Marvin Harrison Jr. takes over in Cardinals’ win vs. Miami

Arizona Cardinals fans, rejoice! Arizona Cardinals rookie wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. scored a second-half touchdown for the first time in his career on Sunday.

After largely being a nonfactor in every quarter but the first across the first seven games of his NFL career, Harrison was a key figurehead in the Cardinals’ 28-27 comeback win over the Miami Dolphins.

Looking to capitalize on a Miami safety the possession prior, quarterback Kyler Murray and the offense used eight plays to move the chains before the signal caller let it fly in the direction of Harrison.

The rookie did the rest:

“I don’t really see all speculation and stuff because I don’t really be on Twitter, but he hears it, I hear it,” Murray told reporters postgame. “It’s hard to not hear it. But at the end of the day, he’s got to be himself and just continue to get better each and every week. That’s what we have to do and it’s going to get there.

“(Expletive) don’t happen overnight. I’m super proud of him today. He kind of took over. … This game was really big for him, for me, for us to get on that page.”

With the 22-yard touchdown grab, Harrison is now up to five touchdowns on the season. That currently paces all Cardinals pass catchers.

Arizona couldn’t fully cap off the drive, however, with running back James Conner falling short of converting the two-point conversion to tie things up.

Entering play, the third quarter had not been kind to Harrison behind two catches for 24 yards.

That’s a far cry from his 11-catch, 106-yard first quarter split that includes four trips to the end zone.

Harrison followed up the touchdown snag with one heck of a third-down catch to pick up a crucial first down. He backed that up with another 20-yard snag to put Arizona deep in Miami territory.

He ended the game with 111 yards and the score on six catches (seven targets).

Harrison wasn’t the only Cardinal effecting the receiving game in Miami, though.

While he didn’t find the end zone, tight end Trey McBride was busy behind eight catches for 124 yards.

Murray must have gotten the memo that it was National Tight Ends Day!

Catch the rest of Cardinals-Dolphins on the Arizona Sports app, 98.7 and ArizonaSports.com.



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Arizona Cardinals elevate Divaad Wilson and Ben Stille

The Arizona Cardinals elevated cornerback Divaad Wilson and defensive lineman Ben Stille to the active roster from the practice squad ahead of a Week 8 matchup against the Miami Dolphins, the team announced Sunday.

With Sean Murphy-Bunting out with a neck injury, Wilson provides depth for the Cardinals at the cornerback position.

Wilson, 24, played in two games for the Cardinals last season and made one start. The cornerback made his NFL debut in Arizona’s 37-14 Week 12 loss to the Los Angeles Rams last year and recorded one tackle.

He then tallied four tackles in Arizona’s 24-10 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers the following week.

Wilson went undrafted in 2023 after a college career at Georgia and UCF.

The Cardinals signed him to the active roster on Jan. 5, before he was waived on Aug. 27 and later re-signed to the practice squad.

Stille will again add depth to the Cardinals’ defensive line after defensive lineman Roy Lopez was ruled out on Friday and Bilal Nichols was placed on injured reserve last week. The Cardinals will also be without defensive linemen Justin Jones and Darius Robinson. Both Nichols and Jones are out for the year while Robinson won’t be activated off of injured reserve this week as he continues to work through his calf injury and personal reasons.

Stille, 26, went undrafted in the 2022 NFL Draft out of Nebraska. The former Cornhusker has played in 16 games for four different teams (Miami Dolphins, Cleveland Browns, Cardinals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers). Last season, he played in five games for the Cardinals.

The Cardinals waived Stille on Aug. 27 before he was re-signed to the practice squad. The Buccaneers signed him on Sept. 6, and he played in three games for Tampa Bay this season before being waived.

Stille was also elevated by the Cardinals for Monday’s win over the Los Angeles Chargers. The defensive lineman sacked Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert late in the second quarter to help hold the Chargers to a field goal on their last drive of the half.



