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MOBILE, Ala. — Former Washington star quarterback Michael Penix Jr.‘s career arc has been defined by overcoming adversity, as he endured four season-ending injuries during his first four seasons of college football while playing at Indiana.

Penix stayed healthy the past two years at Washington, leading the nation in passing yards per game in both 2022 and 2023 and going 25-3 as a starter.

Penix came to the Senior Bowl this week to compete for a spot in the NFL draft’s first round, as his injury history is part of the reason that his prolific production the past two years doesn’t match his draft projections.

Penix knows there will be questions about his health history. And Penix told ESPN that he went to see Dr. Neal S. ElAttrache, the noted surgeon from the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopedic Clinic in Los Angeles. ElAttrache took scans of the Penix’s right knee, which has endured two ACL tears that ended his 2018 and 2020 seasons.

Penix told ESPN that ElAttrache will be available to talk to any teams that have questions, but said that he got a “thumbs up” from ElAttrache and “there’s nothing to hold me back.” That aligns with how Penix’s knee felt in the three seasons since the second ACL tear, as that specific injury hasn’t caused him to miss a practice, workout or game in those seasons.

He added: “Some of that stuff I can’t control. I can tell them how I feel, I can show them how I feel, that’s all I can do at that point. I’ve got plenty of scans to show them, the doctor says I’m clear, nothing’s wrong, I don’t see why they would think I’m hurt, really. I can just show them what I can do.”

Penix did that plenty on the field the past two seasons at Washington. He led the Huskies to the College Football Playoff in 2023, as they started 14-0 before losing to Michigan in the College Football Playoff championship.

This season, Penix threw for 4,903 yards, 36 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He completed 65.4% of his passes in an offense that put a premium on pushing the ball down the field. He also took just 16 sacks on more than 1,100 passing attempts the past two years thanks to a strong offensive line and the deft ability to feel pressure.

Asked whether he’s frustrated that he still needs to prove himself to evaluators, Penix quickly dismissed the notion. “I can’t control other people’s perspectives or how they view me as a quarterback,” he said. “For me, I just got to continue to be myself and continue to work hard each and every day to show them that I’m willing to do whatever it takes to be great, and I belong anywhere that I end up.”

Penix has spent the weeks since the national title game training with noted quarterback tutor John Beck of 3DQB in Southern California.

He said that the 34-13 loss in the national title game to Michigan was “tough for me to get over at first,” but he has been excited to get back on the field.

During Senior Bowl practices this week in Mobile, Penix and the other quarterbacks have met with groups of five NFL teams at once. He said the questions have mostly involved his background and journey through football.

Penix played the first four years of his career at Indiana. Along with the ACL injuries, two other seasons (2019 and 2021) ended with shoulder injuries, one to each shoulder. Neither of those injuries is expected to impact him in the NFL.

Penix is appreciative of the moments at the Senior Bowl after those years where injuries intersected his seasons.

“It was hard for me to just go out there and have fun at that time,” he said. “I was just trying to get to that point where you can go back out there and find fun in the game again. I was blessed — I am blessed — to be in this position where I have found I can go out there and have fun.”

Penix sprayed passes around the field Tuesday, the familiar sight of the ball exploding out of his left hand. The setting showcased his arm talent, with hundreds of NFL evaluators scattered around Hancock Whitney Stadium on the campus of South Alabama. And he’s eager to keep putting on a show.

“Just building relationships here, building relationships with people, elevating myself as a person and player here,” Penix said. “Just trying to get to know as many people as I can, being out here in front of these coaches, to show my skills in front of them. I’m soaking in the moment. As long as I soak in all of the moments and get everything out of it I can, I feel like it will a great week for me.”

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Memo: MLB to modify uniforms after complaints

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Memo: MLB to modify uniforms after complaints

Major League Baseball plans to address its uniform fiasco after changes this spring to the standard jerseys and pants led to widespread complaints from players and fans, according to a memo obtained Sunday night by ESPN.

The most prominent modifications include a return to larger lettering on the back of jerseys, remedying mismatched grey tops and bottoms, and addressing the new Nike jersey’s propensity to collect sweat, according to the memo distributed to players by the MLB Players Association on Sunday.

The changes, which will happen at the latest by the beginning of the 2025 season, will also include fixes to the pants, widely panned this spring for being see-through.

The union informed players of the coming changes in a letter that placed the blame on Nike and the debut of its Vapor Premier uniform, which was advertised for its superior performance but remains disliked by players.

“This has been entirely a Nike issue,” the memo to players said. “At its core, what has happened here is that Nike was innovating something that didn’t need to be innovated.”

The union also absolved Fanatics, the manufacturer of the uniform that has received the majority of public scorn for the uniform mess, saying the company “recognizes the vital importance of soliciting Player feedback, obtaining Player buy-in and not being afraid to have difficult conversations about jerseys or trading cards. Our hope is that, moving forward, Nike will take a similar approach.”

While the new uniformed debuted at the 2023 All-Star Game, its rollout this spring led to reams of bad publicity. The shrinking of letter size on players’ nameplates gave jerseys an amateur look. The pants — which, according to the memo, will “return to the higher quality zipper used in 2023” — had myriad issues, including the see-through fabric, a lack of tailoring and blowouts players believed unnecessary.

