Tennessee is offering 50% off alcohol inside Neyland Stadium at 9 a.m. to help get people inside early with President Trump in attendance

Sources: NFL special teams coordinators are meeting in the next hour to clarify a kickoff rule that some teams are believed to have misunderstood — or found a loophole in — through the first two weeks of the season. The NFL allows a 12th player on the field to hold the ball on kickoffs, but teams including the Eagles last week and Falcons in Week 1 used that extra player to hold the ball without a tee, giving the kicker a different launch angle to create a more difficult “dirty” kick and potential field-position advantage. The clarification coming today: If a 12th player is used to hold the ball, the ball must still be placed on a tee. My understanding is that the clarification may not be fully enforced for this week’s games.

The Patriots are still planning to fly to Jacksonville tomorrow afternoon, thus not making adjustments to their plan in spite of the looming Nor’easter, Mike Vrabel said.

Jake Ferguson was fined for mimicking shotgunning a beer. Cowboys backdrop for news conference in Rio is MillerLite.

Today is the last day for dozens of our talented OHG colleagues laid off by McClatchy. The rest of us are all in to continue producing high-quality journalism for our community. Is McClatchy? Join us in writing to ask: actionnetwork.org/letters/as…

Dylan Larkin has reportedly expanded his trade list to around 8 teams, including Colorado, Dallas, Tampa Bay and Washington, per @FriedgeHNIC 👀 Friedman also said he doesn’t believe any Canadian teams are on Larkin’s list 🚫

Today officially marks the end of the road for me at The Charlotte Observer. Five years ago, when tasked with the duty of continuing the newspaper's #Hornets coverage, I said in my introductory column the goal was to "provide, you the reader, with the best Hornets' coverage anywhere." And that's exactly what I did. Whether it was an exclusive with LaMelo Ball (amp.charlotteobserver.com/sp…) or Naz Reid (amp.charlotteobserver.com/sp…). Going behind the scenes with Hugo to see what it's like to be a loveable mascot (amp.charlotteobserver.com/sp…). Or even something as simple as reporting in July that the player Charlotte just traded away this week was unlikely to suit up for the team when he was acquired from Houston (nitter.net/rodboone/status/207426…). Doing it all was an honor. Of course, there's been no shortage of stories. In the half-decade at The Observer, I've covered three different head coaches, two head coaching searches (three if you include the Kenny Atkinson situation), a GM search and change in ownership where Michael Jordan sold a majority of his stakes. It's been a fun ride. Thanks again to all who followed along, especially the loyal readers and subscribers. - 30 -

There have been a lot of questions about the field surface in Brazil, and I wanted to provide the NFLPA’s perspective.   Our number one priority is the health and safety of our players. The concern heading into this week was that the field would be loose, patchy, and lead to excessive slipping. Those conditions are generally more of a playability and performance issue than a significant injury concern.   But safety isn't the only standard. Players should be able to perform at the level they expect of themselves and that fans expect from them. A thin, slick field may not present the same risks as a surface with too much traction, but it still affects performance and the quality of the game.   We've been in regular communication with the league about the field. Both the NFLPA's and the league's field experts have been on the ground in Brazil for days, monitoring conditions and working to make the surface as safe and playable as possible for Sunday.   Based on our experts' assessment, the field needed better traction and stability. They recommended reinforced stitching to help the surface hold together and brought in equipment to reinforce as much of the field as possible before the game. Our experts will remain engaged and continue evaluating conditions through kickoff.   The work happening this week also highlights two larger issues.   First, we need field standards that account for both safety and performance. The NFL, NFLPA, and our field and engineering experts spend a lot of time working on these issues, and we've made progress. But we're not where we need to be yet. We can't have surfaces that melt players' cleats, like we saw in Nashville last week. We can't have frozen fields that create unnecessary risks. The best athletes in the world should be playing on surfaces that meet the same standard of excellence we expect from them every week.   Second, this reinforces one of our concerns about international expansion. Two of the three games played in Brazil have had field-related issues. That's not a coincidence. This time of year makes it extremely challenging to maintain the kind of grass surface we expect at the NFL level.   Our guys are exceptional at what they do, and I'm confident they'll put on a terrific game in Rio this week. They always do. But we owe it to them to provide the best possible opportunity to succeed. Players can overcome a lot. But they shouldn't have to overcome the field. The NFL has been clear they want to continue to grow the game internationally. However, growth alone cannot be the goal. The goal has to be growing the game while maintaining the standards our players deserve. If we can't do both, then we need to make different decisions.