Ashleigh Nelson was never meant to be in the Winter Olympics. If you'd asked her 18 months ago where she expected to be competing this week, she would have told you she would be at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham running the 60m at the UK Indoor Championships, not standing at the top of the world's newest ice track riding a 75,000 bobsleigh.
Sports fans in Indianapolis were forced to watch another one of their athletes end a season prematurely with an Achilles injury. After watching Tyrese Haliburton tear his Achilles tendon earlier this year during the NBA Playoffs, fans in Indianapolis were forced to watch Colts QB Daniel Jones suffer the same fate. In a tough division loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Colts might have watched their playoff hopes go down the drain when Jones fell to the turf.
Tests on Friday morning confirmed that Lions star defensive back Brian Branch has torn his Achilles, a source told ESPN's Jeremy Fowler. Branch was carted off the field with 3:45 remaining in the fourth quarter of Detroit's 44-30 win over the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday night. He suffered the injury while attempting to break up a pass in the endzone with teammate Alex Anzalone against Cowboys tight end Jake Ferguson.
The injury occurred late in the second quarter on a second-and-3 pass from quarterback Jacoby Brissett to Jones in the back of the end zone. The pass was incomplete, but Jones didn't go down at first. A few seconds after the pass, Jones raised his foot awkwardly and then looked behind him down at his left foot. He left the game and then was carted to the locker room.
Odeyingbo was injured with 7:04 to play in the fourth quarter of Chicago's 47-42 win at Cincinnati. The 26-year-old edge rusher's ankle appeared to give out as he was matched up one-on-one with Bengals right tackle Amarius Mims, leading him to fall onto his back. Odeyingbo exited the game and did not return. He logged 37 snaps against the Bengals and recorded one quarterback hit.
Dru Smith has taken another step on his road back from an Achilles injury. He's begun five-on-five work on the eve of the start of Miami Heat training camp, which gets him closer to returning to the floor on a full-time basis. There's still hope that Smith will be ready and cleared for the start of the season. At the very least, the idea is that Smith will be back in the rotation at some point during the early portion of the season.
Forward Thanasis Antetokounmpo, who missed all of the 2024-25 season with a torn Achilles tendon, has re-signed with the Milwaukee Bucks, the team announced Sunday, meaning he'll remain a teammate of his brother, two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.
