DEAR ABBY: My mom died of extreme old age recently. She was a sweet woman everyone loved. I sent invitations to her memorial, and I’m getting a lot of excuses for why my friends can’t attend. I am upset.
In my circle of friends (all similar ages), I was the last to graduate, get a career job, start a relationship, buy a house, be married and so forth. I’ve attended my friends’ graduations, weddings, baby showers, milestone birthdays, and family funerals, yet there hasn’t been much reciprocation.
Excuses for not attending Mom’s memorial included going to a grandkid’s soccer game and attending a 2-year-old’s birthday party. Really? I know I’m dealing with unusually strong emotions due to Mom’s death, but I want to scream, “This is MY MOM,” not some distant friend or relative. My spouse says I shouldn’t stress and that all we need is each other (said by someone who has a huge, loving family whereas my family is just me and my dad). How do I deal with my feelings of resentment, abandonment and being a low priority?
— LAST ONE IN CALIFORNIA
DEAR LAST ONE: Your spouse is right. In the final analysis, all you need is each other — though a few supportive friends would certainly be welcome. I have always said that funerals are for the living, not the deceased. Be grateful for the support you are receiving from the people who accepted the invitation to your mother’s funeral. They are your core support group; the others are mere acquaintances, so start thinking of them in those terms.
** ** **
DEAR ABBY: I rent a two-bedroom apartment, which I shared with my best friend. When he moved away last month due to a work relocation, I advertised the room, and a couple moved in. They are friendly and pay their rent on time, but their cooking produces extremely strong smells that I cannot tolerate. My medication causes hypersensitivity to odors, and I can no longer stand to be in the kitchen because the smells linger. They also live on a very different schedule from me. As a result, my diet and sleep are both suffering. They remain unaware of how the adjustment has affected me because I don’t feel they are doing anything wrong. I would like to move out into a studio of my own. The lease on this apartment is currently a month-to-month, so the only thing keeping me here is the guilt I feel about burdening my roommates with this. They will have to move out, find a replacement for me or take on the full rent themselves. I want to do right by them, but I know it would be best for me to leave. What is the proper course of action here?
— DOOMED IN AUSTRALIA
DEAR DOOMED: There is no reason why you should feel guilty for leveling with this couple; your health must come first. Explain the problem to them and tell them that while you like them personally, your health is being affected by the cooking odors. Tell them that because you are now on a month-to-month lease, you plan to move to a smaller place of your own and give them the option of staying or moving. Consider this a first step in learning to stand up for yourself.
Philadelphia police responding to a reported shooting found a teen fatally wounded inside a mini-market Monday night in the Summerdale section of the Lower Northeast.
Around 8:45 p.m., 2nd District police found the 18-year-old lying unresponsive in the customer takeout area of the store at the corner of Marcella Street and Summerdale Avenue, said Chief Inspector Scott Small.
The victim, who was described by store employees as a regular customer, was transported by police to Jefferson Einstein Philadelphia Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 8:59 p.m.
Police found one spent shell casing next to the man’s body inside the store, and at least 25 outside on the sidewalk and on Summerdale Avenue, Small said.
Stray bullets pierced two separate second-floor windows of nearby residences.
“Although the occupants were very shaken up, nobody was struck,” Small said.
Also nearby, police found a Nissan sedan that had hit several parked cars. The two driver-side doors were open and the engine was still running, Small said.
The car, which was considered part of the crime scene, did not have bullet holes, Small said.
The Eagles are signing Zach Ertz, NFL sources told The Inquirer, confirming an initial ESPN report. The move comes after tests revealed that Dallas Goedert will miss multiple weeks with a sprained medial collateral ligament (MCL) in his knee after suffering the injury in Sunday’s win. Ertz, 35, will join the practice squad and is expected to be available to play Monday in Chicago.
Ertz, who last played for the Eagles in 2021, could eclipse Harold Carmichael as the franchise’s all-time leader in receptions with just 11 more catches.
To welcome him back to the city, The Inquirer put together a list including some of Ertz’s most memorable moments — both on and off the field — in Philadelphia.
Eagles tight end Zach Ertz dives over New England Patriots defensive back Devin McCourty to score the winning touchdown in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl LII, at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Feb. 4, 2018.TIM TAI / Staff Photographer
Super Bowl LII
How else could you start this list?
Ertz’s game-winning touchdown grab in Super Bowl LII etched his name into Eagles history. On third-and-7, Ertz found the end zone on an in-route to take the lead over the Patriots with just over 2 minutes to go. He bobbled Nick Foles’ pass , but a review confirmed that the Eagles tight end had possession.
