Fresno State Professional Athletes

Davante Adams: The Wait May Be Shorter Than Feared

When Davante Adams went down with a hamstring injury against the Cardinals on Oct. 18, the early prognosis — a 6–10 week window — felt like a gut punch for a Rams offense already operating on thin margins. But the Fresno State product is apparently ahead of schedule.

Rams head coach Sean McVay said this week that Adams is "closer to the shorter term" of that 6–10 week timeline, a signal that the 33-year-old wideout's recovery is trending in the right direction. That puts a potential return date somewhere in the neighborhood of late November — squarely within playoff positioning territory for an LA squad trying to hold together a Super Bowl window.

The stakes couldn't be higher for the Rams' receiving corps. Puka Nacua dealt with a calf injury in practice this week (though the team remained optimistic he'd play against the Raiders), and without Adams, the offensive load has shifted to tight ends Colby Parkinson and Davis Allen, who helped fill the gap in LA's Week 7 win over Las Vegas. It's a workable stopgap, but not a long-term solution — and McVay knows it.

The Rams' trade deadline calculus is also directly tied to Adams' recovery. Per Heavy Sports, the front office is factoring his return into whether to pursue external reinforcements. A shorter timeline makes a splash move less urgent. A longer one could change the math entirely.

Yahoo Sports has been less charitable about the broader situation, noting that Los Angeles committed to an aging Adams and now lacks the receiving firepower for a deep postseason run even at full health. Fair or not, Adams' recovery pace will define how this season's second half is written.

His former Rams teammate Ronnie Rivers remains on the roster but wasn't a featured factor in the Week 7 win, with Blake Corum's expanding role reshaping the backfield hierarchy.

Around the League

Elsewhere in Bulldog Nation, Arron Mosby had an eventful week in Green Bay. The Packers elevated the edge rusher from the practice squad twice — first for Sunday's divisional clash against the Lions (a 17–20 Green Bay loss) and again for Thursday's 27–19 win over the Panthers. Mosby's repeated elevations signal he's a trusted depth piece for a Packers defense navigating a busy week of NFC North stakes.

In Dallas, DaRon Bland is caught in a murky situation of his own making. The Cowboys corner has been struggling, and owner Jerry Jones sent what Heavy Sports described as a "confusing message" about Bland's status as a starter following a Week 7 loss to the Eagles, 38–21. Jones' comments neither committed to Bland nor moved on from him — leaving the former standout in an uncertain role on a Cowboys team with its own identity questions.

In Philadelphia, former Fresno State safety Dean Clark was cut from the Eagles' practice squad, per Heavy Sports. Clark is now a free agent and looking for his next opportunity.

The Adams watch is the dominant storyline for Fresno State alums this week, but the supporting cast is active, embattled, and worth tracking as the NFL season hits its midpoint stride.

Two Fresno State alumni dominated NFL headlines this week — one closing in on immortality, the other facing an uncertain future.

Davante Adams Is One Catch Away From the Record Books

Monday Night Football has been good to Davante Adams. In the Rams' Week 6 loss to the Buffalo Bills (34-37), Adams caught five passes for 51 yards and two touchdowns — and in doing so, pulled within one TD reception of passing Larry Fitzgerald for sole possession of third place on the NFL's all-time list.

Adams now has four touchdown catches on the season. The next one makes history.

It wasn't a perfect night — Adams got off to a slow start against Buffalo's secondary — but when the Rams needed a spark, their veteran wideout delivered twice. His second score tied the game at 27-27 before Los Angeles ultimately fell. The performance was vintage Adams: quiet early, decisive late.

The former Bulldog, now in his prime with the Rams, has made a habit of rising on Monday nights. In Week 2 against the Giants, he hauled in eight catches for 195 yards and two more scores. With Fitzgerald's milestone in sight and the Rams still fighting for playoff positioning, Adams is making the kind of noise that belongs in a career-defining chapter.

DaRon Bland's Cowboys Future Is Suddenly in Question

Things are considerably grimmer in Dallas, where DaRon Bland's 2026 season has become one of the more uncomfortable storylines in the NFC. The former Bulldog cornerback — a 47-game starter who recorded an NFL-record five pick-sixes in 2023 — is now one of the most scrutinized players on a Cowboys defense that has cratered.

