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NFL Pro Bowler Dion Dawkins on personal style, doubts surrounding Bills, protecting star QB Josh Allen

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NFL Pro Bowler Dion Dawkins on personal style, doubts surrounding Bills, protecting star QB Josh Allen

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The Buffalo Bills host the Arizona Cardinals on Sept. 8 to kick off their 2024 campaign. While star quarterback Josh Allen begins his seventh NFL season in Western New York, this year’s Bills team looks drastically different from the 2023 edition.

Four-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Stefon Diggs was traded to the Houston Texans and will catch passes from rising star C.J. Stroud instead of Allen. Safeties Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde also left as part of the Bills’ offseason shuffle.

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While the Bills roster went through some considerable turnover throughout the offseason, one prominent member of the team’s offense is not only returning, he remains firmly entrenched along the offensive line.

Dion Dawkins was drafted in 2017 and has spent his entire standout NFL career in Buffalo. He has also been named to four consecutive Pro Bowls. The star offensive lineman told Fox News Digital what he’s learned after blocking for Allen for six years.

Dion Dawkins of the Buffalo Bills looks on from the sideline prior to the game against the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Nov. 26, 2023. (Perry Knotts/Getty Images)

Dawkins noted that continuity along any offensive line is key.

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“Our quarterback needs to learn where he’s comfortable at in the pocket, if he can stand [at a certain spot] longer or stand [somewhere else] longer or stand [in another position behind the offensive line] longer … all the way from the left tackle to the right. That’s where that verbiage comes from. Us in Buffalo, last year we had the whole line the entire year … blessings … we were healthy. But every year it changes.

“I’ve have had a different guard next to me since I started. I’ve been in the league for eight years. You figure it out, but when [the] guys stay together, it’s usually better for the quarterback. Timing, position, who’s the heavier guy and how we’re blocking from skinny to faster, it’s a whole ordeal.”

Dion Dawkins of the Buffalo Bills lines up during the first quarter against the New York Jets at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, New York, on Nov. 19, 2023. (Bryan Bennett/Getty Images)

When asked about which defensive lineman he looks forward to competing against, Dawkins credited Cleveland Browns All-Pro pass rusher and reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett. He also pointed to the talent along the New York Jets defensive line as a whole.

“The Jets have a great defensive line. That’s why [the level of intensity] is always so high, because they’re good players who talk, we’re good lineman that talk. The clash is always there, it’s just a beautiful battle. But I would say Myles Garrett, the Bengals, the Jets, those teams are very physical teams and that’s why all that passion and all that anger comes out.”

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The Jets and the Bills both play in the AFC East, which gives Dawkins the opportunity to take on the Jets defensive line two times per season.

Offensive lineman Dion Dawkins, left, and quarterback Josh Allen (Ralph Freso/Getty Images/File)

Dawkins’ disciplined training regime has been a key part of his success on the football field. This past offseason, he spent a few weeks in California and worked with a trainer at UCLA.

“I [went] to TruFusion and did a sauna, a boot-camp class, and then I [walked] five miles every day,” Dawkins shared about some of the methods he put in practice to “get his body ready and right” for training camp and the regular season.

TruFusion is a fitness and yoga boutique that provides its members with access to heated and unheated yoga, Pilates, fitness boot camps and other activities. The company has locations in California, Nevada and several other states across the U.S.

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While Dawkins acknowledged the loss of respected voices in the locker room like Diggs and other teammates, he also realizes change is inevitable given the business nature of the NFL.

Stefon Diggs (Timothy T Ludwig/Getty Images/File)

“There is a lot of guys that are not there. But this is the NFL,” Dawkins told the NFL Network last month. “Guys come, guys go, guys have to be ready. I think, regardless of who is in those spots, we know that they’re going to give it their all. You know, like, 14 [Stefon Diggs], 21 [Jordan Poyer], 23 [Micah Hyde], all those numbers might not have those same faces, but we’re shooting for the stars.

“Everybody is counting us out, which I’m cool with. We can fly underneath that radar and hit everybody with uppercuts. I’m perfectly fine with it, but I’m going to support those guys from a distance. It’s definitely different, and I’m still adjusting to it. I’m trying to answer it, but I’m just adjusting to it every day because it is different, man. It really is.”

When it comes to fashion, Dawkins frequently shows off his unique style on his social media platforms. He frequently collaborates with his personal shopper. Dawkins also said his physique requires him to always plan ahead so that he gives himself enough time to pull some custom pieces together.

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“I … have a shopper who has become like a stylist,” Dawkins told Fox News Digital. “Sebastian, he’s making suits. [His] mentality, he’s insane.

