What we learned during Week 7 of the 2023 NFL season

While coaching quarterbacks for the Dallas Cowboys in 2019, Jon Kitna mentioned to Dak Prescott that his daughter was a talented artist and designer who had been customizing shoes.

The Cowboys’ franchise quarterback was interested.

So, when he was thinking about getting some Air Jordan 1 shoes customized for his friends as a Christmas gift, Prescott reached out to Kitna.

“We sent them to her and she blew it away,” Prescott said.

Fast forward to the summer of 2021, Prescott signed a deal with Jordan Brand. That meant wearing various Air Jordan cleats during the upcoming Cowboys’ season.

“Because it was coming off COVID, we really couldn’t get the supply and the colorways in on time,” Prescott said. “So, I had just a bunch of plain whites and plain blacks. I’d send them to her, we’d come up with designs and colors and she nailed it.”

And that’s when customizing shoes and cleats began going from a hobby to a full-time job for Jada Kitna Henderson. After completing multiple pairs for Prescott, she posted photos on social media. And there were doubters.

“People would be like, ‘This is fake. She just wants clout or whatever,'” Henderson recalls. “But then they come back and are like, ‘Oh my gosh, he’s wearing them in the game!’ It’s pretty cool to see stuff like that.”

Read more here.

San Francisco 49ers rookie Jake Moody got the blown-kick treatment last week in Cleveland.

When you miss a big attempt like Moody did, you’re expected to stick around and talk about it with reporters. Moody answered an initial round of questions after the game, then had to wait by his locker for another wave of reporters — those attending Kyle Shanahan’s news conference in a nearby room — to come in and ask him the same questions.

It’s a tedious, patience-testing process that some kickers can’t handle, especially when they’re in a rut and the postgame sessions become routine. Some mysteriously vanish from the locker room — poof! — by the time reporters are admitted. Some snap.

“Oh my gosh, c’mon, that’s like six questions,” then-Cleveland Browns kicker Cade York said in August after missing a potentially game-winning field goal in the preseason finale. “Of course I wanted to freakin’ put it through. That’s enough, dude.”

Moody? He was stoic, solid. That’s who he is at his core. He’s a hard guy to rattle, which is why he became a favorite of Jim Harbaugh at bad-weather, high-pressure Michigan and why the 49ers selected him with a third-round pick.

Read more on Moody here.

One day during training camp, Minnesota Vikings players and coaches filed into the team meeting room inside the TCO Performance Center. Chairs rumbled as players sat down next to one another. Eventually, all eyes focused on head coach Kevin O’Connell.

That day’s emphasis was the importance of two-minute situations. To highlight how the players needed to be thinking in these situations, the Vikings staff had come up with a creative exercise.

Two players would play “Madden” in front of the whole team, and coaches would use the pre- and post-play situations as real-time teaching opportunities.

“I forget who was playing,” Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores said recently, “but it was offense versus defense.”

Players hooted and hollered, watching some of their teammates make virtual plays on the big screen. Once the teaching portion ended, the two players played out the clock. In a crucial situation, when the team needed it most, Danielle Hunter, who at the time was holding in for a new contract with the Vikings, swooped around the edge and secured a sack.

The room erupted. One person blurted out, “Sign that man!”

Read more here.

The NFL has suspended Denver Broncos safety Kareem Jackson for four games without pay following his unnecessary roughness penalty for an illegal hit on Green Bay Packers tight end Luke Musgrave on Sunday.

Jackson will appeal the suspension, according to a league source. His appeal will be heard by Derrick Brooks or James Thrash, the hearing officers jointly appointed and compensated by the NFL and NFLPA to decide appeals of on-field player discipline.

Jackson was ejected for the hit, which occurred in the fourth quarter, marking the second time he’s been disqualified this season. The 14-year veteran also drew personal foul penalties for a Week 1 hit on Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Jakobi Myers and a Week 2 hit on Washington Commanders tight end Logan Thomas. Both players suffered concussions on the respective plays and Jackson was ejected for the latter hit.

