“Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the league will review for potentially discipline the hit to Apple’s lower legs on Monday, Tuesday at the latest. A suspension is currently believed to be unlikely, but it is one of the potential punishments.”
The play occurred during a fumble return attempt by Bengals linebacker Germaine Pratt. Jones could be seen making an off-the-ball low block on Apple, who was trailing the runner. The pass was deemed as incomplete, and the play was ultimately called back.
But that still didn’t shake the fact that Apple believed something nefarious happened.
“Of course I did [notice it]. He tripped me,” said Apple, via NESN.com. “I thought it was a dirty play. He’s done that before, I’ve seen it.”
A possible suspension even being on the table is something to keep an eye on as the league makes its decision. Shockingly enough, the Patriots still hold the cards to their own playoff destiny in their Week 17 showdown with the Miami Dolphins.
So the mere possibility of not having Jones under center is a big deal.
List
The Morning After: Don't let late-game effort overshadow root issues
In many respects, the days of football players playing dirty have yielded to a broader respect for the health and safety of all players. But it’s not quite universal.
Periodically, players accuse other players of tactics that could cause injury. Patriots quarterback Mac Jones is currently the target of such allegations.
Watch the play. Well behind a fumble return by Bengals linebacker Germaine Pratt (the play ultimately was deemed to be an incomplete pass), Jones inexplicably dove at the legs of Bengals cornerback Eli Apple.
The only remotely plausible explanation for the maneuver was that Jones hoped to keep Apple from blocking Patriots receiver Tyquan Thornton, who was chasing Pratt. Even then, Apple seemed to be too far behind Thornton to have been able to get in position to make a legal block.
The more likely explanation is that, with 6:17 in a 22-12 game that was about to become 28-12 pending the extra point, Jones acted on the frustrations he was feeling.
After the game, Apple made his displeasure with Jones known.
“He tripped me,” Apple told NESN.com. “I thought it was a dirty play. He’s done that before, I’ve seen it.”
After Sunday’s loss, Jones may not get a chance to make any dirty plays in the postseason.
This one contains far less gray area. It was a clear violation of the rules against low blocks. It was an unnecessary hit, away from the play. Jones easily could have injured Apple.
So what will happen to Jones over this? He may be wishing that all he gets is a lump of coal.
The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the view of The Hill
Greg Nash
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) speaks to reporters as returns to his office on Thursday, December 22, 2022.
Here we go again. In the late spring or summer of 2023, the U.S. government will reach the total debt authorized by Congress in December 2021 — and Congress will engage in a debate, full of sound and fury, about raising the federal government’s debt ceiling.
This time, however, the result may be different.
With a Republican majority in the House of Representatives, and a Speaker beholden to members of the far-right Freedom Caucus — many of whom seem eager to engage in what Larry Summers, President Obama’s Secretary of the Treasury, has called “debt limit terror” — there is a distinct possibility that the United States will default on its obligations, delivering a catastrophic blow to an already fragile economy.
Ahead of that game of chicken, it’s important for Americans to understand what the debt ceiling can — and cannot — do.
The United States is the only major industrial nation with a debt ceiling. America’s debt ceiling, moreover, applies only to budgetary appropriations that have already been made; it has no impact on future spending or borrowing. Indeed, as one legal scholar has argued, since legislation passed by Congress and signed by the president implicitly authorizes the U.S. Treasury to spend the money necessary to implement it, a separate requirement to increase the accrued debt creates the possibility of default, and may therefore be unconstitutional.
In any event, although debates about the national debt have become increasingly partisan, Congress and the president have agreed to increase the debt ceiling over 100 times since World War II. The debt limit has also been “suspended” — a distinction, made for political reasons, without a substantive difference — seven times. The debt ceiling was raised three times while Donald Trump was President. In 2019, when Congress suspended the debt ceiling until July 2021, Trump exulted that the agreement was “phenomenal.” The ceiling has been raised twice with Joe Biden in the White House.
Most importantly, there is no credible evidence that opposition to raising the debt ceiling or government shutdowns produces fiscal restraint. Debt rose from 70 percent of GDP in 2011, the year Congress passed and President Obama signed the Budget Control Act, for example, to 79 percent of GDP in 2019.
