them do that. If they want to go play in that sandbox, let them go.”
Dempsey had previously coached at La Salle College High School for 27 years, including 14 as the program’s head coach. At CYO games, he would see a promising seventh or eighth grader, he said, then approach the player’s parents without talking to the player.
Joe Dempsey previously coached at La Salle College High School for 27 years.
“La Salle made it very clear: Don’t step over the line. Don’t get us in trouble,” Dempsey said. “Once a couple of schools took the gloves off, the pressure came. The pressure was on me at La Salle. I went to the administration: ‘Are you looking around the Catholic League? I can’t just sit on my hands and wait on some wonderful 6-foot-7 kid who can pay a lot of tuition and go to school with all boys and get bused here. It ain’t going to happen by accident.’”
That archdiocesan schools compete for students within District 12’s open-enrollment landscape only complicates matters further. Consider one example: Bonner-Prendie, nestled in Drexel Hill in Delaware County, won the 2024 PIAA Class 4A football championship. Of the top six zip codes from which the school drew students that year, five were within Delco, and the other was just nearby — the Overbook section of Philadelphia — according to Steve Clement, the chief administrative officer of the archdiocese’s Office of Catholic Education.
How many of its football players did Bonner-Prendie recruit, if any? How many did it have to recruit, given the school’s proximity to West Philadelphia? And if a school such as Bonner-Prendie draws students from the city or St. Joseph’s Prep draws them from Camden — less than five miles away — how different is that from the dynamic at a public school in an especially large district?
“The reality,” Clement said, “is that these schools are still serving the areas they were intended to serve.”
Similarly, parents can and do contact the School District of Philadelphia to ask what high schools would best fit their children’s skills and interests: maybe sports, maybe drama, maybe career and technical education. Starr Davenport, the district’s director of finance for athletics, said she frequently fields phone calls from parents of rising ninth graders who ask her about the quality and array of athletic programs at a particular school, and she is happy to answer their questions.
“It’s not a recruitment strategy,” Davenport said. “It’s just transparency. When they want to know, it means they’re trying to find their school home. That selection process seems equitable because we’re not putting it out there, ‘Go to this school if you like football.’ But if a parent or student-athlete inquires, we are definitely transparent in terms of the full gamut of what is offered at a school.”
As for making competition across the state and the Delaware Valley more equitable — that is, giving boundary schools a better chance of beating non-boundary schools — it doesn’t matter much whether gifted athletes who already live within the city’s borders attend public or non-public schools. As long as it stays in Philadelphia, that talent will reveal itself in the results one way or another.
Neumann Goretti head coach Carl Arrigale (right) meets with Father Judge head coach Chris Roantree before the two teams played each other in February 2026.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
“Here’s the thing: Philly is Philly,” Roantree said. “So if you want all the Philly kids to go to public schools, they’re still going to dominate. There are six, seven, eight, 10 good teams in the Catholic League. If they’re in the playoffs, they’re going to make some noise” in the state tournaments.
The primary complaint among suburban public school coaches and administrators, of course, is that non-boundary schools don’t limit themselves to drawing talent from the city or the neighborhoods that surround them. To some public-school coaches, the notion of recruiting is an alien concept, one they wouldn’t consider if for no other reason than they or the athletes’ families would have to make the necessary arrangements for the athletes to live within district boundaries — say, finding a long-lost aunt whose house was within walking distance of a school bus stop.
Liz Potash, who retired earlier this summer after 13 years as Central Bucks East’s girls’ basketball coach, said she never sought out players to refill her program’s talent pool. “If I wanted to recruit, I wouldn’t be a public-school coach,” she said. “I’m not going to beg an eighth grader to come to East.”
But another coach might.
“Everyone’s doing it,” said Daniel DiBerardinis, who spent 11 years as a Catholic League athletic director — six at Roman Catholic, five at St. Joe’s Prep — before becoming Penn Charter’s AD last year. “Public schools are recruiting. They recruit. People move to different zip codes all the time.