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Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman walks off Yankees in World Series

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Freddie Freeman hit the first game-ending grand slam in World Series history with two outs in the 10th inning to give the Los Angeles Dodgers a 6-3 victory over the New York Yankees in a dramatic opener Friday night.

Hobbled by a badly sprained ankle, Freeman homered on the first pitch he saw — an inside fastball from Nestor Cortes — and raised his bat high before beginning his trot as the sellout crowd of 52,394 roared.

It was reminiscent of Kirk Gibson’s game-ending homer that lifted Los Angeles over the Oakland Athletics in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series at Dodger Stadium — one of the most famous swings in baseball lore.

Gibson, sidelined by leg injuries, came off the bench and connected off Hall of Fame closer Dennis Eckersley.

Freeman, who missed three games during the National League playoffs because of the injury to his right ankle, didn’t have an extra-base hit this postseason until legging out a triple earlier on Friday.

In this much-hyped, star-studded World Series between two of baseball’s most storied and successful franchises, Game 1 certainly delivered.

It was the third straight Series opener to go extra innings.

In the top of the 10th, Anthony Volpe grounded into a fielder’s choice to shortstop, scoring Jazz Chisholm Jr. from third after he stole two bases, to give the Yankees a 3-2 lead.

The speedy Chisholm singled off Blake Treinen and then stole second and third for a Yankees team not known for speed.



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ESPN’s Bobby Marks explains why the Suns will win the West

While 11 of 14 ESPN insiders picked the Oklahoma City Thunder to win the Western Conference in , ESPN NBA front officeiInsider Bobby Marks selected the Phoenix Suns to advance to the NBA Finals.

Marks, the only ESPN pundit who picked the Suns, believes the Suns’ experience supersedes the Thunder’s youth.

The Suns entered the 2024-25 season as the league’s second-oldest team with an average age of 28.26 years. Only the Philadelphia 76ers are marginally older with an average age of 28.31 years.

Meanwhile, the Oklahoma City Thunder are the youngest team in the NBA with an average age of 24.148 years.

Marks joined Arizona Sports’ Burns & Gambo on Thursday and explained his reasoning.

“I like the (Suns’) veterans. I just I don’t think Oklahoma City’s quite there yet,” Marks said.

“In a seven-game series, I’m taking Kevin Durant over Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. In a playoff series, I think (Durant) could be your best player on the court.”

Despite the Suns’ playoff shortcomings last season where they were swept by Minnesota in the first round, Durant still averaged 26.8 points per game while shooting 55% from the field, 41.7% from three and 82.4% from the line.

Marks is also high on new Suns coach Mike Budenholzer.

“I think Bud is like the under the radar type story,” Marks said. “Listen, the style that Bud’s gonna play in Phoenix, I think he’s a heck of a coach. I think being in a big moment, certainly winning a championship in Milwaukee and showing his success in Atlanta. I think that plays a role.”

Budenholzer has coached 104 playoff games in his career (56-48) and has advanced to at least the conference finals on three separate occasions.

In 2015, Budenholzer led the Hawks to a 60-22 record, their best finish in 21 years and a trip to the conference finals.

When Budenholzer was the coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, he defeated the Suns in the 2021 NBA Finals and won Milwaukee’s first NBA title since 1971.

Marks also likes the addition of Tyus Jones to the Suns roster after agreeing much of their detriment last season was not having a true point guard.

In the Suns’ 116-113 overtime victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday, the Suns had 22 turnovers as a team and Jones had none of them.

“I just think he presents such a calming factor to it,” Marks said of the 28-year-old Jones. “I think just the addition alone solves a lot of different, maybe a little bit of struggles here, and it gives you a veteran presence on the floor where the ball doesn’t have to be in Devin (Booker) or Bradley (Beal’s) hands maybe as much as it was a year ago.”

