Seferian-Jenkins signed a one-year deal with the Patriots in April after a five-game stint in Jacksonville that ended when he aggravated a core injury and landed on injured reserve. It’s unclear what personal issues Seferian-Jenkins is dealing with, but he admitted to seeking help for a drinking problem in 2017 — less than a year after a DUI arrest that resulted in him being cut by the Buccaneers. Seferian-Jenkins told ESPN at the time he had stopped drinking....

Throughout his legendary, four-ring career, he has never played better. MORE: Predictions for NFL playoffs That’s not supposed to happen for any player at age 39. But Brady’s four-game Deflategate suspension turned out to be much more of a blessing than a curse. For someone used to playing into January, his not playing in September got him refreshed. Are Tom Brady’s stats MVP-worthy? It doesn’t matter that Brady didn’t reach the prolific numbers of his 2007 season, during which he threw for his most touchdowns (50) and second-most yards (4,806)....

With their run-heavy, defensive-minded, grinding 14-10 win at Buffalo on Monday night, whether they will take the division title back from Buffalo is no longer the big question: It’s how far the Patriots can go in this surprising stellar season. MORE: Bills vs. Patriots final score, results: Patriots hold on for victory against Bills, stay atop AFC East New England (9-4) is atop the conference standings after Week 13, heading into a fortunate late-season bye....

The Pats got aggressive by spending good money to take Gillislee away from the AFC East-rival Bills as a restricted free agent in April. At the same time, LeGarrette Blount quickly faded from the team’s re-signing interest. Blount scored 18 touchdowns off his 306 total touches with the Patriots last season. Gillislee had nine scores in just 110 with the Bills. The common misconception was that Blount, at 6-0, 250 pounds, was the ultimate power back just because he’s big and bruising when he runs past defenders in the second level....

New England opened as a 14.5-point favorite against its AFC East rival, a line that expanded to 15.5 points less than an hour after the Pats’ “Sunday Night Football” rout of the Steelers, according to Sportsbook Review’s consensus odds. The reigning Super Bowl champion Patriots handled the Steelers 33-3, while the Dolphins watched Lamar Jackson and the Ravens run all over them in a 59-10 blowout loss. MORE: Get the latest NFL odds at Sportsbook Review...

Not much seems certain in the AFC East beyond the fact that Buffalo has far-and-away the best odds to make the playoffs (-600) and win the Super Bowl (+600). New England and Miami seem to field above-average defenses year in and year out; however, question marks remain at the quarterback position for both squads. NFL WEEK 1 PICKS: Against the spread | Straight-up predictions Will running back guru Mike McDaniel bring his elite ground-game schemes to Miami and finally help Tua Tagovailoa get over the hump?...

The Steelers (8-5-1) led 14-7 at the half and struggled to find any offense in the second half. However, they managed to get Chris Boswell in range to connect on a 48-yard field goal to give them a seven-point lead with 2:30 left in the game. MORE: Watch the NFL live and on demand with fuboTV (7-day free trial) New England (9-5) went 54 yards in the last 2 minutes of the game and had several chances to tie it....

Gasol blocked a LeBron James layup that would have tied the game just before the buzzer, preserving a 97-95 win for the Bulls over the Cavs. MORE: SN NBA predictions: Are the Cavs locks in the East? The block was Gasol’s sixth of the night, as the Bulls got a little revenge on the Cavs for knocking them out in the second round of last season’s playoffs. Jimmy Butler knocked away the ensuing inbound pass to seal the victory....

Just a few nights before the “showcase of the immortals” will be the latest NXT TakeOver show at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Friday, April 5. And once again, there is are huge expectations from the NXT brand which continue to pump out some of the hottest wrestling events around. NXT TakeOver: New York features five matches including Adam Cole facing Johnny Gargano for the vacant NXT championship in a two-out-of-three falls match, a Fatal Four-Way match between Shayna Baszler, Bianca Belair, Io Shirai, and Kairi Sane for the NXT women’s title, WALTER challenging Pete Dunne for the NXT UK championship, the War Raiders defending the tag team titles against Aleister Black and Ricochet, along with Velveteen Dream defending the North American Championship against Matt Riddle....