Jackson had piled up almost $90,000 in fines before the hit on Musgrave and would be docked pay for the next four games.

Read more here.

Bills head coach Sean McDermott says TE Dawson Knox is going to have wrist surgery.

There is no timeline for his return.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — While customary victory song “Take Over Your Trap” was blaring in the cramped auxiliary locker room inside SoFi Stadium following the Pittsburgh Steelers’ improbable, come-from-behind, 24-17 win over the Los Angeles Rams, left guard Isaac Seumalo had a stern look on his face.

Knowing Seumalo, that’s not atypical.

The free-agent left guard with the only Super Bowl ring on the Steelers’ offense knows what it takes to win a championship. And he knows that playing three lousy quarters and one stellar one won’t get you to the big game any time soon.

You could very well frame the final 17 minutes of Sunday’s game as the coming-out party for an offense that showed so much promise in the spring and summer, and it would be hard to argue — they had two long touchdown drives and ran out the clock to seal the win while gaining 192 yards on 25 plays and holding the ball for 13:17.

Many of the Steelers did paint that picture, like a Rembrandt, if you will.

“Playing the type of ball we wanted to play. … Everything we’ve been working towards, you started to see it in that fourth quarter there,” quarterback Kenny Pickett said. “You’re always looking for positives to continue to build on, and the way we played in that fourth quarter to win the game, I think that’s a huge positive. … I’m not going to get into expectations of what I think that we should do or could do, but we are on our way there.”

Read more here.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – The Oct. 31 NFL trade deadline is within sight, and the consistently inconsistent Washington Commanders better be eyeing their options.

Not solely because their latest underwhelming performance against a non-contender resulted in a loss. The 14-7 setback to the New York Giants on Sunday at MetLife Stadium dropped coach Ron Rivera’s team to 3-4 through seven weeks. The rub is that Washington once again took one on the chin against a team that — at least on paper, division rivalries aside — it should have knocked out. New York played with random parts on the beat-up offensive line and without starting quarterback Daniel Jones — or hope of making the playoffs.

Here’s the thing with the 2023 Commanders: When a positive moment occurs, embrace it, because the vibe won’t last long. Whatever momentum they arrived with after last week’s win at Atlanta evaporated with a mistake-filled first half Sunday. It’s true that despite facing a 14-0 deficit, Washington was perhaps a Jahan Dotson fourth-down catch away from tying or winning the game.

But in many ways, the Commanders were very far away from performing like a team with dreams that go beyond eking out a victory over a 1-5 opponent.

Read more here.

The Philadelphia Eagles are trading for Titans safety Kevin Byard, a league source confirmed to The Athletic. Here’s what you need to know:

• The Eagles are sending Tennessee fifth- and sixth-round picks in 2024 along with safety Terrell Edmunds in exchange for Byard.
• Byard, in his eighth NFL season, has spent his entire career with the Titans and has earned two first-team All-Pro and two Pro Bowl nods.
• The 30-year-old has started all six games for Tennessee this season and has logged 47 total tackles and a fumble recovery.

Read more here.

Tyson Bagent’s next test: a road start on Sunday Night Football.

Bears head coach Matt Eberflus said there is no change with Justin Fields, who is sidelined with a dislocated thumb, and that Fields is doubtful for Sunday’s game against the Chargers in L.A.

“Working with trainers, continues to progress,” Eberflus said. “He's just not there yet.”

Bagent led the Bears to a 30-12 win over the Raiders in his first career start. The Bears did not place Fields on injured reserve, so the expectation is he can be back within the next few weeks. Eberflus reiterated that they are “on the right path” to avoiding surgery or an IR stint.

Bagent might get a little help in the backfield this week, too, as Eberflus said rookie running back Roschon Johnson has one more hurdle to clear in his concussion protocol, but it’s looking good for him to practice Wednesday.

