Colts Draft Oklahoma WR Deion Burks

The Colts used their final draft choice to pick Oklahoma WR Deion Burks, hoping he can slot into the third‑wide‑receiver position and compete for playing time. Burks, who had 86 targets for 617 yards and four touchdowns last season, is noted for his playmaking after the catch and his strong, explosive build. Colts scout Mike Lacy praised Burks’ pound‑for‑pound strength, speed, and ability to line up both inside and out, suggesting he can threaten vertically from any spot on the field.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — FIFA has opened talks about requiring all professional teams to field at least one homegrown young player throughout games. afsport.lat

The FIFA Council agreed late Tuesday to try to have a formal plan within a year after global consultation with stakeholders.

The target is to increase playing opportunities for young players nurtured by clubs who typically rely on bought and imported talent.

FIFA said it aims for “a regulatory obligation that senior club teams are obliged to always have at least one homegrown player from the Under-20 or Under-21 category on the field of play.”

Such a rule would be stricter than existing rules in national and international club competitions, including the Champions League, that demand a quota of homegrown and club-trained players on every squad list.

Those types of rules impose no obligation on selection in starting lineups.

Champions League rules require that each squad should have at least eight places reserved for “locally trained players” among the maximum of 25 players overall.

A locally trained player is defined by Champions League organizer UEFA as one nurtured by the club itself or at another club in the same country for at least three full seasons between the ages of 15 and 21.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Unfortunately for Phil Foden and Manchester City, Foden’s form has severely tapered off over the second half of the 2025-26 season. The England international started this season strongly after a difficult 2024-25 season. However, Foden’s form across 2026 hasn’t been anywhere near what it was. Phil Foden has recently become a bit-part player for Pep Guardiola’s side. Foden started in Manchester City’s 2-1 FA Cup semi-final win over Southampton last Saturday. Foden was taken off after 58 minutes, and judging by his performance at Wembley, Foden looks completely devoid of confidence and in desperate need of a spark to restore the confidence that forms a key part of his game.

Phil Foden looked well off the pace as Manchester City beat Southampton at Wembley.

Try as he might against Southampton at Wembley Phil Foden couldn’t get into the match. Foden spent large parts of the FA Cup semi-final on the periphery of the game. When he did get on the ball, Foden’s indecisiveness stood out, as he did his inability to help Manchester City break down Southampton’s low defensive block. It was a shame to see Phil Foden not have the impact he’d have liked at Wembley. The occasion seemed like the ideal moment for the England international to come back to life as a player.

One moment midway through the first half of Manchester City’s dramatic 2-1 win over Southampton summed up Phil Foden’s current plight. As City attacked, Foden received possession in midfield. The moment seemed made for the England international to drive at the Southampton defence. Alongside Foden was Mateo Kovacic. Instead of Foden dribbling at Southampton’s stretched defence, he allowed Kovacic to take the ball off him. It may have seemed like a minor moment and one that has long been forgotten since Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final. However, it did seem to be a moment that summed up that Foden is lacking the confidence in his game that makes him such a dangerous player when on song.

It appears that Phil Foden needs a moment of magic to restore his confidence.

If someone coule create a magic formula to restore confidence to a player, they’d make a fortune. Teams would pay through the nose for such a remedy. However, such an option doesn’t exist. Watching Phil Foden play, he seems to need a moment of magic to spark him back to life.

That moment could be a match-winning goal from Foden, or perhaps a crucial assist, a pivotal touch, or anything along those lines. Something like that could be enough to release Foden’s proverbial shackles. Phil Foden’s class and quality as a player remain. That will never leave him. He is seemingly just devoid of confidence on the pitch right now, which seems to be affecting his play.

Phil Foden, at some point, will snap out of his poor and sustained run of form. The England international looks to be suffering from a lack of confidence, which did stand out as Manchester City beat Southampton at Wembley. Hopefully, confidence can return for Phil Foden sooner rather than later, and he gets back to his best for both club and country.

Storms on Wednesday left Churchill Downs muddy, but the Weather Channel now projects sunny, dry conditions for the Derby on Saturday, May 2. Temperatures will peak around 60°F, with no rain expected to disrupt the 152nd Run for the Roses.

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The Los Angeles Dodgers have a unique ‘problem’, in employing the greatest player of this generation, Shohei Ohtani. Tuesday night’s game against the Miami Marlins highlighted this particular issue, as Ohtani pitched six innings, holding the Marlins to two runs. The Dodgers offense sans Ohtani mustered just one run, and the Marlins went on to win the game.

When asked about his decision to have Ohtani out of the lineup on days he pitches, Manager Dave Roberts had this to say –

“I don’t think that is going to play in my math. I think the main thing is to do right by Shohei,” Roberts said. “Even without him tonight in the lineup, we should’ve won the game. I feel good about it. I’d do the same thing again.”

The beauty of having someone like Ohtani is that even when he is ‘out of sync’ with his pitching, he still gives your team more than a chance to win. And the beauty of having a lineup like the Dodgers is that they should be able to be able to score three or more runs without Ohtani in the lineup. It just so happened that on Tuesday night, the offense didn’t do their job.

The MO of the Dodgers front office has always been to look at the long-term picture for both players and the team. And if the Dodgers want to three-peat as World Champs, Ohtani obviously plays a big role in getting them there.

MLB’s Sonja Chen covers more details of Ohtani’s outing here.

Bill Plunkett of the OC Register covers more of the minutiae of handling a two-way player through the bulk of the season to have him healthy when you need him more, in the playoffs.

“I’m always going to respect the decision, regardless whether I’m pitching or doing both,” Ohtani said. “I also understand the importance of getting to the end of the season with everybody healthy. So talking with the training staff, talking with the team, I think it’s really important that the team makes the decision on what’s good for the team.”

We are about a month away from Blake Snell returning to the starting rotation and that would give the Dodgers seven starting pitchers. Could the Dodgers do something crazy like go to a seven-man rotation? That would definitely give each starter plenty of time to recover between outings.

No, I am not seriously thinking the Dodgers front office would do this. But the beauty of having a team like the Dodgers is you have the flexibility to do things other teams can only dream of.