This time, it’s (probably) for real.

Days after the Baltimore Ravens found themselves in hot water for incorrectly reporting quarterback Lamar Jackson’s practice participation, head coach John Harbaugh said he’s ‘confident’ Jackson will return this week.

‘We’re expecting him to be out there Thursday night,’ Harbaugh said on Oct. 27.

The Ravens are set for a clash with the Miami Dolphins in the Week 9 edition of ‘Thursday Night Football’ on Oct. 30.

Jackson was listed as a full participant in practice on the Ravens’ Oct. 27 injury report. Though that may seem like a strong indication he’ll play against the Dolphins, there could be setbacks later in the week. In addition, Baltimore’s Week 8 snafu means a full participation in practice does not necessarily guarantee a return.

Two days before the Ravens’ Oct. 26 clash with the Chicago Bears in a Week 8 matchup, Baltimore had declared that Jackson was a full participant in an Oct. 24 practice. On Oct. 25, the Ravens released a statement that Jackson was being downgraded from a full participant to a limited participant for the Oct. 24 practice and ruled out for the Oct. 26 game.

‘Lamar Jackson was present for and participated fully in our entire Friday practice ahead of Sunday’s game against the Bears,’ the statement read. ‘Upon further evaluation and after conferring with the league office, because Lamar didn’t take starter reps in practice, we updated our report to reflect his practice participation.’

USA TODAY Sports’ Jarrett Bell received a confirmation from the NFL that the league planned to review the Ravens’ potential violation of its policy on injury reports.

Here’s what to know about Jackson’s status for Week 9:

Lamar Jackson injury update

Jackson is expected to be good to go for the Oct. 30 ‘Thursday Night Football’ game against the Dolphins.

Harbaugh told reporters on Oct. 27 that he felt ‘very confident’ about Jackson’s health.

‘We’re expecting him to be out there Thursday night,’ Harbaugh said.

The Ravens’ two-time MVP starting quarterback has missed three straight games while dealing with a hamstring injury he sustained in Week 4. Baltimore is 2-5 this season – 1-2 in the three games without Jackson – and sits in third place in the AFC North.

Lamar Jackson stats

Jackson has started just four games for the Ravens through eight weeks of the season. Here’s how his stats look through those four starts:

• Record: 1-3
• Completion rate: 68-of-95 (71.6%)
• Passing yards: 869
• Touchdowns: 10
• Interceptions: 1
• Rush attempts: 21
• Rushing yards: 166
• Yards per rush: 7.9
• Rushing touchdowns: 1

Jackson’s 71.6% completion rate and 7.9 yards per rush would both be career-high marks.

LOS ANGELES – George Springer delivered the Toronto Blue Jays to the World Series. But he might be exiting for good after sustaining an injury in Game 3. 

Springer, Toronto’s designated hitter and leadoff man, winced and immediately walked toward the dugout after a seventh-inning swing as he faced Dodgers left-hander Justin Wrobleski. 

Springer, who has been playing through significant knee pain, clutched his left lower back after his swing, consulted briefly with manager John Schneider and a trainer and walked to the dugout. 

He was replaced by pinch-hitter Ty France, who struck out. 

Springer’s three-run, seventh-inning home run in Game 7 lifted them to victory in the AL Championship Series. He was 3-for-11 in the World Series at the time of injury. 

LOS ANGELES – Mark Wegner was slow to the draw. And the homeplate umpire cost the Toronto Blue Jays at least one run with his deliberate actions in the second inning of World Series Game 3. 

With Bo Bichette on first base and a 3-1 count on Daulton Varsho, Los Angeles Dodgers starter Tyler Glasnow threw a pitch above strike zone. Pitch tracking indicated it was ball four. 

And Wegner, the homeplate umpire, indicated it was ball four – by doing nothing. 

Varsho paused, heard no strike call and took two tentative steps toward first. Bichette wandered toward second base to advance. 

And then Wegner casually initiated his called-strike mechanism. The count was full – but Bichette was about 30 feet off the bag by then. 

And Glasnow tossed the ball to first baseman Freddie Freeman, who tagged Bichette for a huge first out of the inning. 

