Le Journal

Detroit Lions offensive tackle Dan Skipper announced on Thursday his retirement from the NFL. In a post on Instagram, Skipper called it a career after playing the game he’s loved for two dozen years. Here’s his message: 24 years of putting on pads and a helmet every fall. This year I’ll trade that out to pursue a career on the other side in coaching. The memories and experiences that the NFL has brought me and my family are hard to put into words. Thankful for every person that has been apart of my journey. It’s time for me to “report” as retired. (Sorry I had to do it one last time!) Skipper has become a bit of a cult-favorite among Lions fans. He’s been on and off the Lions’ roster since entering the league in 2017. And while he’s never been a full-time starter for the team, he’s often been the first offensive tackle off the bench, and in recent years, he’s found a role as a jumbo-package tight end. He started 16 games across 69 total game appearances. Of course, he’ll forever be most known for the controversial ending to the Lions vs. Cowboys game in 2023. The Lions ran a trick play on a potential game-winning two-point conversion—a pass to left tackle Taylor Decker. However, officials negated the successful play, thinking that Dan Skipper had reported as eligible on the play, when it was clear it was actually Decker. Detroit was penalized and ultimately lost the game. After the end of the 2025 season, Skipper noted that he was considering retirement due to a lingering back injury. “This might be the last one.”An emotional Dan Skipper postgame. Said he’ll have imaging results coming back Tuesday on a lower back injury that almost shut him down earlier in the szn. Hell of a career for a UDFA that bounced around before finding a home in DET. pic.twitter.com/i9oRXdCgk6— Kalyn Kahler (@kalynkahler) January 5, 2026 But maybe this isn’t the end for Dan Skipper and the Lions. As he said at the top of his retirement statement, it appears he’ll pursue a football career in coaching. At this point, it isn’t clear what rank of football he’s considering, but it certainly wouldn’t be surprising if he wanted to stay in Detroit. It appears Skipper already has his first assignment in coaching: As he suspected with some emotional postgame comments following the season finale, Dan Skipper's injuries are pushing him into retirement. He's planning to quickly transition into coaching and will work with the OL and TEs at the upcoming East/West Shrine game.— Justin Rogers | Detroit Football Network (@Justin_Rogers) January 22, 2026

On Thursday, the NFL announced the finalists for their 2025 NFL Honors, and Detroit Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson is in the running for two end-of-season awards: Defensive Player of the Year and Comeback Player of the Year. The four finalists for Defensive Player of the Year, joining Hutchinson, are Will Anderson Jr. (Texans), Nik Bonitto (Broncos), Myles Garrett (Browns), and Micah Parsons (Packers). From a statistical perspective, these five players represent four of the top six pressure creators in the NFL in 2025, with Hutchinson leading the way with 89 pressures. However, this category tends to heavily lean toward sack producers, and this could be where Garrett overtakes Hutchinson for the award. While Hutchinson registered a career-high 14.5 sacks that landed him fourth in the NFL and second amongst the finalists, Garrett set an NFL record with 23, a number that will be hard for voters to overlook. The four finalists joining Hutchinson for the Comeback Player of the Year award include wide receiver Stefon Diggs (Patriots), quarterback Trevor Lawrence (Jaguars), running back Christian McCaffrey (49ers), and Dak Prescott (Cowboys). Hutchinson is up for the award, as he was coming off a broken leg in 2024, and not only did he put up tremendous defensive stats in 2025, but he also registered 100+ defensive snaps (950) more than any other defensive lineman in the NFL this past season (save Max Crosby, who had 886). An impressive showing of stability after a gruesome end to his 2024 season. As for the other finalists, it’ll be interesting to see who can challenge Hutchinson. Diggs was coming off an ACL and registered 85 receptions (12th most in the NFL) for 1013 receiving yards (16th). Lawrence’s 2024 season ended due to multiple concussions, and he rebounded in 2025 by throwing over 4000 yards (6th) and 29 touchdowns (5th). McCaffrey dealt with multiple injuries in 2024 (only played in four games), but in 2025, he ran for 1202 yards (8th), scored 10 rushing touchdowns (9th), and led all running backs with 102 receptions for 924 receiving yards. Prescott saw a hamstring end his 2024 season prematurely, and he finished 2025 with 4552 passing yards (3rd), 30 touchdowns (4th), and led the NFL with 404 completions. The 2025 NFL awards show will air on NFL Network on February 5, 2026.

