Washington Nationals All-Star shortstop Trea Turner has tested positive for COVID-19, leading him to exit the team's game against the Phillies in Philadelphia in the first inning Tuesday night.

Turner was pulled after scoring on Josh Bell's home run in the top of the first. Gerardo Parra replaced him in the lineup.

The timeline for Turner's positive result suggests his test was taken Monday.

He's the second prominent player to test positive Tuesday; Milwaukee Brewers slugger Christian Yelich also did so and is experiencing mild symptoms despite being vaccinated. It wasn't immediately known if Turner is vaccinated, too.

Turner is hitting .322 with 21 stolen bases this season. His name has been mentioned in trade rumors as the Nationals (45-54 entering Tuesday) have fallen out of the playoff race.

He'll now be out at least 10 days, which would take him past Friday's trade deadline.

A stunning free kick from Riyad Mahrez helped a depleted Manchester City side beat Preston North End 2-0 in their first preseason friendly of the summer.

Mahrez, one of only a handful of senior players available to Pep Guardiola following the European Championships and the Copa America, opened the scoring in the first half against the Championship side before 18-year-old Sam Edozie added a second after the break.

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Ruben Dias, Joao Cancelo and Nathan Ake only returned to training on Monday, but were immediately thrown back into action by Guardiola as part of a back four which also included Benjamin Mendy.

Fernandinho and Mahrez also started at City's academy stadium alongside a host of youngsters including exciting winger Morgan Rogers. Mahrez gave City the lead in the 25th minute with a curling free-kick from 25 yards which was too good for Preston goalkeeper Connor Ripley.

Edozie, on as a substitute at half-time as Guardiola made 10 changes, doubled City's advantage after a slick move after 64 minutes. An otherwise comfortable evening for City was soured late on when 18-year-old goalkeeper Cieran Slicker was forced off on a stretcher after a collision with Tom Bayliss.

City are set to play Barnsley at the CFA on Saturday after a planned trip to France to face Troyes had to be cancelled because of quarantine issues surrounding their return to the UK.

Chelsea came from a goal down to win their first friendly of preseason, beating AFC Bournemouth 2-1 at the Vitality Stadium on Tuesday.

United States international Christian Pulisic started for the Blues, but the European champions' attack failed to find the back of the net in a scoreless first half, as manager Thomas Tuchel then made seven changes at the interval.

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It was Emiliano Marcondes who broke the deadlock on 66 minutes, converting a header to put the Cherries out front, but the lead wouldn't last. Nineteen-year-old striker Armando Broja -- who signed a new five-year contract with the West London club earlier this month -- leveled the score in the 77th minute by converting a Davide Zappacosta cross, before 22-year-old counterpart Ike Ugbo headed home Ross Barkley's service to earn Chelsea the friendly win.

Twenty-one-year-old midfielder Conor Gallagher -- who's reportedly drawn the interest of Leeds United, who are keen to take the England youth international on loan this season -- was the only player in blue to play the whole 90 minutes. Pulisic's U.S. teammate Matt Miazga also featured, entering at half-time.

Chelsea continue their preseason preparations with a friendly across London at Emirates Stadium, where they will take on Arsenal on Sunday. Bournemouth, meanwhile, will host MK Dons in the opening round of the Carabao Cup on Saturday.

A rush of memories and emotions came back to three-time gold medalist Aly Raisman as she watched her former teammate from the 2016 U.S. women's gymnastics team, Simone Biles, compete in and ultimately withdraw from Tuesday's team final.

"It is so much pressure," Raisman said in an interview with ESPN. "It's the most pressure I've ever seen on a gymnast and maybe even Olympic athlete, and I can't imagine how hard it is for her.

"I'm very proud of Simone, and I can't imagine the bravery that it takes to just say, 'I'm not going to do it today.'"

After the U.S. women posted lower-than-expected scores in the qualifiers Monday, trailing the Russian Olympic Committee, Raisman posted a tweet that went viral that same night:

"I just wanted to remind people qualifying second place in the whole entire world is absolutely amazing and so much to be proud of," she said. "I just think sometimes people forget that Olympic athletes are human, and the mental health of athletes really matters. It's something that we need to continue to talk about and make sure that as a society we're all doing everything we can to support them."