The mere threat of a default, in fact, can generate costs for virtually all Americans, with increases in interest rates and reductions in foreign investments. During a lengthy impasse, the credit rating of the U.S. government can be — and in 2011 was — downgraded.
Congress will probably take up the debt ceiling early in 2023. And, it’s clear, hardline Republicans in the House of Representatives are spoiling for a fight with the Biden administration. Some of them are demanding that the as-yet-to-be-determined Speaker promise not to bring a bill to the floor unless it has the support of a majority of House Republicans. This rule would prevent Democrats from picking off a few “moderate” Republicans (who fear default would be a disaster for the country and their party) to pass a “clean” debt ceiling bill (i.e., without spending cuts).
Some Freedom Caucus members have said they would not vote to raise the debt ceiling without a plan to cap spending and balance the federal budget in ten years. “There’s a lot of fat and garbage that’s way off the mission,” says Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas). Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) wants cuts in mandatory as well as discretionary spending, including Social Security, Medicare, and “other welfare programs” that are “the drivers of the spending.” Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.) declares “I don’t fear not raising the debt ceilings.” He believes, incorrectly, that “if we didn’t raise the debt ceiling all that would mean is we’d have to cut discretionary spending more than we’re taking in.”
Not surprisingly, as he continues to search for the votes that will make him Speaker, Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has promised the House will not pass a debt ceiling bill without spending cuts — but did not specify what they might be.
Of course, neither the United States Senate nor President Biden will agree to the kind of legislation hardline Republicans support. And so, Americans may soon experience a protracted default that Moody’s Analytics has estimated could result in a 4 percent drop in GDP, 9 percent unemployment and a $15 trillion loss in household wealth.
Accompanied, perhaps, by a richly deserved backlash against the “burn down the House” Republicans who bear responsibility for it.
PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers honored the 50th anniversary of the Immaculate Reception with a memorable comeback of their own. Celebrating the late Franco Harris, Pittsburgh defeated the Las Vegas Raiders at home, in some seriously cold weather, with a game-winning drive by their rookie quarterback.
You'd think a 10-play, 76-yard touchdown drive to give your team the lead with 50 seconds left in the game would be sparked by some type of magical words from your quarterback. Not for the Steelers. Kenny Pickett entered the huddle, called the plays and let his play do the talking when it mattered most.
"Really nothing. He really said the play call," wide receiver George Pickens on Pickett's words in the huddle on the final drive.
"Yeah, I mean, there is no rah, rah speech that's going to put the ball in the end zone," Pickett said after the game. "It's very simple: Everyone has to lock in, do their job. I am going to call the plays. We are going to get it relayed in. I told them they're going to execute. I'll execute and we're going to win the game. That's pretty much it. So when you're in the locker room after and you guys are hugging after a win, that's the best feeling in the world. I had no doubt that we were going to get it done."
That mentality had everyone locked in as the rookie completed six passes and handed Pittsburgh the win on a 14-yard touchdown throw to Pickens.
And really, that's all the Steelers needed.
"I don't really think too much about winning guys over," Pickett said. "I think my preparation throughout the week, how hard I play, I hope their opinions are on the brighter side based off that. We all have a really good relationship. We all believe in each other. We have no doubt we're going to win the game when we get out there. I think how tight-knit we are, that definitely bodes well for us."
England midfielder Kalvin Phillips returned from the World Cup overweight and not in the right condition to play, Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola has said.
Phillips was used for only 40 minutes as a substitute at the finals, having not started for City since his move from Leeds United in the close season due to a shoulder injury.
Second-placed City, who return to Premier League action at Leeds on Wednesday, will again be without 27-year-old Phillips, much to his manager’s frustration.
“He’s not injured, he arrived (back) overweight,” Guardiola said. “I don’t know (why). He didn’t arrive in the condition to do training sessions and to play.
“That’s why he cannot play. When he will be ready, he will play because we need him, we need him a lot.”
Asked if he was disappointed to see Phillips return in such condition, Guardiola added: “It’s a private conversation with Kalvin.”
