Washington Redskins left tackle Trent Williams ended his silence on Thursday and said he had a soft-tissue cancer attached to his skull that went misdiagnosed for close to six years, leading to his dispute with the team. Williams said he thought he was getting a cyst cut out during the offseason appointment only to learn he had dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans, a skin cancer that develops inside connective tissue cells. Williams later had multiple surgeries to remove the tumor, he said.

Washington Redskins left tackle Trent Williams ended his silence on Thursday and said he had a soft-tissue cancer attached to his skull that went misdiagnosed for close to six years, leading to his dispute with the team. Williams said he thought he was getting a cyst cut out during the offseason appointment only to learn he had dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans, a skin cancer that develops inside connective tissue cells. Williams later had multiple surgeries to remove the tumor, he said.

The New England Patriots will release receiver Josh Gordon off injured reserve on Thursday, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. The move will mean that Gordon will be available to other teams on the waiver wire. Gordon, 28, has been dealing with two bone bruises in his left knee and last played for New England on Oct. 10 against the New York Giants.

After snapping a three-game losing streak in Week 7 with a convincing rout of the Philadelphia Eagles to give them first place in the NFC East, the Dallas Cowboys received a gift as meaningful as that 37-10 victory: rest. A bye week last week has enabled Dallas to mostly return to full strength for its Monday night visit to MetLife Stadium and its second meeting of the year with the New York Giants. With 15 days between games, the trio and other Cowboys who weren't healthy have received the breather they needed to tackle the season's second half.

New York Giants wide receiver Sterling Shepard was a full participant in practice on Thursday for a second straight day, a step toward returning to game action. Shepard suffered a concussion in a Week 5 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Oct. 6 and has been sidelined since. He has yet to clear the concussion protocol but could before Monday night's home game against the Dallas Cowboys.

Rodgers has also seen his passer rating jump 18 points up to 118.7 as he will look to take Matt LaFleur's rolling offense to L.A. to face the Chargers. The Bolts have seen the weakest stretch of opposing QBs over the last five weeks: M.Trubisky, R.Tannehill, D.Hodges, J.Flacco, and J.Rosen. The Bolts went 2-3 SU (2-3 ATS) over those five games and allowed an average of 18.4 completions, 211 yards passing with one touchdown and one interception.

The NFL can be an overly secretive, sensitive, weird place. There was a freakout over ESPN showing a quick clip of New York Jets quarterback Sam Darnold saying “I'm seeing ghosts,” during a game against the New England Patriots. After the overreaction to the Darnold comment, New York Giants coach Pat Shurmur doubled down and said he would not allow ESPN to put a microphone on him for “Monday Night Football,” if asked, and hopes his players will also refuse.

Written off after a 19-31 start and given a .01 percent oddsmakers chance to win the World Series, the Washington Nationals ignored the doubters and captured a fairy-tale championship. The Nationals rallied to defeat Houston 6-2 on Wednesday to capture Major League Baseball's best-of-seven final 4-3 in a reversal of fortune unseen in more than a century. Not since the 1914 Boston Braves had a club been so far below .500 and battled back to seize the trophy, the Nats matching Houston's 74 wins after May 24 for the most in baseball.

The Astros, who won their first Fall Classic two years ago, were overwhelming favorites entering this series, especially with four games at Minute Maid Park, where they owned the best home record in baseball. This, though, was the series that popularized the concept of home disadvantage. Never before had the visiting team won the first six, let alone seven, games in a World Series – and that goes for the best-of-seven postseason series in the NBA and the NHL, too.

Derek Carr and Matthew Stafford rank among the top 10 quarterbacks in the league in multiple statistical categories this season. But the numbers are not always adding up to victories. Carr's Oakland Raiders and Stafford's Detroit Lions are both trying to turn mediocre starts into a playoff run.