Raisman was captain of the 2012 "Fierce Five" and the 2016 "Final Five," both teams that won gold at the summer games. Biles is the captain of this year's team, and Raisman questioned whether USA Gymnastics had adequate resources on hand to support Biles in Tokyo.

"When I was training, there really weren't resources for us to talk about our mental health or even ways to understand it," Raisman said. "So I'm not even sure if there is resources out there in Tokyo for Simone. ... We need to be asking the organizations like USA Gymnastics and the United States Olympic Committee: What are you doing to support your athletes and how can we prevent athletes feeling like they are struggling so much that they can't finish the competition? What can we learn from this? And how can we better support athletes?"

In a statement, U.S. Olympic & Paralymic Committee CEO Sarah Hirshland said: "Simone, you've made us so proud. Proud of who you are as a person, teammate and athlete. We applaud your decision to prioritize your mental wellness over all else and offer you the full support and resources of our Team USA community as you navigate the journey ahead."

Even if Biles doesn't compete in any more Olympic events -- although Raisman said she's hopeful -- what she did Monday will endure, Raisman said.

"She's still the most incredible gymnast," Raisman said. "And I think she's showing us and leading by example that prioritizing your mental health is crucial and it's really important."

HOUSTON -- Despite the 22 active lawsuits filed against Deshaun Watson, there are "no restrictions" from the NFL on the quarterback's participation in club activities, the league said in a statement Tuesday.

The Houston Texans are scheduled to hold their first training camp practice Wednesday.

In April, the first of 23 lawsuits was filed against Watson. There are 22 active lawsuits with allegations of sexual assault or sexually inappropriate behavior during massage sessions against Watson.

"The NFL's review of the serious allegations against Deshaun Watson remains ongoing and active," the NFL said in a statement. "We are working cooperatively with the Houston Police Department and ensuring that the NFL's inquiry does not interfere with their investigation.

"As we continue to gather additional information and monitor law enforcement developments, we will make appropriate decisions consistent with the Collective Bargaining Agreement and the Personal Conduct Policy.

"At this time, there are no restrictions on Watson's participation in club activities."

According to a league source, the NFL has not been given access to talk to many of the plaintiffs who filed the lawsuits or to third parties who might have relevant information. The NFL also has not been given access to evidence the police have gathered in their investigation.

On Monday, Watson's attorney, Rusty Hardin, told ESPN that of the 10 women who have filed complaints with Houston police, two have not filed lawsuits against Watson.

The Texans have three other quarterbacks on their active roster: Tyrod Taylor, rookie Davis Mills and Jeff Driskel.

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- One day after Aaron Rodgers verbally agreed to the terms of his return to the Green Bay Packers, the team seemingly met one of his requests by bringing back receiver Randall Cobb.

The Packers were on the verge of re-acquiring Cobb late Tuesday afternoon. A source said Cobb expects to be back with his old team once the final details of a trade with the Houston Texans were completed.

Cobb, who will turn 31 on Aug. 22, played his first eight seasons in Green Bay, where he was one of Rodgers' go-to receivers -- especially in the slot.

He left in free agency following the 2018 season and spent one year with the Dallas Cowboys. He then signed a three-year, $27 million deal with the Texans, where he played in 10 games last season -- one more than he did in his final season in Green Bay, when he battled lingering hamstring problems. He suffered a toe injury in Week 11 last year and missed six games. He finished with 38 catches, 441 yards and three touchdowns.

Rodgers hasn't had a true slot receiver since Cobb's departure. To fill that void in their offense, the Packers drafted Amari Rodgers in the third round of this year's draft.

Apparently, Rodgers-to-Cobb had a better ring to it than Rodgers-to-Rodgers, but it's unclear if bringing back Cobb was a condition of Rodgers' return or merely a suggestion that the Packers decided to honor. When Cobb left the Packers, he did so ranked sixth in franchise history with 470 catches and 11th in both receiving yards (5,524) and touchdown catches (41). His best season came in 2014, when he caught 91 passes for 1,287 yards and 12 touchdowns. That was one of two seasons in his career in which he did not miss a game.

