Good morning! Bubble-wrap your quarterback today.

Justin Herbert is your favorite film guru's favorite quarterback. It's understandable: His size, arm strength and accuracy appear to be created in a lab. Yet he's been an above average quarterback to this point in his six-year career, with flashes of excellence.

To wit, he's the No. 7 quarterback in our QB Tiers list from the offseason. Really good! Just not indicative of how talented he is. That might be changing already this year, because Herbert is thriving in a season already marked by QB chaos:

In the early game, it was Baker Mayfield taking lumps for two hours before rendering a masterful performance from the Texans' defense moot. He led an 11-play, 80-yard drive to give the Buccaneers a second straight improbable victory, this a 20-19 road win in Houston. His scramble to convert on fourth-and-10 from his own 32-yard line was maniacal in the best way.

Isn't it funny to imagine the alternate universe where Cleveland just ... keeps Mayfield? Sorry, Browns fans.

Stewart uncertain for Game 2

The defending champion Liberty could be without star Breanna Stewart in tomorrow night's Game 2 against the Mercury after she injured her leg in New York's Game 1 overtime win. Stewart suffered the injury in the extra period, and Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said Stewart will be evaluated before Game 2. Stay tuned. Also, read all our first-round takeaways from the action thus far.

Brady to play in flag football event

Tom Brady will join current and former NFL stars in the Fanatics Flag Football Classic, to be played in Saudi Arabia next spring. Brady, 48, also hinted that this could be a test run for the 2028 Olympic flag football team, though he will be 50 when the Games arrive in Los Angeles. Rob Gronkowski is also involved in all of this. See the full roster.

Mike Sando's Pick Six column is always a must-read, but one nugget from yesterday's edition really stuck with me. The excerpt in point:

"Before this season, teams used special kicking footballs that players did not have access to until game days ... Under rules adopted this season, teams received 60 footballs for the season before the start of training camp. Kickers can work those footballs into the shape they want, learning exactly how they will respond. And those footballs are definitely responding."

That feels like a huge change, and the early results are backing that up: As Mike wrote, kickers made more field goals of 50-plus yards in Week 2 than we've seen in one week since 2000.

As Mike told me in a follow-up conversation, kickers have been shaping balls for a long time, but the timing here -- having days in advance to work or "juice" the footballs -- will have a profound effect on both kicker accuracy and team strategy when longer field goals are in play.

Read the rest of Mike's story here.

📺 Soccer: Arsenal vs. Athletic Club (Bilbao)

12:45 p.m. ET on Paramount+

Champions League kicks off today with a full slate starting with this match. It should be a great week. The full schedule is here, and we've also ranked all 36 UCL teams, which is a nice refresher on who's actually playing in this new massive format.

📺 MLB: Padres at Mets

7:10 p.m. ET on TBS

As we mentioned yesterday, two teams embroiled in the playoff race playing each other. We love direct results. New York needs it more, though.

Get tickets to games like these here.

It's hard for me to even express how affecting this story is on Mike Evans, the murder that drove him to the NFL, and the man who helped Evans become one of the best receivers in league history. Read it here.

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: The AP Top 25 college football rankings.

The NFL QB hierarchy is in chaos, plus a tiny rule change with big effects