LAS VEGAS – Phil Mickelson didn’t factor in the finish at the Shriners but will nonetheless leave Las Vegas mildly encouraged.

Mickelson closed Sunday with a 4-under par 67, which is about even par this week at TPC Summerlin.

Phil entered the weekend just three off the 36-hole pace but tumbled down the leaderboard Saturday with a third-round 74 on a day when the scoring average was 67.75.

Asked to sum up his play, Mickelson said: “I came out and had two good rounds out of four. I didn't obviously compete, but the road back to playing well is a process, and today or this week was a good start on that process, and I'm looking forward to going to Korea and continuing improving. I identified a few areas to continue to work on, but there were some areas of strength as well.

“It was a good week, and I’ll look to build on it.”

Mickelson will next compete at the CJ Cup in South Korea and said earlier this week he was likely to add the WGC-HSBC Champions in China to his schedule.

As for when to expect this next Phireside chat?

“I'm sure I'll have one out next week,” he said. “I have a bunch of stuff in my phone. I just don't know what I'm going to put up yet.”

LAS VEGAS – The next time you see Bryson DeChambeau, you might not recognize him.

“I'm going to come back next year and look like a different person,” he said Sunday.

The defending champion at the Shriners ended a “weird week” with a final-round 63 during which everything finally came together.

DeChambeau was in second place behind only Kevin Na when he walked off the golf course and realized he was just one back when Na tripled the par-4 10^th as DeChambeau was still signing autographs.

Still, a successful title defense wasn’t meant to be, and DeChambeau will now turn his attention to an offseason exercise regimen that he anticipates will change his body in big ways.

“Bigger. Way stronger. Not necessarily bigger, but just stronger in general,” he said. “I am going to look probably a lot bigger, but it's going to be a fun month and a half off. I have never been able to do this, and I'm going to go do things that are going to be a lot of fun.”

“This” will be work with Greg Roskopf, who DeChambeau has collaborated with in the past to study his own brain waves. Their goal is to “make sure the neurological threshold is just as high as the mechanical threshold,” which in layman’s terms is about maximizing muscle potential and the body’s range of motion.

DeChambeau will be working out with special equipment at home and traveling to Denver on occasion for in-person sessions with Roskopf. He says he’ll start training his core and then work his way out to the extremities.

“You're going to see some pretty big changes in my body, which is going to be a good thing. I’m going to be hitting it a lot farther,” he said.

Dairon Asprilla scored the go-ahead goal in the 59th minute as the host Portland Timbers clinched a postseason berth with a 3-1 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes on Sunday.

Defender Larrys Mabiala tallied in the 29th minute and Sebastian Blanco converted a free kick in the 75th for the sixth-place Timbers (14-13-7, 49 points), who will visit third-place Real Salt Lake in the first round of the MLS Cup playoffs.

Steve Clark made three saves to help Portland snap a five-game winless skid (0-2-3).

Captain Chris Wondolowski scored in the 39th minute and Daniel Vega turned aside five shots for the Earthquakes (13-16-5, 44 points), who saw their season-high losing streak extend to six matches. They were eliminated from postseason contention after FC Dallas (13-12-9, 48 points) breezed to a 6-0 win over Sporting Kansas City on Sunday.

Asprilla snapped a tie in impressive fashion, beating defender Florian Jungwirth to the inside before unleashing a shot that was denied by Vega. The 27-year-old Asprilla cleaned up his own rebound and tapped the ball into the open net to give Portland a 2-1 lead with his second goal in as many matches.

Blanco gave the Timbers a bit of breathing room in the 75th as his shot sailed over the makeshift wall and past a diving Vega. The goal was Blanco's sixth of the season.

Portland opened the scoring as Jorge Villafana's cross found Mabiala, who contorted his body to send an off-balance left-footed shot from the center of the box inside the left post. The 31-year-old Frenchman's goal was his second of the campaign.

