NEW ORLEANS -- New Orleans Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram was a late scratch from Monday's game against the Houston Rockets because of right knee soreness.

Ingram started his pregame warm-ups with nothing on his right leg but left the floor earlier than usual to head back to the training room. When he returned, he had a brace on his right knee as trainers watched him get up extra shots.

He went through part of his pregame routine getting shots up but returned to the locker room. Shortly after, the Pelicans announced he was out for the game.

Josh Hart will take Ingram's place in the starting lineup.

Ingram leads the Pelicans in points per game (25.9) and rebounds per game (7.3) and is also the team's leading 3-point shooter at 46.9%. When the Rockets and Pelicans met on Oct. 26 in Houston, Ingram had 35 points and a career-high 15 rebounds.

Ingram did miss one half of a game this season when he left the Oklahoma City contest on Nov. 2 after suffering a blow to the head. He did not have a concussion and played two days later in Brooklyn without any trouble.

Sacramento Kings guard De'Aaron Fox will miss at least three to four weeks after suffering an ankle sprain when a teammate stepped on him at practice Monday.

Fox had an MRI on the injury Monday and was diagnosed with a left ankle sprain, the Kings said.

Fox is in his third NBA season after the Kings selected him with the fifth overall pick of the 2017 NBA draft out of Kentucky. He's averaging 18.2 points and seven assists per game in nine starts for Sacramento this season.

BOSTON -- The Celtics announced Monday night that Gordon Hayward will be out six weeks following successful surgery to repair a broken fourth metacarpal bone in his left hand.

Hayward had the surgery in New York on Monday afternoon, after suffering the injury late in the first half of Saturday's 135-115 Celtics win over the Spurs in San Antonio.

"I feel bad for anybody that goes through that," Celtics coach Brad Stevens said before Monday's game about Hayward's injury. "But this is ... I said this the other day, this is not two years ago.

"He'll be out for a little bit and hopefully surgery goes great and then we'll figure out when he can come back. The silver lining, any time you miss games, is that you're more fresh at the end. At the end of the day he was playing great, but we've got other guys that are ready to step up and fill the void."

Marcus Smart took Hayward's place in the starting lineup for Monday night's game against the Dallas Mavericks at TD Garden, with the Celtics announcing the result of Hayward's surgery late in the first quarter.

Hayward suffered the injury when he collided with Spurs forward LaMarcus Aldridge when the latter was setting a screen on him that he didn't see coming. While Aldridge was called for an offensive foul on the play, Hayward -- whose left arm got caught between his body and Aldridge's -- immediately began shaking his hand, and went straight back to Boston's locker room. An X-ray later revealed the break.

The nine-year veteran has been excellent to start the season, averaging 18.9 points, 7.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists in eight games this season for the Celtics, while shooting 55.5% overall and 43.3% from 3-point range. He's been repeatedly praised by scouts who've seen him play in the early going, and has benefited from an offseason fully dedicated to working on his body and game, rather than rehabbing like he did last summer.

Hayward missed all but six minutes of his first season with the Celtics following gruesome leg and ankle injuries he suffered in the opening game of the 2017-18 season, and often looked tentative last season as he slowly made his way back.

But after Hayward spent the summer living in Boston and working out at the team's facility, the Celtics privately were excited about his progress -- excitement he proved to be legitimate as he has been Boston's most consistent player so far this season. Now Boston will have to lean more heavily on its other three perimeter scoring threats -- Kemba Walker, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown -- to pick up the slack left by Hayward's absence.

"It's going to be tough because he was playing great, and we were playing great as a team," Tatum said after the team's shootaround Monday morning. "But, just next-man-up mentality. Next guy has to be ready."

Also helping to soften the blow of Hayward's injury was the return of Enes Kanter, who had been out since suffering a left knee contusion in a collision with Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid in the third quarter of Boston's season-opening loss in Philadelphia. Kanter checked into a game for the first time in Boston late in the first quarter, and received a nice ovation.

It’s joy for England’s Willstrop while fairy tale for Tamimi ends
By ALEX WAN – Squash Mad Asian Bureau Editor

James Willstrop rolled back the years today as he put up a magnificent display to send third seed and 2016 World Champion Karim Abdel Gawad packing in the last 16 of the 2019 Men’s World Championships. The 36-year old, playing in his 15th World Champs and a runner up himself in 2010, drew on all the years of experience to masterfully craft out the win in what seemed like an impossible task at certain parts of the match.