New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel sent a clear message to Milton Williams ahead of Sunday’s AFC Championship Game. The Patriots went out and signed Williams to a four-year, $104 million contract this offseason, after he spent four years with the Philadelphia Eagles, including winning the Super Bowl last season. Williams has been a key part of the Patriots’ defensive line, and Vrabel is glad the team signed him in free agency. Yet, Vrabel knows Williams needs to have a great game on Sunday for New England to advance to the Super Bowl. “We knew we needed to supplement the roster and targeted some guys, got some guys, didn’t get some guys,” Vrabel said on Wednesday. “We decided to add Milt. The person, quality person. I think the play speaks for itself. We have high expectations for everybody, but certainly Milt. It’s good to have him back out there. It’s helped in a lot of phases, a lot of areas. In the run game, he had some really nice plays last week, affecting the quarterback. “We talked about on the interception return, his push kind of started it, knocking the guy back into the tight end. So, we’ll need everybody, including Milt. We’ll need their best efforts this week. Again, that’s kind of where it went last year. You target guys, and some guys you get, some guys you don’t.” Williams had just one tackle against the Houston Texans, but he did help limit Houston’s run game. So, Vrabel expects Williams to continue the success he’s had this season to help the Patriots advance to the Super Bowl. Kick-off for New England’s AFC Championship Game against Denver is set for 3 p.m. ET on Sunday. More Patriots: Jon Heyman Ties Red Sox To Three Different Infield Trade Targets

The Denver Broncos undeniable were dealt an awful hand ahead of the AFC Championship. Bo Nix, who led his club to an overtime victory against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, had surgery to repair a broken ankle this week and will miss the rest of the postseason. The Broncos will, as a result, be forced to rely on backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham, who hasn’t thrown a meaningful pass in two seasons, to make his fifth career start against the New England Patriots. It’s safe to say that’s not how they wanted things to play out… Denver defensive lineman John Franklin-Myers is confident in his backup quarterback, however: “Stiddy does such a good job — he knows what he’s doing,” Franklin-Myers said on Wednesday, per video provided by Denver Sports 104.3. “… Stiddy, man, he’s running scout-team plays and he’s running the (expletive) better than their starting quarterback. I’ll tell you, man, he’s a good player for us. We’re excited.” Yes, he actually said that. Jerry Jeudy evens the score in Vegas📺: #DENvsLV on FOX📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/X0vcyHUoyR pic.twitter.com/TikpqLWzsu— NFL (@NFL) January 7, 2024 Franklin-Myers wasn’t comparing Stidham to Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, but rather saying there have been times this season in which he outperformed the starting quarterback of their eventual opponent. It’s safe to say that might be true, too, as the Broncos faced the likes of Trey Lance, Chris Oladokun, Marcus Mariota, Davis Mills and Jake Browning in 2025, as pointed out by Doug Kyed of the Boston Herald. You just can’t toss out that kind of bulletin board material… More Patriots: Cam Newton Calls Patriots’ Super Bowl Path ‘Joke,’ But His Was Easier

The New England Patriots will presumably be taking home some hardware in 2026. Mike Vrabel, Drake Maye, Stefon Diggs, TreVeyon Henderson and Josh McDaniels were all listed among the finalists for the 2025 Associated Press NFL Awards that were revealed on Wednesday. If you can’t put the pieces together, here’s the full list. Patriots’ AP Award FinalistsNFL MVP: Drake MayeOffensive Player of the Year: Drake MayeCoach of the Year: Mike VrabelAssistant Coach of the Year: Josh McDanielsComeback Player of the year: Stefon DiggsOffensive Rookie of the Year: TreVeyon Henderson The finalists for AP Most Valuable Player presented by @Invisalign! #NFLHonors pic.twitter.com/Kj7bRrkk5q— NFL (@NFL) January 22, 2026 The finalists for AP Coach of the Year and Assistant Coach of the Year! #NFLHonors pic.twitter.com/LHoxHUddFm— NFL (@NFL) January 22, 2026 The finalists for AP Comeback Player of the Year! #NFLHonors pic.twitter.com/zajCTirmHH— NFL (@NFL) January 22, 2026 The finalists for AP Offensive Player of the Year presented by @Copilot! #NFLHonors pic.twitter.com/ApQQOThZX1— NFL (@NFL) January 22, 2026 The finalists for AP Offensive Rookie of the Year and Defensive Rookie of the Year presented by @EAMaddenNFL! #NFLHonors pic.twitter.com/vHXnJXguen— NFL (@NFL) January 22, 2026 New England was only shut out of two major categories: Defensive Player of the Years and Defensive Rookie of the Year.It’s hard to come up with names that could realistically be considered for those two awards (sorry, Craig Woodson), but all of their finalists not only make sense, but have a case to actually win. FanDuel and Draftkings did not carry odds in the immediate aftermath of the finalists announcement, but at one time, Maye, Vrabel and Henderson were among the two favorites for MVP, COTY and OROY, respectively. The Patriots will hope to hear some of those names called at the NFL Honors on Thursday, Feb. 5, at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco — though they will not want to be in attendance as they very well could be preparing for Super Bowl LX. More Patriots: Cam Newton Calls Patriots’ Super Bowl Path ‘Joke,’ But His Was Easier