The FA and Phillips’ representatives, ICM Stellar Sports, declined to comment on Guardiola’s remarks.
Looking to win a fifth league title in the last six seasons, City resume the campaign trailing Arsenal by four points.
They got back to winning ways after the World Cup break with a thrilling 3-2 League Cup victory over Liverpool on Thursday.
The last we saw of the Premier League was on Sunday, 13 November, with Manchester United snatching an injury-time winner at Fulham.
Six weeks have passed, during which we have been glued to events in Qatar, where Wales fell at the group stage and England suffered penalty woe again, before Argentina lifted the 2022 World Cup.
On 26 December the English top flight returns, and just in case you had forgotten how we left it, BBC Sport will bring you up to speed.
The view from the top
Arsenal are out in front after a superb first 14 games of the campaign.
They have amassed 37 points, dropping them in just two fixtures so far - their only defeat coming at Manchester United in early September.
After their best Premier League start, this is the first time they will be top at Christmas since the 2007-08 season.
All seven teams to win 12 of their first 14 games have won the Premier League title.
Another good omen for the Gunners is the team that topped the table on Christmas Day have been champions in 10 of the past 13 seasons.
In their first game back they face West Ham at Emirates Stadium.
With second-placed Manchester City not playing until 28 December - at Leeds - victory would take the Gunners eight points clear of the champions.
Newcastle - the surprise challengers at the top end of the table - are at Leicester on 26 December and will want to pick up where they left off. A sixth consecutive win would move them above Manchester City and into second.
There are a few teams in the top half who will probably have appreciated the chance to take stock during the World Cup before going again.
Tottenham beat Leeds before the break, but had lost three of the previous four. They get us under way on Monday with an away game at Brentford (12:30 GMT).
Graham Potter's Chelsea have not won in five Premier League games and spent the World Cup break in eighth.
Down at the bottom
On the evidence of the first 14 or so games, this season's relegation battle could be wide open.
Just nine points separate the bottom 12 sides in the division, with Wolves propping everybody up.
Only six teams have ever been bottom at Christmas and stayed up - with half of those in the first three Premier League campaigns - but Wanderers will be looking to buck that trend with a new man at the helm.
Julen Lopetegui took charge on 14 November and is already targeting big improvements, including in his squad, with the Spaniard wantingsix new signings when the transfer window openson 1 January.
Southampton also made a managerial switch shortly before the break, withNathan Jones arriving from Lutonto replace the sacked Ralph Hasenhuttl at St Mary's. The Saints have lost their past three games and are 19th, two points from safety.
It is perhaps surprising to see no more clubs opt to make a change, with the World Cup effectively providing a mid-campaign mini pre-season.
Everton have stuck by manager Frank Lampard despite sitting 17th off the back of two consecutive defeats, and David Moyes remains West Ham boss even though they have lost three on the trot and sit just a point above the bottom three.
The impact of the World Cup
An intense, mid-season World Cup always carried the risk of fatigue and injuries to players.
It could well be late February before we see him in action again after what had been an impressive start to his time with the Gunners, albeit one that had seen him fail to score in six league games before the break.
In contrast, despite having the most players of any club at the World Cup with 16, Manchester City currently have no injuries to report.
The majority of their representatives in Qatar were out of the tournament by the semi-finals, with only Argentina's Julian Alvarez making it beyond the last eight.
In addition, the Premier League's top scorer Erling Haaland has been able to rest for five weeks, ready to return and try to add to his remarkable tally of 18 goals in 13 games. The Norway striker played his first match for City since November'sdefeat by Brentfordin a 2-0 friendly win against Girona on 17 December, and scored, as did Belgium's Kevin de Bruyne.
Keen interest will be paid towards which players who were injured before the World Cup will be ready for action again.
In order to incorporate the World Cup into the domestic season, matches will now be played regularly so all fixtures can be fulfilled in a timely fashion.
Between now and the end of January there are five rounds of English top-flight fixtures. These all come after some clubs have featured in theCarabao Cup fourth round, with those games having taken place on 20-22 December.