While Cobb's role is yet to be determined and could hinge largely on his ability to stay healthy, Cobb also could help mentor Amari Rodgers. There's already a connection between the two; Rodgers' father, Tee Martin, coached Cobb in college at Kentucky.

The trade no doubt will include a contract restructuring for Cobb, who was scheduled to make $8.25 million this season.

In an unrelated move, the Packers released two quarterbacks: veteran Blake Bortles and Jake Dolegala. Bortles signed a one-year, minimum-salary contract with no guarantees on May 24 in the midst of Rodgers' absence from the offseason program. Dolegala signed with the Packers following a tryout during the June minicamp.

It leaves three quarterbacks on the roster -- Rodgers, Jordan Love and Kurt Benkert -- on the eve of the first training camp practice on Wednesday.

So, maybe, possibly, probably, OK, pretty likely, Oklahoma and Texas will move to the SEC? The Southwest in the Southeast? The long-desired return of Texas versus Texas A&M, but with perhaps a trade-off of a never-desired burial of Bedlam? The Sooners between the hedges? The Crimson Tide rolling into Austin? All while a Big 12 that was not actually 12, and increasingly not all that Big, now finds itself falling back and digging in its boots to ward off conference raiders hailing from every direction and acronym.

Welcome to the Tomorrowland, er, Todayland, of collegiate athletics, currently being driven like a limousine on a frozen lake by the power brokers of college football -- OK, maybe just one power broker (singular) of college football -- steered toward a here-and-now future where maps and calendars no longer seem to matter. A new frontier where athletes can jump from one roster to another to improve their situation (but don't you dare call them free agents) and hire agents to help them find financial backers through name, image and likeness (but don't you dare call it pay for play). All ultimately vying for a spot in a College Football Playoff poised to expand from four teams to a dozen, a bracket that promises to reward the highest-ranked teams with first-round byes and welcome previously denied outliers with postseason wild-card slots (but don't you dare say it looks like the NFL).

Oh, and all the above is currently governed by a governing body that, over the past month, has joined others in admitting perhaps it doesn't need to be governing at all. To be fair, the NCAA never ran the CFP. Now it would appear that was merely a training exercise, preparing for a future when it likely won't run anything else, either.

In the college sports multiverse that has emerged since July 1, it would be cliché to say this isn't going to be your grandfather's college football. It won't even be your father's, either. Hell, it isn't the sport any of us knew a week ago, let alone three years ago. No one, no matter what they might think, has any idea what it will be three years from now. And yeah, that includes the people who are making the moves that are forcing the rest of us to move with them.

"What no one can predict, no matter how much they think they can, are the unintended consequences. A lot of us have been doing this a long time and we can all take our best educated guess at what we think will happen when we implement a plan or idea, but until that plan or idea actually happens and we see what happens because of what we ultimately decided to do, no one can honestly tell you what is going to happen."

Alabama head coach Nick Saban spoke those words on the morning of Wednesday, July 21, during his stint at SEC media days in Hoover, Alabama. He was answering a question about the transfer portal, NIL (name, image, likeness) and the expanded CFP, the transformative trio that has seemingly arrived all at once. At the time, we thought those topics would bring as much change as we would have to handle all at once. We were wrong. A few hours later, at precisely 3:38 p.m., a tsunami was unleashed over the entire college sports world, its epicenter found right there in the Hoover press room, where a Houston Chronicle report revealed Oklahoma and Texas had been asking about the possibility of joining the SEC. Looking back, Saban had to have known about what so many of the rest of us did not. Even if he didn't, the words of college football's greatest coach feel prescient at the greatest of levels.

"Look, these changes, they benefit our program at Alabama, there's no question about it," said the man who started his college football life as a player and graduate assistant at Kent State and held his first head-coaching gig at Toledo. "But ultimately, we have to ask, are they good for college football as a whole, the game that we all love?"