How huge? Well, Varsho did eventually walk. Alejandro Kirk followed with a single to right field that Bichette certainly would’ve scored on. 

It theoretically could’ve been 1-0 Toronto, with runners on first and second and nobody out. 

Instead, Bichette was erased, Addison Barger struck out and Ernie Clement lined out to center. 

Inning over. No runs for the Blue Jays. And manager John Schneider helpless, save to continue the conversation with Wegner, also the crew chief, between innings. 

LOS ANGELES – George Springer has spent the past six seasons enduring a cacophony of boos whenever he plays a road game, lingering fallout from his role in the 2017 Houston Astros’ sign-stealing scandal, uncovered publicly in 2019.

Yet time, and place, and context matter so much and that’s why it hit very different – and a lot louder – Oct. 27 as Springer led off Game 3 of the World Series at Dodger Stadium.

It was Springer’s Houston Astros who, the Los Angeles Dodgers and their fans believe, stole the 2017 World Series title from them thanks to an elaborate sign-stealing system, an offshoot of which that seemed to most drastically affect Game 4 of that Series, won by the Astros by a 13-12 score in 10 innings.

They went on to capture that World Series in seven games, resulting in deferred rage when The Athletic reported in 2019 that the ’17 Astros utilized a camera hidden in center field and a video monitor and trash can in a tunnel adjacent to their dugout to pass opponent pitch selections to the batter.

And in the moments before Game 1, the Dodger Stadium crowd let him have it.

The wailing notes of Jimmy Page’s guitar hadn’t even faded from Dodgers starter Tyler Glasnow’s intro song, Led Zeppelin’s “Dazed and Confused,” when a dull roar spread through the crowd as Springer approached home plate.

For 25 seconds, they sustained a full-throated collective jeer, until Springer whiffed at Glasnow’s first pitch, a 97-mph fastball. The boos quickly gave way to a roaring chant of “Cheater! Cheater!”

And finally, raucous cheers when Glasnow struck him out.

It was hardly punishment but certainly reflected accurately the fans’ feelings about the crime. 

It was a craven setup, going far beyond the generally accepted principles of sign-stealing in the game, and resulted in firings of manager A.J. Hinch and GM Jeff Luhnow.

Yet the players involved went unpunished, at least once they completed an apology tour in February 2020, and the Astros kept their championship.

That unrequited justice resulted in Astros superstars from that team – including Springer, Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman and Carlos Correa getting mercilessly booed on the road.

All except Altuve eventually left in free agency – Correa returned in trade this past season – yet fans did not forget, no matter the uniform.

Especially in L.A.

Springer played here with the Blue Jays in August and in July 2023. And as an Astro, he played in a Dodger Stadium without fans amid COVID-19 restrictions in September 2020, and in a neutral-sight playoff situation a month later.

In other words: Very much not the World Series with 54,000 blue-clad fans, most of them booing with their full chests.

Not that the Dodgers would discourage it.

“That’s up to the fans,” says Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “Heck of a player. Having a great postseason. Dodger fans have a long memory and that’s what makes ’em great. I’m just going to manage the game, and I’m not in the stands, so they can do whatever they feel is going to help the club win.”

After their Game 2 loss in Toronto Oct. 25, Springer downplayed returning to L.A. amid such circumstances for the first time.

“I’m here now,” he said in the opulent Blue Jays home clubhouse, an indirect way to note that 2017 was eight years ago.

Not to Dodger fans, so long as a Commissioner’s Trophy commemorating that championship resides in Houston.  

LOS ANGELES — Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts, an eight-time All-Star and three-time World Series champion, professed Monday that this has now become the most rewarding season of his fabulous career.

Oh, he’s had better statistical seasons and doesn’t know whether this year will culminate with a fourth World Series championship or not, but sitting behind his prestigious trophy Monday afternoon, and flanked by dignitaries on the dais, he believes there won’t be a season that tops this one.

Betts was honored Monday before Game 3 of the World Series as recipient of the Roberto Clemente Award for his philanthropic efforts, becoming the first player since Carlos Beltran of the 2013 St. Louis Cardinals to earn baseball’s highest off-the-field award while playing in the World Series the same year.

