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Jobe is going through a long-toss rehab program, progressively throwing longer distances – he is up to 105 feet, three times a week. And he said could start throwing bullpens off a mound in about six weeks.

"I think it's like, starting in mid-April, is when I'll be on the mound," Jobe told reporters on Saturday, Feb. 28.

ON THE MOUND:Jackson Jobe injury update: Detroit Tigers expect MLB return in 2026

After he completes the long-toss program, he will start throwing bullpens.

"Then it'll be a few lives and rehab outings," Jobe said. "I think it'll just depend on how sharp I'm feeling, how quickly I can get my feel back. But as it stands right now, I feel pretty normal, which is kind of weird, but guess I'll take it."

MLB spring training 2026: Sunshine, good vibes in Arizona and Florida

When a reporter asked if Jobe could be pitching for the Tigers sooner than September, Jobe said: "What we have drawn up is quicker than that, for sure."

But he offered no date.

"I obviously want to be smart about it," he said. "I guess I probably shouldn't say when we have in mind, just in case it doesn't happen. But I'm feeling pretty optimistic that I will be throwing some important innings this year."

Jobelast pitched for the Tigers on May 28; heunderwent surgery June 16to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.

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The Tigers have been vague about when he might return, which is not surprising considering every rehab is different.

"We expect him to be back in 2026," president of baseball operationsScott Harrissaid Monday, Dec. 8, at the Winter Meetings in Orlando, Florida. "It's hard to forecast the actual date, but we expect it to be a boost for our roster in the second half."

"Knock on wood – everything's been going as well as it could," Jobe said Saturday. "I'm just trying to keep it that way and not change a thing. The program that we have has been great."

Jobe – the No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 MLB Draft – has a locker in the Tigers clubhouse in TigerTown. He has been encouraged by other pitchers who have been through Tommy John – and had success after the surgery. He also has been getting tips and advice from Justin Verlander, who is teaching him how to work hard, but also how to rest and recover.

Still, Jobe is bothered about missing the start of the season.

"It sucks that I'm not going to be there for the beginning," Jobe said. "Honestly, it really does suck, but I think we'll be doing something special towards the end of the year that I can hopefully be a part of and really add to."

Jobe said that he has not suffered any setbacks in his recovery.

"We're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel now," Jobe said.

"Seems like you are almost out of the tunnel," a reporter said.

"Fingers crossed," Jobe said, smiling.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press:Jackson Jobe injury report, Tigers top prospect back before September?

Banks has emerged as one of the USMNT's best defensive prospects in years, becoming an automatic starter for Augsburg in the Bundesliga this season despite only recently turning 19.

The defender was born in Hawaii to an American father and German-Spanish mother. After moving to Washington, D.C., Banks relocated to Germany when he was a young child.

Banks has only represented the U.S. at the youth international level and has received one senior call-up.

But speaking after he provided a key assist in Augsburg's 2-0 win over FC Köln on Friday, Feb. 27, Banks admitted that he was "torn" over whether to move forward with the U.S. or switch to Germany.

"It's a difficult decision regarding my nationality. I'm very torn," he said. "I'm in contact with both the USA and Germany and both national coaches," Banks said.

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"I hopefully have a long career ahead of me, so I want to think carefully and speak with my family. I don't want to make it dependent on a World Cup. I'm just happy to be in this position and to be able to make this decision. We'll see what happens."

5. Christian Pulisic - 32 (2016-present; through Nov. 18, 2024)

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USMNT all-time leading goal scorers

Banks' comments were markedly differentfrom only weeks agowhen he said that "there's not a thought of switching" to Germany.

The teenager was called in for the USMNT's September camp, but didn't see the field in friendlies against South Korea and Japan. He was not called in for matches in October and November.

The USMNT will face Belgium and Portugal in March friendlies, the team's final two matches before Mauricio Pochettino names his World Cup roster.

Earlier this month, USMNT legendLandon Donovan predicted that Bankswouldn't just make the World Cup squad, but would be starting in the tournament on home soil.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Noahkai Banks considering making USMNT switch to Germany

Now those forces are lining up for a rare overlap in acase coming before the Supreme Courton Monday, and it is not the only unusual alliance.

The Republican Trump administration will be defending a firearm restriction, with backing from gun-control groups typically more aligned with Democrats.

On the other side is a pairing of the National Rifle Association and the American Civil Liberties Union.

At stake is a federal law that bars people who regularly use marijuana from legally owning guns. It is an issue that has divided lower courts since a landmark 2022Supreme Court decisionexpanded gun rights.

Cecillia Wang, legal director at the ACLU, said the law violates the Second Amendment and is unconstitutionally vague about what it means to be a drug user.

"We're deeply concerned with the potential of this statute to basically give federal prosecutors a blank check," she said. "Millions of Americans use marijuana and there is no way for them to know based on words of this statute whether they could be charged or convicted of this crime because they own a firearm."

Cannabis is legal for medicinal use in most states and for recreational use in about half the country.

But the law also applies more widely against all illegal substances, meaning the case could allow broader legal gun use by other drug users. The group Everytown for Gun Safety said the law meets theSupreme Court'srequirement that gun laws must have a strong grounding in the nation's history and tradition.

