In Charlotte, Panthers rookie Tetairoa McMillan went full Maui<\/a>\u00a0from Moana with the wig, bodysuit and fake muscles to surprise kids at the Atrium Health Levine Children\u2019s Hospital.<\/p>\n The Vikings\u2019 offensive line hosted a Halloween fashion show for kids at M Health Fairview Masonic Children\u2019s Hospital.<\/p>\n Up in Foxboro, Drake Maye lit up the Patriots\u2019 family event as Dragonite<\/a>, while Marcus Jones took questions about his contract extension dressed as Sonic the Hedgehog<\/a>.<\/p>\n In a league built on business, high stakes and ego, it was a good reminder that the guys who spend Sundays hitting and sacrificing their bodies are still human beings who can drop their guard, be a little silly and make someone\u2019s day.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a nice reset in a season that\u2019s already barreling into Week 9.<\/p>\n While the players were out handing out treats, front offices are up to their usual tricks. The trade deadline is near, conversations are intensifying and several teams are quietly preparing to shake things up.<\/p>\n This is what I\u2019m hearing on:<\/strong><\/p>\n The latest trade deadline intel<\/p>\n The trade deadline is just days away, which means it\u2019s time to reset what we know and what I\u2019ve been hearing heading into Tuesday. (And remember: When a coach or GM insists publicly that a player isn\u2019t on the block, that doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019re not taking calls.)<\/p>\n Team and league sources tell me the following:<\/p>\n Miami moves on<\/p>\n Dolphins owner Stephen Ross on Friday made the decision to part ways with general manager Chris Grier<\/a>, who had been part of the Dolphins organization for 26 years, but Ross remains committed to head coach Mike McDaniel.<\/p>\n \n Mike McDaniel remains the coach of the Miami Dolphins despite a slow start and a 2-7 record. (Carmen Mandato \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n It was explained by a team source that Ross is not simply holding on to McDaniel as a placeholder before an offseason shake-up but genuinely hopes to see McDaniel keep this group competing as Miami simultaneously begins shaping a refreshed vision for its front office. There is still confidence from ownership and the locker room that McDaniel is the right coach for the Dolphins, despite the team\u2019s 2-7 record.<\/p>\n Last call for the tush push?<\/p>\n Eight weeks into 2025, we\u2019ve finally found the Brotherly Shove\u2019s kryptonite, and it\u2019s not a defense (nice try, though, Brian Flores, with that unorthodox alignment<\/a>).<\/p>\n It\u2019s the officials.<\/p>\n Last offseason, the Packers submitted a proposal to outlaw the tush push, a play that the defending champion Eagles have perfected. The league came close to banning it, but with an assist from Jason Kelce\u2019s impassioned in-person plea<\/a>, teams ultimately voted in favor of keeping the play.<\/p>\n But eight weeks into this season, the thing that might actually kill the tush push is the league\u2019s inability to officiate it properly<\/a>.<\/p>\n As one high-ranking league source put it this week: \u201cHow embarrassing for the league to say we have to take away a totally legal play because we\u2019re not good enough to officiate it.\u201d<\/p>\n Don\u2019t be surprised if this becomes one of the most hotly debated rule discussions of the offseason, again.<\/p>\n Not the same old Josh McDaniels<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s the Vic Fangio and Steve Spagnuolo of offensive coordinators. One of the best play callers in our game, and he will be as long as he\u2019s coaching.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s how one rival GM described Josh McDaniels, New England\u2019s ace offensive mind<\/a>, who looks like he\u2019s writing a whole new chapter.<\/p>\n For years, the book on McDaniels was simple: He was a brilliant mind, a surgical schemer, but he lacked the ability to connect with his locker room. He thrived as Tom Brady\u2019s offensive coordinator, but that didn\u2019t transfer into being a successful head coach. The whispers followed him first to Denver and then Las Vegas.<\/p>\n Now back in Foxboro, it\u2019s evident the 49-year-old McDaniels has grown.<\/p>\n When the Patriots searched for an offensive coordinator this offseason, it came down to three names: McDaniels, then-Vikings OC Grant Udinski (who came highly recommended by Minnesota head coach Kevin O\u2019Connell) and former Bears interim head coach Thomas Brown. Brown crushed his interview; multiple people in league circles told me he \u201cblew the doors off.\u201d But after some long conversations with trusted voices in Mike Vrabel\u2019s orbit, New England leaned back into the familiar \u2026 and then strengthened it.<\/p>\n Despite interest elsewhere, Vrabel convinced Brown to join the staff as passing game coordinator, working with McDaniels every day.<\/p>\n I\u2019m told McDaniels\u2019 impact is directly seen in his ability to adjust and outsmart opponents. \u201cLook at the halftime adjustments in Buffalo, Tennessee and Cleveland,\u201d one league source observed. \u201cThey stand out. This past Sunday, against Cleveland\u2019s defense, it was perimeter touches for TreVeyon Henderson that flipped the tone.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s experience and understanding.<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t the Brady era, the old Foxboro install. McDaniels has built a system around Maye\u2019s mobility and off-platform ability, using his legs as a weapon.<\/p>\n It\u2019s the new Patriots.