“Just being recognized for something like this is really cool,’’ Betts said. “As a family, we don’t really do a whole lot of things to be recognized for it. We just kind of do it out of the goodness of our hearts.

“But to be recognized is really nice, and especially after this year, going through all that I went through, the changes of moving [positions] and I’m not playing very well, just to know that my on-the-field things are irrelevant to this. You can still be successful and maybe not in a way that you didn’t know.

“It’s just really cool to be able to hold up this award and to know that this had nothing to do with baseball.’’

Betts, 31, was never about receiving attention for his charitable endeavors. He didn’t call the local TV stations. He didn’t advertise his goodness. When he moved to Los Angeles in February 2020 after being traded from the Boston Red Sox, it was in the heart of Covid and there were plenty of folks that needed help.

He discovered there were plenty of homeless that lived close to their neighborhood. He and his wife, Brianna, would leave their home at night and drop off hot meals to those living on the streets, just as he did without drawing attention in Boston.

“I remember many nights me and Bri going to drop off food,’’ Betts said, “but nobody ever knew. We’re not doing that for press or anything. But I just remember that was kind of the beginning of us kind of getting involved in the community.

“We were doing things in Boston as well, so we just took the same blueprint and came to L.A. and it just kind of got bigger and bigger.’’

Betts and the 5050 Foundation now are considered one of the most philanthropic organizations in all of sports, not just baseball, which Betts plans to continue to support long after his baseball career.

“Life is about more than kind of what you do as far as work,’’ Betts said. “It’s about how you affect people. People always remember how you make them feel. So, I know we live by that.

“When we come across people, we always make them smile, do what you can to help them, and the Lord blesses you. So that’s kind of what we care about. We just want to be a good example for all the kids growing up and to know that they can do it, no matter what.’’

Betts and his wife, along with the Dodgers, donated more than $160,000 to the Brother Crusade to help fight hunger and homelessness in Los Angeles, have been active supporting victims of the Los Angeles fires, donates youth sports equipment and funding a youth baseball tournament in his hometown of Nashville, and promotes education and financial literacy through his 5050 Foundation.

“Just give people, kids, opportunities that they may not have,’’ Betts said. “Not everybody’s going to be in the big leagues, but some people can be lawyers, teachers, whatever it is, and we just want to provide options for kids because you never know what you’re going to do.’’

Follow Bob Nightengale on X @BNightengale.

Not only did Shohei Ohtani put up legendary performance in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series, but he also joined some Dodger Stadium history.

The second of his three home run performance was a moonshot that went 469 feet and out of Dodger Stadium, reportedly ending up in bushes behind of the outfield seats.

With a home run that cleared the roof of the outfield pavilion, Ohtani’s home run got recognized with a special plaque at Dodger Stadium before Game 3 of the 2025 World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Dodger Stadium home run plaques

The Dodgers commemorate every home run that clears the roof of the outfield seats, no matter the player or team that did it.

In fact, Ohtani was the second person to get a plaque in the 2025 postseason after Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber hit one out of the stadium during the National League Divisional Series.

Now, there are eight plaques at Dodger Stadium honoring those who hit them out of the park. Those players are:

• Willie Stargell – Pittsburgh Pirates, 1969
• Willie Stargell – Pittsburgh Pirates, 1969
• Mike Piazza – Los Angeles Dodgers, 1997
• Mark McGwire – St. Louis Cardinals, 1999
• Giancarlo Stanton – Miami Marlins, 2015
• Fernando Tatis Jr. – San Diego Padres, 2021
• Kyle Schwarber – Philadelphia Phillies, 2025
• Shohei Ohtani – Los Angeles Dodgers, 2025

Editor’s Note: Click here to follow along for live updates from Game 3 of the 2025 World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays.

Across his Hall of Fame career, Max Scherzer has been part of numerous pieces of MLB history.

That laundry list continued to grow in the Dodger Stadium in Game 3 of the 2025 World Series for the Toronto Blue Jays against the Los Angeles Dodgers, when Scherzer became the first pitcher in MLB history to pitch in the Fall Classic for four different franchises.

‘I mean, this is what you play for,’ Scherzer recently said.