Payet was given the captain’s armband for Marseille against Atletico Madrid, and in the opening minutes played through Valere Germain with a lovely pass that was ultimately squandered. But after Antoine Griezmann struck to give Atletico the lead in the first half Marseille’s woes were increased by injury to their skipper. The former West Ham man, who had been struggling with a thigh injury in the build-up to the final, went down on the half-hour mark in obvious pain....

After a screening of Nicolas Cage’s new film, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent in Los Angeles, California, Pascal and Haddish busted some moves on the dance floor at the post-show party. Many people are shown cheering them on around them. On Twitter, fans exclaimed their excitement for the co-stars as well as admitting that they were a bit jealous. “How fun! It looks like they’re having the time of their lives,” exclaimed a fan....

“Everybody makes mistakes,” Strop said at Busch Stadium, via CSN Chicago. MORE: Reynolds, Verducci drag down Fox baseball broadcast Strop struggled in Friday’s loss to the Cardinals and was pulled after just one-third of an inning. He entered in the eighth inning with a 2-1 lead but was removed after allowing a game-tying homer to Greg Garcia, hitting Kolten Wong with a pitch, getting a flyout from Matt Carpenter and then walking Jhonny Peralta....

Blatter, 79, was re-elected as FIFA president in May against the backdrop of nine past and present officials being indicted for racketeering conspiracy and corruption under an investigation by U.S. and Swiss authorities. MORE: More charges expected | Bribery suspect to be sent to U.S. | Blatter: What corruption? He subsequently announced his resignation and will leave his post later this year. However, last week’s suspension of FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke, pending a formal investigation into allegations linking him to a scheme intending to sell 2014 World Cup tickets for inflated prices, continued a deeply troubled period....

It will be fascinating to see how Jimmy Butler fits in Minnesota, how Carmelo Anthony and Paul George fit in Oklahoma City, how Chris Paul fits in Houston and how Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving fit in Boston. But this coming year will also serve as a full-season trial run for the Anthony Davis-DeMarcus Cousins pairing in New Orleans, one that comes at a crucial time for the franchise and for both players....

Many deemed poor Pierre too ugly, creepy, scary or weird to appeal to fans. It was enough to ravage the self-esteem of even the most confident of mascots. On Monday, the team announced that poor, misunderstood Pierre would be undergoing reconstructive facial surgery after he was roughed up during a mascot-only game on Saturday. "The injury occurred late in the pickup game as Pierre drove to the basket and was fouled by Grizz on the play....

The shooting guard was sidelined in February after undergoing a successful procedure on his right knee. MORE: Free agency tracker | False parity promises “He’s not going to be ready for the start of the season,” coach Alvin Gentry said, via The Lowe Post podcast. “So that’s hard. He won’t be ready for the start of the season. He’s in a rehab situation. So, I think for us, we’ve just got to move forward with our season....

According to The Athletic, New Orleans has hired Trajan Langdon as its new GM to work alongside vice president of basketball operations David Griffin. Langdon will replace Dell Demps, who was fired in February after the Pelicans failed to make a deal for Anthony Davis before the trade deadline. At the time of Demps’ departure, reports indicated New Orleans owner Gayle Benson wanted to hire a general manager who could handle Davis’ trade talks and reshape the future of the team....

Reid’s sources say that a second interview took place between New Orleans and their coaching candidate. But this meeting was different. This time, Gentry came all the way to New Orleans to meet with general manager Dell Demps and executive vice president Mickey Loomis. MORE: Magic find their man | Bulls players ripped Thibodeau in exit interviews Reid and other media outlets report that ESPN analyst Jeff Van Gundy, recently deposed Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau and former Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro all remain viable candidates for the position....