“I want to get the ball whenever the situation calls for it,” Ertz, who finished with seven catches for 67 yards, said after the game. “We have a lot of talented guys on this football team. They’ve done an amazing job building this roster. When the situation calls for it, they trusted me. That’s all I can ask.”
Record-breaking 2018
Ertz did not show any signs of a Super Bowl hangover the following season.
In 2018, the tight end had his best statistical season. In 16 starts, Ertz caught 116 passes for 1,163 yards and eight touchdowns. With the performance, Ertz set the NFL record for most receptions by a tight end in a single season. Last season, the Cardinals’ Trey McBride broke Ertz’s record with 126 passes hauled in — but he had 17 games to do it.
Zach Ertz shows off his blond hair during Eagles training camp in 2021.JOSE F. MORENO / Staff Photographer
Going blond … and regretting it
A short-lived, but memorable, period of Ertz’s tenure in Philadelphia was when he went blonder than usual.
In 2021, it was evident that Ertz’s tenure in Philadelphia was near the end. The Eagles were going through a period of change following the firing of coach Doug Pederson, and Goedert had emerged as the team’s No. 1 tight end. Ertz expected to be traded by the start of preseason, so he looked to have some fun in the meantime.
His idea of fun? Showing up to training camp with platinum-blond hair.
Jason Kelce decided to join. The Eagles center promised Ertz that if he was not traded by the time the season began, he would also bleach his hair. Ertz was not traded to the Cardinals until Week 7, so the two sported bleach-blond hair for the majority of the 2021 season.
“I just wanted Zach to have something to look forward to if he was still on the team, like, ‘At least Jason dyed his hair to match,’” Kelce said on his podcast, New Heights.
Zach Ertz and his wife, Julie, pose for photos while entering the Eagles’ Super Bowl championship ring ceremony at 2300 Arena in South Philadelphia on June 14, 2018. Players received their Super Bowl rings at the private ceremony.TIM TAI / Staff Photographer
Power couple
Before Jason and Kylie Kelce were Philly’s “it” couple, Zach and Julie Ertz ran the city.
While Zach Ertz excelled on the gridiron, Julie Ertz helped lead the U.S. women’s national soccer team to two World Cup titles. In 2015, Julie Ertz (then Johnson) starred for the U.S. at center back. Four years later, she won gold again playing defensive midfield. Julie, who retired in 2023, is widely seen as an all-time great in the sport.
A viral moment for the couple came in 2018 after the Eagles defeated the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Championship. While confetti rained down at Lincoln Financial Field, Julie was playing a game for the U.S. in San Diego. She received the news after her match that her husband was going to the Super Bowl. She broke down in tears.
Zach traveled to watch many of his wife’s U.S. games.
“As an athlete, I feel like I have a little bit of control — or a lot of control — of the situation,” Ertz told the Inquirer in 2019. “When you’re in the stands, you have no control of the situation. You’re just praying (a) she’s healthy, (b) she’s having fun and successful. It’s definitely more nerve-wracking watching than playing.”
Zach Ertz’s connection with the city and the fan base was evident throughout his time in Philly. DAVID MAIALETTI / Staff Photographer
Saying ‘thank you’
After he was traded to the Cardinals, Ertz bought a full-page advertisement in The Inquirer to thank the city and the Eagles organization.
“Running through that tunnel every Sunday at the Linc truly changed my life,” Ertz wrote. “You have inspired me to push my limits each and every day to make sure I left no stone unturned in my pursuit to represent you the way you deserved. It was because of your love and commitment that I knew I needed to reciprocate that back every single day as a member of this team and community.”
Later in the message, Ertz wrote “Now comes the toughest part for me, saying goodbye, for now, to the city that I love.” Five years later, Ertz’s use of “for now” hits a bit different.
In 2021, Zach Ertz took out a full-page advertisement in the Philadelphia Inquirer after he was traded to Arizona
Ertz wrote: “Now comes the toughest part for me, saying goodbye, for now, to the city that I love.”
Flights into Philadelphia International Airport were grounded for much of the day Monday due to a stop instituted by the Federal Aviation Administration that impacted hundreds of flights in the Northeast in the wake of equipment outages.
Incoming flights were briefly allowed to resume at one point, but were again halted a short time later, according to the FAA’s airspace system status. The ground stop was again lifted at about 5 p.m. Monday.
As of late Monday afternoon, PHL had experienced about 400 delays and 200 cancellations, according to data from flight tracking website FlightAware. Some airlines were allowing their customers to change flights without fees. The FAA advised travelers to check the status of their flights with their airline before heading to the airport.
On Monday night, arrivals and departures at Philadelphia were still delayed by an average of at least two hours, according to Flighty, the popular flight-tracking app.