“I’m not going to put any school on blast, but I know intimate situations — I know families who got an address to be a part of a district. I’m not going to say any schools, but I do know it happens. The rules are super-gray, and people are always going to find workarounds.”
Father Judge takes on Archbishop Wood during in the Catholic League boys’ basketball semifinal at the Palestra on Feb. 18, 2026.Isaiah Vazquez / For The Inquirer
Technicalities
Football, boys’ basketball, girls’ basketball: It’s within the worlds of those three sports that the debates and bickering around recruiting are the loudest and have the most relevance. Rep. Scott Conklin, a Democrat who introduced House Bill No. 41 and represents the 77th district, in State College, all but admitted that the bill was aimed at stopping private, parochial, and charter schools from recruiting — and from continuing to move into the next frontier: wielding sponsor dollars or name, image, and likeness deals to entice athletes.
“Technically, yes, public schools could cheat,” he said in a phone interview. “But we know how difficult that is. I’m 67 years old, and I can win the high-jump competition — technically. But we all know it’s never going to happen.”
In that Palestra locker room back in February, Roantree snickered at the mere mention of the subject. “Everybody says it’s an unfair advantage,” he said. “What I say is, every kid’s got a dream of playing Division I, and there are a lot of coaches in our league who can make that happen. We don’t have to recruit as much as kids want to come and play for us.”
Four days later, behind a team-high 14 points from Morton-Rivera, Father Judge beat Goretti to win its second straight PCL championship. The Crusaders advanced to the semifinals of the PIAA Class 6A tournament, where they lost to a city rival, Imhotep Charter, which then lost in the championship game to Harrisburg’s Central Dauphin.
The Eagles hit the road for their first away game of the 2026 season when they take on the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.
Coming off an uneven 24-22 victory over the Washington Commanders, the Eagles are big favorites over the Titans, with most sportsbooks and data sites giving them an advantage of about a touchdown.
The Titans lost a 23-10 home game in Week 1 to the New York Jets and have some issues on both sides of the ball. The Eagles should have plenty of advantages on Sunday.
Where might their biggest edges be?
Here’s a look at the numbers that could prove to be important Sunday afternoon in Nashville:
Tennessee Titans quarterback Cam Ward (1) scrambled a great deal in a Week 1 loss to the Jets. George Walker IV
41%
That’s how often second-year Titans quarterback Cam Ward was under pressure when he dropped back Sunday vs. the Jets, according to Next Gen Stats. He was 3-for-10 for 17 yards when under duress.
Ward is in the bottom tier of NFL quarterbacks, and he’s protected by an offensive line that Pro Football Focus ranks 29th in the NFL. That’s not a recipe conducive to a lot of success.
Rookie right guard Fernando Carmona allowed three pressures on 39 pass blocking opportunities in his NFL debut, according to PFF. Left guard Peter Skoronski is probably the best of the five starting linemen, but the Eagles should have an edge up front, inside and out.
The Jets applied pressure to Ward on six of their nine blitzes and had a pressure rate of 33.3% when they sent four or fewer pass rushers, according to Next Gen. It all added up to a pass rush win rate of 65%, according to ESPN, third-highest in the NFL in Week 1.
Vic Fangio said Tuesday that he thought his unit’s pass rush was “inconsistent and really wasn’t good enough.” But the Eagles pressured Jayden Daniels on 19 of his 38 dropbacks. Fourteen of those 19 pressures, and a 48.3% pressure rate, came with a four-man pass rush. They did only get Daniels to the ground once, though.
It remains to be seen if the Eagles get a boost with Jonathan Greenard’s return Sunday against the Titans, but they have the personnel up front to cause havoc Sunday regardless.
Jalen Hurts and the Eagles passing game will be in search of greater consistency Sunday. Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
176
Jalen Hurts threw for 203 yards in Week 1, and 176 of them came on throws that traveled at least 10 air yards, according to Next Gen, which counts any throw of 10 or more air yards as a “downfield” pass.
Hurts completed six of his nine downfield attempts and the Eagles scored all three of their touchdowns that way.
The running game struggled, and Hurts faced too much pressure, but the explosive plays to Dontayvion Wicks, Dallas Goedert, and DeVonta Smith showed some of the potential of the new-look offense.