Nike’s partnership with MLB began in 2019, when it took over as the league’s official uniform supplier as part of a 10-year, $1 billion deal for MLB. Fanatics has partnerships with both the league and the union.

“We cautioned Nike against various changes when they previewed them in 2022, particularly regarding pants,” the union memo said. “MLB had been, and has been, aware of our concerns as well. Unfortunately, until recently Nike’s position has essentially boiled down to — ‘nothing to see here, Players will need to adjust.’ “

MLB declined comment. Nike did not offer immediate comment when reached by ESPN. Fanatics did not respond to a request for comment. The MLBPA declined comment.

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Ryan Truex goes back-to-back at Dover for 2nd win

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Ryan Truex goes back-to-back at Dover for 2nd win

DOVER, Del. — Make it three straight NASCAR wins for the Truex kids at the Monster Mile.

Ryan Truex won the Xfinity Series race Saturday at Dover Motor Speedway for the second straight year, giving the younger brother of Martin Truex Jr. the only NASCAR victories of his career.

Truex went back-to-back at the Monster Mile to give him two wins in 194 career starts over the three national series. The No. 20 Toyota pulled away over the final two laps in a race that went eight laps over its scheduled 200-lap finish. The race was slowed by rain, but it sure didn’t matter to Truex, who does not have a fulltime Xfinity ride and made just his fourth start this season.

The Truex family had a special weekend last year at Dover. Ryan Truex dominated on the concrete-mile track and swept all three stages of the Xfinity race, leading 124 of the 200 laps. Two days later, Martin Truex Jr. won the Cup Series race at Dover — with their dad on hand to celebrate with both sons.

“Really in this sport, what you did last year doesn’t mean a thing,” Martin Truex Jr. said earlier Saturday. “He felt pretty good about his car yesterday. He didn’t get the lap he wanted in qualifying.”

Hours later, Ryan Truex got the laps he wanted down the stretch.

“I can’t believe it,” he said. “Our car was just good at the end when it mattered. I was so loose all day.”

Joe Gibbs Racing won its 200th career Xfinity race with Toyota.

The 32-year-old Truex huffed and puffed during a postrace interview saying: “I think I held my breath the last two laps.”

Truex was again joined by his father and brother in victory lane — and also his fiancee, who had started to leave the track with under 20 laps left before she hitched a ride back on a cart.

“Martin was pretty pumped-up again. Not as much as last year,” Truex said, laughing. “He was still pretty pumped up. And so was my dad.”

Martin Truex Jr. starts 15th in Sunday’s Cup race.

“The pressure is definitely on Martin tomorrow,” Truex said.

With his NASCAR champion father rooting him on, Carson Kvapil finished second. The 21-year-old Kvapil was trying to win his first career NASCAR race in just his second start in the developmental series. His dad, Travis, won NASCAR’s Truck Series championship in 2003.

“I know he can do it,” the elder Kvapil said on TV ahead of the final laps.

His kid almost delivered.

“I thought we had a pretty good restart,” he said. “It sucked, right, to get that close? I really don’t even know what to say. I think we had a really fast Chevrolet here. I’m just really fortunate to be in the spot that I am. I’m happy that I had a shot to win the race at the end there.”

Sam Mayer, Sheldon Creed and Cole Custer rounded out the top five.

Anthony Alfredo finished ninth and took a $100,000 bonus from the series’ Dash-4-Cash program.

“We’ve been punching above our weight this year,” Alfredo said. “The money is kind of overwhelming us.”

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Larson undaunted by Indy 500-NASCAR attempt

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Larson undaunted by Indy 500-NASCAR attempt

DOVER, Del. — Kyle Larson ran into his first speed bump in his busy May.

Larson next month will become the fifth driver in history to attempt to complete “The Double” and run 1,100 miles in one day, starting with the Indianapolis 500 in an Indy car and then flying to Charlotte to drive in the Coca-Cola 600, NASCAR’s longest race of the year.

But ahead of the milestone attempt, Larson will stay in Indianapolis on May 17 to practice for the 500 rather than travel to North Wilkesboro Speedway to practice and qualify for the NASCAR All-Star race.

He is expected to qualify for the Indy 500 on May 18 before — barring any complications — he travels to North Carolina to compete in an All-Star heat race later that night. The All-Star race at North Wilkesboro is May 21, hours after the top 12 cars on the starting grid is set in Indianapolis.

“Hopefully, I’ll be able to run a heat race,” Larson said. “I hope to make it back in time for the race itself. Kind of don’t really know yet. Kind of depends on how the week is going in Indy. For sure, won’t be able to practice, I know that.”

Larson’s next time on the track at Indy won’t be until May 14, when IMS opens for Indy 500 preparations. Larson is running an entry co-fielded by McLaren and Hendrick Motorsports, his NASCAR team and Rick Hendrick’s first entry into the Indianapolis 500.

“I need to get as much laps in Indy as possible,” Larson said. “The plane will be ready for me to go whenever it’s free for me to leave.”

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