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Arizona State AD says kicking tryouts remain underway

Arizona State athletic director Graham Rossini sat down next to head football coach Kenny Dillingham on the flight back from Cincinnati last Saturday, and after Dillingham’s comments about holding open tryouts for a kicker, the two started seeing the emails roll in.

Dillingham publicly criticized ASU’s kicking game — and later apologized — after Ian Hershey missed two field goals in a loss, and the program has followed through by giving interested students a chance.

“He made a point to go sit down with our special teams kids on the flight and make sure he can kind of clear the air with them and make sure the message wasn’t (misinterpreted),” Rossini told Arizona Sports’ Burns & Gambo on Thursday. “But at the same time like, hey, we want to continue to address that part of the game and make sure we’re equally as relevant on special teams as we have been on offense and defense.

“A lot of people reached out, some that are students today, some that aren’t quite at ASU. And I think the key component of all of it was looking at current ASU students that do have eligibility and are academically in good standing. I know they’re giving a handful of them a look this week.”

Rossini’s update on the tryouts were that they are still underway.

The Sun Devils have the benefit of testing this out while on a bye this week following a 5-2 start to the season. They will visit Oklahoma State on Nov. 2, and with one more win, Arizona State would lock up a bowl game for the first time since the 2021 season.

Hershey joined ASU as a transfer after kicking for Idaho State. He is 20-for-21 on extra points this year and 7-for-12 on field goals. He is 3-for-8 from 30 or more yards.

Nolan Krinsky is among those who have tried out after a years-long pursuit of walking onto the football team, as Yahoo! Sports’ Jeff Eisenberg elaborated on this week.

“Fortune favors the bold, so it’s nice that there’s people that willing to shoot the shot, so to speak,” Rossini said. “That said, hey, if they can add value, have gone out of the way to make our coaches aware of it, I know coach Dillingham and the special teams coaches are looking at all the options, including we’ve got two talented kickers and nurturing their experience, giving them some extra coaching and making sure they’ve got the same opportunity to be back in these big situations.

“So we’ll see how it plays out. Kind of a benefit of a bye week and identifying a part of our game that we want to strengthen up.”

No update yet on Arizona State’s Desert Financial Arena

Rossini admitted shortly after his hiring this year that ASU’s basketball arena needed work done.

The AD said on Thursday he was not ready to share any news regarding the future of DFA, but he explained the continued focus on updating the gameday experience.

“We’re making sure we understand what can be accomplished in that building,” Rossini said. “Focused a lot on the gameday experience and making sure that traffic and concessions and the in-game show are all areas we’re immediately improving upon, while we’re kind of exploring what that building needs to evolve into to make sure we’re setting up our teams for success and giving our fans a great way to come in.”

The Sun Devils enter Year 1 in the basketball-powerhouse Big 12 with the regular season opener on Nov. 5.



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4-star WR Adrian Wilson decommits

Four-star wide receiver Adrian Wilson announced Wednesday he was reopening his recruitment after verbally committing to the Arizona State Sun Devils in April.

Coincidentally or not, ASU football head coach Kenny Dillingham posted “Great day to be a Sun Devil” minutes before Wilson made his announcement on X.

“I want to take a moment to express my deepest gratitude for the opportunity to be part of your program,” Wilson wrote. “After careful consideration and reflection, I have decided to decommit from Arizona State University. Re-opening my recruitment was not an easy decision, as I hold a great deal of respect for the coaching staff and the vision you have for the program.

“I believe this choice is necessary for my personal and athletic growth, and I wish nothing but the best for the team and the future of ASU. I will always cherish the connections I’ve made and the experiences I’ve had during this process. Thank you for understanding.”

The 6-foot, 170-pound wideout is rated as the 40th-best wide receiver and the 276th-best player in the 2025 recruiting class by 247 Sports’ composite ranking.

He was the second highest-ranked commitment to the Sun Devils’ 2025 class, behind quarterback Cameron Dyer, the 137th-rated prospect in the country. Dyer, however, was recruited to play receiver by Arizona State.