In addition, theFA Cup third roundwill be played 6-9 January, before some teams return to European action in mid-February.
Choice is empowering, but it can also be a little overwhelming. The PlayStation Plus Game Catalog (included with PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium memberships), includes dozens of great titles to pick from, including a host of fantastic indie titles. We’re here to share some curated indie picks to help you find that next bespoke gem.
Everything from chill, exploration-driven environmental experiences to bold, brash action-driven challenges to ridiculously silly multiplayer romps to anime-art bullet-hell barrages are available to you, on-demand, as a perk of your subscription. Here’s a sampling of some of the best and brightest PlayStation Plus Game Catalog indie games to check out.
Abzu
Exploring the vast beauty of the ocean is a dream for many–and in Abzu from Giant Squid Studios, that dream manifests as an unforgettable adventure. As a nameless diver in a vast, open-world undersea environment, you discover remnants of a lost civilization with a bond to the ocean. By exploring and puzzle-solving, you will restore life and energy to this underwater wonderworld. And don’t worry about oxygen–you can travel and admire the graphically sumptuous environments and vibrant ocean life of Abzu at your own pace.
Publisher: 505 Games | PS4
Bugsnax
Snaktooth Island is home to many natural marvels, the most well-known of which are the titular Bugsnax. These miraculous creatures are half-dessert, half-insects that taste every bit as wild as they look. Take control of a Grumpus–an intelligent, squeezably adorable furry bipedal monster–and hunt down and catalog all the various species of Bugsnax while searching for your missing mentor in this weird odyssey from Young Horses. Use deliciously creative tools like the Sauce Slinger, Lunchpad, and Snakgrabbler in your quest to catalog every Bugsnax for research (and taste) purposes. You’ll also be humming the game’s infectiously catchy theme song for days.
Publisher: Young Horses | PS4/PS5
Celeste
Conquer your fears in this critically acclaimed action platformer from Maddy Makes Games. Join Madeline as she undertakes a metaphysical journey to climb to the summit of Mount Celeste–and face her own insecurities. Her journey takes her through numerous side-scrolling platforming trials, filled with all manner of gimmicks and hazards: bumpers, disappearing ground, conveyor belts, scorching magma, and so, so many spikes. You’ll need to make adept use of Madeline’s signature midair-dash (and power-ups to enhance said dash) to triumph. But don’t worry if you’re not a fast-movement master: ample accessibility options are here to aid you if you need them. Whether you play for the invigorating platform challenges or the moving story, Celeste is an experience you won’t soon forget.
Publisher: Maddy Makes Games | PS4
Chicory
Something’s happened to the kingdom of Picnic–all the color’s been sucked away. And what’s worse is that the Wielder of the powerful Brush that can restore order is missing. It’s up to the big-dreaming janitor dog Pizza (or whatever you name them) to take up the Brush, restore the color to the land, and fight off the encroaching darkness in Greg Lobanov’s charming art adventure Chicory. You’ll use unique paintbrush and coloring mechanics to navigate the world and solve puzzles, like making plants bloom with a little touch of the brush or lighting up dark caves with glow-in-the-dark paint. And with lots of cute clothing and brush customizations to find, you’ll look fabulous in your artistic adventures.
Publisher: Finji | PS4/PS5
Dead Cells
A castle with ever-changing corridors, with no checkpoints, no save spots, and only you and your prowess separating you from a miserable fate. The Prisoner is a being that can possess human corpses, which are in no short supply on this fetid island. Again and again, the Prisoner’s hosts are destroyed, but they do not give up searching for a means to end the island’s misery. The intense 2D action-platforming of Motion Twin’s Dead Cells is a unique experience with each attempt, with the procedurally generated castle layout transforming into something new each time you play. Every time you die, it’s back to zero at the beginning–but with the valuable skills and knowledge you’ve gained from your previous struggle. It will take many tries to master your movement and attacks, discover uses for weapons and spells, learn enemy patterns, and uncover new routes to traverse. Are you up to the challenge?