During the stops, FAA said planes departing from a U.S. airport and heading to PHL should remain on the ground. At times, flights at John F. Kennedy International Airport, LaGuardia Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport, and Bergen County’s Teterboro Airport were also affected.
The ground stop came after a circuit failed at an air traffic control tower in Philadelphia, and officials found that a line from a backup system was cut at a construction site in New Jersey, FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said. The technical problems happened at the same FAA facility in Philadelphia that caused numerous disruptions at Newark Liberty International Airport in spring 2025.
“Unfortunately, that circuit failed today,” Bedford said at a Monday news conference. “And when it went to flip into the backup, we discovered that the backup fiber had a break, and that fiber break is probably 13 hours to repair.”
Bedford described the break as “massive,” and said it consisted of about 600 feet of fiber line somewhere between New Brunswick and Newark. It was not immediately clear when the break in the fiber line for the backup occurred, he said.
Verizon said contractors had dug up and cut the cable that runs along the Amtrak rail line in New Jersey. The company said in a statement that its technicians were racing to get the cable fixed.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the ground stop showed the need for more funding to modernize infrastructure.
“This is not shocking to us,” Duffy said. “It’s an old system that we’re stuck working with.”
The FAA on Monday also began testing a new computer system that uses AI to help predict schedule conflicts and weather issues, but it did not appear to be linked to the outage because it was only being tested in the Washington, D.C., area.
Inquirer staff writer Robert Moran contributed to this article, which also contains information from the Associated Press.
The Eagles are reuniting with Zach Ertz, NFL sources said, confirming an initial ESPN report.
On the day tests revealed Dallas Goedert sprained the medial collateral ligament (MCL) in his knee in Sunday’s win over the Titans and will miss multiple weeks, the Eagles are signing Ertz, 35, to their practice squad. He is expected to be ready to play Monday night in Chicago — and could outright be signed to the open 53-man roster spot the Eagles currently have open — just over nine months removed from the gruesome knee injury that ended his 2025 season.
Ertz tore both the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and lateral collateral ligament (LCL) in his right knee, as well as his hamstring in December but did not want the last moment of his NFL career to be him being carted off the field with tears streaming down his face.
The tight end was cleared for football activity in July, seven months removed from his injury. He passed the pivotal nine-month post-operation milestone a few weeks ago.
Zach Ertz (right) has spent the last two years with the Commanders.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
He joins an Eagles team in need of pass-catching talent at tight end with Goedert sidelined. Before agreeing to sign Ertz, the Eagles were left with two blocking specialists — Johnny Mundt and EJ Jenkins — on the depth chart. There may not have been a need for Ertz if rookie second-round pick Eli Stowers was ready to play. Stowers had a slow start to training camp and is on injured reserve while he recovers from a hamstring injury. Grant Calcaterra (back) also is on injured reserve.
It remains to be seen how impactful Ertz will be after a major surgery and recovery, but he was still an effective and dangerous receiver in recent seasons, especially in the red zone, where all 11 of his touchdowns with the Commanders happened over the 2024 and 2025 seasons.
Ertz caught 71% (116) of his 163 targets with Washington over the last two seasons, a rate that is higher than his career average of 67%. One game before suffering his injury last season, Ertz caught 10 of 13 targets for 106 yards in an overtime loss to the Denver Broncos.
Ertz, a 2013 second-round pick by the Eagles, was last with the team in 2021. The Eagles traded him in Week 7 that season to the Arizona Cardinals for cornerback Tay Gowan and a 2022 fifth-round draft pick. He spent parts of three seasons in Arizona before joining Washington in free agency in 2024, a decision he called “an opportunity for me to just fall back in love with the game again.”
Earlier this year, Ertz told The Inquirer that any bitter feelings he had about the divorce with the Eagles have subsided and he looked back on his tenure with affection. But his stint in Washington did feature a postgame dustup with Eagles coach Nick Sirianni following a 2024 game.
“That was two competitive guys that hate losing,” Ertz said in April. “We have a great relationship still.”
Even though Nick Sirianni (left) and Zach Ertz had a dust up after a 2024 matchup between the Eagles and Commanders, the tight end says the pair “have a great relationship still.”David Maialetti / Staff Photographer
Ertz has played in 181 career regular season games and has 825 catches for 8,592 yards and 57 touchdowns. Only four tight ends in NFL history have more receptions.
He needs just 11 more catches with the Eagles to break Harold Carmichael’s franchise record of 589 to become the club’s all-time receptions leader.
Asked in April about Ertz getting that chance in Philadelphia, Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie said: “I would love him to get it, but not at the expense of what we need to do.”
Circumstances have changed. The Eagles are hoping Ertz can still be a chain-moving target in the passing game and a reliable over-the-middle and red zone option for Jalen Hurts.