Three-star prospects Cory Butler out of Centennial High School in Corona, Calif., and Uriah Neloms from San Tan Charter in Gilbert, Ariz., make up the other two wideouts currently committed to ASU in the 2025 recruiting class.

Wilson had verbally pledged to Oregon and TCU before agreeing to join Arizona State.



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Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa practices, aims for return vs. Cardinals

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Tyreek Hill couldn’t hide his excitement catching the football from Tua Tagovailoa on Wednesday for the first time in over a month.

“I just had a big cheese on my face,” Hill said. “It just felt so good.”

Tagovailoa practiced Wednesday for the first time since suffering a concussion in Week 2, and the Dolphins (2-4) are aiming for him to start Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals.

Tagovailoa still needs to progress through the final stages of the NFL’s concussion protocol for that to happen, but he moved one step closer by returning to the practice field.

“I feel very good about how he attacked this whole process and how he came out of it to this day,” coach Mike McDaniel said before Wednesday’s practice. “And you hope for a couple days of good work so then you have no blips and you’re cleared to play.”

Tagovailoa has met with numerous medical experts who specialize in brain and head injuries since being diagnosed with the third concussion of his NFL career on Sept. 12. The experts deemed it safe for him to return to football, McDaniel said Monday.

Tagovailoa said he would not wear a Guardian Cap — the protective soft-shell helmet cover that is optional for players to wear in games — saying it is a “personal choice.” He already wears a quarterback-specific helmet designed to help reduce head injuries.

Tagovailoa was concussed twice in 2022 — the latter of which briefly knocked him unconscious — and suffered a third hard hit to the head that was not diagnosed as a concussion.

The fifth-year quarterback pointed to those hits, which sparked widespread debates on his health and led to changes to the NFL’s concussion protocol, as the reason for continued talks about whether he should keep playing football.

“I appreciate your concern, I really do,” Tagovailoa said. “I love this game, and I love it to the death of me, that’s it.”

Tagovailoa did not indicate that this latest concussion would completely change the way he approaches the game, but he said he has to “be smart.”

“My entire time playing football, I’ve been a competitor,” Tagovailoa said, “and that is — or was — sort of my edge when I would run from high school, even in college I would do the same thing. But it’s a professional setting; this is the professional level, the best of the best, you just can’t be doing that.”

Tagovailoa’s Week 2 concussion came when he initiated contact with Buffalo Bills defensive back Damar Hamlin by lowering his shoulder into Hamlin instead of sliding. His teammates said they have since stressed to him to slide in those situations.

“We can say those things to him until we’re blue in the face,” said running back Raheem Mostert. “But one thing that I would say, there’s always my saying ‘You can bring a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.’ We’re going to bring Tua to that water, but we can’t make him drink.”

Hill mentioned a point in last Sunday’s game at Indianapolis when fans cheered seeing quarterback Anthony Richardson slide instead of taking unnecessary contact.

“I said our fans need to clap for Tua and make him slide,” Hill said. “We need you, bro. Next play, come on. It’s real, and we love him. From brother to brother, we love him. Like he’s a huge part of this team.”

Tagovailoa put on weight last season to better withstand the hits he takes on the field. He didn’t miss a game because of injuries in 2023 for the first time in his career but shed a few pounds this offseason to help with his mobility.

McDaniel detailed the balance.

“It’s not really like a quarterback run game type of thought process.,” McDaniel said. “But for him, I think one of the reasons why this time around he was so diligent and deliberate on excessive running and staying in shape to keep what he feels — and I think I would agree — is a competitive advantage for his game, is being able to move his body around in the best way that allows him to make the plays that he’s capable of making. I wouldn’t say that from a schematic standpoint things would alter that much.”

The Dolphins averaged more than 200 yards passing and 400 total yards per game with Tagovailoa last season. They were second in scoring with 29.2 points and led the league in explosive plays of at least 10 yards.

Who are the other Dolphins quarterbacks?