Publisher: Motion Twin SARL | PS4
Enter the Gungeon
The term “looter shooter” takes on a new meaning in this roguelike exploration-fest. Select your Gungeoneer, each with unique loadouts and abilities, and prepare to delve into the depths of the Gungeon, a sprawling maze of rooms filled with amazing secrets to discover–when you’re not busy dodging increasingly copious hails of bullets. Arm yourself with some of the wildest weaponry ever seen in video games: a Crown of Guns that sits majestically upon your head, the transformational Snakemaker, the masterful unlocking gun AKEY-47, and the Elimentaler, a gun with the almighty destructive power of… cheese? Enter the Gungeon from Dodge Roll is a delightful, infinitely replayable, darkly humorous adventure to find the ultimate treasure: a weapon to kill the past.
Publisher: Devolver Digital | PS4
Hollow Knight Voidheart Edition
Experience one of the most acclaimed indie classics ever created. Insectoid beings inhabit the hauntingly dark and beautiful world of Team Cherry’s Hollow Knight. One such creature, the voiceless and nameless Knight, travels to the ruins of the once-vibrant kingdom of Hallownest. As the Knight explores the remnants of the fallen kingdom, they learn about The Infection, the insidious cause of Hallownest’s downfall. White-knuckle action challenges, an ever-growing array of new abilities to learn and master, and a wealth of dangerously thrilling locales to explore have given Hollow Knight a well-deserved reputation as a tough and rewarding action-adventure. The Voidheart Edition includes all the previously-released DLC expansions, making it the definitive Hollow Knight experience.
Publisher: Team Cherry | PS4
Minit
Minit, a strange retro-inspired journey from former Vlambeer co-founder Jan Willem Nijman and his team, starts as many great adventure games do: a funny little dude finds an epic sword and goes on a riveting adventure. The problem? This sword is cursed and will kill you in sixty seconds. You do get to respawn at home, at least, but dying a lot is kind of a problem–especially because there just happens to be a sword factory making even more cursed swords you need to put a stop to. But you’ll need to take your heroic journey to quash a corrupt corporation one step at a time, doing your best to explore an odd monochrome world, meet its strange inhabitants, and collect key items and information before you’re dead again. Time management has never been so much fun.
Publisher: Devolver Digital | PS4
My Friend Pedro
They say that bananas are inanimate objects and don’t have feelings about concepts like “friendship” and “bloodlust.” Those people have never met Pedro, the bestest banana buddy in the whole wide world who tells you who needs to go down in a hail of gunfire. Developer Victor Ågren’s wild escapade of gunplay and glory offers copious ways to annihilate everyone standing in your way. Use your dual guns, find objects in the environment you can use to your advantage, or hell, kick a jerk square in the face and watch that bonus multiplier satisfyingly tick up with every fool you take down. Of course, you’ve got a mess of targets on your back, too, so use your slow-motion focus skill to aim true and dodge everything your foes are lobbing at you in style. You do want to make Pedro happy, don’t you?
Publisher: Devolver Digital | PS4
Nidhogg
In the bizarre world of Mark Essen’s Nidhogg, the ultimate goal of life is being devoured by a giant worm from Norse mythology. It’s certainly not the sort of life goal everyone aspires to. Here, however, to achieve the honor of becoming lunch, a warrior must travel a great distance, through halls of traps and an infinite supply of constantly-respawning opponents, to reach the great annelid. Nidhogg is a unique competitive tug-of-war game where two players constantly jockey for position in a 2D side-scrolling environment. Use swords, kicks, and fisticuffs strategically to overcome your opponent and reach the goal but should you fail, the focus shifts to your opponent, tasking you with stopping their advance. Both the original, beautiful-in-its-simplicity Nidhogg and the bigger and charmingly grotesque Nidhogg 2 are available in the Game Catalog!
Publisher: MESSHOF | PS4
Outer Wilds
Another award-winning indie milestone is in the Game Catalog. Do you ever get a distinct sense of deja vu, like time is repeating in an infinite loop? Well, it can’t be as bad as the situation the protagonist of the Outer Wilds finds themself. They wake up to discover that the sun of the solar system they’ve been researching is going to go supernova in 22 minutes, taking all the planets they’ve been studying (and them) along with it. To understand why the time loop exists and what’s causing this destruction, you’ll need to investigate every inch of the increasingly dangerous solar system as it (figuratively and literally) disintegrates, uncovering a poignant and unforgettable narrative. Don’t miss out on this must-play experience.