Ertz never ruled out a return to the city where his family’s foundation still does much of its community service.
“I think everyone knows how I feel about that place, that city, in particular,” Ertz said earlier this year. “I loved it, loved it. And I wouldn’t close that door either by any means.
“I still want to play. And I think the time to reflect is when it’s officially done. But I don’t think that is right now.”
District Judge Christopher Cerski told head coach Terence Tolbert, 55; associate head coach Darian McFadden, 42; assistant coach Benjamin Johnson III, 45; and volunteer coach Ralph Burnley, 60, that they had failed in their duties to protect the then-15-year-old by encouraging him not to tell his mother about the assaults, and insisting on handling the matter themselves.
During the lengthy proceedings, the victim testified about the assaults and how it affected him.
After a marathon preliminary hearing in Jenkintown, Cerski held all four men over for trial on two counts of endangering the welfare of a child and one count of conspiracy, but dismissed another count of conspiracy that they faced.
Their lawyers argued against the merits of the case, saying the coaches were never told the full scope of abuse the teen suffered. He had deliberately downplayed the assault to them, according to testimony Monday, because he was embarrassed that his teammates had used a broomstick to poke at his buttocks.
The group only found out the full details months later, when video of an earlier assault surfaced during Cheltenham School District’s internal investigation.
Tolbert’s attorney, Thomas Egan III, called the prosecution’s “grand conspiracy to stomp on this teen’s voice” completely false.
“[Tolbert] could only act in the scope of what he knew,” Egan said. “He had a player who didn’t have major injuries and intended to still play football and not tell his mother.”
But Assistant District Attorney Samantha Cauffman balked at that theory of the case, saying adults who should have known better were improperly foisting their responsibility onto a teenager.
“This case boils down to the fact that a 15-year-old was beaten up, and you tell him not to tell his mother,” she said. “It doesn’t matter if he didn’t want to tell her. You are the adults in the room.”
Two players charged alongside the former coaches, Isaiah Simpson and Josiah Peeler, both 18, waived their hearings and will also face a Montgomery County judge: Simpson for conspiracy to commit aggravated assault, simple assault, reckless endangerment, and related crimes for his role in the September assault, and Peeler for false swearing for being untruthful to police.
Former head coach Terence Tolbert (second from left), one of six members of the Cheltenham High School football team appearing for their preliminary hearings Monday in Jenkintown Monday, Sept. 21, 2026.Tom Gralish / Staff PhotographerFormer assistant coach Benjamin Johnson III.Tom Gralish / Staff PhotographerFormer associate head coach Darian McFadden.Tom Gralish / Staff PhotographerFormer volunteer coach Ralph Burnley (right).Tom Gralish / Staff PhotographerPlayer Isaiah Simpson.Tom Gralish / Staff PhotographerPlayer Josiah Peeler.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Locker room assault victim takes the stand
The victim of the assault, whom The Inquirer is not naming, testified Monday that Simpson and a group of other players pulled him into the team’s locker room after practice in September 2025 and “jumped him.” The group stomped on his head while wearing cleats, kicked him in the groin, and assaulted him with the broom.
They were acting out a reference to a Meek Mill song, he said, that included the lyrics “broomstick all in his butt, tell him take that.”
In a quiet voice, as he faced his former coaches, the teen said the group attacked him because he had taken Peeler’s shoulder pads after his had been stolen out of his locker. Peeler reported the theft to the coaching staff, who made the entire team run extra laps as a punishment.
After the assault, the teen said he walked outside, asking Burnley for a ride home. He was crying, he said, and icing his groin to ease the pain he felt.
When he explained to Burnley what happened he omitted the detail about the broomstick, feeling embarrassed.
Burnley told him to call his mother. He declined, he said, because he was afraid she’d force him to stop playing football.
As he drove the teen home, Burnley called the other coaches to tell them about the assault. Later, Johnson, Tolbert, and McFadden spoke to him over the phone and told him not to tell anyone about the incident, and that they would handle it internally.
Privately, the coaches sent incriminating text messages to one another, prosecutors said, expressing concern that the incident “has to be handled and kept quiet.”
McFadden wrote “if this gets out we are [expletive]. They will cancel the whole season,” according to messages displayed in court.
However, the teen’s mother learned of the assault a week later from someone in the community, and Cheltenham began investigating the case.
During that probe, the district received video of a similar, earlier assault of the teen, which had taken place in August 2025. The video, played in court, showed a group of players ganging up on the teen to beat and mock him as he cries out for them to stop.
The teen testified that he didn’t disclose that assault to the coaches because he considered it more minor and was closer to “horseplay.”
The four coaches are expected to be arraigned in county court next month.