This year’s World Series is the last go-around between two of baseball’s all-time pitchers as Dodgers’ southpaw Clayton Kershaw is set to retire at the conclusion of the Fall Classic. Kershaw and Scherzer are just two of baseball’s 20 pitchers who have reached the 3,000 strikeout milestone in their careers.

‘I think I’m too old, now. But Scherz can keep going,’ Kershaw recently said. ‘He’s doing great stuff, obviously. It’s fun to see us coming up together, being able to do this. It’s a lot of fun.’

Monday’s start against the Dodgers is the second start this postseason for Mad Max, who earned his 16th postseason win after tossing 5.2 innings against the Seattle Mariners in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series.

Here’s what to know on Scherzer’s history in the World Series:

How many World Series has Max Scherzer pitched in?

The 2025 World Series is the fourth World Series that Scherzer has pitched in across his Hall of Fame career. He is the first pitcher in MLB history to pitch in the World Series with four different teams, as noted by Kevin Burkhardt on the Fox On MLB pregame show.

He made his World Series debut in 2012 with the Detroit Tigers. He then helped the Washington Nationals to the World Series title in 2019. He has now pitched in the World Series twice in the last three years, with the Rangers in 2023 and the Blue Jays.

‘I mean, this is what you play for,’ Scherzer recently said in an article written by USA TODAY Sports’ Bob Nightengale. ‘To be able to get to this spot, to get to this moment, to have a shot at it. You just think about, throughout your whole life, all the different things that have unfolded, and just so fortunate to have another crack at this.’

Max Scherzer World Series rings

Scherzer has won two World Series titles in his career: 2019 with the Nationals and then in 2023 with the Rangers.

Max Scherzer World Series record

Scherzer enters Monday’s start against the Dodgers with a 1-0 record and a 3.26 ERA in four World Series starts.

Decision in parentheses

• 2012 vs. the Giants (No Decision): 6.1 innings, eight strikeouts, seven hits, three earned runs and a walk
• 2019 vs. the Astros (Win): 5.0 innings, seven strikeouts, five hits, three walks and two earned runs
• 2019 vs. the Astros (No Decision): 5.0 innings, seven hits, four walks, three strikeouts and two earned runs
• 2023 vs. the Diamondbacks (No Decision): 3.0 innings, two hits, two walks and a strikeout

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• Ohio State, Indiana headline teams that are a lock for College Football Playoff.
• LSU, Penn State top jobs available, but good debate on which is better.
• Survive and advance works fine for Alabama. Just survive.

We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming of firings, hot boards and rampant speculation of potential hires (call Urban!) to draw attention, if ever so briefly, to the College Football Playoff.

The first CFP rankings will be revealed next week, and the talking heads will bobble and squabble over the bubble, but a handful of teams already have done the heavy lifting, putting the hay in the barn for a bid. I need to get my hands on Seth Davis’ March Madness Sharpie marker, because I’m ready to lock in five teams for the playoff.

Here’s where my mind is after Week 9:

Five teams have ‘clinched’ College Football Playoff bids

Esteemed colleague Paul Myerberg recently noted he’s nearly ready to lock in five teams for the playoff: Ohio State, Indiana, Oregon, Texas A&M and Mississippi. I agree with his assessment in four of five cases. I’m not yet all-in on one of his playoff near-locks, but I’ve got a replacement lock ready for insertion.

Here are five teams I’m ready to Sharpie into the playoff:

• Ohio State (7-0): Talk of dynasties being dead is premature. The Buckeyes are positioning themselves to join Georgia, Alabama and Southern California (including one USC shared championship) as the only teams to win back-to-back national titles since 1980. Who knows what’ll happen in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in the regular-season finale, but the Buckeyes aren’t losing twice in November.
• Indiana (8-0): The Hoosiers’ win at Oregon, combined with their dominant average margin of victory, gives them plenty of cushion as they navigate the season’s final month. Smart money is on Indiana taking an undefeated record into the Big Ten Championship, but it’ll be in good shape even if it drops a game.
• Texas A&M (8-0): If the first CFP rankings hinged on strength of record and strength of schedule, the Aggies would be No. 1 after road wins at Notre Dame and LSU. They’re left with three SEC games, plus one Championship Subdivision opponent. They might make the playoff with two losses. Better chance they’ll avoid drama and neatly navigate into the bracket.
• Mississippi (7-1): The Rebels tout wins against Oklahoma and LSU, and the November schedule is a blessing, with no ranked opponents left. Dropping one more game would damage their seeding, but they’d likely qualify at 10-2. Three of their final four games are at home. They’re in great shape.
• Notre Dame (5-2): The Irish can’t afford another loss. So, why am I ready to Sharpie them into the bracket? Because, they’ll enjoy an accommodating November schedule, courtesy of their independence. They finish with Boston College, Navy, Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Stanford. Only Navy is ranked. That game is in South Bend. Remember what Notre Dame did to a ranked Army squad last season? Yep, the Irish are rolling toward 10-2, with close losses to Texas A&M and Miami in tow. The committee won’t be able to resist them.

Not ready to lock in … Oregon (7-1): The Ducks needed overtime to survive at Penn State, and that no longer looks like such a marquee win after the Nittany Lions soured. Oregon closes with four straight Big Ten opponents who are 5-3 overall or better. They could lose as soon as a Nov. 9 game at Iowa. Heck, they could lose twice. Oregon retains a good playoff chance, but landmines lurk in its path.

What’s the best job on the market?

It’s either LSU or Penn State. A lack of resources aren’t a problem at either school.

The case for Penn State: Don’t knock life in the Big Ten, where the wheat is more neatly separated from the chaff than it is in the SEC. Also, while some (like Nick Saban) choose to focus on how James Franklin got fired nine months after taking Penn State to the CFP semifinals, it’s also notable that Franklin got 12 seasons despite just one playoff berth. Imagine receiving such a long runway at LSU. The demands of both jobs are big. LSU’s demands are bigger, and the path to the playoff is easier at Penn State. A new hire could take Penn State back to the playoff in Year 1.

The case for LSU: Each of Brian Kelly’s three predecessors won a national championship. Make a strong hire, and LSU can celebrate another championship within four (or fewer) years. LSU is the only Power Four school in a talent-rich state. That’s an asset, even in this pay-for-play era. Kelly also signed the top-rated transfer class entering his final season, showing there’s money for talent. The literal politics of the job can be a quagmire (the governor became involved in firing Kelly), but you can’t knock the passion for the program, and LSU’s brand reaches from coast to coast.

Can Hugh Freeze escape hot seat at Auburn?

Difficult task, but perhaps not impossible. The four-game losing streak painted Freeze into a corner. Beating Arkansas was a must. So is beating Kentucky, up next. Topple Vanderbilt, too, and then maybe momentum builds for giving this one more go in 2026, not unlike what Florida did with Billy Napier last season. Never count out Auburn when the Iron Bowl is played on the Plains, either.

Freeze finally changed quarterbacks against Arkansas, benching Jackson Arnold — what took so long? — in favor of Ashton Daniels. Freeze must sow belief these next few weeks that he can solve yearslong offensive woes, if retained.

A crowded coaching carousel also might become Freeze’s friend. Does Auburn want to hire in a cycle when LSU, Penn State and Florida also are hiring?

How vulnerable is Alabama?

Are you glass half-full, or half-empty? I took it as an encouraging sign for Alabama that it rallied to win, 29-22, at South Carolina after playing with danger for three-plus quarters. This is the type of game last year’s team would’ve lost.

Look around the SEC. Gimme games are in short supply. Alabama’s reality is no different from that of Georgia, or others in the conference. The Tide’s wins against Georgia, Vanderbilt, Missouri and Tennessee hold up well on the resumé. Three of the final four games are at home, where Kalen DeBoer has not lost. The Tide remain in good shape.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s senior national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.

AI-assisted summary
• The Pittsburgh Steelers defense has allowed 68 points and over 700 passing yards in its last two losses.
• Despite significant financial investment, the Steelers defense ranks last in the NFL against the pass.
• Coach Mike Tomlin acknowledged the team’s defensive problems are repetitive and not improving quickly enough.
• Veteran defensive tackle Cam Heyward expressed frustration, stating the team lacks fight and doesn’t handle adversity well.