Wondolowski, who was nearly responsible for an own goal earlier in the match, forged a tie in the 39th minute after extending his body while inside the box to head home Cristian Espinoza's cross. The goal was the 36-year-old Wondolowski's team-leading 15th this season and 11th versus Portland in his distinguished MLS career.

Wondolowski nearly opened the scoring in inadvertent fashion in the 26th minute, as Espinoza's shot caromed off his body, requiring Vega to make a diving save.

LAFC's Carlos Vela scored a hat trick to smash the Major League Soccer single-season goals record of 31 on Sunday in a 3-1 win over the Colorado Rapids.at Banc of California Stadium.

The sensational Decision Day outing for Vela puts him on 34 goals for the season, meaning he is also the Golden Boot winner in 2019.

Vela scored from a trademark left-footed strike for his 32nd goal of the season to move ahead of Martinez, who only broke the record held by Roy Lassiter, Chris Wondolowski and Bradley Wright-Phillips during the 2018 season.

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The goal gave LAFC the lead over the Rapids and took the team a step closer in its quest to break the New York Red Bulls' record for the highest single-season point total in league history.

Vela then added his 33rd goal of the season with a spectacular overhead volley from just in front of the goal to make the score 2-0, before adding his third goal with a close-range finish on a counter-attack to secure his hat trick and extend LAFC's lead.

The win also sees LAFC break the record for points in a single MLS season, with the team's 72-point haul breaking the previous mark of 71 held by the New York Red Bulls.

LA Galaxy striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored in his team's 4-2 loss to the Houston Dynamo to finish second in the Golden Boot race on 30 goals, while Martinez scored his 27th goal for Atlanta to finish third.

LAFC begins its 2019 MLS Cup playoff campaign in the conference semifinal round courtesy of a first-round bye for finishing with the highest points haul in the West.

NEWCASTLE, England -- It is a thought most Manchester United fans would never imagine, especially during the trophy-laden glory years of Sir Alex Ferguson, but after losing 1-0 to Matthew Longstaff's goal at Newcastle United on Sunday, the nightmare scenario of a relegation battle cannot be ruled out.

While Liverpool have surged eight points clear of champions Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table with eight wins from eight games, United are languishing in 12th position, just two points above the bottom three after their third league defeat. They have won only twice and scored just nine times; four of those goals came in one game on the opening weekend against Chelsea.

If this was any other club, alarm bells would be ringing ahead of a long struggle for survival. And with barely a quarter of the campaign gone, it would be foolish to suggest that United will find themselves locked in a battle against the drop between now and next May.

When you consider both the short- and long-term form slide suffered by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's team, though, there are few positives. Since a remarkable 3-1 Champions League victory against Paris Saint Germain in March, United have not won a single away game in any competition.

And since that famous victory at Parc des Princes, United have the third-worst record among teams that played in the Premier League this season and last. They have taken just 17 points from 17 games since, and now, in the first week of October, succumbed to a Newcastle team that began the game in 19th, with just five points and who were beaten 5-0 at Leicester last Sunday.

To place Solskjaer's woeful run into context, his predecessor Jose Mourinho was sacked last December after collecting 26 points from 17 games.

The word from within Old Trafford is that the Glazer family are determined to stand by their manager as he attempts to rebuild the club's squad. United's owners, who bore the brunt of hostile chants from supporters at St James' Park, persisted with David Moyes, Louis van Gaal and Mourinho long after it became clear those managers had lost the plot, so Solskjkaer may be safe for a while yet.

But one point per game from the equivalent of half a season is relegation form, plain and simple. Clearly, United are one of the richest clubs in the world and so possess the financial muscle to make changes in January when the transfer window reopens.

Where will this team be by that stage? Liverpool visit Old Trafford next, with a difficult trip to Norwich immediately afterward for Solskjaer and Co. If United lose at Carrow Road, it will be impossible to find reason to argue against a battle for survival.