Publisher: Annapurna Interactive | PS4/PS5
Overcooked 2
It’s time to take up your kitchen implements and go on an absurd cooking adventure unlike ever before. The Onion King messed up big time and summoned the Unbread from the Necronomnomicon, and the only way to put things right is to collect various recipes. In Overcooked 2 from Ghost Town Games, you and up to three friends (either local or playing online) will prepare exquisite meals in some of the most bizarre restaurants you’ve ever imagined. The baking antics are fast and furious as you work together to manage ingredients, cook, and clean in wild, hazard-filled environments. Have you ever prepared food in a hot air balloon? On a roaring river? In the depths of a mine? While you deal with portals and conveyor belts? In space? No matter how you slice it, Overcooked 2 serves up riotous co-op enjoyment.
Publisher: Team17 | PS4/PS5
Slime Rancher
Farming and life-simulation games are all the rage these days, but how many of them let you experience the sublime joy of raising sentient goop? Monomi Park’s Slime Rancher is a unique twist on the beloved genre. Beatrix LeBeau is an intrepid rancher who has left Earth for greener pastures many light-years away on the Far, Far Range. She’s trying to wrangle some newfangled livestock: adorably squishy, blobby, wobbly slimes. You’ll need to explore the world to gather materials for slime husbandry, which you’ll gleefully suck up into your handy VacPack. Raise your slimes well, and you’ll get “plorts” that you can either sell or use in breeding bigger, badder slimes–but be careful not to make a destructive Tarr.
Publisher: Skybound Games | PS4
Soma
We’ve talked about the wondrous, relaxing underwater journey of Abzu already, but now it’s time for the polar opposite: Frictional Games’ Soma, a terrifying experience all about the horrors of being alone in the depths of the ocean. Protagonist Simon survives a car crash only to wake up in the abandoned research and operations outpost of Pathos-II, located at the bottom of the sea. He soon learns a horrible truth about what happened to the world while he was asleep. The future of humanity lies in the hands of Simon and a few other stragglers, provided that they can survive the living nightmare that surrounds them both in and outside of Pathos-II. If you’re clamoring for a uniquely terrifying experience, Soma will take you to new depths of horror.
Publisher: Frictional Games | PS4
Stray
Yes, it’s the cat game you’ve seen everywhere…nominated recently for The Game Awards’ Game of the Year 2022 and winner of the Best Debut Indie game for developer BlueTwelve Studio. If the adorable kitties and viral videos all over the internet weren’t enough to sell you on this atmospheric adventure, the critical acclaim will. A feral cat falls away from its clowder and into an underground city inhabited entirely by robots. With the help of a droid companion, our heroic feline will use their cat-like reflexes and the movement of an apex predator to traverse the secluded city, evade hazards, overcome puzzles, and discover how and why this strange place exists. Also: You get to lovingly nuzzle friendly robots.
Publisher: Annapurna Interactive | PS4/PS5
Touhou Genso Rondo: Bullet Ballet
Enter the world of the Touhou Project, one of the most unique and fascinating shared universes in indie games. The fantastical realm of Gensokyo is a place separated from the earth where the magic and mystery of Japanese mythology live to this day. The inhabitants of Gensokyo are quite an interesting bunch who appear across many indie games from different developers, and Cubetype’s Genso Rondo is a great way to meet them. Pick from a rogue’s gallery of Touhou characters and prepare for one-on-one arena bullet hell combat. Use mesmerizing spells and careful maneuvers to dodge and shoot in fast-paced combat. Don’t forget to crank up the volume as Genso Rondo continues the Touhou tradition of incredible tunes.