After taking the opener in 12 minutes, James was completely outplayed in the second. Karim was hitting many boasts to draw James to the front and trying to move him all over the four corners. It was almost painful watching the Yorkshireman keeping up at this game. It was 8-1 and soon enough, 11-4 to the Egyptian to draw level.

Things seemed to have continued into the third game when Karim went to 3-0 up after a series of three consecutive boasts. It was from here that James slowly came back into game as he caught up to draw level 3-3. From here, Karim never got the lead again as James nudged ahead each time he drew level. At 9-8 up, James was denied a let that brought them to 9-a piece. This was followed by a trademark backhand drop from the back, which Karim was unable to scrape out of the side wall and then was gifted a tin from the Egyptian’s racket to go 2-1 up.

It felt almost a different James had come on court in game four, as he played gallantly with a different body language, despite going down 0-3 at the start. He continued to trail and finally went into the lead after a stroke brought him to 9-8 and then match ball up at 10-8. The crowd had now gone into a frenzy screaming for Karim to fight and this he did, first forcing a tin to 10-9 and when he got to 10-10, a huge scream of yalla (come on) was heard.

It was however, James’ day as he regroups and wins the next two points through a no let and then Karim sending a forehand drop into the tin.

“I didn’t know if I was capable of doing it. I’ve been training, I’ve been hitting the ball alright. It’s whether I can cope with these players in a match situation. It’s so different to what I’m doing day-to-day to look after the body. I’ve had a day off and had a nice little rest. That helped me today, to be able to be fresh and push hard, both mentally and physically. It’s really nice to play like that”, James said of how he felt about what he just did.

“I just tried to not worry. Just try to not be mentally down and rely on my experience as I’ve been there. I also knew the first game was nothing to think about because everyone knows of his slow starts. So when I was 8-1 down in the second, I kind of knew this was going to happen and not panic”, James added on the point that he was being outplayed in the second.

In the other tight match of the day, second seed Tarek Momen was involved in an uphill battle against the in-form home darling Abdulla Al Tamimi. After two huge wins in the previous rounds, there was a lot of hope on the local boy, who looked more nervous this evening in comparison to the previous two. His nervousness certainly was confirmed in the first game as he lost it very quickly 11-5 in just 8 minutes.

He came back with a more matured and patient game and was duly rewarded with the second game to draw level. This patient display continued into the third game, and he turned a 4-7 deficit to a 9-7 lead. But a pair of tins allowed Tarek to draw level 9-9, that was quickly cancelled with a pair of beautifully hit backhand volley drops which The Viper was unable to pick. 11-9 to Abdulla, a 2-1 lead and very cheers from the stands.

Things were looking very good for the local boy as he surged ahead to 6-3. Having played twice the amount of World Champs than his opponent, Tarek manages to use all the extra experience he has to claw back into the game and at 7-7, a huge rally ensued that ended with Abdulla diving to save a shot at the back of the court unsuccessfully. That gave Tarek the lead 8-7, which was the turning point as he never looked back after that. A tin from Abdulla ended the game at 11-9 and the momentum had shifted.

The fifth game saw an exhausted Abdulla just completely outplayed as he succumbed relatively easily 11-4 and Tarek is into his fourth World Champs quarter final.

“I’m quite happy because, to be honest, that was a very tough match. Halfway through the fourth game at 6-3 down, I thought to myself, OK this is very critical now. I felt like I have no solutions then and I just had to grind it out. So, I’m really happy with the way I fought to come back to win this. Right now, I just have to stop thinking about what happened, recover and prepare for my next tough match against Diego (Elias)”, a relieved Tarek said later.

Having got onto court after Karim Abdel Gawad was ousted by James Willstrop, that must’ve certainly be something playing in the second seed’s mind, to which he confirmed after the match:

“Going into the match, I tried so hard to block this thought out of my mind because it was huge. If not, I’ll keep thinking I hope this doesn’t happen to me”

“The Egyptian crowd evened out all the home supporters and made the whole atmosphere just unbelievable. There was cheering just after every single point – whether it was for Abdulla or for me. So, I think it was very entertaining for everyone”, Tarek commenting if there was additional pressure playing to the home crowd cheering.