Let's be real here. No conference commissioner, university president or athletic director makes any decision after a philosophical pause to ponder, "Hey, is this good for the entirety of college athletics?" No, their moves have been and will always be based on what is best for their conference, their university and their athletic department. That's the gig. This is a world of people who are competitive by nature. Their goal is to always be No. 1, whether it be wins earned or dollars in the bank. And none of those people are going to lose their jobs in a manner that leaves them screaming as they are escorted out of the building, "I know it wasn't best for us, but consider college sports as a whole!"

It is not SEC commissioner Greg Sankey's job to worry about the future of the Big 12. His job is to strengthen the SEC and create a better life for its members. Everyone knows this and understands it. Perhaps the biggest part of that job is to stare into a crystal ball that is cloudy at best (see: adding portal/NIL/CFP while subtracting NCAA) and try to foresee the ideal path to survival while also retaining the SEC's title as the undisputed most powerful alliance in college sports. Any path is most easily bulldozed by applying as much horsepower as possible. Bevo and the Sooner Schooner provide a lot of horsepower. Had it been revealed at a later date that Sankey passed on the possibility of adding Oklahoma and Texas to his conference's roster, he one day in the not-so-distant future would have been that person being dragged toward the exit while no one was listening to him holler about principles. Whether a handful of 16-team "superconferences" or a 32-team mega-league possibly becomes the new post-NCAA Power 5 (or 4 or 3 or who knows?) society, everyone bestowed with any degree of decision-making abilities must be open to any and every possible idea.

Hey, I co-host a television show on the SEC Network. Adding Texas and Oklahoma wouldn't exactly be bad for business. But just because a move must be made doesn't mean it was the right move to make. If those two do indeed join the SEC, there will indeed be consequences, both intended and, yes, Coach Saban, unintended. We have no idea how many dominoes will fall, how long they will keep falling or how many people they will crush as they do. It'll be like watching the Daytona 500. We know the Big One, the crash that will collect half the cars in the field, is coming. It's inevitable. It's only a question of how many teams this potential move takes out, how much money it will cost, how many feelings get hurt and how bad any real injuries might be. We know someone will always win the race, but we never know what they might have to do to get to Victory Lane.

Sankey will understand the analogy. He is a huge auto racing fan. So are most of the college football coaches and administrators of the SEC and Big 12. I know because I've talked to them about it. Over the years, they have all asked the same question: "Hey, NASCAR used to be so big. McGee, you worked there. What happened?"

The answer is a cautionary tale. A warning shot. Past as prologue.

I tell them about a sport that was on such a steep growth curve for so long, its leadership went to sleep at the wheel and didn't realize it. There was so much money coming in via unwavering ticket sales and always-rising TV revenue, it masked years of bad decisions. At some point, the leadership bought into the assumption that their core fan base would always have their backs no matter what they did. So, they abandoned their roots, leaving traditional racetracks and ditching decades-long annual race dates for flashier new facilities in sexier new markets. Then, literally overnight, the economy tanked, and the cash flow stopped. When NASCAR looked up, the cool new fans and cool new markets it worked so hard to woo had moved on to the next cool thing. But the sport had also wandered so far from its base that the old-school fans were nowhere to be found, having departed the less-charming present in search of nostalgia. They were angry Darlington Raceway was empty on Labor Day weekend. Just as college sports fans in Oklahoma and Texas will be angry when they don't see "Cowboys" on the football schedule or "Jayhawks" on the basketball calendar.

It's why I have always followed up my NASCAR explanation to the people who run college sports by suggesting they assign their best sports management students to perform a CSI on American auto racing. Or, for that matter, Major League Baseball. No one is immune to the trappings of "Don't worry, they'll always need us." Not even Dale Earnhardt Jr. or the New York Yankees.

Whether you are a fan, sportswriter, player, coach, or even a conference commissioner, we all watch, cover or work in collegiate athletics because, at some point in our lives, at some level, we fell in love with it. And, at some level, we will always love it. Because of that affection, we want it to grow, evolve and survive well into the future so the next generation will love it, too, alongside us as we wear our school colors and sing the alma mater as we beat our oldest, most hated rival.

After all that growing, evolving and surviving, let's just make sure we can still recognize whatever sport comes out on the other side of it all. And that we still have that old rival to hate.