It could be argued that one big reason for the current woes is Solskjaer's failure to sign a replacement for Romelu Lukaku or Alexis Sanchez, both of whom were shipped off to Inter during the summer transfer window. Moreover, at Newcastle, the starting XI was shorn of first-team regulars such as Victor Lindelof, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Luke Shaw, Jesse Lingard, Anthony Martial and Paul Pogba due to injury.

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When those players are fit and available, United will be much stronger. But if their squad is so shallow that it cannot cope with the loss of five players -- none of whom could be classed as a world-class game-changer -- then it does not bode well for a long season that also involves the distraction of Thursday football in the Europa League.

Of those who have been available, Marcus Rashford has become a non-scoring striker, Juan Mata is no longer capable of making an impact at this level and Brazil international Fred is repeatedly anonymous in midfield.

As manager, Solskjaer must find a way to make his squad perform better and come up with a tactical plan that creates and converts chances in front of goal. If he survives in the job, he also needs to inject some fight into a team that is too timid and lacking the ability to respond to setbacks.

Despite this latest setback, Solskjaer insisted that his players possess the right spirit.

"We have started a rebuild, so this is not a similar situation to Everton (last season, lost 4-0), where I felt some had given up," he said. "These boys haven't given up. They have given everything for the shirt.

"But it's where we are at the moment. We don't create enough chances to deserve to win a game of football. I couldn't see that (performance) coming before the game. Ball seemed like a hot potato; it was bouncing off our feet."

With two whole weeks until his side's next game, United's manager pledged to examine what has gone wrong, before Liverpool come to town.

"Luckily for us it's now the international break," Solskjaer said. "We get time to evaluate what's gone on over these eight games. But it's my responsibility. I need to sort their heads out. Young boys lacking confidence; they need some help from experienced players and staff."

Solskjaer also looks like he needs help, but will he get it and will it come in time? The reality of Manchester United is that there are more questions than answers.

Trinbago Knight Riders 128 for 4 (Simmons 51, Ramdin 32*, Pollard 26*, Joseph 1-17) beat St Kitts & Nevis Patriots 125 for 7 (Evans 55, Jordan 3-30, Narine 2-10) by six wickets

Defending champions Trinbago Knight Riders launched CPL 2019 with four wins in a row, but they suddenly cooled off, going winless in their last six games in the lead-up to the playoffs. Knight Riders' slump coincided with Sunil Narine suffering a recurrence of a finger injury. In the Eliminator against St Kitts & Nevis Patriots at the Providence, Narine - injured finger and all - marked his comeback with 2 for 10 in his four overs to limit Patriots to 125 for 7 on a sluggish track under overcast skies.

During a sideline interview, Patriots' coach Robin Singh was critical of his batsmen, saying: "You can't let a guy who has a broken finger end with 2 for 9 [sic 10] in four overs."

Patriots' bowlers then briefly made their total look bigger with clever pace variations and despite Lendl Simmons' stop-start half-century - his fifth this season - Knight Riders fell behind the asking rate on a pitch where stoke-making was difficult.

When Simmons holed out for 51 in the 16th over, Knight Riders still needed 48 off 27 balls. Enter captain Kieron Pollard. He had injured his quadricep in the outfield in the first innings, but he roused himself to smash 26 off nine balls to lead his side into the second qualifier at the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba, the same venue where they had won back-to-back titles in 2018.

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Beware of the wounded spinner

Nursing an injured index finger, Narine didn't put enough revs - and body - into ball, but he still found enough turn and bounce on a helpful pitch to trouble Patriots' line-up. He didn't concede a single run off the bat in his first two overs and continued to straightjacket the batsmen.

He struck in his second over when he slowed up a stock ball and had Evin Lewis chipping a return catch for 9 off 17 balls. And later when Laurie Evans and Devon Thomas were in rebuilding mode, he snapped the 51-run partnership - the highest in the match - by trapping the wicketkeeper-batsman with the last ball of his spell. Despite obvious pain, Narine sent down as many as 19 dots and returned 2 for 10.

Narine's return also solved Knight Riders' puzzle at the top. He opened with Simmons and cracked two fours before holing out to deep square leg.

