Sports

Greg Ellis deserves credit for his candor. He could have said nothing. He decided instead to share his regrets for not keeping in contact with Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland, who dies this week in an apparent suicide.

In 2024, Ellis — who spent 11 years with the Cowboys as a player — served as the team's assistant defensive line coach. He lobbied for the team to draft Kneeland in round two. Kneeland reminded Ellis of himself. And Ellis wishes he'd done more to keep in touch with his former pupil.

“For me, I should have known,” Ellis told Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News. “But the moments that I pay attention to him when he would withdraw, he would get quiet, and then I was like, ‘What’s going on?’ But his number one answer: ‘I’m straight coach, I’m good.’ So, yes, to that again, a lot of things are hindsight. I did see it. But I didn’t think it would lead to this. But I did feel compelled to stay in contact with him, and that’s the one thing that I didn’t do well enough in my opinion.”

Ellis's tenure with the Cowboys ended after the 2024 season. He's struggling with the fact that he didn't continue the relationship.

“I feel like, I wish he would have reached out to me,” Ellis said. “But it’s kind of out of sight, out of mind, and that’s where I feel like I needed to have been calling him, and the last time I talked to him by text. Then I just should have been texting him on a consistent basis. Hindsight, I wish I would have been reaching out to him a lot more and maybe that would have helped him to say, ‘Oh yeah, G let me talk to you. Let’s go and get something to eat X, Y and Z.' It doesn’t have to be about football. I didn’t do it."

Ellis bears no blame. The Cowboys moved on, and Ellis moved on. His willingness to share his feelings on the matter can have a positive impact on others.

The lesson is clear. Make the time to check in on your family, friends, colleagues. Watch and listen to them. Help them if you can. Urge them to get help elsewhere, if you believe they need it.

We're all under varying degrees of stress. If anyone has no problems at all, it's a temporary condition at best. Serious problems also can be temporary. The right message at the right time can prevent someone from resorting to a permanent and irreversible solution.

The Colts announced a handful of roster moves ahead of Sunday's game against the Falcons in Berlin.

Wide receiver Laquon Treadwell has been signed to the 53-man roster. The Colts opened a roster spot by placing defensive tackle DeForest Buckner on injured reserve.

Treadwell has played in two games as a temporary elevation from the practice squad and seen all of his playing time on special teams. The 2016 Vikings first-round pick has 111 catches for 1,242 yards and five touchdowns in 85 career games with the Vikings, Falcons, Jaguars, Seahawks, Ravens, and Colts.

The Colts also announced that they have elevated defensive end Durell Nchami and defensive tackle Tim Smith. Wide receiver Anthony Gould (knee) was downgraded from questionable to out for Sunday.

Yeah, the Denver offense did not perform well on Thursday night. Quarterback Bo Nix heard it from the home fans, who definitely weren't chanting ("Bo-ooooo").

Nix completed 16 of 28 passes for 150 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions, an average of 5.35 yards per attempt, and a passer rating of 54.2.

Still, Nix's lone touchdown pass pulled him into a tie with Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford for the most total touchdowns in 2025, with 21.

Nix has played 10 games. Mahomes has played nine, and Stafford has played only eight. When the Rams visit the 49ers on Sunday, there's a very good chance Stafford will take the lead in his ninth game of the seaosn.

Regardless, Nix is quietly racking up passing touchdowns (18) and rushing touchdowns (three). In eight days, he'll try to add to that number against Mahomes and the Chiefs in a game that will be critical to the eventual championship of the AFC West.