The Eagles’ top tight end appeared to suffer his injury while run blocking in the second quarter. He did not return to the game.
Goedert’s absence left the Eagles in an interesting situation at the position, and general manager Howie Roseman responded quickly by signing longtime Eagle Zach Ertz.
The healthy tight ends behind Goedert on the depth chart prior to signing Ertz were blocking specialists in Johnny Mundt and EJ Jenkins. Goedert starred in Week 1 with four catches for 77 yards and two scores. Mundt, meanwhile, has been targeted three times on 69 snaps through two games. The Eagles have been in 12 personnel (one running back, two tight ends) on 22.4% of their offensive plays this season, according to Sumer Sports. Without Goedert on the field, the Eagles don’t have a real pass-catching threat in those sets.
They aimed to fill their pass-catching depth issue behind Goedert when they drafted Eli Stowers in the second round, but the rookie had a slow start to training camp and is on injured reserve while he recovers from a hamstring injury. Grant Calcaterra (back) also is on injured reserve. The Eagles have one tight end on the practice squad, veteran Josiah Deguara, who has 14 catches over the last three seasons.
Dallas Goedert was Jalen Hurts’ favorite target in Week 1.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Ertz, 35, needs just 11 more receptions to break Harold Carmichael’s franchise record of 589 to become the Eagles’ all-time receptions leader. He is only nine months removed from a major knee injury, but he gives the Eagles a veteran pass-catching option.
“I know [Roseman] will do everything he can do if we are without Dallas,” Nick Sirianni said when asked about the position group on Monday. “We’ll see where we are.”
Goedert wasn’t the only key offensive player getting further testing after Sunday.
Saquon Barkley left Sunday’s game after suffering a stinger and was set to get an MRI on Monday. He was injured on the Eagles’ first offensive play. He returned in the second half but only briefly before being forced to miss the rest of the game.
If Barkley misses game action, it would be a big blow to a running game that hasn’t really gotten off the ground through two games.
The Eagles have capable backups behind Barkley in Tank Bigsby and Will Shipley, and an experienced running back on the practice squad in Dameon Pierce — as well as preseason darling Carson Steele.
With or without Barkley, the Eagles need to start running the ball with more efficiency and consistency.
It is the key to their offense, considering the new scheme under coordinator Sean Mannion relies on marrying the run and pass games and utilizing under-center play action. Those things aren’t possible when you’re not moving the ball on the ground. Four Eagles — including Barkley, not including Jalen Hurts, and not counting a behind-the-line swing pass to Makai Lemon — combined for 78 yards on 27 carries Sunday. They had better per-carry success in Week 1, but take Barkley’s 42-yard burst out of the equation and the stat line from the running backs was 48 yards on 17 carries.
Saquon Barkley rushed for just 9 yards on four carries vs. the Titans.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
The new-look offense has the Eagles running more wide zone blocking schemes, and so far the execution up front hasn’t been consistent enough.
Sirianni called it a “full-team effort” that includes coaching better.
“We have to be better as a whole there, and we’re going to continue to work like crazy to get to that portion,” Sirianni said. “We’ve found ways to win the first two games, but we know we’re capable of being better in the run game. And I think there’s elements of it being close, too.
“They’re going to junk it up enough that when you get the looks that are really good looks, you got to make them pay when they’re in that, and we’re close. We are close.”
The Phillies returned from their final road trip of the season with work to do.
Their magic number to clinch a postseason berth is three. Any combination of wins and Diamondbacks losses that totals three will ensure the Phillies’ season continues beyond Sunday. But while they remain in control of their own destiny, it won’t be easy.
To close out the final week, the Phillies host the top team in the National League in the Brewers, followed by the top team in the American League in the Rays.
Here are a few takeaways heading into the last homestand of the regular season:
Phillies rookie Alex McFarlane has a 2.35 ERA in 16 games this season.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Multi-inning McFarlane
The circle of trust in the Phillies bullpen right now is extremely small. The relief unit has a 5.50 ERA in September, and the club took the drastic measure of optioning Orion Kerkering to triple-A Lehigh Valley on Sunday after his struggles became untenable. Unless there is an injury to another member of the staff, he is ineligible to be on the wild-card roster.
While the Phillies’ rotation and closer Jhoan Duran are among the best in the sport, it’s the bridge between them that has been the biggest issue. The Phillies continue to hope Jonathan Bowlan (groin) will be available for the postseason. The right-hander began playing catch Sunday, and reported to the field on Monday’s off day to continue his progress.
Before the injury, Bowlan had been going through a rough stretch, having allowed a run in five of his last six appearances. Even if he were a full go, it would be hard to imagine tossing him right back into an eighth-inning, high-leverage role after spending some time on the shelf.