Under Skylar Thompson, Tyler “Snoop” Huntley and Tim Boyle, Miami has not scored more than 15 points, and Hill and Jaylen Waddle have seen a significant drop in their production with Tagovailoa out, including a combined 19 yards on two catches in Sunday’s loss to the Colts.

McDaniel said Tagovailoa should not be considered the “savior” for Miami’s offensive struggles. Hill disagreed.

“He’s a big part of this team,” Hill said. “I’m going to keep saying that. Every guy in this locker room knows that. And obviously, when we go play a game, it’s next man up. That’s the mentality all day. But when Tua is a part of this offense, (nobody can) stop us.”

The Dolphins signed veteran quarterback C.J. Beathard to their practice squad Wednesday. Huntley, who started the past three games, is not expected to be available Sunday because of a shoulder injury. McDaniel said he would wait and see how Beathard, Boyle and Thompson perform in practice before deciding on a backup.



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Cardinals signing former Ravens QB Anthony Brown

Former Baltimore Ravens quarterback Anthony Brown will join the Arizona Cardinals’ practice squad to replace Desmond Ridder, reports Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro.

The Las Vegas Raiders signed Ridder off Arizona’s practice squad to add depth Monday after losing Aidan O’Connell to an injury.

Brown has appeared in two games as a pro with a start. He went 19 of 44 for 286 yards and two picks in a Week 18 loss to end the 2022 season with Baltimore.

He’s respectively spent time on the offseason roster and practice squad of the Raiders and Bills this season.

Brown spent four years of college at Boston College before transferring to Oregon.

In 2021, he appeared in 14 games for the Ducks and went 10-4 with 19 touchdowns to seven picks. The quarterback added 151 rushes for 658 yards and nine scores on the ground for Oregon that season.

Ridder landed with the Cardinals via an offseason trade with the Atlanta Falcons in exchange for wide receiver Rondale Moore but lost the backup job to Clayton Tune, Arizona’s fifth-round pick in 2023.



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Cardinals still confident in Tune Push despite MNF struggles

TEMPE — There were plenty of make-or-break plays in the Arizona Cardinals’ 17-15 win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday Night Football.

Quarterback Kyler Murray’s touchdown run (midplay celebration included), running back James Conner’s explosive catch-and-run in the fourth quarter and cornerback Starling Thomas’ punchout were among the biggest standouts.

Then you have the “Tune Push,” which got a lot of attention for the opposite effect on primetime. And I’m not talking about the successful one in the second quarter.

With less than seven minutes in the third quarter and a chance to extend a 7-6 lead, Arizona opted for the Tune Push on third-and-one at the Chargers’ 45-yard line.

When that fell short, offensive coordinator Drew Petzing went back to the well once more.

Same formation, same result.

Instead of keeping the drive alive and putting points on the board, the Cardinals watched the Chargers take the lead with a(nother) Cameron Dicker field goal.

Had the Cardinals taken the L at home, the sequence of events from the missed Tune Push attempts would have been pointed to as one of the biggest turning points in the game, especially given how dominant the run game had been behind Conner.

But that’s not how the game played out, and Petzing doesn’t appear to be ripping it out of the playbook anytime soon.

“It’s a play I’m almost always going to feel good about,” the Cardinals offensive coordinator said Tuesday.

“It’s something we’ve executed at a high level a number of times throughout the last year and a half. Especially when you have two downs, I feel really good about our guys going and getting that yard one or two ways. Felt really good about it.”

What went wrong with the failed Tune Push attempts?

Looking back at the tape, the failed Tune Push attempts came down to two reasons in Gannon’s eyes.

“I thought we got the one early. The movement was there, the surge was there,” Gannon said Tuesday. “I thought the next time we did it, Clayton slipped — well kind of — his foot came out from under him which you need the surge there.

“I was comfortable with running it again and they made a good play, so it’s a learning experience for us. We’ll be better from that and learning from it. We’ll keep getting better.”



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