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While there was no silver lining finish for Abood as he is known locally, Abdulla left the event with many positive and said:

“I’m quite disappointed with today’s result for sure. But overall, it was a good tournament. I had a couple of really good matches and today, I think I played some of my best squash as well to take Tarek to five and have some chances to win the match, especially after a bad start to the first game. It was 8 minutes – he played really well and I was nervous and was not really into the game that much. To back it up and come back in the second, third and have my chances in the fourth game, that was very good for me mentally and I’ll take a lot of the positives from this match. And I’ll look at the negatives and try to improve them for the rest of the season.

“I’ve been working on my patience and tactics and play the way I want to play. Just be more precise with my shots, move the player around and how to be patient, instead of playing those outrageous shots all the time”, added Abdulla on what he had worked on over the year to get here.

Earlier in the afternoon, Simon Rosner chopped himself into the last eight with a master class display against Welsh Joel Makin. Simon, a semi-finalist at the Chicago World Champs earlier this year, came from behind in the first two games to win them 11-8 and 11-8.

The German Tree Chopper was playing with such fluidity and was taking the ball early, not allowing Joel much opportunities to attack. He was so quick onto the ball that many attacks to the front left corner ended up as lets or strokes, which clearly frustrated the Welsh a lot.

In the third game, the long and physical opening rally seemed to have taken out a lot of energy from Joel as he never seemed to have recovered. A one-sided affair all the way in the fifth as the German romped home 11-5 to win in 47 minutes.

“Having not had the best two weeks, it’s very, very good to get a win against someone who’s in-form like Joel, (him) having beaten Tarek (Momen) last week. It’s a big, big confidence boost for me and I need to take that kind of form into the next rounds.

“I was being more aggressive today, pushing myself forward and taking the ball much earlier. I saw him struggle a little physically in the start of the third game and not being as fast as he usually is. That gave me like a mental edge to push harder”, Simon said when asked how differently did he play today compared to the previous round.

Simon’s opponent in the quarter-final will be Diego Elias, who defeated Egyptian Fares Dessouky. While there were plenty of predictions and expectations of a fiery and physical encounter, this did not materialise as the pair played a fair and respectable match.

It was, however, Diego’s good day as he was just too good for the 25-year old Egyptian. After a rather nervous first game, there wasn’t much the Peruvian did wrong in the next three games, as he wrapped up the match just shy of the hour.

“I started a bit nervous as this is my first last sixteen of the World Champs. Then I started to play better and more consistently. I think I did really well at the end.

“This was one of my goals, to get into the quarter-finals. But of course, I’m feeling great and I feel like I’m playing good squash, so I think I can go all the way.

“We’re pretty close in the rankings and we’ve played against each other all our lives, so it’s pretty hard to be the best of friends off court. But we are trying to be as god as we can and we’re getting better each time”, Diego added when asked how he and Fares got on off court as the pair have had some bad-tempered matches over the years.

2019 PSA Men’s World Championships, Khalifa Tennis and Squash Club, Doha, Qatar.
Third round (upper half).

[5] Simon Rosner (Ger) 3-0 [11] Joel Makin (Wal) 11-8, 11-8, 11-5 (47m)
[6] Diego Elias (Per) 3-1 [13] Fares Dessouky (Egy) 10-12, 11-8, 11-6, 11-4 (56m)
James Willstrop (Eng) 3-1 [3] Karim Abdel Gawad (Egy) 11-8, 4-11, 11-9, 12-10 (71m)
[2] Tarek Momen (Egy) 3-2 Abdulla Al Tamimi (Qat) 11-5, 10-12, 9-11, 11-9, 11-4 (76m)

Pictures courtesy of Qatar Squash

CONCORD, N.C. — When Kyle Strickler moved from Pennsylvania to North Carolina in 2016, his long-term goal was to eventually secure an opportunity to race a dirt late model.

After multiple successful seasons racing dirt modifieds, that opportunity presented itself this year as Strickler agreed to drive for team owner Eric Wells and his Wells and Sons Motorsports team.

“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do — go late model racing,” Strickler said. “I’m fortunate that I have a lot of great sponsors behind me that allow me to go do that now.”

According to Strickler, who competed during last weekend’s Can-Am World Finals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte, the transition hasn’t been easy.

“The modified stuff comes second nature to me. I’ve been doing that for so long that I know how to convert the feel of what I’m feeling on the race track into adjustments,” Strickler explained. “In the late model I’m still learning that. I know what I’m feeling, but I don’t know the correct adjustment to make all the time on the late models yet.

“That compiled with how good everybody is in the late model world makes it really tough sometimes. Sometimes I’ve learned you’ve got to take what you can get. It’s hard to go out there and just make something happen.”