The Titans allowed the sixth-most downfield passing yards last season, according to Next Gen, and they didn’t show in Week 1 that they’ll be less susceptible to it in 2026. The Jets completed four of their five downfield throws for 111 yards.
Cooper DeJean (left) did not have a banner Week 1 against the Commanders and was absent from the practice field on Wednesday. David Maialetti / Staff Photographer
16
That’s how many times Cooper DeJean lined up across Wan’Dale Robinson last season when the receiver was with the New York Giants. Those reps amounted to zero targets in Robinson’s direction. DeJean, according to Next Gen, was the only defender with at least 10 snaps against Robinson to go without a target. Robinson ran 25 routes from the slot against the Eagles without DeJean as his primary defender last season and caught six of seven targets for 90 yards and a touchdown.
Only nine receivers have accounted for more receiving yards from the slot than Robinson since he entered the league in 2022, according to Next Gen. The Jets did a good job against him in Week 1, allowing only two catches on three targets for 18 yards from the slot.
The third-year defensive back mentioned his eyes can sometimes “get bad” in coverage and it can hurt him.
“I think it can happen at times and at times it’s helped him, too,” Fangio said Tuesday when asked about DeJean’s comments. “He’s just got to make sure he can stay tight enough to his assignment and not let his vision get too skewed to where he gets out of position.”
It’ll be an interesting matchup with Robinson and DeJean Sunday, given their history and DeJean’s struggles in Week 1.
With his Father Judge teammates celebrating their Catholic League semifinal win in the background and the other game underway, Derrick Morton-Rivera said the quiet part out loud.
What drew the star guard, now a freshman at Temple, to Judge?
The coaches “recruited me,” he said.
Recruiting. It’s a topic of debate for coaches, parents, players, and even lawmakers across the state — so much so that House Bill No. 41, which would allow the PIAA to create separate postseasons, passed the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives in April.
In the latest installation of his occasional series, Mike Sielski unpacks the complex web of recruiting in high school sports — the dynamics between districts and the perks that are promised — in Philly and beyond.
Phillies outfielder Brandon Marsh (right) entered Wednesday hitting .176 since July 1.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Just a couple months ago, Brandon Marsh was an All-Star.
It’s pretty much ben all downhill from there. As Marsh’s star rose, teams began attacking him differently, and interim manager Don Mattingly noted that he’s gotten fewer pitches in the strike zone in the second half of the season. But the left fielder hasn’t been able to adjust.
Next: The road trip continues as the Phillies head to New York to face the Mets (7:15 p.m., Fox29). New York’s Nolan McLean (11-9, 3.24 ERA) will face Aaron Nola (6-10, 4.69).
Phillies pitcher Jesús Luzardo is on the injured list with shoulder soreness.David Maialetti / Staff Photographer
It’s time to sound the alarm. The Phillies entered Wednesday a half-game behind the Cubs for first place in the wild-card race and just 3½ games ahead of the Diamondbacks, who are the first team out of the three-team wild-card pool.
The bullpen is a mess, the defense and baserunning are as bad as ever, and the starting pitching is starting to wear down — Jesús Luzardo is the latest to go on the injured list.
Stars like Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber, J.T. Realmuto, Alec Bohm, and Luis Arraez will make a combined $111.2 million this season.
Cooper DeJean (left) struggled at times in the Eagles’ season-opening win.David Maialetti / Staff Photographer
Cooper DeJean appeared to get hurt in the second quarter of the Eagles’ season-opening win. He grabbed the left side of his abdomen after making a tackle but didn’t miss any snaps because of the injury. He struggled in coverage at times, however.
Now, he’s sitting out in practice.
DeJean, who appeared to be wearing a sleeve on his left leg, sat out for the portion of practice open to the media on Wednesday with calf and abdomen injuries, though he expects to get on the field as the team prepares to face the Titans.
