As he reflected on his impressive closing stretch to this season, Vikings edge rusher Dallas Turner laughed when a reporter suggested to him that defensive coordinator Brian Flores doesn’t make it easy on young players.

“He sure doesn’t,” Turner said. “It’s all part of character development.”

After being selected by the Vikings in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, Turner played 28% of the defensive snaps last season, forced to learn the ropes of the NFL as a rookie while buried on the depth chart behind edge rusher Jonathan Greenard and fellow edge rusher Andrew Van Ginkel.

It was a lesson in patience that forced Turner to trust the processes put in place by Flores.

“Just understanding his philosophy and stuff like that,” Turner said. “Just being able to accept the coaching.”

His willingness to lean in helped ensure that Turner was ready to play 66% of the defensive snaps this season, and emerge as a key piece for the Vikings while taking the next step in his career.

All the while, Turner leaned on Greenard and Van Ginkel, whose separate injuries presented Turner with even more chances to show he belonged.

“Those guys are my big brothers,” Turner said. “I can come to them about anything, whether it’s on the field or off the field. I’m very blessed and fortunate to have those dudes in my corner, and be in their corner as well. The relationship I have with both of those dudes is extraordinary and beyond football at this point.”

As he started to garner more playing time, Turner turned heads with his innate ability to rush the passer. By season’s end, he led the team in sacks (8) while looking every bit like the top prospect the Vikings expected him to be. Not that Turner is satisfied with his rise.

“I feel like there’s a lot more stuff out there to accomplish,” Turner said. “I’m just scratching the surface.”

There’s a precedent that suggests Turner might be onto something.

It comes in the form of Denver Broncos edge rusher Nik Bonitto, who, like Turner, graduated from St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. They both share the same trainer, and Turner has long tried to mold himself in Bonitto’s image.

That’s a good idea considering Bonitto’s path to being considered among the best players at his position. He learned the ropes in Year 1, showed steady improvement in Year 2, and burst to the top of the charts in Year 3.

It appears Turner is on track to follow in Bonitto’s footsteps.

“I feel like everything fell into place perfectly,” Turner said. “I’m very blessed and thankful to have the opportunities that I’ve had on the field.”

The next step is maintaining a level of consistency.

“It’s about always staying level headed,” Turner said. “Just staying grounded and never getting too high.”

On that note, Turner was asked about a message from safety Josh Metellus earlier this season, when he stressed the importance of putting in the hard work in the present, then being able to enjoy the harvest in the future.

It’s something that has stuck with Turner amid his recent success.

“You can never enjoy it too much,” he said. “There’s always a better harvest to come.”

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By HAVEN DALEY, Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Drivers for Lyft and Uber protested self-driving Waymo taxis in San Francisco on Friday, urging state regulators to exercise greater oversight of autonomous vehicles, given recent events in which the cars killed pets and blocked traffic.

Demonstrators holds signs during a protest by Uber and Lyft drivers asking state regulators to take self-driving taxis off the streets due to safety concerns at the California Public Utilities Commission headquarters Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Haven Daley)

About two dozen drivers and supporters spoke or held up signs calling for safer streets and greater accountability outside the offices of the California Public Utilities Commission, which met Friday to consider further regulations on autonomous vehicles.

A steady stream of Waymo cars drove past the protest, a testament to the growing ubiquity of the white cars in San Francisco.

“I personally am not against technology; what I am against is unfair treatment,” said Joseph Augusto, who drives for both Uber and Lyft. “We have these people, these companies, these autonomous vehicle companies who are driving around the city, and they don’t seem to be held to the same standards as us drivers.”

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The California Public Utilities Commission, which regulates Uber and Lyft, is refining and expanding policies around autonomous robotaxis as the industry grows. The California Gig Workers Union says the vehicles should be removed from streets until safety concerns are addressed.

The state agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Neither did Waymo, which is owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet.

Hobbled Waymos blocked San Francisco streets during a mass power outage days before Christmas, forcing the company to pause service and raising questions about the cars’ ability to adapt to real-world driving conditions.

In September, a Waymo pulled an illegal U-turn in front of a sign telling drivers not to do that, but San Bruno police could not issue a ticket because there was no human driver. In October, a Waymo crushed a popular neighborhood cat named Kit Kat.

Augusto, the driver, said he saw Waymos stalled at intersections as people darted around them on Dec. 20 when the lights went out across San Francisco.

“There were a lot of Waymos around. Just randomly all over the city and there’s no plan,” he said.

By DEVI SHASTRI, Associated Press Health Writer

South Carolina’s measles outbreak exploded into one of the worst in the U.S., with state health officials confirming 99 new cases in the past three days.

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The outbreak centered in Spartanburg County grew to 310 cases over the holidays, and spawned cases in North Carolina and Ohio among families who traveled to the outbreak area in the northwestern part of the state.

State health officials acknowledged the spike in cases had been expected following holiday travel and family gatherings during the school break. A growing number of public exposures and low vaccination rates in the area are driving the surge, they said. As of Friday, 200 people were in quarantine and nine in isolation, state health department data shows.

“The number of those in quarantine does not reflect the number actually exposed,” said Dr. Linda Bell, who leads the state health department’s outbreak response. “An increasing number of public exposure sites are being identified with likely hundreds more people exposed who are not aware they should be in quarantine if they are not immune to measles.”

Since the outbreak started in October, Bell has warned that the virus was spreading undetected in the area. Hundreds of school children have been quarantined from school, some more than once.

South Carolina is one of two active hot spots for measles. The other outbreak is on the Arizona-Utah border, where 337 people have gotten measles since August.

Last year was the nation’s worst year for measles spread since 1991, end-of-year data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows. The U.S. confirmed 2,144 cases across 44 states.

And as the one-year anniversary of the Texas-New Mexico-Oklahoma outbreak approaches — which sickened at least 900 people and killed three — health experts say the vaccine-preventable virus is on the verge of making a lasting comeback in the U.S.

At that point, the U.S. would lose its status of having eliminated local spread of the virus, as Canada did in November. International health experts say the same strain of measles is spreading across the Americas.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

“Saturday Night Live” vet John Mulaney has postponed his three-night stand this weekend at the Armory following the fatal shooting of Renee Good by ICE agent Jonathan Ross.

“What’s happening in your city is heartbreaking,” Mulaney wrote in an Instagram post Thursday evening that did not specifically mention ICE. “I hate to postpone shows in a town going through such awful challenges and such grief, because it feels unfair to the audience.

“Still, I don’t feel comfortable asking thousands of people each night to leave their homes, gather at the venue, and then make their way home when the situation is so unsafe.”

The new dates for the stand-up comic’s performances are April 10, 11 and 12 at the venue in downtown Minneapolis. Ticketholders can use their tickets for the new dates or return to the point of purchase for a refund.

A Chicago native, Mulaney worked as a writer for “SNL” from 2008 to 2013. He created the “Weekend Update” character Stefon with cast member Bill Hader, who portrayed the “city correspondent” offering outlandish nightlife options for New Yorkers.

In the years since, Mulaney has established himself as an in-demand comic with five acclaimed Netflix specials, four Emmy Awards, a pair of Broadway shows, a series of guest roles on “The Bear,” “Poker Face” and “Dickinson” and voice work in a handful of animated films.

“I am sorry to anyone who is disappointed,” Mulaney wrote. “I know a fun stand-up show could be a nice distraction, but it doesn’t sit right with me to put anyone at risk.”

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