Well, it appears he has a chance to return for the crucial Week 18 game against the Vikings, as he was designated to return from injured reserve on Wednesday. The Lions posted an estimated practice report, where Anzalone was listed as limited.
“Tomorrow’s (Thursday) gonna be a really big day for us to see where he’s at,” Campbell said of Anzalone, per ESPN’s Eric Woodyard.
According to a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Anzalone has a “realistic chance” to play against the Vikings on Sunday night.
When asked about what Anzalone needs to do to be cleared, Campbell had a funny answer.
“He’s got to be able to do a handstand,” Campbell told Costa & Jansen with Heather, per Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. “He’s got to be able to do a handstand press-up. And then really a version of a jumping jack on his hands.”
The Lions are slowly but surely getting healthier at linebacker, which has been one of the most injury-plagued positions. Jalen Reeves-Maybin made his return in Week 17, playing 40 snaps in his first game back. Trevor Nowaske and Ben Niemann have chipped-in to help, also.
It would obviously be ideal to see Anzalone on the field for the regular season finale, but the most important thing is having him back for the playoffs. We’ll be keeping a close eye on the injury report over the next few days.
For the third consecutive year, the NFL’s Pro Bowl is set to feature a series of games and skills competitions, including dodgeball and flag football. In 2022, the league opted to move away from the single game and instead introduced a new format to show off player’s individual skills.
Regardless of how the format changes, getting selected to the Pro Bowl is still considered an honor for players. To be named to the NFL’s all-star competition matters to players, teams and fans. And of course, every year there are also notable snubs as well.
The NFL revealed the AFC and NFC rosters for the 2025 Pro Bowl Games on “Good Morning Football” on Thursday, Jan. 2. The show aired on NFL Network from 8-10 a.m. ET.
The Green Bay Packers are headed to the playoffs and have had many players play at a Pro Bowl level. Three Packers were named to the Pro Bowl on January 2, and one may come as a shock to Packers fans.
Rashan Gary signed a four-year, $96 million deal in 2023. He had 9.0 sacks in 2023. This season he got off to a slow start, leading to many fans questioning his extension. However, he has found his stride and earned a spot on the Pro Bowl roster.
He had just 2.0 sacks in his first seven games of the season. He has 4.5 sacks in the team’s last nine games and has been playing much better. Since the Packers traded Preston Smith, Gary has one of the best pass rush win rates in true passing sets, according to 247 Sports’ Jacob Morley.
This is Gary’s first Pro Bowl nod. He tore his ACL in 2022. Since then, he has not been the exact same dominant force he was. However, he is showing flashes of that player again. In 2022 he had 6.0 sacks in just nine games, on pace for a phenomenal season. The former first-round pick has been a huge part of the Packers’ defensive turnaround.
Nick Bosa and Micah Parsons were named the Pro Bowl starters. Gary and Xavier McKinney will represent the Packers’ defense at the 2025 Pro Bowl. McKinney is also a first-time Pro Bowler and was the only free safety selected.
Boswell is having a sensational campaign, making 40 of 43 field goal attempts, including a whopping 12 from 50-plus. The Steelers kicker has also earned AFC Special Team Player of the Week and AFC Special Teams Player of the month twice each.
After a down season in 2023 that was marred by injury, many thought Heyward was on the decline entering the 2024 season. But he has proven that to notion to be dead wrong, as Heyward is having one of the best seasons of his career.
Heyward’s eight sacks are tied for the fifth-most in his career, and he ranks first, third and fifth among interior defensive linemen in Pro Football Focus overall (90.2), pass rush (86.6) and run defense grades (86.6), respectively.
In what has been considered a down year for him, Watt still ranks tied for fourth with 11.5 sacks. He’s also added 61 tackles, four passes defensed, six forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.
Fitzpatrick can also be viewed as someone in the midst of a down year because he hasn’t been as productive as in years past, especially when it comes to turnovers. But few would argue against the notion that Fitzpatrick is still one of the best safeties in the NFL.
In recent years, the NFL has replaced the traditional Pro Bowl contest with skills competitions and a flag football game, both of which will take place in the week leading up to the Super Bowl.