Flyers right wing Matvei Michkov is entering a pivotal season.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
It’s officially time to “do that hockey.” Flyers training camp opens today, and they’re looking to improve upon last season, when they stormed into the second round of the playoffs. They bring back a young, healthy core, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any questions surrounding the team and its top players, like Matvei Michkov.
Next: Flyers training camp opens today in Voorhees.
On this date
In this Nov. 24, 1929, file photo, New York Giant’s Benjamin Friedman is stopped after making a 10-yard gain against the Green Bay Packers during a football game at the Polo Grounds in New York City. The first season, 1920, the American Professional Football Association had 14 teams. Throughout a decade of flux, many franchises came and went.
On Sept. 17, 1920, 14 teams paid $100 to join the American Professional Football Association, which became the NFL. The league adopted its current name in 1922, and the Eagles joined the fold in 1933. Now, after almost a century in existence, the Birds have two Super Bowl trophies to their name and three other NFL championships from the pre-Super Bowl era.
What you’re saying about sports media
We asked: Who is your favorite sports media personality of all time and why? Among your responses:
Al Meltzer … “It’s a barn burner.” —William R.
My favorite sports personality was, without a doubt, Richie Ashburn. The combination of humor and baseball knowledge was unparalleled. His interaction with Harry Kalas was priceless. I ran into Richie twice and found that he was just as genuine in person as he seemed to be on air. John Kruk comes close, but nobody can totally replace Ashburn. —Tom E.
The late great Jim Healy, the legendary Los Angeles sports commentator who entertained all sports fans in the greater L.A. area for 43 years with his irreverent and original style. He poked fun at everybody in the sports world and some outside such as Richard Nixon. He had names for everyone such as “Bone Spur Bill” for Bill Walton, and “Brain Surgeons” for the USC Trojans. He played tapes of Tommy Lasorda and others where he bleeped out all the cuss words. He had great fun mocking our late Jerome Brown and his famous comments prior to the Miami-Penn State national championship in the Fiesta Bowl. A wild half hour every week day night. — Everett S.
I used to love to listen to Bill Campbell doing Eagles games prior to MR. — Bill B.
We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Mike Sielski, Scott Lauber, Marcus Hayes, Rob Tornoe, Conor Smith, Mia Messina, Olivia Reiner, and Gustav Elvin.
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Thanks for reading along! Kerith will be back in your inboxes tomorrow morning. — Maria
Hollywood Brown did not see the field during the Eagles’ season-opening win over the Commanders on Sunday.
The veteran wide receiver, who signed a one-year, $6.5 million contract as a free agent this offseason, said he was “surprised” by the decision and mostly offered short responses when asked about it after Wednesday’s practice.
“No conversations [about his workload] leading up to it, but, I don’t know, I just come to work and when my opportunity come, be ready for it,” Brown said.
“That I don’t know,” Brown said. “I just got to come to work. If it do, it do. If it don’t, it don’t.”
Coach Nick Sirianni was asked about Brown’s snap count on Monday and said it will change moving forward. The Eagles coach knows the 29-year-old can create space with his speed and playmaking skills and acknowledged he’s been a decent fit in Mannion’s offense.
Jalen Hurts and Hollywood Brown (right) shown in training camp on Aug 7.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
“So, with [Sunday’s game], we have our rotations that we’re doing, you know, Hollywood could obviously help us,” Sirianni said. “We obviously want to get him into the football game because his speed is real. It just didn’t work out that way [Sunday]. … But we know that Hollywood can help us win football games, and his speed is real, and, quite frankly, just from my end, we want to get him into the football game, right?”
Does it make Brown feel any better that Sirianni made those comments one day after the game?
“Nah, no, it don’t,” he said. “But I’m not dwelling on it. I’m ready for next week.”
Brown has bounced around the NFL after a strong start to his career. The No. 25 overall pick by Baltimore in the 2019 draft peaked in 2021 when he finished with 91 receptions for 1,008 yards and six of his 33 career touchdowns.
He was traded in April 2022 to the Arizona Cardinals, where he played two seasons, then spent two years with the Kansas City Chiefs, where he battled injuries.
He had an up-and-down preseason with the Eagles, but said he feels comfortable in Mannion’s offense.
