Jalen Nailor signed with the Las Vegas Raiders two weeks ago, but he expects big things from J.J. McCarthy, his former teammate, in the future.

Nailor’s praise for McCarthy adds context to Minnesota’s growing receiver question.

Nailor built instant rapport with McCarthy in 2025, and one could argue that he was McCarthy’s favorite target — even more so than Justin Jefferson, who is usually every Vikings quarterback’s favorite asset.

Nailor’s Exit Leaves McCarthy without a Familiar Target

Nailor bids farewell.

Nailor on McCarthy

NFL show host Kay Adams spoke with Nailor last week, and she wasn’t afraid to pick his brain about McCarthy’s development.

Nailor said about McCarthy, “He can be the guy for sure. I just feel like it’s a matter of him just still getting those reps in games and building on what he did this past year. Just try to have a clean, healthy season. If he has a clean, healthy season, I think he’ll be fine. He has all the things.”

Nailor also said about a possible quarterback battle between newcomer Kyler Murray and McCarthy, “It’s going to be a battle. I can tell you that. It’s going to be a great QB battle. I don’t know who’s going to come out on top. I’m probably rocking with my guy J.J., but you never know.”

“It’s going to bring the best out of both of them. Just to have that chip on their shoulder, to go out there and perform like their lives depend on it.”

And a final note about his love for the Vikings: “It’s all love from me to the Vikings. I wish I could still be in the purple and gold, but at the end of the day, it’s business, and you’ve got to do what’s best for myself and the situation that plays its hand. So, it’s all love. I’m a Viking for life, for sure. Maybe I could come back one day.”

The Battle to Come?

As of now, McCarthy is considered the Vikings’ QB2 because — how can a team not start Kyler Murray, the man who averages about 4,000 passing yards, 600 rushing yards, and 30 touchdowns every 17 starts?

But Nailor seems to think McCarthy will have a puncher’s chance at winning the training camp competition, which the Vikings will probably insist is a thing by the time July rolls around. Murray was the first overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft; he has the tools to dethrone McCarthy in a battle. He’s not a failure or long shot whose career needs a total facelift. Murray just needs to stay healthy, distribute the ball, and enjoy the fruit of the Vikings’ second-ranked defense since Brian Flores rolled into town three years ago.

Nailor + McCarthy’s Chemistry

In his first 10 career starts, McCarthy heavily favored Nailor, their strong on-field connection a testament to this reliance. McCarthy’s most accurate passes often targeted Nailor, showcasing their well-developed timing.

This established trust is invaluable for a young quarterback transitioning to the league. With Nailor’s departure, the offense will need to adapt, and McCarthy will need to cultivate a similar rapport with another receiver.

The Vikings must promote Tai Felton, a rookie from last year who barely played on offense, sign a free agent like DeAndre Hopkins, Stefon Diggs, Deebo Samuel, or Tyreek Hill, or spend another early draft pick on a wide receiver.

It’s the only way to fill the WR3 void.

New Pals in Las Vegas

The Raiders’ wide receiver corps is a significant weakness, arguably the worst in the league. With Nailor currently the projected top receiver, there’s little to suggest this group can be consistently productive. This lack of proven talent puts considerable pressure on a unit still defining its identity.

The current roster includes:

• Jalen Nailor
• Tre Tucker
• Jack Bech
• Dont’e Thornton
• Shedrick Jackson
• Justin Shorter
• Brenden Rice
• Phillips Dorsett II

This situation is further complicated by the potential selection of quarterback Fernando Mendoza from Indiana with the No. 1 pick. A rookie quarterback would desperately need reliable playmakers in such a challenging environment.

While Brock Bowers will be beneficial in the middle of the field, the Raiders’ most pressing need is a significant upgrade at wide receiver. It’s unclear if they’ll find that in the draft.

So, all signs point to Nailor perhaps feasting in Sin City while his buddy either embarks on a quarterback battle or serves as the QB2 behind Murray.

Nailor averages 266 receiving yards per season, meaning the Raiders are betting on a tremendous breakout, as the speed demon has never tabulated over 450 yards in a single campaign. Maybe he’ll be Mendoza’s go-to pass-catcher like the McCarthy setup.

Jamie Carragher believes Liverpool can deliver Mohammed Salah a “perfect send off” and a Champions League winners’ medal but worries that English football may struggle to replace his star quality.