There are a lot of differences between the dirt modifieds Strickler is used to racing and the dirt late models he’s been racing recently, the biggest of which is the brakes.

“We can’t run as good of calipers on the modifieds, so the brakes are so much different on a late model and so much better on a late model,” Strickler explained. “A lot of times, for a guy like me that uses a lot of brake, I just need to figure out what to do differently to get the car to be right for me. I think coming from the modified, I just push way too hard on the pedal on the late model side.”

Strickler thinks he needs to work on adjusting his driving style because the things he normally does in a dirt modified don’t always translate to a dirt late model.

“I probably haven’t changed it (driving style) enough. That’s one of the issues with the late model side of it. I’m trying to find the balance between the setup on the car and me changing my driving style,” Strickler explained. “Obviously it would be great where they both would drive the same and I could just do everything I do in the modified in the late model and then it would be perfect.

“It’s hard to do that,” he added. “Really hard to do that just because there are so much more tires (grip), so much more downforce. It just makes it really tough. I’m trying to make those adjustments.”

Strickler’s first season in a dirt late model hasn’t been all negative. He earned his first victory in a dirt late model during a Schaeffer’s Iron-Man Championship Series event at Tennessee’s Tazewell Speedway on July 4.

Moments like that give Strickler the motivation to keep pushing ahead, something he’ll be doing on his own after recently deciding to part ways with Wells and Sons Motorsports.

One main reason for the split, according to Strickler, was it was simply too far from his North Carolina home to the Wells and Sons Motorsports shop in Hazard, Ky.

“I think the plan moving forward is to just drive my own stuff, modified and late model,” said Strickler, who raced his own dirt late model last weekend during the Can-Am World Finals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte. “The Wells gave me an awesome opportunity with getting me started. It was just too far away. I can’t be in two places at one time. When I was with my wife and kids, I felt like I was letting the race team down and when I was in the race shop in Hazard, I felt like I was missing out with my wife and kids.

“I think this should be the perfect situation for me where I can have the best of both worlds, a race team and a family in the same town.”

Strickler says his plan for next year is to focus mostly on dirt late model racing, with a few higher paying modified races sprinkled in.

“We’ll see how it goes,” Strickler said. “Just got to keep on moving forward and getting things better and learning about the late model side of stuff and also still do a lot of modified racing, which has been so good to me all through my career.”

Raheem Sterling has been ruled out of England's next Euro 2020 qualifier as a result of a "disturbance" at the team's training centre, the FA has announced.

"We can confirm Raheem Sterling will not be considered for England's EURO 2020 qualifier against Montenegro as a result of a disturbance in a private team area at St. George's Park today. He will remain with the squad," the FA said in a statement on Monday.

- Euro 2020: Who will reach the finals?
- Euro 2020 qualifying: All you need to know

England boss Gareth Southgate said that emotions were still running high in the England camp after Liverpool's crucial 3-1 Premier League win over Manchester City on Sunday, but that his team would cope in the absence of City forward Sterling.

"We have taken the decision to not consider Raheem for the match against Montenegro on Thursday," he said.

"One of the great challenges and strengths for us is that we've been able to separate club rivalries from the national team. Unfortunately the emotions of yesterday's game were still raw.

"My feeling is that the right thing for the team is the action we have taken. Now that the decision has been made with the agreement of the entire squad, it's important that we support the players and focus on Thursday night."

Southgate has called up four Liverpool players for England's latest round of qualifiers -- Joe Gomez, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jordan Henderson and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain -- while Sterling and John Stones have been included from Man City.

Sterling has become a key player for England in the past year after being criticised for his displays at the 2018 World Cup.

Last season he was named Footballer of the Year by the Football Writers' Association after scoring 25 goals in all competitions as City won a domestic treble of the Premier League title and the two Cup competitions.

For England, Sterling has scored 12 goals in 55 games but has been a regular under Southgate and scored twice in the recent 6-0 win away to Bulgaria.

England, who top Group A with 15 points from six matches, will host Montenegro at Wembley on Thursday, Nov. 14, before travelling to Kosovo three days later.

Information from Reuters was used in this report.

The adoption of the amendments proposed by the BCCI to its constitution would, if unchallenged, be tantamount to "ridiculing" of the Supreme Court and its endeavour over the past several years to introduce reforms in the richest and most powerful cricket board.