WASHINGTON — Two months ago, Brandon Marsh was the starting right fielder for the National League in the All-Star Game.
Really. That happened.
Since then, Marsh has been among the worst hitters in the league. Benched against left-handed pitchers, the long-haired, bushy-bearded Phillies’ outfielder batted eighth here Wednesday night after playing every day and hitting cleanup for much of June and early July.
“I just think [teams] have made an adjustment to him, and then we’ve got to make it back,” interim manager Don Mattingly said. “And we haven’t been able to do that.”
Consider this: After a two-hit game July 1 against the Pirates, Marsh was batting .319 with an .881 OPS. He dragged a .176 average and .470 OPS since then into the series finale against Nationals lefty opener Jared Simpson.
Marsh’s success has always been rooted in his batting average on balls in play. Among all players with at least 2,000 career plate appearances, Marsh ranks sixth all-time with a .360 average on balls in play. Three of the top five are Hall of Famers (Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby, and Billy Hamilton); a fourth in Joe Jackson.
But as Marsh’s profile rose, teams began attacking him differently. In particular, Mattingly noted that Marsh has seen fewer pitches in the strike zone in the second half, especially early in counts.
The two months since his start in the All-Star Game have been a struggle for Brandon Marsh.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Not coincidentally, his batting average on balls in play plummeted from .396 through July 1 to .221 since then.
“Marsh is sitting back there at some point, and they’re probably not doing a ton of homework on him,” Mattingly said. “They’re attacking him. Whatever. He starts being aggressive early. He’s doing damage. He’s getting his hits. All of a sudden, he’s hitting .330 and he’s on the All-Star team, and it’s like, ‘Maybe we ought to do a little more work on this guy.’ Right?
“At some point, he’s aggressive, [so] they’re going to be less likely to throw you strikes and get you to chase a little more. And then we’ve got to make the adjustment to back down maybe the aggression. Be aggressive when you swing, but it doesn’t mean you’re swinging at everything.
“You see adjustments all the time, and I think that’s what’s happened basically.”
In any case, after assisting Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber in carrying the offense for much of the first half, Marsh’s production has all but disappeared at a time when the Phillies need it.
Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly plans to deploy a bullpen game Friday or Saturday in New York.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Where’s the depth?
Rather than recalling triple-A starter Alan Rangel to fill the rotation vacancy created by Jesús Luzardo’s sore left shoulder, the Phillies will opt for a bullpen game Friday (or maybe Saturday) in New York and then likely again next week at home.
“It’s nice to have, say, a bulk guy, which probably is 45 to 60 pitches,” Mattingly said. “If you’re able to do that, you’re not using one guy to get [each of] those innings for you instead of three [pitchers total], which leaves you in a better shape the next day. I’m not sure.”
In that case, why not call up Rangel, effectively the No. 6 starter?
“I’m sure we’re probably more comfortable with the guys that we have,” Mattingly said.
Rangel, who started Wednesday night in triple A, was 0-3 with a 5.88 ERA in seven games (three starts) earlier this season. He had a 10.23 ERA in his last five triple-A starts.
Andrew Painter threw a between-starts bullpen session and likely will start Saturday with an extra day of rest. But if the Phillies need to use several relievers Thursday night, Painter could start Friday on regular rest.
Mattingly noted that the Phillies have 10 relievers in the bullpen because of expanded rosters. So, although they lack a true bulk reliever, they can piece together a game.
When the Phillies scratched Luzardo last Saturday night in Atlanta, lefty Tim Mayza completed three innings in only 31 pitches. He could be the choice to start against the Mets.
Mattingly seemed to rule out veteran left-hander Nestor Cortes, who gave up two runs on three hits and struck out three batters on 32 pitches in 1⅔ innings Tuesday night in triple A. Cortes, 32, signed with the Phillies last month after biceps tendon surgery after last season.
“Everything is a possibility, right?” Mattingly said. “But he’s not really built at this point.”