News of Salah’s exit at the end of the season broke out of the blue on Tuesday evening, signalling the end of an illustrious nine-year partnership between the Egyptian and the Anfield club.

With 255 goals in 435 appearances, the 33-year-old will depart as the club’s third highest goalscorer behind only Ian Rush and Roger Hunt.

Former Reds stalwart Carragher ranks him among the very best to have worn the shirt and tipped the possibility of a fairytale final chapter on the European stage.

“The timing of Tuesday’s announcement strikes me as both perfect and clever. Confirming his intentions now guarantees the kind of emotional, grand farewell that a player of his standing deserves,” Carragher wrote in the Daily Telegraph.

“While I will celebrate his career, I have no wish to be part of a grand Anfield farewell after the club’s final Premier League fixture in May. Every Liverpool fan has something far better and more dramatic in mind.

“Knowing Salah’s mindset and competitive spirit, he will be setting his sights on the greatest of all possible goodbyes a week later: inspiring his team to victory in the Champions League final in Budapest. Do not bet against the perfect send off.”

The former England defender also feels that Salah will leave a huge void well beyond Merseyside.

“Liverpool’s loss is English football’s loss. It means the Premier League will soon be deprived of another world-class, generational talent.

“Following Kevin De Bruyne’s exit from Manchester City just last season, Salah’s Anfield farewell brings down the curtain on another career in this country which has illuminated our stadiums. Until others step up to fill the huge void, we may risk suffering a ‘superstar famine’.”

Salah’s team-mate Andy Robertson, who signed for the club in the same transfer window in 2017, led the dressing room tributes.

Posting on Instagram, the Scotland international wrote: “Mohamed, thank you.

“Nine of the best years of our lives with amazing memories on and off the pitch. Watching you become the best at what you do and become one of the best to ever have worn the Liverpool shirt has been a joy to watch and be part of.

“Your mentality is second to none and a lot of people could take note. You have pushed yourself every single day and always demanded more from yourself and others. A pleasure sharing the pitch with you for so long but even more so being able to call you a friend.

“You deserve a send-off that reflects your status at LFC – the greatest. Second to none.”

The exact circumstances behind the decision have yet to be revealed, with the role of manager Arne Slot unclear, but former Liverpool player Stephen Warnock has suggested the Dutchman could find himself following Salah out of the club if results go badly in the coming weeks.

“Do they have a replacement now in the squad? No they don’t, absolutely not,” he told BBC Radio Five Live.

“Whether it’s Arne Slot or a new manager (who has to find one), we’ll have to wait and see. That’s another thing that’s up for debate.

“If Liverpool crash out of the Champions League to Paris St Germain in the next few weeks and they don’t win against Manchester City in the FA Cup, suddenly things look a lot bleaker.

“It won’t just be Mohamed Salah they’re looking for a replacement for, it will be the manager.”

Many in the sport believe Shakur Stevenson could retire undefeated, following in the footsteps of his friend Terence Crawford. Stevenson himself is certainly convinced that will be the case.

A four-division world champion at 28 years old, Stevenson’s most recent triumph came against Teofimo Lopez in the super-lightweight ranks. After some questioned whether the move up in weight would cost the Newark southpaw his trademark elusiveness, he instead put on a clinic, winning almost every round against Lopez, who has previously beaten great champions in Vasiliy Lomachenko and Josh Taylor.

He now holds the WBO belt at 140lbs, and has options there, up and down. Though stripped of the WBC belt at lightweight, Stevenson has not ruled out a drop back down. There are intriguing defences or unifications for him to make where he is, and it’s likely he will ultimately move up to welterweight, though he has pumped the brakes on talk of doing that too soon.

With names like Gervonta Davis, Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia all in the mix, the debate now centres on not who can beat Stevenson, but who can even test him.

In his mind, nobody can – and he told Cigar Talk recently that his toughest fight has already happened.

“It ain’t going to happen [somebody having a close fight against me]. The most y’all ever going to get is Zepeda – that was y’all’s best hope and chance at getting resistance.

“His style, styles make fights. The style that would give me the most resistance would be the guy who throws a million punches a round, and doesn’t stop punching.”

Shakur successfully defended his lightweight strap against Mexico’s Zepeda in July of 2025. Motivated by criticism of his defensive style, he took a different approach and fought much of the fight in the pocket. It proved to be entertaining, but was a risky strategy against one of the sport’s highest volume punchers who boasts 27 knockouts in 33 wins.