The 25-year-old rookie came through in a big spot against the Mets on Sunday, facing two tough opponents in Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto to get out of a seventh-inning jam. By retiring both of them, McFarlane added a few more notches to his belt, which already included such stars as Shohei Ohtani, Mike Trout, and Nolan Arenado.
But Sunday’s win over the Mets also revealed how interim manager Don Mattingly is planning to handle his relievers in the postseason. After McFarlane struck out Soto to preserve a two-run lead with his 18th pitch, there was initially no movement in the Phillies’ bullpen during the eighth. When the Phillies loaded the bases, that’s when Chase Shugart started getting ready.
Had the Phillies’ lead stayed at two, though, Mattingly was going to send McFarlane back out. Duran would have then started warming to relieve him, and then finish it off in the ninth.
Video: Jeff Francoeur on Chase Utley: ‘He was the ultimate winning player’
It didn’t wind up happening, but Mattingly envisions using McFarlane and Duran to cover the last nine outs of a close game.
“I think it is [realistic] this time of year,” Mattingly said. “I mean, I think with Jho, you also get to the point where he’s capable of two innings. You’re just trying to get the guys that we need in the game, for as much as you can.”
So while the lack of relief depth is still a concern, things will operate a bit differently in the playoffs. The trusted high-leverage arms, as few as they are, can and will be called upon to do more.
McFarlane has thrown more than one inning just once in the two months he’s been in the majors, covering 1⅓ innings Aug. 15 against the Twins. He said he is ready to do whatever he’s asked.
“Just grateful for the opportunity,” McFarlane said. “Whatever opportunity he gives me, I’m just gonna take it one game at a time. Make sure I prepare my best, and just give all I can anytime he sends me out there.”
The Phillies are “very optimistic” about Jesús Luzardo’s progress from the shoulder inflammation which landed him on the injured list.David Maialetti / Staff Photographer
Starters in relief
The Phillies still haven’t mapped out how they will deploy their rotation in a wild-card series. That’s because there are a lot of unknowns: whether they will make it at all, who they will play if they do, and the health of Jesús Luzardo.
The club is “very optimistic” about Luzardo’s progress from the shoulder inflammation that landed him on the injured list, according to president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski. Like Bowlan, he has also progressed to playing catch.
Should Luzardo remain on track to return in time for the postseason, Dombrowski said the Phillies are keeping their options open with how they deploy him. It could be as a starter, which might be a risk given his last outing will have been Sept. 7. It could also be as a reliever, a role Luzardo has less experience in, but experience nonetheless. In the deciding Game 4 of the 2025 National League Division Series, he held off the Dodgers for 1⅔ innings of emergency relief in extras, pitching on short rest.
His performance in that role was largely overshadowed by how the game ended, with Kerkering botching a bases-loaded grounder to allow Los Angeles to walk it off. Had Kerkering made the throw to end the inning and things turned out differently, Luzardo’s clutch bullpen appearance might have gone down as legendary instead.
Whether or not Luzardo is one of them, the Phillies bullpen will be getting reinforcements by way of the rotation for the postseason. The question is who.
“Some of our starters are going to end up in the bullpen,” Dombrowski said. “I don’t know how it’s going to work at this point, but some of them will, especially when you get to the first round. We’re going to be the best-of-three, so you only can start three guys at that point. So you got two other guys that can go into the bullpen.”
The Phillies could choose to use Andrew Painter out of the bullpen in the playoffs.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
It’s difficult to see a world where Zack Wheeler or Cristopher Sánchez aren’t starting two of the wild-card games. Aaron Nola has continued his second-half resurgence with a 2.15 ERA since Aug. 3, but he has never been a reliever in any capacity during his major league career, regular season or postseason.
Rookie Andrew Painter continues to be under consideration for making the move. He gave up four runs in his last start against the Mets, but the quality of his stuff remained high. Painter’s first inning especially stood out, when he got Lindor to ground out before striking out Soto and Bo Bichette.
Painter touched 99.4 mph with his fastball in the fifth inning. In a shorter stint, it isn’t hard to imagine him getting into the triple digits.
“I think his stuff will be very solid out there,” Dombrowski said.
If the opportunity arises in the final six games, Mattingly said he could see the Phillies test-driving that theory by trying Painter out in the bullpen ahead of the playoffs. That said, time is running out.
Painter doesn’t think he necessarily needs a trial run to feel comfortable pitching in relief, however. He has experience with his routine shifting already, pitching behind an opener earlier this year and also appearing in relief after being scratched from his start because of a migraine.
“I feel like postseason baseball, in that atmosphere, the adrenaline is going to be flowing,” Painter said. “I don’t really think there’s much of an adjustment that’s going to be there. I think the adrenaline would just take over from that point.”