Phillies top prospect Aidan Miller made his first career start at third base Tuesday night in a playoff game for double-A Reading.George Youngs/Reading Fightin Phils
Extra bases
Reading won 21-4 (you read that right) in the opener of the double-A Eastern League semifinal, with the best-of-three series moving to Hartford on Thursday night. Top prospect Aidan Miller made his first career start at third base and went 1-for-5 with three strikeouts; 22-year-old shortstop Bryan Rincon finished with two hits and five RBIs. … Aaron Nola (6-10, 4.69 ERA) is slated to start at 7:15 p.m. Thursday in New York against Mets righty Nolan McLean (11-9, 3.24).
On Wednesday, former Eagles center Jason Kelce said “You never want to overreact to Week 1.”
Still, Jason’s warning about reading too much into things too soon didn’t stop him and his brother, Travis, from dissecting all of the ins and outs of the NFL’s opening week on the latest episode of their podcast, New Heights.
‘Find the tight end’
He might be biased, but Travis had some advice for quarterbacks, including the Eagles’ Jalen Hurts.
While Jason acknowledged that most people were curious to see what the offense would look like under new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion, he said his biggest takeaway was how good Hurts looked.
Both brothers credited Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert for helping with what Jason called “awesome plays,” resulting in four catches for 77 yards and two touchdowns.
“This offense I think will fit [Goedert] pretty well,” Jason said. “All this misdirection and stuff, they scheme things up, and it stresses those linebackers.”
He also acknowledged the struggles for the Eagles offensive line, including left guard Landon Dickerson, who was placed on injured reserve with a bone bruise on Monday.
“You could tell he wasn’t redirecting as well as he needs to or has,” Jason said. “And it’s a shame because when he is healthy, he is one of the best guards in the league. So he struggled a little bit in the game, and then I think Cam Jurgens had a couple holding calls. I don’t think he played as bad as I think what Twitter maybe seemed to say.”
Neither Kelce thinks there’s reason to worry just yet as the Eagles settle into this season and the new offense with a 1-0 record, which Travis said it “doesn’t get much better” than.
During a dominant 31-10 Monday Night Football win over the Denver Broncos, Travis became second all-time in receiving yards for a tight end. He currently has 13,073 career yards and passed Dallas Cowboys legend Jason Witten (13,046) with a 59-yard catch in the third quarter.
But don’t get it twisted. Travis was adamant that it wasn’t a record, despite his brother’s protests that he “broke Jason Witten’s record.” Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez remains the all-time leader with 15,127 career receiving yards.
Just being in conversations with players like Gonzalez, Witten, and other tight end stars from his childhood is a big deal for Travis.
“To be in the same talks as these guys at this point in my career, Jason [Witten], it’s an absolute honor to be in the same conversation as you,” Travis said. “I’ll have to just play another five years to catch Tony.”
Travis also gave credit to the rest of the Chiefs, including Patrick Mahomes, who returned from knee surgeryi and “did what he needed to do,” and running back Kenneth Walker III who, in his first game with the Chiefs, had 173 rushing yards on 23 carries, including a 60-yard touchdown. Walker, the Super Bowl MVP with the Seattle Seahawks last season, added a receiving touchdown in the fourth quarter.
“You can’t say enough about what Kenneth Walker is and what he’s going to be for this, this team and this organization and this city,” Travis said. “He’s one of those Kansas City guys, and you guys in Kansas City that don’t know him yet, to the core of who that guy is. He’s, he’s an A1 person.”
Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce climbed the all-time leaderboard for tight end receiving yards on Monday.Charlie Riedel
Down to a science?
The brothers discussed how other teams fared during Week 1. They took a look at how offenses seem to be trending upward with 10 teams scoring 30 or more points on Sunday, which is more than any Week 1 since the stat first started being recorded.
On the topic of firsts, they reviewed the first NFL Australia game, which the San Francisco 49ers won, 27-7, over the Los Angeles Rams.
The brothers focused on the teams’ travel. The Rams made the 15-hour flight one day before the game; the 49ers flew out a week in advance. Jason grew impassioned while not giving these studies much weight.