Evans evens up proceedings

When Evans walked out to bat, Patriots were 30 for 2 in the sixth over. While the Sussex batsman didn't take any undue risks against Narine, he found a way to pick off runs against left-arm spinners and childhood buddies Khary Pierre and Akeal Hosein. He jumped outside leg, narrowed down the angle, and regularly launched them inside-out over extra-cover. All told, Evans hit 33 runs from 21 balls off Pierre and Hosein.

Evans also went after Chris Jordan and raised his fifty off 44 balls with a nifty leg-side clip for four. Just when it looked like Evans would crank up the tempo further, he scythed USA seamer Ali Khan to sweeper cover for 55 off 47 balls in the penultimate over of Patriots' innings. Jordan then got rid of Fabian Allen in the final over and pinned down Patriots with his accurate yorkers.

Barring Evans, no other Patriots batsman passed 20. Keron Cottoy scrambled a brace of fours, but could not get his side in the range of 140 that his coach Robin was looking for.

Simmons, Pollard save the day for TKR

After Alzarri Joseph dismissed Narine, Sheldon Cottrell stormed through the weak defences of Colin Munro and brought out his trademark salute. Sixteen for 2 soon became 31 for 3 when Darren Bravo swung slower-ball specialist Rayad Emrit to Cottrell at deep square leg - the only man in the outfield on the leg side.

Simmons got going with a lusty club over extra-cover off Joseph, but the clatter of wickets around him forced him to shelve some of his other aggressive strokes. Denesh Ramdin, the vice-captain, neither found the gap nor the boundary in the early exchanges. By the end of the 10th over, Knight Riders were 43 for 3, and Patriots' slower bowlers kept hiking the asking rate.

Simmons raised his fifty off 46 deliveries when he smeared Carlos Brathwaite for a mighty six over the midwicket boundary. But, when he attempted an encore the next ball, he picked out long-on.

Pollard then snatched the momentum with a shovelled six over square leg and then, as if a switch had been flicked on, Ramdin too unleashed some big blows in an 18-run over off Cottrell. From 13 off 30 balls, Ramdin moved to 32 not out off 38 balls, but it was Pollard who sealed victory with a hat-trick of boundaries.

Pollard dominated the celebrations, too, raising his hands towards his ears and staring at the Guyana crowd, as if to say, "Yeh Guyana talk nah."

Big Picture

It was no real surprise that Sri Lanka rode an outstanding fifty from Danushka Gunathilaka to a competitive total in the first match. Were it not for injury and disciplinary issues, the opener would command a place in their first-choice limited-overs XI. He is among the more naturally-gifted batsmen in any match.

It was also no surprise that Dasun Shanaka helped Sri Lanka maintain their momentum through the later stages of the innings. He is one of the cleanest ball-strikers around.

What was surprising was the ease with which Sri Lanka shut Pakistan's chase down. Even without Lasith Malinga, the fast bowlers had the opposition 22 for 3. Pakistan are the top-ranked T20 side in the world, but this particular top order contained Umar Akmal, who had not contributed to that rise, and Ahmed Shehzad, who had not played a T20I since mid-2018. They made 4 off 9 balls and a first-ball duck respectively. As a result, coach Misbah-ul-Haq, who made these out-of-left-field selections, is facing a little scrutiny after his first T20 in charge.

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But one victory does not make Sri Lanka invulnerable. Avishka Fernando appears to have hit some modest form in Pakistan, to follow his breakout World Cup, but the likes of Lakshan Sandakan and Wanindu Hasaranga are also far from reliable wristspin options still. The more senior players in the Sri Lanka XI will need to continue to produce excellent innings and spells, so that the younger cricketers can play in their slipstream.