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"Restricting firearm use by illegal drug users is 'as old as legislative recognition of the drug problem itself,'" attorneys wrote.

Cannabis remains illegal on a federal level, though President Donald Trump hassigned an orderto fast-track its reclassification as a less dangerous drug.

His Justice Department is also asking the justices to revive a criminal case against Ali Danial Hemani, a Texas man who was charged with a felony because he had a gun in his house and acknowledged smoking marijuana every other day. FBI agents also found a small amount of cocaine when they searched his home as part of a broader investigation, but the gun charge was the only one filed against him.

The conservative-leaning 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the case, finding that only people who are intoxicated while armed can be charged with a crime.

The administration has arguedin favorof gun rights in other cases, but government lawyers say this law is a justifiable restriction. "Habitual illegal drug users with firearms present unique dangers to society — especially because they pose a grave risk of armed, hostile encounters with police officers while impaired," they wrote in court documents. The law fits within the nation's history of restrictions on people who were frequently drunk, they argued.

While the conservative-majority Supreme Court has expanded gun rights, it also has upheld a federal lawdisarming peoplewho are subject to domestic violence restraining orders. The Department of Justice argues that drug users are similarly risky. The law it is asking the court to uphold was also used in the case of Hunter Biden, who was convicted of buying a gun when he was addicted to cocaine.

But the NRA and other gun-rights groups, typically aligned with the GOP, are arrayed against the administration in Hemani's case.

"Americans have traditionally chosen which substances are acceptable for responsible recreational use, and the fundamental right to keep and bear arms was never denied to people who occasionally partook in such drugs — unless they were carrying arms while actively intoxicated," lawyers for the Second Amendment Foundation wrote in court documents.

The cannabis group NORML agrees, saying one of the fastest-growing groups of users are baby boomers trying products such as marijuana gummies to relieve arthritis and sleep problems.

"It's laughable to think that by outlawing cannabis users possessing firearms you'll minimize the problem with gun violence," said Joe A. Bondy, chair of the board of directors for NORML, one of the country's oldest and largest groups advocating for the legalization of marijuana.

The Fulton County Medical Examiner's confirmed that Smith's cause of death was "drowning in the setting of psilocybin use,"PeopleandE! Newsreported, citing an autopsy report.

The autopsy also stated that Smith's blood had tested positive for "a pharmacologically active hallucinogenic compound of psilocybin — hallucinogenic mushrooms," according to E! News and People.

USA TODAY has reached out to the Fulton County Medical Examiner.

Smith, who went by the stage name DJ Young Slade, was found dead after running out of his home without his phone on Feb. 3 around 6 a.m, according toa missing persons report. The Milton Police Department in Milton, Georgia, said at the time that he "may be disoriented and in need of assistance."

After police confirmed his death on Feb. 6,Lil Jon shared a statementsaying he and Smith's mother, Nicole Smith, were "extremely heartbroken" and "devastated."

"Nathan was the kindest human being you would ever meet. He was immensely caring, thoughtful, polite, passionate, and warmhearted."

"He loved his family and the friends in his life to the fullest. He was an amazingly talented young man; a music producer, an artist and engineer, and graduate of NYU," the statement continued. "We loved Nathan with all of our hearts and are incredibly proud of him. He was loved and appreciated, and in our last times together we're comforted in knowing that we expressed that very sentiment to him."

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Lil Jon and Nicole Smith married in 2004 and later separated in 2022. The rapper is also a father to daughter Nahara, whom he shares with girlfriend Jamila Sozahdah.

DJ Young Slade attends the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards at UBS Arena on Sept. 11, 2024, in Elmont, New York.

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Lil Jon's son found dead at 27. Revisit his career as DJ Young Slade.

DJ Young Slade attends the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards at UBS Arena on Sept. 11, 2024, in Elmont, New York.

Who was DJ Young Slade?

Nathan Smith was a DJ and musician, just like his father, Lil Jon.

"Lade released this when he graduated from college. He was so happy to express his art n do it himself. I was so proud of him for doing it all on his own," Lil Jon wrote on Instagram promotinga song called "Move Thru Fire."

Under the stage name DJ Young Slade, Smith aimed to follow in his father's footsteps while also paving his own lane. In March 2025, he dropped anew single titled "Feels"that premiered on MTV.

"It's dope to appreciate my dad, show respect, and just look at all the things he's done, and it's nice to get the torch passed down and do my own thing," Smith toldThe Quintessential Gentlemanfollowing the release of the track in March. "Because it's like it comes from him, but also I'm definitely taking it and making it my own."

Lil Jon previously said his son started DJing at age 11 and graduated from the Scratch DJ Academy in Los Angeles at age 12, according toPeople. As a teenager, he DJed at various LA clubs before making his own music.

"It's literally in your kid's genes to do what you do," he said, per People. "It is in their genes. It is in their DNA. We pass everything we get and we learn down to our children. So he was destined to be in the music business and do music."

Contributing: Anika Reed and Anna Kaufman

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Lil Jon's son Nathan Smith's cause of death confirmed