“To me, all these science, whatever they put in front of the team to sell you on the reason they’re doing it is you can find the science to say whatever … you want to do,” Jason said. “You can pick and pull. They made a whole study out of saying chocolate’s healthy for you because it has, like, antioxidants in it.”
“I’m just honored,” Cord said. “The way the fans reached out to me, it’s humbling.”
Cord had no intention to come back, even though his final game — a 30-point loss to the New York Knicks on Mother’s Day that swept the Sixers out of the playoffs — was unsatisfying. Cord was so ready for retirement he and his family booked a trip to Ireland in October to attend the wedding of a friend’s daughter.
Then the Sixers signed James and traded for Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown, and suddenly Cord was getting calls to reconsider his decision to walk away.
One influential text came from Hall of Famer Allen Iverson.
“He wrote, ‘I think you’ve got one more chapter left. I understand if you don’t want to. I’ll always have your back,’” Cord said. ”That was crazy. … I didn’t even know he had my number.”
Iverson was among those to celebrate Cord’s return Wednesday, along with current Sixers Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid.
“You should’ve never left,” Embiid said in a video shared by the Sixers. “But it’s good to have you back.”
Another factor was the Sixers hadn’t yet announced a replacement, no doubt due to the team’s desire for Cord to reconsider his decision. Just last month, Cord said he ran into Sixers owners David Blitzer and Josh Harris at a Tyrese Maxey Foundation event, where they asked Cord why he retired in the first place.
“Josh and David were like, ‘Are you coming back?’” Cord said. “That kind of made it like, ‘OK, I think I should now.’”
It will be Cord’s 29th season as PA announcer, where his voice has served as the in-game soundtrack for the Sixers dating to the Iverson era.
“A. Six. Foot. Guaaarrrrdddd frooom Georgetown. Number three. Allllleeeeen I-verson,” Cord beamed as he introduced Iverson’s return to the Sixers in 2009. But Cord’s favorite introduction has always been for Jumaine Jones, the former first-round pick who spent only two seasons in Philly (1999-2001).
Cord said his introductions “evolve over the season.” While his calls for Maxey and Embiid are set, he did have to switch gears midway through last season when it came to introducing rookie VJ Edgecombe.
“We all thought his name was pronounced ‘Edge-comb’ for half the season, and Kate Scott came to me … and said it’s really ‘Edge-come,’” Cord said. “The Knicks announcers were calling him that during the playoffs and I was like, ‘Who can I call to let them know they’re saying it wrong?’”
Cord said returning to the Sixers won’t impact his day job on 93.3 WMMR, where he hosts the late Pierre Robert’s former midday slot. It’s Cord’s third stint at the rock station dating to the 1990s. Prior to that, he hosted the morning show on 102.9 WMGK, a slot he filled in 2023 following the retirement of John DeBella.
As for how he’ll introduce James when he takes the court next month, Cord previewed what it might sound like during an appearance on 97.5 The Fanatic last month.
“At six-nine, from St. Vincent–St. Mary’s. Number twenty three, LeBrooooonnnnnn JAMES! JAMES! JAMES!”
Despite sitting out of Wednesday’s practice with calf and abdomen injuries, Cooper DeJean says he expects to play in Sunday’s game against the Tennessee Titans.
DeJean, 23, confirmed that he sustained an injury late in the second quarter of the Eagles’ season-opening victory over the Washington Commanders. After he tackled Commanders wide receiver Stefon Diggs on a reception, DeJean stood up and grabbed the left side of his abdomen. Additionally, DeJean appeared to be wearing a sleeve on his left leg at Wednesday’s practice.
“I hate it,” DeJean said of missing practice. “Wish I could have been out there today. Obviously, you’re missing a day, you’re not getting the looks. So you’ve got to do as much as you can on the side watching the reps and watching the film as well.”
He didn’t miss any snaps due to injury during the game, and he said Wednesday that he wasn’t affected much by it.
Still, he struggled at times in coverage. According to Pro Football Focus, DeJean conceded seven receptions on nine targets for 83 yards and a touchdown. Diggs did the most damage against DeJean, amassing four receptions on five targets for 55 yards and a touchdown in that matchup.