Form guide

Pakistan LLWLL (completed matches, most recent first)
Sri Lanka WWLLL

In the spotlight

Just quietly, Shadab Khan has been having a disappointing 2019. His legspin has averaged 41.11 across 13 ODI innings this year (though his World Cup average of 35.55 was better). In T20s, his numbers are even bleaker - his economy rate up at 9.42, and his average at 44, albeit from only four appearances. Sri Lanka is a team he had generally done well against, but several batsmen seemed to enjoy his bowling through the course of this tour, and his 1 for 35 on Saturday was modest without being terrible. In recent years, Sri Lanka haven't loved playing wristspin. If Shadab can turn his form around, Pakistan will go some way to checking the opposition's batting.

Prior to his debut, no uncapped Sri Lanka player had quite produced as much hype in the capital as Bhanuka Rajapaksa. A star at school level for one of the fanciest Colombo institutions - Royal College - Rajapaksa had been tipped by many to become one of the island's best. But in senior cricket, his record has been modest, particularly in first-class and List A matches. Despite this, he has now got the chance to showcase his wares at the top level, and in his first T20I, he produced an innings that went some way to justifying the 10-year hype. If he can back Saturday's 32 off 22 balls up with another good performance, the selectors may keep him on even when the first-choice players return to the fray.

Team news

Given Shehzad's poor innings in the first match, Fakhar Zaman may come back into the XI.

Pakistan (possible): 1 Fakhar Zaman, 2 Babar Azam, 3 Umar Akmal, 4 Sarfaraz Ahmed (capt.) (wk), 5 Iftikhar Ahmed, 6 Asif Ali, 7 Imad Wasim, 8 Faheem Ashraf, 9 Shadab Khan, 10 Mohammad Amir, 11 Mohammad Hasnain

Sri Lanka will probably see no reason to change their XI.

Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Danushka Gunathilaka, 2 Avishka Fernando, 3 Bhanuka Rajapaksa, 4 Shehan Jayasuriya, 5 Minod Bhanuka (wk), 6 Dasun Shanaka (capt.), 7 Wanindu Hasaranga, 8 Isuru Udana, 9 Lakshan Sandakan, 10 Kasun Rajitha, 11 Nuwan Pradeep

Pitch and conditions

The dew that both teams had expected did not turn up in force on Saturday. Expect Lahore to produce a similar surface.

Stats and trivia

• Sri Lanka have lost each of their four most-recent T20 series, two of which have been at home, and two away. Their last away series win (outside one-off games) was against Bangladesh in early 2018.

• Pakistan have never lost a bilateral T20 series to Sri Lanka.

• Umar Akmal has not made a T20 fifty since February 2016. Shehzad had not made one since September 2017.

HOUSTON -- Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank said he does not see the need for a coaching change despite his team plummeting to 1-4 following a 53-32 loss to the Houston Texans on Sunday.

"No,'' Blank told ESPN when asked whether a coaching change is needed. "We've got a lot of football left. This staff has performed before. And my hope is they can fix what needs to be fixed and start winning some games.''

Asked what has bothered him most about his team's start, which includes a three-game losing streak, Blank responded, "It's not one thing. Our players are capable of playing better than they are. They have in the past. And I'm sure they will in the future.

"Obviously, the coaching is not where it needs to be. They're challenging themselves, questioning themselves, examining everything they know how to examine. That's all they can do is work really hard at it, take this as seriously as they can, and feel the pain.''

The Falcons entered the season with high expectations after limping through an injury-filled 2018 campaign. Coach Dan Quinn parted ways with all three coordinators, took over the defensive playcalling, and hired Dirk Koetter and Ben Kotwica as his offensive and special-teams coordinators, respectively. Quinn said last week that he was happy with the coaching staff and had no plans of making a change at coordinator.

The Falcons have lost a few key players to serious injuries: Strong safety Keanu Neal suffered a season-ending Achilles tear, first-round draft pick Chris Lindstrom suffered a broken right foot and was placed on injury reserve, and punter Matt Bosher was placed on injured reserve with a groin injury. But the offseason emphasis on establishing depth was supposed to help compensate for key injuries.

Now the reeling Falcons head to Arizona next week with an 0-3 road record.