PITTSBURGH – It wasn’t difficult to sense the level of frustration coming from Cam Heyward in a near-empty Pittsburgh Steelers locker room late Sunday night.

Another week, another embarrassing letdown from a once-proud defense.

“There’s a lot of ball and not enough fight on our side,” Heyward, the veteran defensive tackle and elder statesman, said after the 35-25 loss against the Green Bay Packers included Jordan Love as the latest quarterback to torch the Steelers. “I don’t think we handle adversity.”

Well, adversity has not only arrived. It has blasted through the front door.

Ten days after Joe Flacco passed for 342 yards and three touchdowns to lift the Cincinnati Bengals past Pittsburgh, Love threw for 360 yards – and at one point completed a franchise-record-tying 20 consecutive passes – and three touchdowns to steal the stage from Aaron Rodgers in the primetime showcase game.

Particularly disturbing for Heyward & Co. was the onslaught after halftime, when the Packers flipped a game by scoring on their first five possessions of the second half.

“That second half kind of split open,” Heyward said. “If you’re hit hard enough, you’ve got to have answers for it. Part of being a professional is fixing your mistakes fast. And then answering those problems. This is a lesson we can all learn from.”

Or else.

The past two games, as Pittsburgh (4-3) fumbled away a seemingly firm grip on the AFC North lead, the Steelers have allowed 68 points in the back-to-back defeats. The pass defense now ranks dead-last in the NFL – worse than the Dallas Cowboys and Bengals defenses in that category – as Flacco and Love combined to throw for 702 yards and six touchdowns.

And look who’s coming next: The red-hot Indianapolis Colts, with an offense powered by NFL rushing leader Jonathan Taylor and revitalized quarterback Daniel Jones.

Did somebody mention fixing something fast?

Steelers’ defensive spending yielding minimal returns

Hey, it’s officially a crisis now – which is where coach Mike Tomlin and the Steelers brain trust hardly expected it would be at this point in the season after investing so much energy and resources into boosting the fortunes of the unit.

On Sunday night, the effort was wrapped in missed tackles, blown assignments, misplayed pop-up passes, chunk plays and very little heat on the quarterback. The unit had zero sacks and zero turnovers. And ultimately zero chance to regain the momentum.

When someone asked Tomlin if the defensive issues are more rooted in the schemes or in the execution, there was no room to backpedal.

“You know, we all have to own it,” Tomlin said. “Certainly, you start with the schematics because that’s the leadership components of it, and certainly we’ll be looking at everything that we’re doing, man, because some of these problems are somewhat repetitive. We’re not getting better fast enough.”

The Steelers came into the season thinking that they could complement Rodgers with a stiff defense that would relieve pressure on the crafty quarterback. It seemed like a decent plan and with the addition of versatile cornerback Jalen Ramsey and veteran cornerback Darius Slay. The revamped secondary was pegged to provide consistent man-to-man coverage on the back end, which would allow defensive coordinator Teryl Austin more flexibility in using creative blitzes.

Yet that answer has backfired to this point. There’s no way the Steelers, who haven’t won a playoff game since the 2016 season, can win big with this dysfunctional defense.

And while the revamped secondary has floundered, it’s clearly a collective challenge. The investments up front – including linebacker T.J. Watt, signed to an extension worth $41 million per year, and last year’s free agent addition, linebacker Patrick Queen – haven’t paid off, either.

The numbers underscore this. According to Spotrac.com, no team in the NFL has invested as much of its salary cap this season on its defense than the Steelers, with a $120.283 million allocation. For cash expenditures, it’s the second-most expensive defense in the league with a tab of $151.4 million.

Yet those other numbers – 30th in yards allowed (386 per game), 32nd against the pass (273.3) – illustrate how little bang they are getting for the buck.  

Once upon a time, tough, physical, championship-level defense was the Steelers calling card. It matched the reputation of a city known for blue-collar grit. What happened to that tradition? It’s a fairy tale now, considering the current edition of the Pittsburgh D.

Heyward said, “If you can own your mistakes and make them disappear, it goes a long way.’

If only that can really happen – like fast.

Contact Jarrett Bell at jbell@usatoday.com or follow on  X: @JarrettBell