The 2025 Pro Bowl Games will take place in Orlando, with the Skills Showdown on Thursday, Jan. 30, and the Pro Bowl Games Championship on Sunday, Feb. 2.
The NFL has released the rosters for the 2025 Pro Bowl. It seems that the Seattle Seahawks still have some work to do before they regain the respect of the league and the media. Only one Seahawks player made the cut for the NFC team: cornerback Devon Witherspoon.
For Witherspoon it’s his second Pro Bowl team in as many seasons in the NFL. He’s established himself as one of the most physical and impactful cornerbacks in the game, especially for one who spends mot of the time in the slot. While Spoon is a deserving All-Star, there were at least a couple of other Seattle players who should also have been included on the NFC team.
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DE Leonard Williams The biggest snub is of course the biggest guy on the roster, defensive end Leonard Williams, who’s been playing at a high level all season. In 15 games he’s totaled nine sacks, 26 quarterback hits, 15 tackles for a loss, three pass breakups and a pick-six. Williams had some real stiff competition on the interior, with Jalen Carter, Dexter Lawrence and Vita Vea making the Pro Bowl roster. They’re all great players but Williams has been more productive than Vea, who has six sacks, less than half as many QB hits and six fewer tackles for a loss.
WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba The other big snub is Seattle’s second-year wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who’s become one of the game’s most-productive slot receivers. In 16 games he’s put up 96 catches, 1,121 receiving yards and six touchdowns with a remarkable 72.7% catch rate. The receivers who made the cut for the NFC are Justin Jefferson, CeeDee Lamb, Terry McLaurin and Amon-Ra St. Brown. It’s a pretty close call but we feel JSN should have been nam
In the wake of the Week 17 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, multiple Pittsburgh Steelers defenders were very clear in their frustrations about the struggles on defense, and they appeared to hint that one or more players were specifically responsible.
One of those defenders who spoke out was defensive lineman Cameron Heyward, who seemed to hint that one player was to blame for the lackluster showings of Pittsburgh’s defense over the three-game losing streak.
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“Yeah, we talk about execution and we talk about communicating,” Heyward said. “If there’s somebody free when 10 guys do their job and one guy doesn’t, we are screwed.”
Well, as it turns out, Heyward was speaking in general terms and was not trying to place the blame on one player in particular, as he revealed on his “Not Just Football with Cam Heyward” podcast.
“Guys, I did not mean someone in particular. When I refer to this, I’ve learned this from Coach LeBeau over the years, it’s about 11 guys doing their jobs,” Heyward explained. “All I was simply saying is when you don’t have 11 guys doing their jobs and one guy doesn’t, or two guys or three guys or four, vice versa, you name it. But when you don’t have everybody doing their jobs, you are putting yourself at the risk of the offense.
“And to think we would zero down on one person, say, ‘Hey, you’re not doing your job and I’m gonna use the media to do that,’ like, I’m a grown man,” he added. “If I have a problem with somebody, I’m gonna go talk to ’em. And I’m probably talking to ’em on the field. We don’t have this thing where I’m trying to put somebody in a position where they gotta answer questions about that.”
Heyward is the second Steelers player to address what they said after the loss to the Chiefs. Safety DeShon Elliott was quite outspoken after losing to Kansas City, and while he didn’t regret the content of what he said, he regrets saying it publicly.
“I probably shouldn’t have said anything, maybe should have kept things in-house, just out of respect to the guys in the locker room and the coaches,” Elliott said, per Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
“If anyone knows me, I’m a very truthful person. I don’t sugarcoat anything,” he added. “In the moment, I meant what I said, but I should have phrased it different or not said anything at all. If I felt that way I should have said it behind closed doors.”
Pittsburgh’s defense, which is the backbone of this team, has been disappointing to say the least over the three-game skid. The Steelers’ unit has given up 30 points per game in that span, and both the pass defense and run defense has been responsible.
The Steelers have to get this thing back on track or else it’s going to be a short trip in the playoffs. Pittsburgh will look to begin the process of doing that in the Week 18 battle against the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday.