That's the opinion of Gopal Sankaranarayanan secretary of the RM Lodha Committee, whose recommended reforms were approved by the Supreme Court on July 18, 2016. The Lodha Committee, appointed by the court in 2015, was headed by former Chief Justice of India Lodha along with former Supreme Court Justices RV Raveendran and Ashok Bhan.

Sankaranarayanan, speaking to ESPNcricinfo, said he believed the highest court in the country still "had a role to play" in the issue and that the BCCI's proposed changes, if adopted, could be challenged by any member of the public. He did, however, concede that the court itself was partly to blame for gradually "diluting" the reforms it had first approved three years ago.

Sankaranarayanan is the first person closely involved with the drafting of the reforms to react to the BCCI's proposals. Chief Justice (Retd) Lodha, when contacted by this reporter on Monday, said he had stop commenting on BCCI matters.

The proposals to change the constitution came to light last Saturday when the BCCI's new secretary, Jay Shah, circulated the agenda for the board's annual general meeting, to be held on December 1. The constitution, which had been registered in August 2018, had been drafted by the committee of administrators (CoA).

The most radical amendments include altering the rules concerning the cooling-off period for office-bearers, relaxing various disqualification criteria and removing the need for any changes to the constitution to be approved by the Supreme Court.

Adopting of the proposals, Sankaranarayanan said, would mean the reforms had ceased to exist. "If this is permitted to be done and if it remains unchallenged in court and the Supreme Court does not either have a challenge before it or it does not take up suo motu, it will mean ridiculing of the Supreme Court and everything that it did over the years," he said. "It will completely mean going back to square one as far as cricket administration and reforms are concerned. Most of the significant changes would have ceased to exist."

He pointed out the BCCI was trying to further loosen the reforms, which had already been revisited by various benches of the court after the principal judgement in July 2016 delivered by TS Thakur, the then Chief Justice of India. "It suggests that they are almost completely effacing what is left of the reforms after the Supreme Court had stepped in. They feel that there might be some kind of lacuna left behind after the Supreme Court has been looking at stuff for several years.

"They could possibly try and argue that, 'Look, the Supreme Court has not barred us from amending our own constitution so we are more than capable of amending it and making all sorts of changes to it.' That is a narrow way of looking at things. They will somehow ensure whatever is left after Supreme Court itself had reversed much of the [original reforms] so that old cliques can continue to operate in a big way."

The amendments will be voted on at BCCI AGM on December 1 by the general body, comprising elected representatives of the state associations, and need a three-fourth majority to be passed. After that, the board will need the court's approval to alter the constitution to accommodate the amendments.

Sankaranarayanan said regardless of whether the amendments were approved unanimously or not, the court "will have a role to play" even if the BCCI might not believe so. "They are trying to imply that they will no longer need the Supreme Court's imprimatur when it [the board] makes changes [to the constitution]," he said. "It is very clear, the way the Supreme Court has approached this over the years, that any reforms that have come by way of its judgement are full and final. Those changes which came because of the judgement cannot be trifled with without the court's consent. Anything the court has dealt with, you will have to go back to the court if you want to make any changes.

"It makes no difference if the amendment is unanimous or third-fourth majority or anything - in my view the court will have a role because the court had a role all this while. It was specific when it approved the initial reforms [in 2016], then it approved the constitution that was drafted and submitted by the CoA last year."

The upheaval in the BCCI was prompted by then Bihar Cricket Association secretary Aditya Verma's petition in the Supreme Court concerning the 2013 IPL corruption scandal. Sankaranarayanan said that an outsider could once again knock on the court's doors to draw its attention to the BCCI's latest move. "An outsider will definitely have locus standi because that is how it came to the Supreme Court to start with, with the Bihar Cricket Association representative bringing it to the court."

Although there is a feeling the court's intervention has failed to make any impact on the BCCI, which is once again threatening to become an exclusive club, Sankaranarayanan said he thought otherwise because he said cricket was followed by the masses who were "invested" in the sport.

He agreed, though, that the Lodha Committee could have put in place more safeguards to make the reforms more complete and said he believed the court had shot itself in the foot when it revised the 2016 set of reforms. That has allowed the BCCI and the state associations to raise objections. "I would have of course wished the Supreme Court had not just kept changing its views and diluting the reforms more and more every time a new bench came to look at the matter because that is precisely what has happened.

"What we are seeing now as the final version of the constitution that the BCCI wants to amend even further is quite a shadow of what was initially was proposed by the reforms. Small tweaks I can understand, but after a final judgment of the Chief Justice Thakur's bench and a review being dismissed there should never have been an exercise of jurisdiction which allowed further changes, which is what has happened now. The rule of law has been utilised very flexibly, much to the advantage of the BCCI in this case. Let's hope it doesn't see a repeat of that."

