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• Steelers star T.J. Watt placed in concussion protocol

  Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt was placed in concussion protocol after the 2021 Defensive Player of the Year reported symptoms on Friday.

  Watt played 51 of Pittsburgh’s 57 defensive snaps in Thursday’s 21-18 loss to the New England Patriots.

  The five-time Pro Bowler inadvertently had his facemask collide with Patriot running back Ezekiel Elliott’s knee in the first quarter, and Watt was evaluated briefly on the sideline before returning.

  Watt’s 14 sacks this season trail only Khalil Mack of the Los Angeles Chargers, who has 15.

  Alex Highsmith, who emerged as a standout edge-rushing complement to Watt with 14.5 sacks last season, missed most of Thursday’s game after going into concussion protocol in the first half.

  Inside linebackers Kwon Alexander and Cole Holcomb are already out for the year.

  Veteran Markus Golden and rookie Nick Herbig are projected to be the starting edge-rushing combination in next Saturday’s game against the Indianapolis Colts if Watt and Highsmith remain in protocol.

  Watt is a three-time All-Pro selection with 91.5 sacks and 189 quarterback hits in 100 career games.

• Wembanyama seeking recipe for success as record-breaking display fails to halt Spurs slide

  Victor Wembanyama vowed the San Antonio Spurs will continue looking for "a good recipe" after his historic performance failed to prevent his team matching their franchise-record losing run.

  At 19 years and 38 days old, the first overall draft pick became the youngest player in NBA history to post a 20-20 game, managing 21 points and 20 assists at home to the Chicago Bulls on Friday.

  However, that performance was not enough to prevent a 121-112 defeat as the Bulls rallied after the interval, with Patrick Williams, Demar DeRozan, Nikola Vucevic and Coby White all managing 20 points or more for Chicago.

  San Antonio has now tied their all-time record losing streak of 16 games, while their 3-18 record is the worst they have ever managed through 21 games of a season.

  Wembanyama – whose 20-20 game came when he was four days younger than previous record holder Dwight Howard – says it is still a case of trial and error after he starred from the center position against the Bulls.

  "Experimenting in different areas of the game is always something important and interesting to me," Wembanyama said. 

  "Every game is different, but we're going to see and try until we find a good recipe.

  "When our opponents are down at half, of course they're going to try and have a reaction. We've got to expect that every time, because our first half was pretty solid, especially defensively. 

  "There are ups and downs during the game, but we've got to get our downs less and less."

  San Antonio's losing steak still stands three games short of that being endured by the Detroit Pistons, who are 2-20 after going down by a 123-91 scoreline against the Orlando Magic, their 19th straight loss.

  Franz Wagner scored 27 points and Paolo Banchero added 24 for Orlando, with the Pistons now enduring the longest single-season losing streak in their franchise history and their second-longest overall.

  Detroit previously lost 21 in a row across the end of the 1979-80 season and the start of 1980-81.

  Though Pistons coach Monty Williams acknowledged the 15-7 Magic are a tough nut to crack defensively, he wasn't happy with his team's offensive efforts.

  "They're a good defensive team but we missed a lot of open shots," Williams said after the defeat. 

  "They take away the paint, force you to play outside. We generated only 30 threes and just didn't hit a good percentage. We just had a hard time putting the ball in the basket tonight."

• Raiders have rediscovered 'swagger' since replacing McDaniels with Pierce, says Harmon

  The Las Vegas Raiders made the right decision when they fired head coach Josh McDaniels last month and have got their "swagger" back under interim coach Antonio Pierce.

  That is the view of three-time Super Bowl-winning safety Duron Harmon, who hopes Pierce gets a shot at leading the team on a full-time basis next season.

  The Raiders parted company with coach McDaniels and general manager David Ziegler in early November, having made a 3-5 start to McDaniels' second season with the franchise.

  Pierce has overseen something of an upturn since taking the reins, with the Raiders overcoming the New York Giants – with whom Pierce won Super Bowl XLII during his playing career – and the New York Jets before losing difficult games against the Miami Dolphins and the Kansas City Chiefs.

  Harmon, who was with the Raiders last year, believes the team are already seeing their decision pay off, telling Stats Perform: "I think [the owner] Mark Davis did the best thing. 

  "I have a lot of respect for Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler. They allowed me to go out there and play and I enjoyed my time there. But you could just tell the team wasn't responding to the coach. 

  "So they did the right thing by letting him go and hiring somebody on an interim basis, like Antonio Pierce, another man who's a great leader, a leader of men who could just kind of get the juices going back throughout the locker room.

  "I think they've done that. They played the Dolphins tough. They beat the Jets, they beat the Giants, I believe. 

  "Then they ran into the Chiefs [last week], which is a tough test for everybody. Amik [Robertson] and Devante [Adams] came out and said that basically, they beat themselves. When you watch the tape, you could probably agree with them. 

  "The idea that they have this type of confidence now, it shows that they have a head coach that is giving them that swagger that they need."

  The 5-7 Raiders are outside the playoff picture in the AFC with five games to play, but Harmon does not think the prospect of a postseason run is completely unrealistic. 

  "Hopefully, they can maybe get on a little run and maybe sneak into playoffs," he added.

  "I have a lot of great relationships over there, and I still talk to a lot of guys over there and they can't talk highly enough about the energy shift that has been since Antonio has taken over. 

  "So, I wish those guys the best of luck. I think if all goes well, hopefully, they give AP a good hard look to make him not only the interim but the head coach for the future."