Sports

The Cowboys practiced for the first time without Marshawn Kneeland on Thursday. The defensive end died last week from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound following a police chase and a wreck with another vehicle, according to authorities.

The Cowboys, who had their bye last week, returned to The Star as a team on Monday. They have grieved as a team, with a private vigil, team meetings and individual meetings with grief counselors.

Coach Brian Schottenheimer made clear the Cowboys aren't moving on, but they are moving forward. They began that process with their first practice of the week ahead of the Monday Night Football game against the Raiders.

“It was great,” Prescott said, via Nick Harris of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “Some guys are going to get out on the field, and it’s going to hurt. Some guys are going to get out there, and it’s going to be the best medicine for them. Having dealt with loss, that is the best medicine for me. So getting back out there, handing the ball off and sprinting an extra 10 yards and making sure I’m doing it hard, Marshawn went through my mind a few times at practice today.”

The Cowboys are honoring Kneeland's memory in several ways, including a helmet decal. But defensive tackle Solomon Thomas was among the players who said the best way they can honor their teammate is to give it everything they have on Monday night.

“He would run to the ball,” Thomas said. “No matter how tired he was, he would play with intensity and tenacity. He went out there because he loved the game. He played with love. He played every play like it was his last and didn’t take reps for granted. What I learned is he came from a small town in Michigan, and he wasn’t supposed to be here. So, he played like he wanted to be here every single day. If we do that, we’ll honor him — win, loss or draw.

"If we play like Marshawn, we’ll be a better team. We’ll come out of this better.”

Patriots running back TreVeyon Henderson ran for two touchdowns in last Sunday's win over the Buccaneers and he's matched that total before halftime on Thursday night.

Henderson ran for a seven-yard touchdown on the Patriots' first possession of the game and then did it again to cap their second drive. The touchdowns have the Patriots up 14-7 on the Jets with 7:54 to play in the first half.

The Patriots ground their way to their first score, but they used big plays to get down the field the second time. Drake Maye completed all four passes he tried and connected with wide receiver Mack Hollins for a pair of 19-yard gains. He also had two completions to tight end Hunter Henry for 35 yards.

Maye is 9-of-9 through the first two possessions and Henderson has nine carries for 36 yards.

The Jets opened Thursday night's game with a long touchdown drive and the Patriots answered with one of their own.

After the Jets held the ball for more than eight minutes on their way to a Justin Fields touchdown run, the Patriots took up 7:40 of clock while covering 69 yards. Rookie running back TreVeyon Henderson scored on a seven-yard run to tie the score 7-7 with 14:16 to play in the first half.

Henderson had seven carries for 27 yards and quarterback Drake Maye was 5-of-5 for 23 yards. The Patriots also benefitted from an unnecessary roughness penalty on cornerback Jarvis Brownlee to pick up 15 of the yards they needed to hit the end zone.

The Jets will try to answer and another long drive would push the game close to halftime without many changes of possession.