Despite being caught on the ropes on a couple of occasions, Stevenson still came away winning clearly on all three judges’ scorecards and, in his mind, bulletproof from any future challenge.

Bompastor was visibly upset on the touchline as she approached the fourth official to question the decision.

Chelsea’s players looked bemused and their frustrations grew, including Bompastor kicking a bottle, when Kadeisha Buchanan’s late effort was ruled out for a foul on goalkeeper Anneke Borbe, although replays showed that was the correct decision.

Asked what feedback she received from the officials on their decisions, Bompastor said: “Nothing. It’s always the same. You go to them and ask them to check they made the right decision, they always say ‘yeah, we are checking.’

“But they made the wrong decision. Nothing changes. When a human makes a mistake, you can understand a little more but when there is the VAR, it’s really difficult.

“I don’t think it’s been the first time for us this season in the Champions League. When we played Barcelona, Catarina Macario’s goal was not offside. That changes a lot. I just think they need to be better.”

Bompastor insisted she believes VAR is good for the women’s game but that the officials using it must be the “right people to check the situations”.

Asked how the women’s game could be respected more, Bompastor said the solution would be to bring the “best” referees to the biggest games.

“If that has to be coming from the men’s game, then maybe,” she said. “If it is coming from the women’s game, then [use] the best ones,” she added.

“We need to make those decisions. It’s really frustrating. We need to bring competence which is the most important thing.”

Pesu, 36, has officiated throughout this year’s Women’s Champions League and oversaw two games at last summer’s European Championship, including the opening match between hosts Switzerland and Norway.

Man Utd are planning to build a new Old Trafford and they have issued an update on the work going on behind the scenes over the next 12 months.

Manchester United stadium development boss Collette Roche insists progress has been made on plans to build a new £2bn Old Trafford, with talks with investors going well and land-acquisition deals set to be announced soon.

Since announcing last year plans to build a new 100,000-seater Old Trafford on land adjacent to the current stadium, there has been no concrete progress made public, but Roche insists the project has moved forward behind the scenes.

United have been working on securing land needed to deliver the new stadium and the wider regeneration project, with the aim of securing a large patch of land currently owned by Freightliner proving to be a particular challenge.

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But Roche revealed progress had been made on that front and suggested an announcement confirming a deal could be made in the next couple of months.

“We’ve made a lot of progress in the last 12 months,” said Roche, who was handed the title of chief executive, new stadium development, earlier this year.

“But to be fair, a lot of it has been behind the scenes. So people might not have seen that, but some of the examples of progress we’ve made are first and foremost in land assembly.

“We want to make sure we get the best possible position for this stadium, one which has got plenty of land around it to put the right facilities in place, one that’s connected and offers a great match day experience.

“So I’ve been spending a lot of time talking to all the local landowners to understand where that needs to be, and we’re progressing that really, really well, and I’m hoping to be able to share some positive news on that front in the next few months.”

United have also been working to try and line up investment for the project. Sir Jim Ratcliffe confirmed last year that they would fund the stadium with private finance, and Roche revealed United had spoken to “people and organisations” keen to be involved.

There have also been talks with public bodies around taxpayer investment in infrastructure around the stadium. Ratcliffe said last year that public cash would be needed to complete the wider regeneration aims around the stadium, with both sets of plans going hand-in-hand.

“I think the second area that we’ve done a lot in is around investment, and I’m delighted to say we’ve had a lot of interest,” said Roche. “There’s a lot of people and organisations that want to invest, not just in the stadium, but also in the wider stadium district. And so those conversations are naturally going to be behind closed doors.

“And I think the third part, but arguably the most important work we’ve been doing is really laying the foundations and relationships with the people that are going to make this happen.

“So primarily, it’s the local authorities. It’s working with the newly established Mayoral Development Corporation. Bit of a mouthful, but we call it the MDC. So that’s chaired by Lord Seb Coe. And as we know, he’s got tremendous experience in sports-led regeneration projects with the work he did in London 2012.

“It’s supported by Andy Burnham, our mayor, who thinks it’s going to bring amazing benefits for the city region and also by Tom Ross, who’s obviously our leader here in Trafford. And so they’re a really important group of people.

“They’re the ones that are going to help us with the planning, make sure we’ve got the infrastructure around the stadium to be able to get in and out efficiently and effectively, but also the ones that will remove any obstacles that we come up against as we go through this build, and to make sure that we can deliver the benefits. As we’ve all said, we want to for the greater good.”