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The feeling-out period is over and San Francisco 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman leans forward in his chair, taking care to make eye contact with each of the 20 kids as they listen with rapt attention.

It's time for Sherman to get serious with the kids, who are serving time in unit 1B at the Santa Clara County Juvenile Hall. He's been talking for about 15 minutes, with each side slowly easing into real conversation.

The questions come slowly, ranging from what sport Sherman would have played if not football (track) to whether he plays Madden (he's more of an NBA 2K guy) to whether it hurts to tackle someone (not usually, but a recent stinger against the Los Angeles Rams earns mention) to what his first purchase was when he signed his NFL contract (a 2011 BMW 745).

The next question comes from one of the adults in the room, asking Sherman how he made it through his own difficult times. He begins describing what it was like to grow up in South Central Los Angeles and the dangers that awaited outside of his family home. He tells the young men, all between 13 and 17 years old, about how he kept his focus on school work and realized early things wouldn't come easily.

Sherman is just getting warmed up, when he sits up and gets to the heart of his message: "You get 24 hours in a day," Sherman says. "And I guarantee you that you all understand the importance of every minute of 24 hours right now. When you get free and can control your own destiny, take advantage of every minute and every second of the 24 hours. When you get it back, never give it back to anybody. Live your life to the fullest."

'A million forks in the road'

Although he grew up in a loving, tight-knit home with parents working hard to put food on the table, Sherman's childhood was spent just north of Compton, known as one of the roughest cities in greater Los Angeles. Sherman's daily life included regular encounters with gangs and opportunities to go down the wrong road.

"There's been a million forks in the road throughout my life," Sherman said. "Just because that's what you're constantly around. Temptation at every turn."

Sherman's parents instilled in him what he calls the "fundamental values" -- to not take the wrong path when those forks present themselves.

As a teenager, one of Sherman's closest friends got involved with a gang. As his friend was preparing for his initiation, he began to worry about what was to come. He tried to get Sherman to join him, an idea Sherman rejected.

Sherman says he pleaded with his friend to back out. He didn't. A few years later, when Sherman was a freshman at Stanford, that friend was killed in a drive-by shooting.

"He made that decision," Sherman said. "And, you know, those are the situations where you remember them your whole life."

That experience, as well as a memorable visit from Magic Johnson to Sherman's Dominguez High in which Johnson emphasized the importance of setting and achieving goals, helped Sherman become a potential Hall of Famer with a communications degree from Stanford and the ability to take care of his family.

Those days also shaped Sherman's world view and factor in to every decision he and his wife, Ashley, make when figuring out how they can use their platform to help others.

Ashley Sherman runs Blanket Coverage, the Sherman Family Foundation. She said she talks with Richard at least once a day about where they should concentrate their time and resources. Those conversations often lead them back to helping young people in need by providing school supplies and clothing for students in low-income communities.

It led them to Santa Clara County Juvenile Hall.

"It's always things that we're both passionate about, that we can relate to," Ashley Sherman said. "And you know, the ones we can't relate to, we always try to find a way to still help because those kids are still important to us because no one has really taken the time to hear their story. We want to be those people. We care. We're here, tell us your story. How can we help?"

'You've got to mean it'

After each of the 49ers' victories the past few weeks, Sherman has stepped to the podium for his postgame news conference and preempted questions by sending a shoutout to the kids in unit 1B.

The unit is one of six in the facility and at any given time houses between 11 and 26 young people separated by gender. The male wings are separated by age and type of offense committed.

There are currently 97 kids in the facility, with 48 in for the most serious crimes. The average stay is 30 to 33 days in the facility, though those in for more serious crimes can be there closer to two years.

Each day includes a full day of school from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., followed by programs such as Fresh Lifelines for Youth (FLY), a nonprofit that works on "breaking the cycle of juvenile violence, crime and incarceration." FLY is a nearly two-decade community partner of the 49ers, coming in to work with the kids on things like anger management and substance abuse counseling.

"Often, our young people are here because they have been let down repeatedly by adults and have ended up in situations where they've made choices, sometimes out of survival, sometimes because they're dealing with the system that we know has inherently a lot of biases and challenges and they don't have a way through," said Christa Gannon, FLY's executive director and founder. "So, any adult we introduce them to has gotta be a positive one that's going to live up to their word and is going to help them through this."