Trea Turner’s chase rate is 34.6%, the second-highest of his career. Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
More patience from Turner
Whether the Phillies’ offense will get hot at the right time or slide back into a familiar October slumber remains to be seen. But there were some positive signs, particularly from the top of their order, in the series against the Mets.
En route to the series split, it was the top half of the order that carried a lot of the load — excluding a key bases-loaded triple from nine-hole hitter Justin Crawford on Sunday. And that’s how it will need to be for the Phillies to make a deep run.
They didn’t do it with the long ball, as the Phillies’ only two home runs in the series came from Derek Hill and Edmundo Sosa. Instead, they got on base, moved runners, and strung together hits.
Trea Turner in particular had a strong series. He finished 4-for-13 (.308), but the real eye-popping stat was his .526 on-base percentage.
If he could maintain some of that momentum, it would be transformative for the Phillies. What has been a disappointing season by most measures for Turner could be rescued with a strong postseason performance.
“I think more and more, you see how they’re pitching him, and it’s I think basically not throwing him strikes,” Mattingly said of Turner.
According to StatCast, 53.6% of the pitches Turner has seen this year are out of the strike zone. It’s a few percentage points higher than the 51.3% out-of-zone pitches he saw last year, and trails only Kyle Schwarber (54.8%) and Bryce Harper (57.4%) among Turner’s teammates.
The difference has been that Turner swings at those out-of-zone pitches at a much higher clip. His chase rate this year is 34.6%, the second-highest of his career.
But against the Mets, he showed a glimpse of what he could be if he homes in on his selectivity. Turner drew six walks in the four-game series. He also scored three runs.
“The more he walks, the more they’re forced in the strike zone,” Mattingly said. “And when he’s on base, obviously it creates a danger there with him running and things like that. We need him to get on base. When he’s on base, we’re better.”
The man who shot three Palestinian students in Burlington, Vt., including one from Haverford College, during the 2023 Thanksgiving weekend was convicted on three counts of second-degree attempted murder Monday.
The students, who’d known each other since grade school in the West Bank, were together for the holiday. They had been walking along a street near the University of Vermont when a man confronted them with a handgun and fired at least four rounds before running away, according to police.
That man was later identified as Jason Eaton, 51, who did not dispute that he shot Hisham Awartani, Tahseen Aliahmad, and Kinnan Abdalhamid that Saturday evening.
His attorneys, however, argued he was not guilty by reason of insanity, presenting testimony that Eaton was suffering from a delusional, psychotic disorder after having lost his job two weeks before the shooting.
Eaton believed he was receiving messages from the CIA ordering him to “go out and shoot somebody,” said his attorneys.
Abdalhamid, the Haverford student, suffered non-life-threatening injuries; Trinity College student Aliahmad was shot in the chest; and Awartani, a Brown University student, was paralyzed from the waist down as a result of his injuries.
Haverford College student Kinnan Abdalhamid, one of the three Palestinian American men who were shot in Vermont in 2023.Charles Fox / Staff Photographer
The case garnered national attention because of the rising tensions around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the continuing fallout of the Oct. 7 attacks close to two months prior. All three students were of Palestinian descent, speaking Arabic, and two were wearing keffiyehs at the time of the attack, according to police.
Abdalhamid, who was 20 at the time, returned to campus weeks later, calling on school leaders to join him in calling for a ceasefire.
“I’ve gotten more than enough support as an individual,” Abdalhamid said in December 2023. “I’m advocating for the school to back a ceasefire.”
The parents of the victims and groups including the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee asked that the attack be investigated as a hate crime, though prosecutors could not support the charges.
The Chittenden County State’s Attorney Office is seeking a life sentence for Eaton.
The shot brought to mind what could have been last season had the winger been healthy for the full 82-game slate.
Foerster suffered an upper-body injury while attempting a one-timer against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Dec. 1 that required surgery two weeks later. At the time, he led the Flyers with 10 goals across the team’s first 25 games, hitting double digits in the game he got hurt.
The 24-year-old returned in April after missing 49 games, notching three goals in the final eight contests of the regular season, before adding one in 10 playoff games. He finished the regular season with 13 goals in 29 games.
Last year’s setback came after Foerster had surgery in the 2025 offseason because of a right elbow injury he suffered during that spring’s World Championships that became infected.
“Yeah, this summer was completely different,” Foerster told The Inquirer on Friday. “This is the first summer I went home in like five years — I’ve been in Voorhees training here for the last five years — so it was good to go home and see my family more.
“And had a great trainer and skated like three to four times a week, so it was really good and a lot of shoulder rehab stuff just to make sure they’re both strong, and heavy legs. Kind of the usual stuff for everyone.”