After the game, DeJean said that he “wasn’t good enough” in his debut in his new role, which requires him to play safety in base defense and move to the slot in nickel.
“Sometimes my eyes get bad and that gets me in trouble,” DeJean said at the time. “Just got to be better with that. The good thing is it’s Week 1. We got a lot of games ahead of us and I got to continue to get better for our defense.”
On Tuesday, Vic Fangio agreed with DeJean’s assessment of his play, particularly regarding his eye discipline.
“I think it can happen at times, and at times it’s helped him, too,” the Eagles defensive coordinator said. “He’s just got to make sure he can stay tight enough to his assignment and not let his vision get too skewed to where he gets out of position.”
The Eagles will practice two more times this week before they travel to Nashville, Tenn., to take on the Titans. DeJean said he expects to practice at some point before the game.
Come Sunday, DeJean will be matched up against a familiar face in the slot — Wan’Dale Robinson, the former New York Giants slot receiver. Robinson, who is 5-foot-8, 185 pounds, reunited in Tennessee with Brian Daboll, the former Giants head coach who is now the Titans’ offensive coordinator.
Sunday against the New York Jets, Robinson caught two of three targets for 18 yards when lined up in the slot, according to Next Gen Stats.
Former Giants wideout Wan’Dale Robinson joined former New York head coach Brian Daboll on the Tennessee Titans this offseason.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
He hasn’t had much success against DeJean. The Eagles defensive back wasn’t targeted on 16 slot matchups with Robinson last season, making him the only defender with a minimum of 10 slot matchups against Robinson to not see a target, according to Next Gen Stats. Still, DeJean expressed respect for the 25-year-old receiver.
“Shifty guy in the slot,” DeJean said. “Understands how to get open. Obviously, he’s played with the coordinator before, so understands the offense and the scheme. I feel like him and the quarterback already got a pretty good connection. So I’m looking forward to our matchup Sunday.”
If, for some reason, DeJean is not healthy enough to play against the Titans, or if he drops out midgame, Michael Carter II would be the next man up. Carter, 27, joined the Eagles at the trade deadline last year after beginning his career with the New York Jets as a fifth-round pick in the 2021 draft from Duke.
In Week 1, Carter played six defensive snaps — four at safety and two as the sixth defensive back in the dime package. He appeared in eight games with the Eagles at the end of last season, and 65 (25 starts) with the Jets over 4½ years.
Zack Baun’s (left) play against the Commanders was recognized by the NFL on Wednesday. Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Baun is NFC Defensive Player of the Week
The NFL named Zack Baun its NFC Defensive Player of the Week for his standout performance in Week 1 against the Commanders.
Baun, 29, racked up 12 tackles, two pass breakups, and a tackle for loss in the Eagles’ win. He was targeted six times in coverage and conceded three receptions for minus-2 yards, according to Next Gen Stats.
He is one of two defenders since the start of last season (with Cleveland Browns cornerback Denzel Ward) to allow negative receiving yards on at least five targets in a contest.
Baun previously earned Defensive Player of the Week after a 2024 Week 10 showing against the Dallas Cowboys, in which he totaled eight tackles, two forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery.
He is the third Eagles linebacker to win the award more than once, joining Seth Joyner (three) and William Thomas (two). Since joining the Eagles two years ago, Baun has elevated his play from core special-teamer with the New Orleans Saints to All-Pro inside linebacker.
“He has this amazing work ethic,” coach Nick Sirianni said on Wednesday. “None of us know our ceiling. What I mean is, none of us know our actual potential, our ceiling, because so much can happen when you work your [butt] off. I may think to myself, ‘Well, my kids aren’t going to be NFL football players because I wasn’t,’ but that’s not fair to say because nobody knows what their potential is until they put the work in.
“That’s a great example of Zack: He is highly talented and he puts the work in.”
Other injury news
Defensive tackle Jalen Carter (wrist) also missed Wednesday’s practice, according to the team’s injury report. Edge rusher Jonathan Greenard, who missed the Week 1 win over the Commanders with a pectoral injury, was a limited participant.