A few weeks ago, Sherman approached the Niners' community-relations team and asked how he could get involved with some of the area's troubled youth. He was quickly connected to the group at the juvenile hall and FLY.

Soon, Sherman found himself sitting with the kids in 1B, talking about anything and everything and promising to bring them a copy of NBA 2K20 if he got positive reports on their behavior before his next visit.

And when Sherman and 11 teammates arrived at the facility on Oct. 22 for another visit, he had a copy of the game in hand.

"What Richard Sherman did was gold for these kids," said Nick Birchard, deputy chief probation officer. "He said he would do it. He did it. And they're completely happy with that, because they're just used to that not taking place. They're used to being disappointed by adults, whether it's their family, or whatever that looks like."

'It's important to not give up'

On this warm Tuesday afternoon, Sherman and his teammates break into groups and spend an hour talking to kids in each unit. From there, they head outdoors to a grass field for football drills, using the physical activity as an example of how to manage anger.

During the group chat in 1B, the kids are asked about the best way to deal with angry moments. Alternatives like listening to music, taking a deep breath and playing sports are mentioned. The room goes quiet when one of the young men raises his hand and offers the most insightful response of all.

"Think about what you've got to lose," he says.

Sherman smiles, nods his head and picks up on the cue. His faith in the group has been reinforced.

"It's important to not give up on these kids," Sherman said. "Coming from where I'm from you understand that kids make mistakes. And sometimes these mistakes are more serious and more egregious. But I want them to know that there are people that care about them, people that still believe in them, and people that believe they can turn their lives around."

As Sherman wraps up this visit, he promises to upgrade their television if everyone meets certain goals and takes care of their business. He's asked for some jerseys and says it's possible as long as they're good with his red No. 25.

One young man even asks about getting some Uggs, Sherman's comfortable shoe of choice, for the whole group. Sherman laughs and tells them they aren't ready for that.

Sherman turns it over to Ashley, who echoes her husband's message and suggests taking advantage of the resources provided by FLY and other organizations that work closely with the facility. She suggests journaling as a means to "write your own story."

Before he departs, Sherman offers one final message, telling the group their mistakes don't define them.

"What I want them to understand is that you can believe in people being who they say they are and you can get rewarded for doing what's right," Sherman said. "I want them to understand that you can be vulnerable, you can be friends, you can get past these affiliations that you have and just be human."

Sherman closes by saying he'll be back. In unison, the kids clap and thank Sherman for coming, confident that they'll see him again. Soon.

RENTON, Wash. -- The first sign that 2019 could be a breakout season for Shaquill Griffin came on a play that didn't even count.

It was in the fourth quarter of the Seattle Seahawks' Week 1 win over the Cincinnati Bengals. When a neutral-zone infraction gave the Bengals a free play, Andy Dalton heaved a deep ball 40 yards down the right sideline to John Ross, he of the record-breaking 4.22-second 40-yard dash at the 2017 scouting combine.

Griffin ran stride for stride with Ross the whole way, then made a perfectly timed leap to knock the pass away with his outstretched left hand. It was a textbook play from Griffin, right down to avoiding contact with Ross in a way that didn't give officials a reason to flag him for pass interference.

And it was a play he might not have made last season, when he was carrying around extra weight that left him fatigued late in games.

Griffin is a different player physically and mentally in his third season. He lost almost 20 pounds and also ditched what he called a "selfish" mentality that he had last season -- that he needed to be Richard Sherman just because he was replacing him at left cornerback.

The result: Griffin has quietly played at a Pro Bowl level through the Seahawks' first nine games even as he awaits his first interception this season. He's been the most consistent player in a secondary -- and a defense in general -- that has had its hands full and will again Monday night against the unbeaten San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium.

Griffin's nine pass breakups is one off the NFL lead and already three more than he had last season. According to NFL Next Gen Stats data, he has allowed an 82.2 passer rating when he's the nearest defender in coverage. That ranks 14th among NFL players with a minimum of 40 targets and represents a significant improvement over his 94.7 mark from 2018.

"I think Shaq's having a great season," Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. "He's having his best season. He's the most consistent. He's been productive making plays. He's challenged guys. Played a bunch of really good guys already, ton of good receivers. He's playing with the confidence that you would hope he would play with after a couple years of starting."