After a summer to heal up, Tyson Foerster has looked more like himself again in the early days of training camp.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
Foerster trained with David Blaise, who he had been with since he was a kid playing hockey in Ontario. He would spend time in the gym upstairs in between work on the rink downstairs with a skating coach. The winger also went to Muskoka Hockey and skated with NHLers there; former Flyers forward Sam Gagner leads the program.
Finally being able to train properly has boosted Foerster’s confidence. When he came back in April, he acknowledged that “for sure I felt a little tentative,” but at a certain point he forgot about it, and now feels 100%.
“I do. I’m not just saying that, I do,” coach Rick Tocchet said on Monday when asked if he sees a difference from last year’s training camp.
“He’s been rehabbing for two years, and it’s nice to go home for the summer and not rehab, and just work on your game. You can see it. He looks quicker, and he just looks good. You can tell he put a good summer in, and he’s refreshed. So that really helps us in the department of shot-quick guys, right? He can shoot the puck off passes. … When you get those guys in the lineup, hard to find those guys because they can shoot from anywhere and score.”
Foerster’s shot is much talked about and is a major reason the Flyers made an eight-year, $56.7 million commitment to the winger this summer. Tocchet consistently mentioned how much they missed Foerster’s shot when the season dipped around the Olympics, and how it could have further boosted the offense as the team started to surge.
Across his 195 regular-season games in orange and black, Foerster has 61 goals. His 0.31 goals per game mark ranks third among Flyers who have played at least 100 games since he made his NHL debut on March 9, 2023.
“I think my shot’s always been one of the stronger suits for me,” he said. “And I worked on it all summer too. It’s more about deception and getting the shot off quick than being hard. And honestly, picking the spot too. There’s a bunch of spots that you see the goalie and trying to time it right where he pushes off, and you shoot the other way, so just little stuff like that.”
Foerster couldn’t really work on his shot last summer because of his elbow injury, so he spent this summer working on finding lanes, his hands, wall play, and getting pucks through defenders. He practiced beating opponents one-on-one, specifically using his body more to protect the puck.
It will help at five-on-five but also on the power play, where Foerster is expected to play a key role.
On Monday, after practice with the non-game group, he stayed on the ice with Trevor Zegras, Jamie Drysdale and Matvei Michkov. They appeared to be working on the power play while getting direction from assistant coach Jaroslav “Yogi” Svejkovský, who is in charge of the Flyers’ man advantage. Zegras was on the right flank, Drysdale at the point, Michkov around the crease, with Foerster on the right flank and taking one-timers.
“I think Tyson’s awesome,” winger Porter Martone said on Monday. “I’ve gotten pretty close to him this year specifically; since I’ve been here, I’ve been hanging out a lot, and I try to pick his brain as much as I can. I always say this: He could be a first-line guy who could score 40 goals in this league, but he could also be a third-line guy who shuts down other teams’ top lines every night.
“So I think that’s someone who you look at. He works extremely hard, and he just does it the right way. And I think it’s someone who just cares about winning, and that’s exactly what we need.”
The thing with Foerster is that while, yes, he’s a goal scorer, he’s also a monster defensively. It’s why Tocchet called him a “jack of all trades” on Monday, noting he can be out there when they need a goal or need to stop one.
The Flyers are expecting big things from Tyson Foerster (left) after signing him to an eight-year, $56.8 million contract in July.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
“He does everything right, everything the right way,” said forward Noah Cates, who has primarily been Foerster’s center for several seasons and is his penalty-killing compatriot.
“He plays so hard, protects pucks, and when he’s going, he honestly can be our best player and dominate games in such different ways, especially with his stick and defensively. But that shot is just, it’s lethal as well. So yeah, he’s really come around these past couple years, and [with] him healthy for a full year, who knows how many goals he can score; he can get up there. So really excited for him.”
Breakaways
Forward Nikita Grebenkin skated with the non-game group on Monday in a regular jersey. He had spent the first few days of training camp in a yellow non-contact jersey. Flyers general manager Danny Brière had said the forward’s status for the start of training camp was a little up in the air after “a little flare-up” in early September of an upper-body injury that occurred in March and caused him to miss the rest of the season and playoffs. … Goaltender Joseph Woll will get his first start in orange and black on Monday in the Flyers’ first preseason game against the Washington Capitals (7 p.m., NBCSP). According to Tocchet, he will play two periods, and Bjarnason will play the third. … Other notable names playing on Monday are forwards Jett Luchanko, Denver Barkey, Porter Martone, and Alex Bump, and defensemen David Jiříček, Ty Murchison, Oliver Bonk, and Simon Benoit.