Right guard Nate Davis will remain out with an ankle injury. Eberflus hopes to have an update on left tackle Braxton Jones, who has been on IR with a neck injury, on Wednesday. Jones is eligible to return to practice this week.

In the New York Giants’ huddle before the Washington Commanders’ final offensive snap, safety Jason Pinnock posed a question to his Giants teammates.

“Who’s gonna be that guy,” Pinnock asked them. “Who’s gonna be that guy? Somebody gotta be that guy!”

Leading 14-7 on a Commanders’ fourth-and-five with 1:01 remaining in the game, the Giants defense was trying to come up with one more stop after an afternoon full of them. They had a chance to seal the game and deliver New York its first win since Week 2, and they weren’t about to disappoint.

“Everybody was like, ‘I’m going to make the play,’” Pinnock said. “Had to get ’em amped up a bit.”

Read more here.

Chiefs LB Nick Bolton needs surgery on his dislocated wrist, per source. Recovery timeline still TBD.

For all of New York Jets general manager Joe Douglas’ successful trades, he’s rarely made a splash on in-season deals. Through five seasons as GM, Douglas has more often than not been a seller. That’s understandable, considering the Jets never looked like a potential playoff team before 2022.

In 2019, he traded away Leonard Williams. In 2020, he dealt Avery Williamson, Jordan Willis and Steve McLendon. In 2022, defensive end Jacob Martin. Last week, it was disgruntled wide receiver Mecole Hardman.

On the occasion Douglas has actually acquired talent in a trade during the season, it’s never been a home run. He traded a sixth-round pick for wide receiver Demaryius Thomas in 2019. In 2021, he traded a sixth for quarterback Joe Flacco, and dealt tight end Daniel Brown for guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif. He traded a sixth-round pick for running back James Robinson, and that was a huge miss.

So, what mode will Douglas be in at this trade deadline? Well, the Jets are in an interesting spot. They’re 3-3 and feeling good about themselves coming out of the bye week after upsetting the Eagles. Their defense is elite and the schedule the rest of the season looks lighter than it did in the first six weeks when they also faced the Bills, Cowboys and Chiefs.

The Jets have needs, and they also have players who don’t have much of a role who might be worth trading away. If the Jets truly believe Aaron Rodgers might make a miraculous return from his Achilles injury by the end of the season to help on a possible playoff run — and if they believe in Zach Wilson as much as everyone claims — then it might make sense to make a move (or moves) to improve a weak offense for the stretch run.

Here is everything to know about the Jets heading into the Oct. 31 deadline.

Two hours after the Browns stole a stunning 39-38 win on the road over the Indianapolis Colts, a handful of stadium workers assembled a bed at midfield of Lucas Oil Stadium.

I have no idea why there was a bed on the Colts’ logo, but it was certainly appropriate for this wild afternoon. Browns coaches and executives might need to lie down for a minute.

Even the wins are messy right now.

The Browns are 4-2 and running near the front of the pack in a tightly bunched AFC playoff race. They’re getting some questionable officiating calls to finally go their way and they’re figuring out how to win games that for years they always managed to lose.

And yet it’s a five-alarm fire right now at quarterback. Flames are bursting through the roof and bed sheets are hanging out the windows. Deshaun Watson is either hurt and therefore terrible or just terrible and also hurt.

Read more here.

In his Monday morning news conference with reporters, Giants coach Brian Daboll didn't have an update on quarterback Daniel Jones. Jones has missed the last two games with a neck injury.

Though Jones practiced in a limited capacity last week, he wasn't cleared for contact. Tyrod Taylor has started in Jones' place Sunday against the Commanders and led New York to its first win in four weeks and its first offensive touchdown in 220 minutes and 42 seconds of play. When asked Sunday whether Taylor has made any argument for being the starter when Jones returns from injury, Daboll said: "I would just say Tyrod had a good game this game and he's a true pro and I'm glad we’ve got him."