Cheesecake Factory out, sugar-free cheesecake in

If a story about Griffin's emergence as one of the NFL's promising young cornerbacks sounds familiar, it should. He was on that track early last season when he picked off a pair of passes in a Monday night game at Chicago in Week 2. That doubled Griffin's interception total from his rookie season and offered a glimpse of how high his ceiling could go.

But that strong start gave way to uneven play.

"He had some early success, and then it just kind of just was even-keeled, and I just thought OK," Seahawks defensive backs coach Andre Curtis said. "It was a good season, but I was anticipating more out of him because of his ability level, his character and his work ethic. And it's starting to come to fruition for him."

By his own admission, Griffin was too heavy last season. He jumped up to 212 pounds after playing at around 195 in college and as a rookie in 2017. At first he told himself that the extra weight would serve him well in run support, and since he didn't notice a drop-off in his speed, he thought it was fine.

"I feel like now that I think about it," Griffin said, "I feel like that was more of an excuse just because of the way I was eating."

Shaquill's twin brother, Shaquem, a special-teamer and backup linebacker for the Seahawks, was unsatisfied with his own up-and-down rookie season. The brothers made a game-changing decision to hire a personal chef named Tony Escamilla, who was already working with right guard D.J. Fluker.

Chef T, as they call him, flies up from San Diego every other week and cooks the brothers three meals a day from Monday through Friday. He delivers lunch to them at the Seahawks facility when he's in town and preps meals for the weeks when he's back in San Diego. The menu is low on carbs and high on vegetables and seafood. Fried food has been replaced by baked food.

"All the fried stuff is out and sweets is definitely out the equation now," Griffin said.

Too many trips to the Cheesecake Factory and too much cheesecake itself contributed to Griffin's weight gain. Now he talks incredulously about Chef T's sugar-free cheesecake, which Griffin calls "out of this world."

"Still blown by that," he said. "Incredible."

Griffin notices his weight loss, especially late in games.

"I feel like last year, I was able to keep my speed, but it just took so much out of me," he said. "So if I had a deep route and I had to come back and do it all over again, I'd be dead tired. And now I can just, I can go. You play against receivers, they're in one play and then they'll put somebody else in, run you deep and get you tired. Then they'll put their starters back in. At first, I used to be tired, and it used to be hard for me. Now I can go all day no matter who's in and who's coming out. I can go all day."

Playing his own game

Sherman put his arm around Griffin in 2017 and mentored him the way he does all young cornerbacks. And when the Seahawks released Sherman after that season, Griffin felt pressure to fill Sherman's Hall of Fame shoes, to his own detriment several times.

Instead of trusting his instincts and preparation, he jumped routes to try to make plays that weren't there. One of Griffin's more forgettable moments from 2018 came in a loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, when he bit on a double move against Keenan Allen, resulting in a 54-yard completion that converted on third-and-15. In Seattle's playoff loss to the Dallas Cowboys, Griffin struggled in coverage (eight receptions, 108 yards, touchdown, per PFF) and lost contain on a 44-yard Ezekiel Elliott run while playing on a sprained ankle.

Griffin gave himself a D-plus for the season.

"I feel like I was trying to imitate other people or trying to be something I wasn't," he said. "Sherm left and I moved to the other side of the field to play left corner, and I feel like I had to make plays like he made, instead of just playing my own game. So just the mindset and everything else has changed."

Griffin is now playing his own game and picking his spots wisely, as he did late in the Seahawks' win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week. Near the end of a long day in coverage against Mike Evans -- Pro Football Focus credited Evans with five catches on six targets for 81 yards against Griffin -- he came through with a critical pass breakup on third down in the fourth quarter. Griffin recognized the formation and Breshad Perriman's release, trusted his gut and made a play that helped send the game to overtime.

He entered the game leading NFL cornerbacks in the percentage of targets defended or intercepted at 25.7%.

"He's just been stepping up," Curtis said, "and our defense is going to continue to need him to do that."

Milwaukee Bucks All-Star swingman Khris Middleton is expected to miss the next three to four weeks with a left thigh contusion after taking a knee to it, the team announced.

Middleton was injured during Sunday's victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder, in which Middleton finished with 10 points for the Bucks. He underwent an MRI and further examination Monday.

Middleton, 28, is averaging 18.5 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game for the 7-3 Bucks, who have won four of their past five games.

He is Milwaukee's second-leading scorer, so without him, players such as Wesley Matthews, George Hill and Kyle Korver will have to contribute more on the offensive end.

Milwaukee hosts the Chicago Bulls on Thursday.