<\/p>\n \n Josh McDaniels, left, has been a huge part of New England\u2019s revival under head coach Mike Vrabel. (Maddie Meyer \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n Offensive assistants Brown, Todd Downing and Doug Marrone all have their fingerprints on this creation. The Patriots didn\u2019t just bring McDaniels back. They built a new collaborative ecosystem around him.<\/p>\n When I visited camp this summer, McDaniels was glowing when he talked about Maye. The quarterback beamed right back.<\/p>\n \u201cHe knows the system so well,\u201d Maye told me. \u201cHe knows the answers. He sees it before we even talk about it.\u201d<\/p>\n Not every accomplished coordinator becomes a great head coach. But this is what it looks like when an elite play caller finds the right seat, and the 6-2 Patriots are reaping the rewards.<\/p>\n Keep an eye on the Texans<\/p>\n It\u2019s been one of the mysteries of this season: What exactly is going on in Houston? After a sluggish start, the Texans have quietly won three of their last four and are coming off one of their best offensive performances of the year against San Francisco.<\/p>\n With seven new starters on offense and a first-year play caller in Nick Caley, there were always going to be bumps. Between injuries, turnovers and early miscues, it took time for this group to find its rhythm. But the Texans look like they\u2019re starting to figure it out.<\/p>\n C.J. Stroud threw for 318 yards against the 49ers without his top two receivers \u2014 the first time in 21 games he topped 300 yards. Nine skill players caught passes, and the ex-Iowa State trio of Xavier Hutchinson, Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel combined for 14 catches, 166 yards and two touchdowns. Caley\u2019s adjustments have been clear: simplify the scheme, lean on play action and let his young quarterback play loose again.<\/p>\n DeMeco Ryans\u2019 defense is still elite, allowing the fewest points and yards in football. But if Caley\u2019s offense keeps trending upward, the Texans won\u2019t just be a fun story in November; they\u2019ll be a real factor down the stretch.<\/p>\n For the 49ers, an eerie return<\/p>\n San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy won\u2019t start on Sunday against the New York Giants<\/a>, still recovering from the turf toe injury that has limited him to two starts this season. Mac Jones will once again get the nod. The 49ers had hoped Purdy\u2019s return would come sooner, but they\u2019re walking into MetLife Stadium like it\u2019s a haunted house. And honestly, who could blame them?<\/p>\n If you\u2019re a Niners fan, you don\u2019t need reminding. It was Week 2 of 2020, when San Francisco played the Jets in East Rutherford, N.J., and the turf devoured its season. Both Nick Bosa and Solomon Thomas tore their ACLs<\/a> in a costly win. Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo left early with a high ankle sprain, and running back Raheem Mostert went down with an MCL injury.<\/p>\n \n The 49ers suffered a rash of injuries during a 2020 game against the Jets at MetLife Stadium, including one to Nick Bosa. (Sarah Stier \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n A week later, the 49ers had to return to that same field to face the Giants. And since then? They\u2019ve stayed far, far away.<\/p>\n The good news is, the turf\u2019s since been replaced at MetLife<\/a>. The bad news is the injuries haven\u2019t gone anywhere for San Francisco. As the 49ers head back to MetLife for a Week 9 matchup with Big Blue, their health is once again a major storyline. Robert Saleh\u2019s defense, already without Bosa and Fred Warner, lost three more starters last week against Houston, including linebacker Dee Winters.<\/p>\n The 49ers don\u2019t want to waste time discussing what could happen, but make no mistake, it\u2019s on their minds.<\/p>\n So yes, Halloween might be over. But for the 49ers, MetLife still feels like the one house on the block where nobody wants to trick-or-treat.<\/p>\n A look inside the NFC East soap operas<\/p>\n We\u2019re always trying to piece together what\u2019s going on in Philly, and I fully admit I\u2019ve spent time picturing what a Brian Daboll-Jaxson Dart film session looks like when they are both fired up.<\/p>\n Now we might actually get to see it.<\/p>\n \u201cHard Knocks\u201d is back in the NFC East. The HBO cameras have returned to team facilities to begin some early shooting and will be going full throttle in about a month for the December in-season series that will focus on the Cowboys, Commanders, Giants and Eagles. I\u2019m going to take a wild guess and say that GM Joe Schoen will be avoiding any extra camera time this time around.<\/p>\n Ding Dong<\/p>\n Our neighborhood kids have been completely obsessed with the 2025 version of ding-dong ditch this Halloween season. It\u2019s called getting boo\u2019d (this may just be a New Jersey thing because when I explained it to my friends in other states, they looked at me like I had three heads).<\/p>\n When it gets dark, parents pile their kids into the car and drop them off in front of a house. The kids ring the doorbell, leave behind candy or a toy and sprint away like they just robbed the place.<\/p>\n It\u2019s harmless fun \u2026 well, mostly harmless \u2026 unless you\u2019re a mom desperately trying to get two children under five in bed by 8 p.m. Sleep is never in the cards anyway during the NFL season, and honestly, isn\u2019t getting \u201cboo\u2019d\u201d kind of what football feels like right now? Every Sunday, it\u2019s just a bunch of teams sneaking around, dropping surprises at our doorstep and running off before we can make sense of it.<\/p>\n Lastly, the best news I heard all week: Shout-out to my colleague Jacob Robinson, who writes our very popular Scoop City! newsletter (you can sign up here<\/a>), for getting the greatest news scoop of all: He\u2019s cancer-free!<\/p>\n\n
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