“You know big boys, it’s harder to go to the store or size it, you got to come up with it,” said the offensive tackle, who is listed on the Bills roster at 6 feet 5 inches tall and 320 pounds. “We got to plan to be fly.”

The Sean McDermott-coached Bills qualified for the postseason for a fifth consecutive year in 2023 after finishing the regular season with an 11-6 record. The Bills got past the Pittsburgh Steelers in the wild-card round before losing to the eventual Super Bowl LVIII champion Kansas City Chiefs.

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Lakers announce summer league schedule, roster

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Lakers announce summer league schedule, roster

While veterans jockey for new contracts during free agency, young players are getting their tryout opportunities with NBA summer league games beginning this week.

First-round draft pick Cameron Carr and second-year forward Adou Thiero highlight the Lakers summer league roster that was announced Wednesday. The 16-man team will be coached by Lakers assistant coach Ty Abbott and begin summer league play Friday against the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center.

The Lakers also face the Miami Heat (July 5, 1:30 p.m.) and San Antonio Spurs (July 6, 4:30 p.m.) in the California Classic before playing in the Las Vegas summer league from July 9-19. The Lakers play Oklahoma City (July 10), Dallas (July 11), the Clippers (July 14) and Chicago (July 16) in Las Vegas’ Thomas & Mack Center.

The Lakers traded up in the draft to get Carr, a 6-foot-5 guard out of Baylor, with the 24th overall pick. He will make his unofficial NBA debut, along with former Indiana State and Saint Louis star Robbie Avila. The 6-10 center became a bespectacled college basketball cult hero known affectionately as “Cream Abdul Jabbar” while leading Indiana State to the NIT championship game in 2024. He transferred to Saint Louis, where he was named Atlantic-10 player of the year as a senior when the Billikens won a school-record 29 wins.

Although he is entering his second season with the Lakers, Thiero will be playing his first summer league games. Persistent knee injuries hampered his rookie season. The athletic 6-7 forward averaged 1.9 points and 1.1 rebounds in 25 appearances last season. He said after the Lakers were eliminated from the playoffs that he wanted to improve on his three-point shooting during his second year. He attempted only five three-pointers during his rookie season, regular season and playoffs, making one.

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Lakers summer league roster

Robbie Avila, C, 6-10, 240
Cameron Carr, G, 6-5, 190
Jon Elmore, G, 6-3, 190
Luke Goode, F, 6-7, 210
William Hickey, G, 6-4, 203
Arthur Kaluma, F, 6-7, 225
William Kyle III, C, 6-9, 230
Chris Mañon, G, 6-4, 212
Robert McCray V, G, 6-4, 188
AK Okereke, F, 6-7, 245
Chase Ross, G, 6-5, 210
Zhaire Smith, G, 6-4, 205
Peter Suder, G, 6-5, 215
Adou Thiero, F, 6-7, 234
Anton Watson, F, 6-8, 225
Jacari White, G, 6-3, 180

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USA World Cup star Folarin Balogun receives controversial red card during Round of 32 match

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USA World Cup star Folarin Balogun receives controversial red card during Round of 32 match

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U.S. men’s national team star Folarin Balogun received a red card in the second half of their Round of 32 World Cup matchup against Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday night.

Balogun was making a challenge on a ball when he stepped on an opposing player’s leg.

The U.S. men’s national team is down to 10 players for the rest of the match. If the U.S. holds their 1-0 lead, Balogun will have to miss the Round of 16 game.

Balogun scored for the U.S. in the first half.

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Dodgers’ Will Smith won’t return before the All-Star break

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Dodgers’ Will Smith won’t return before the All-Star break

The first half of the season will conclude with Will Smith in the same place he has been for the last month: the injured list.

The Dodgers’ three-time All-Star catcher has been on the IL since June 8 because of what the Dodgers list as neck inflammation. Smith said he had been diagnosed with an inflamed disk.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he “just can’t see any world” in which Smith would return before the All-Star break, which concludes July 16.

“It’s certainly longer, I know, than all of us expected,” Roberts said. “But I don’t think it’s anything real, kind of affecting-the-season type thing.”

Roberts said Smith has not been able to accelerate his rehabilitation to the point of doing baseball activities.

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Dalton Rushing, who has taken over as the Dodgers’ primary catcher in Smith’s absence, is batting .213 with one home run and 19 strikeouts in 18 games while Smith has been on the injured list. The Dodgers gave Rushing the day off Wednesday.

The Dodgers were 14-6 with Smith on the IL entering play Wednesday.

Also Wednesday, the team scratched shortstop Mookie Betts from the starting lineup because of a sore right wrist.

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