"My pain is unimportant,'' Blank said. "The fans' pain is very important. And I certainly can feel all of that. They're deeply disappointed. The coaches are disappointed. The players are disappointed. And, obviously, I am as well.''

When pressed on why he has so much confidence in Quinn, Blank didn't hesitate to support his fifth-year coach.

"As I just got done saying, the staff has been here for a long time and they have performed at a high level in the past,'' Blank said. "And there's no reason to think they can't figure out what needs to be done and go from there.''

The Falcons still have a chance to salvage the season since they have not played a division game yet. Their first NFC South game is Nov. 10 at New Orleans, and all six of their division games are in November and December. They essentially would have to run the table on those games based on how bleak the outlook appears right now. Not to mention the Falcons play two explosive offenses -- the Rams and the Seahawks -- consecutively at home to close out October.

"Well, the team needs to play at a much higher level than it's currently playing,'' Blank said. "Hopefully that equals the playoffs. But I'm not worried about the playoffs right now. I'm worried about winning games. That's all I'm worried about.''

Quinn has a 37-32 overall record. The Falcons are 18-19 in the regular season since appearing in Super Bowl LI.

PITTSBURGH -- Mason Rudolph scrambled left, extending the play by escaping a collapsed pocket and rifling a pass downfield to his favorite college receiver.

But the cheers for the Pittsburgh Steelers' 26-yard completion quickly subsided and the focus shifted away from James Washington to the motionless quarterback some 30 yards behind the play.

With a hard hit to Rudolph's chin with 7:29 remaining in the third quarter of the Steelers' 26-23 overtime loss, Baltimore Ravens safety Earl Thomas II placed the quarterback in the concussion protocol and forced the Steelers to play their third signal caller in four weeks.

"I didn't intentionally try to hurt him," Thomas said, insisting he didn't hit Rudolph too high. "I'm worried about him. I heard he's at the hospital. My prayers go out to him and his family. I've never tried to hurt anybody. At the end of the day, guys have families."

Running over to Rudolph after the hit, left tackle Alejandro Villanueva put his hands on the unconscious quarterback's chest in a cursory check for vital signs and frantically motioned to the athletic trainers on the sideline.

"When he was on the ground, it looked like it was a lot more serious than just a simple hit," Villanueva said. "I don't like to get into details of his medical condition. You could tell he had been hit to the head and the only thing I could do was to wave the trainers down to the location."

As team medical personnel rushed out, Rudolph's teammates came closer to their injured quarterback. Wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster crumpled backward upon seeing Rudolph laying on the ground. Overcome with emotion, Smith-Schuster crawled forward on all fours as he prayed for his teammate.

"I've heard of situations where the person's not moving at all and they don't get up," Smith-Schuster said. "And I was just praying to God that he gets up and he's our quarterback and he's our guy. I'm praying for a speedy recovery."

While trainers surrounded Rudolph, the cart came out on the field and the stretcher was brought out. Though mostly still, Rudolph's legs moved intermittently as trainers worked on him, unsnapping his facemask from the front of his helmet.

As Rudolph stood up after about four minutes on the ground, the officials announced a roughing the passer call against Thomas for the hit, and the crowd responded with loud chants of "Take him out."

Afterward, though, Thomas maintained his hit on Rudolph was legal.

"It's a football play," Thomas said "It wasn't dirty. He actually got sandwiched. B-Carr [Brandon Carr] came from behind and I hit him from the side in the strike zone. I didn't even see a flag initially. I think once they saw how serious it was, they were like, 'Oh, let me throw this flag,' which was understandable."

Rudolph didn't exit on the cart as it failed to work correctly due to operator error, a team spokesman confirmed, and instead, linemen Zach Banner and B.J. Finney came on from the sideline to assist their quarterback. Rudolph looped an arm around each of their necks, and together, the trio advanced slowly toward the sideline.

The pair talked to Rudolph a bit, asking him what -- if anything -- he remembered, and they got a smile and a small laugh out of him.

