August 23, 2023 - HeadtoHeadFootball

NFL

Rodgers on board with Jets' call to play him Sat.

Rich Cimini, ESPN Staff WriterAug 22, 2023, 01:01 PM ET
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FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — New York Jets coach Robert Saleh believes it’s in the best interest of the team to play quarterback Aaron Rodgers in the final preseason game, bad history and injury risk be damned.

“You can’t coach scared, you can’t play scared,” Saleh said Tuesday, confirming that Rodgers will start Saturday against the New York Giants. “You can slip out of your car and have something happen to you. Knock on wood, everyone will be fine.”

Rodgers, 39, who sat out the first three games and hasn’t played in the preseason since 2018, said he was in favor of playing even before Saleh broached the idea.

“There wasn’t much of a conversation with Robert,” Rodgers said. “I think he was a little more nervous I might have said no, but I was already leaning toward asking him to play. So, it was an easy conversation.”

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With the season opener less than three weeks away, Saleh wants Rodgers to get acclimated to MetLife Stadium and its atmosphere before facing the

Soccer

PSV score late to draw at Rangers in 1st leg of Champions League playoff

Luuk de Jong scored a late equaliser as PSV Eindhoven secured a 2-2 draw at Rangers in the first leg of their Champions League play-off round tie on Tuesday.

The Dutch giants, aiming for revenge after defeat by Rangers at the same stage of the competition last season, twice pegged back their hosts to seal a repeat of the first-leg result from 12 months ago.

Last year, Rangers edged through with a 1-0 second-leg win in the Netherlands, but will need another surprise away win next week to book a return to the group stage after an entertaining clash at Ibrox.

“I don’t think they’ll underestimate us, but they’d better not,” Rangers manager Michael Beale told TNT Sports.

“This is a PSV team who haven’t been beaten since February and we nearly did (it) tonight.”

Senegalese youngster Abdallah Sima, signed from Angers in the close-season, scored a fantastic opening goal to give Rangers a 45th-minute lead against the run of play.

Ibrahim Sangare levelled for PSV just after the hour mark and the visitors looked to be pushing for a winner until a sweeping Rangers counter-attack was finished by Rabbi Matondo.

But the Scottish side, who struggled in the Champions League group stage last season with six successive defeats, could not hold onto the lead as De Jong bundled home from a corner with 10 minutes remaining.

Royal Antwerp boosted their hopes of a first appearance in the European Cup proper since the 1957-58 season with a 1-0 first-leg win over AEK Athens in Belgium.

FC Copenhagen also moved a step closer to the group phase with a 1-0 away success over Polish champions Rakow.