Through five weeks, Bland has allowed a passer rating of 135.3 against him, and Dallas dropped a bruising Week 5 loss to Tampa Bay where he was among the team's most notable fallers in the stock report. He didn't appear at the open portion of Monday's practice, adding a health question mark to an already turbulent situation.

The Cowboys' calculus here is complicated by money. Dallas reportedly has a $13 million financial incentive to bench Bland — sidelining him could allow the team to avoid triggering massive injury guarantees in his contract. That decision becomes more urgent as the secondary gets healthier and options multiply. Reports have surfaced of a potential trade or outright cut, and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has been publicly pressed on whether Bland's decline mirrors that of former Pro Bowl cornerback Trevon Diggs — a comparison Jones has been reluctant to make.

Bland, for his part, has publicly said the team is handling adversity "pretty good." The Cowboys' front office may not share his optimism.

Mock drafts are already landing replacement cornerbacks in Dallas's 2027 class, and with Joey Porter Jr. emerging as a new No. 1 option, the pressure on Bland to turn things around is existential. Fresno State fans who remember his record-breaking 2023 campaign are watching one of the program's most celebrated NFL exports fight to hold his roster spot.

The contrast this week couldn't be sharper: Adams one touchdown from legend, Bland one bad week from a roster move.

Fresno State's NFL footprint ran the full spectrum this week — from a Hall of Fame–caliber milestone to a $92 million cautionary tale.

Davante Adams Joins Rare Air

The most decorated Bulldog in NFL history added another line to his résumé on Sunday. Davante Adams surpassed 13,000 career receiving yards during the Los Angeles Rams' 24-20 win over the Philadelphia Eagles on October 4, entering one of the most exclusive clubs in NFL history. Adams needed just nine yards to reach the mark entering the game and got there on four catches for 32 yards — workmanlike production that happened to carry historic weight.

The milestone cements his status as the premier receiver ever to come out of Fresno State, and the broader conversation around his legacy only grows as the yards accumulate. The Rams are leaning heavily on Adams and Puka Nacua as their top two options, with a receiver depth chart behind them that Sports Illustrated has flagged as a persistent organizational concern. For now, Adams remains the unquestioned centerpiece — and the milestone speaks for itself.

Jake Haener Gets His Roster Spot

Quietly but meaningfully, Jake Haener earned a promotion that matters. The Giants signed the Fresno State product to their 53-man roster this week, elevating him from the practice squad ahead of New York's matchup with the Arizona Cardinals. Haener backs up Jameis Winston, with newly acquired J.J. McCarthy serving as the emergency third option — a configuration that puts Haener firmly inside the building as a live NFL quarterback, not a developmental afterthought.

It's a notable step for Haener, who has worked his way back onto an active roster after bouncing through the league's developmental tiers. Getting onto a 53-man roster, regardless of circumstance, is a career data point that doesn't disappear.

DaRon Bland's Struggles Deepen

No Fresno State alum generated more scrutiny this week than DaRon Bland — and none of it was flattering. The Cowboys cornerback, playing on a four-year, $92 million extension signed on the strength of his historic 2023 season (nine interceptions, five returned for touchdowns), has been a liability through the early weeks of 2026.

Bland struggled again in Dallas's Week 4 win over the Houston Texans and then had a nightmare showing in the Cowboys' Week 5 loss to Tampa Bay. Head coach Brian Schottenheimer publicly called him out after the Tampa debacle, a notable escalation of the team's internal frustration. Sports Illustrated reported the Cowboys' front office remains surprisingly bullish on Bland's ability to turn it around — an optimism the outlet described as "alarmingly delusional." Owner Jerry Jones has downplayed concerns publicly, but the numbers haven't backed him up.

The Cowboys acquired cornerback Joey Porter Jr. from the Pittsburgh Steelers ahead of Week 4 in a move that was widely read as a response to Bland's struggles, though Dallas has maintained Bland remains a starter. Calls from analysts to move him out of that role are growing louder by the week.

For a player who once looked like a generational playmaker at the position, the fall from grace has been steep — and the contract guarantees a spotlight that won't dim anytime soon.