Folks who attended Friday night’s Vikings-Titans game in Nashville saw something unexpected, but not quite as uncommon as it used to be.
A green dildo was thrown onto the field.
It’s become a trend at WNBA games in recent weeks. The phenomenon has NFL roots, however.
Late in Tom Brady’s tenure with the Patriots, Bills fans threw pink dildos onto the field whenever he played in Buffalo. It happened most recently in 2022, in a Pats-Bills game not involving Brady.
Whether Friday night’s gesture was an aberration or a trend remains to be seen. However, Brady likely will be back in Buffalo, later this year. Twice.
The Week 14 game at 4:25 p.m. ET against the Bengals will be televised by Fox. The Week 17 game 4:25 p.m. ET game against the Eagles will be televised by Fox, too.
Cam Ward finished his preseason without a touchdown pass but having shown enough to have Titans fans excited.
He played two series in Friday night’s preseason game Friday night. Ward led the Titans to a touchdown on his second drive of the night, with Julius Chestnut scoring on a 1-yard run with 12:15 left in the second quarter.
In 16 plays, Ward completed 3 of 4 passes for 36 yards and ran for 1 yard on one carry. He had a 17-yard completion to Van Jefferson, who already is over 100 yards receiving tonight after a 65-yard touchdown reception from Brandon Allen after Ward’s departure.
Ward played seven series in three preseason games, with two touchdown drives and five punts.
He finished the preseason going 10-of-19 for 145 yards. Ward also got work in three joint practices against the Buccaneers (one) and the Falcons (two).
The Titans open the regular season Sept. 7 in Denver.
Panthers head coach Dave Canales didn’t have much to say about a Friday report that the Vikings have inquired about trading for wide receiver Adam Thielen.
Canales said at a press conference that General Manager Dan Morgan is handling any discussions on the trade front while he keeps his focus on the players currently on the roster. That group includes Thielen at the moment and Canales said there’s isn’t much else to say as a result.
“Until the conversations really get real, there’s not a lot to talk about,” Canales said, via Darin Gantt of the team’s website.
Thielen spent a decade with the Vikings before joining the Panthers in 2023. Xavier Legette, first-round pick Tetairoa McMillan, Hunter Renfrow, Jalen Coker, David Moore, and sixth-round pick Jimmy Horn are some of the other receivers on Carolina’s roster.
Adam Thielen may be on his way back to Minnesota.
The Vikings have inquired about trading for the veteran receiver, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
With Jordan Addison’s upcoming suspension and Jalen Nailor’s hand injury, Minnesota could use some more depth at receiver.
The Vikings and Thielen are plenty familiar with one another. After entering the league as an undrafted free agent in 2013 with the club, Thielen began contributing as a receiver in 2014 before emerging as a true threat in 2016 when he caught 69 passes for 967 yards with five touchdowns.
Thielen’s last season with Minnesota was head coach Kevin O’Connell’s first with the club in 2022. The wideout caught 70 passes for 716 yards with six touchdowns that year.
While he missed seven games due to injury in 2024, Thielen still caught 48 passes for 615 yards with five TDs.
We’ll see if the Panthers and Vikings can come to an agreement to secure the reunion.
Joe Davis and Greg Olsen will call the NFL’s first regular-season game in Ireland.
NFL Network announced today that Davis will do play-by-play and Olsen will do commentary for the Week Four Vikings-Steelers game, which airs on NFL Network at 9:30 a.m. ET on Sunday, September 28. Pam Oliver and Jamie Erdahl will serve as sideline reporters and Mike Pereira will serve as rules analyst.
The game is one of five early kickoffs from Europe that NFL Network will show this season. NFL Network has not said who the announcing crew will be for the other four games. In addition to NFL Network, the five Europe games will stream on NFL+ and air on over-the-air TV in both teams’ local markets.
Vikings-Steelers will take place in Croke Park in Dublin. The NFL will also play three games in London, one in Berlin, one in Madrid and one in São Paulo this season.