Publisher: NIS America | PS4
Towerfall: Ascension
If you have a bunch of friends and are looking for a raucous party experience, Maddy Makes Games’s Towerfall Ascension will hit the mark every time. Take control of an archer with a singular goal: be the last one standing in an arrow-slinging free-for all. Shoot, dodge, catch and collect arrows, and use power-ups to turn the tide of battle. Don’t have a full group of friends, or riding solo? Solo Trials mode and single and co-op Quest mode will hone your archery skills to a fine-pointed tip, so you’re ready for when challengers arrive. You’ll laugh, cry, and forge (or maybe lose) everlasting friendships in Towerfall’s archery arenas.
Publisher: Maddy Makes Games | PS4These fantastic games are just a sample platter of the indie offerings tucked into the Game Catalog. You can browse the full menu of PlayStation Plus Game Catalog offerings at playstation.com and try out the ones that catch your eye. Whatever your gaming tastes, there’s an indie masterpiece just waiting to become one of your new favorites.
Lawrence was listed as questionable with a toe injury, but practiced on a limited basis on Tuesday and Wednesday and was not expected to be in jeopardy of missing the game.
Lawrence suffered the injury late in the first half of the Jaguars' loss at Detroit on Dec. 4. He has played in the Jaguars' two games since against the Tennessee Titans and Dallas Cowboys, throwing for seven touchdowns and one interception and rushing for another touchdown.
The Jaguars (6-8) are one game behind the Titans in the AFC South standings, with a season-finale meeting between the teams scheduled for Week 18.
Jacksonville can claim the division -- and accompanying playoff spot -- by winning its last three games (at Jets, at Houston Texans and vs. Titans).
The 47-year-old playwright Lloyd Suh is having a moment, with a handful of plays that reveal how history can exact an emotional toll across culture and time.
His latest, “The Far Country,” opens at Angel Island, the notorious checkpoint off the coast of San Francisco, and explores lives fractured by the Chinese Exclusion Act, a racist policy that severely restricted immigration of Chinese people and limited those in the United States from gaining citizenship.
His aim, Suh said during a recent phone call, is to prove “the way in which memory becomes hereditary because of the way it lives in the body, the way it lives in the family. There’s poignancy there, but power too.”
This mission also plays out in his acclaimed “The Chinese Lady,” in which audiences learn of Afong Moy, who, as possibly the first Chinese woman in the United States, was exhibited across 1830s America. The story, Laura Collins-Hughes wrote in her review for The Times earlier this year when it played at the Public Theater, traverses “188 years of American ugliness and exoticization.”
Then there’s his fanciful “Charles Francis Chan Jr.’s Exotic Oriental Murder Mystery” — a metanarrative of Asian American history, set in Berkeley in 1967, a year before students there coined the term “Asian American” — which finds charm even in grotesque rebuttals of racist caricature. And an early one-act, “Disney & Fujikawa,” that dramatizes a 1942 meeting between Walt Disney and the Japanese American illustrator Gyo Fujikawa, whose family was held at the Rohwer War Relocation Center in Arkansas.
Next up is “The Heart Sellers,” which debuts in February in Milwaukee and involves two housewives navigating feelings of isolation in a new country in 1973. The play’s title is a pun on the Hart-Celler Act of 1965, which, by ending U.S. quotas on the number of immigrants from outside Western Europe, saw a dramatic rise in global newcomers — especially Asians.
Shannon Tyo and Jinn S. Kim in “The Far Country,” at Atlantic Theater Company’s Linda Gross Theater through Jan. 1.Richard Termine for The New York Times
Daniel K. Isaac and Shannon Tyo in “The Chinese Lady” at the Public Theater earlier this year.Sara Krulwich/The New York Times
Beyond its storytelling, “The Far Country” has reunited Suh with the actor Shannon Tyo, who originated the role of Moy in 2018 in a Ma-Yi Theater Company production of “The Chinese Lady.” She returned to the part for the show’s run at the Public.
Suh and Tyo both said their continued collaboration is a testament to new creative and professional growth for Asian American theater workers made possible by diversity, inclusion and equity strategies as well as the broader racial reckoning in America that dovetailed with the pandemic.
Having performed in “The Chinese Lady” both before and during the pandemic, Tyo explained the shift. “Prior to the pandemic, it’s almost like audiences didn’t believe us about our history of violence against our community,” she said. “The violence we’ve seen in our present is unfortunately what it takes to make our violent history come alive. People are more ready to believe us, ready to empathize.”