"By the time I was carrying him, he was responsive and talking and everything," Finney said. "It's a scary moment, but we're glad he's all right and that he'll come back to us."

Once on the sideline, Rudolph was helped into the tunnel by more team personnel and he was taken to a hospital for precautionary tests. A source told ESPN's Jeremy Fowler that Rudolph will be "OK" and "so far, signs are good" as they relate to his responsiveness and spirits. He's now home from the hospital, according to the source.

With Rudolph's concussion, the Steelers are on the verge of a third starting quarterback in six weeks. Rudolph took over for Ben Roethlisberger at halftime of the Week 2 loss after Roethlisberger's season-ending elbow injury.

After Rudolph's injury Sunday, the spotlight turned to former Samford quarterback Devlin Hodges, who was elevated to the 53-man roster from the practice squad after Roethlisberger's injury.

Hodges completed 7-of-9 attempts for 68 yards in relief of Rudolph, and he recorded the Steelers' longest run of the game with a 21-yard scramble in the fourth quarter.

"Mason is my guy," Hodges said. "I would say he is one of my closer friends on the team. He has really taken me in. You might see me on the sideline kind of just standing there, it wasn't because I was freaking out about me going in, I was just thinking about Mason and what's up with him and is he OK. After a minute, he was just lying there, he wasn't even moving. That is just tough to look at."

LANDOVER, Md. -- Washington Redskins running back Chris Thompson, carrying the frustration of an 0-5 start, tried to choke back tears as he discussed coach Jay Gruden's future. Thompson lost the battle; tears eventually rolled down his cheeks and he paused several times while finishing an answer. Gruden's job security remains tenuous after a 33-7 loss to the New England Patriots. New reports about his potential firing surface every week. It's become a topic of conversation in the locker room, during the week and especially after games.

"It's frustrating, of course," Thompson said. "It's something that's tough to think about with that situation. I really care about Jay and ..."

Thompson paused, tears started dripping and he needed to take a deep breath. Nine seconds later he continued.

"It's tough, man," Thompson said.

Thompson arrived in 2013, a year before Gruden did, but he's credited the Redskins' coach with giving him numerous opportunities over the years -- taking him from a practice squad player in 2014 to Washington's third-down back for the past four-plus seasons.

Meanwhile, Gruden, in his sixth season, continues to answer questions about his job. The Redskins last made the playoffs in 2015, Gruden's second season. Since then, they're 22-30-1. The focus on his security was there before this season started. There were questions entering 2018 as well.

But nobody from the organization has said anything publicly since the season began about his status. Redskins owner Dan Snyder and team president Bruce Allen exited the stadium shortly after Sunday's game; they typically hang around at the stadium for several hours.

"Nobody's told me anything," Gruden said during his news conference. "I don't have a concern; I'll just wait and see -- if my key works on Monday, keep working, go attack the Miami Dolphins and plan on getting our first win next week."

No other players were as emotional as Thompson in a quiet locker room. But there is clear frustration: The Redskins did not anticipate being this bad. They've scored a combined 25 points the past three games. Now, they're getting more questions about what must change -- or who.

"I don't know, to be honest," said Redskins running back Adrian Peterson. "I've never been in this position before. But it's clear something has to change. That's one thing you do know because we are 0-5. We have not been productive as an offense. We've shown flashes of what we can be, but we haven't been consistent. You have to go to the drawing board as a coaching staff offensively and defensively and you say, 'OK, what can we do better to put our players in better position to be productive.' It's their job to do that. We're 0-5 so what we've been doing isn't working."

Other veterans didn't want to answer questions about Gruden's job.

"That's not a question I can answer, that's dealing with up top," Redskins corner Josh Norman said. "I'm not going to put myself in a situation to comment on it. That goes to the people in the top of the office that make those decisions. We just play the game and play it to the best of our abilities. ... We can't catch a break."

Linebacker Ryan Kerrigan said, "We can't concern ourselves with that. We've got to try and find a way to win as players. We've got to be better as players. That's our focus."