In “The Far Country,” that sense of personal resonance and theater’s ability to refract a scene for different audiences — as was the case with Suh’s children’s play “The Wong Kids in the Secret of the Space Chupacabra Go!” — was amplified by the show’s director, Eric Ting.
The script subverts immigration, he said, by focusing on how “the only way the characters can achieve a place in the American project is by severing ties with their ancestors.” He added that Suh “is really focusing on the destructive force of capitalism, how it disrupts and destroys families.”
Separate from bureaucracy and labor, one character notes, “there is more strenuous work: the work of being Chinese in America.”
For the cast and crew, takeaways varied. Whit K. Lee, who plays both a translator and a detainee, said he wept when he first read the script. His maternal great-grandfather had been a translator for 19th-century Chinese railroad workers in Montana and his paternal grandfather was held at Angel Island when he was just 9 years old (separated from his mother, Lee said, the malnourished child used rice rations to lure, kill and eat a pigeon).
“So much is lost because our ancestors didn’t want to pass down these stories,” Lee said. “‘The Far Country’ allows me to help tell the story that I was never taught in school. I’m very proud to be Chinese, Chinese American, American Chinese and American.”
But Suh, who last week won a $100,000 prize as a recipient of this year’s Steinberg Playwright Awards, is not alone in his success.
With his work, Suh says his aim is to prove “the way in which memory becomes hereditary because of the way it lives in the body, the way it lives in the family.”Nathan Bajar for The New York Times
In spring 2020, Asian American theater professionals mourned nine plays that were scrapped or curtailed when live performance spaces closed amid the unfolding pandemic chaos. In the last six months, a number of works by Asian American playwrights have been produced Off Broadway, including Jiehae Park’s “Peerless,” presented by Primary Stages at 59E59 Theaters, and Daniel K. Isaac’s “Once Upon a (korean) Time,” a Ma-Yi Theater Company production at La MaMa. Several more are planned for the spring, including “Elyria,” the playwright Deepa Purohit’s Off Broadway debut at Atlantic Theater Company, and Hansol Jung’s “Wolf Play,” which, after an engagement last winter presented by Soho Rep and Ma-Yi Theater Company, will return to the stage in January at MCC Theater.
The works are not only the fruit of prepandemic efforts to include more Asian American storytelling in theater, but also a reclamation of agency and identity following anti-Asian bigotry and violence during the pandemic itself.
“There’s certainly a range of activity now and a quantity of work and a variety of work that feels pretty fresh,” said David Henry Hwang, who became the first (and remains the only) Asian American playwright to win a Tony Award for best play, for “M. Butterfly” in 1988.
“There has been an increasing number of AAPI playwrights challenging what has come before,” Hwang added, referring to Asian American Pacific Islanders. “Asian actors have been largely employed by ‘The King and I’ and ‘Miss Saigon,’ which have Orientalist aspects, white supremacist aspects, and with ‘Miss Saigon’ is actually pretty racist.”
By contrast, said Suh, “I want Asian American actors to feel like it’s for them, their ownership. Not just roles in plays.” Asked if he has any interest in revivals of “The King and I,” “Miss Saigon” or “South Pacific,” he offered a deadpan “no” before laughing. “I don’t think those are pieces where it’s possible to have any kind of take that is meaningfully transformative.”
More recently, breakthroughs and opportunities have manifested in the revisiting of classic works: An Off Broadway production of Edward Albee’s “A Delicate Balance” this fall had an all-Asian-American cast and a “Little Shop of Horrors” revival in California was set in Chinatown. And newer works have found audiences nationally: Lauren Yee’s “Cambodian Rock Band” and Kristina Wong’s “Sweatshop Overlord,” which had Off Broadway runs in New York.
“It’s exciting to me,” Tyo said, “that we could build our canon ourselves.”
Suh added: “This industry can be a marketplace where plays have value as commodities, but with all these shows it’s a reminder that the power of theater is in the conversations it creates, how one play leads to the next. That’s how the conversation sustains.”
