FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — New York Jets cornerback Qwan'tez Stiggers was recovering at home Tuesday night after he was hospitalized following a scary moment on the field earlier in the day when he briefly lost consciousness in a joint practice with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The team didn't provide any further details on the nature of Stiggers’ ailment or if he might be sidelined. The teams practice again Wednesday and Jets coach Aaron Glenn will speak to reporters after the session.
Shortly after practice Tuesday, Glenn said the 24-year-old Stiggers was conscious and talking on the field before being put on a stretcher and taken for further examination.
“He was able to talk and I want to make sure I go and see him after this, just to make sure I'm good with everything,” Glenn said. “But for the most part, he was good.”
The Jets and Buccaneers were in the middle of special teams drills late in practice when Glenn — who was watching a session on another field — said he was told Stiggers came to the sideline and “passed out.”
“He actually fell out,” Glenn said. “The good thing is, he was conscious. Our guys did a hell of a job, just like most medical staffs around this league do in situations like that, and they took the necessary steps just to make sure that we do everything we can to be on board when it comes to those situations.”
It was a somewhat scary scene, though, as several Jets teammates took a knee near the sideline and some formed a prayer circle. After several minutes, Stiggers was placed on a stretcher with what appeared to be an IV and loaded into the ambulance as fans seated near the area clapped in support.
“It was very sad, very emotional,” running back Breece Hall said. “You get on your knee and say a prayer for him and hope he’s OK."
Added defensive tackle Harrison Phillips: “What’s been shared to us is things are on the up and up.”
Practiced resumed after being halted for more than 10 minutes while Stiggers was being attended to.
Stiggers was earlier involved in one of the handful of chippy moments during the practice when he had his helmet flung down the field by Buccaneers offensive lineman Luke Goedeke after players on both teams scuffled.
Stiggers, an Atlanta native, is entering his third season with the Jets after being a fifth-round draft pick in 2024. He was one of that draft's feel-good stories because he had no college football experience and was the first player drafted directly from the CFL, where he played for the Toronto Argonauts, since Miami took Jermaine Haley in 1999.
In 29 games, including five starts, with New York, Stiggers has 35 tackles, two fumble recoveries and three passes defensed. He is also one of the Jets' top special teams players.
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FILE - New York Jets cornerback Qwan'Tez Stiggers warms up before an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Jacksonville, Fla., Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, File)
WEST KELOWNA, British Columbia (AP) — A deadly wildfire in Western Canada that has forced some 20,000 people to flee grew overnight even without strong winds, challenging efforts to contain it and fully assess the damage, authorities said Tuesday.
About 100 firefighters from Mexico were on the way to help fight the blaze that's destroyed homes and other properties near Okanagan Lake in British Columbia. The fire has killed an 80-year-old woman and burned toward Summerland, a community of about 12,000 people roughly 300 kilometers (185 miles) east of Vancouver.
The fire showed “quite significant growth” in some areas overnight even without strong winds, said Cliff Chapman, director of provincial operations for the British Columbia Wildfire Service. He added crews were working around the clock to establish control lines and make it safe for evacuated residents to return home.
“We recognized and we heard even last night that people obviously would like to go home. They would like to see the extent of the damage,” Chapman said.
Kevin Dunbar, British Columbia’s executive director for emergency response and recovery operations, called it one of the largest evacuations in recent British Columbia history.
British Columbia officials said they had secured 1,600 hotel rooms and 1,000 group-lodging spaces for evacuees in Okanagan after some residents faced delays getting emergency assistance during the weekend evacuation.
Beyond those already forced to flee, another 10,000 people have been told to be ready to leave on short notice. More than 100 wildfires were burning across the province, and officials warned that dry lightning could spark new fires in the Central Interior and Okanagan. The province also asked the federal government for help expanding lodging for evacuees.
RCMP are investigating whether criminal activity played a role in the fire. Chapman said about 4% of wildfires in British Columbia over the past decade were suspected of having been deliberately set, but officials have not said the Bald Range fire was intentionally started.
Lucille and Gordon Beach of Summerland were in Vancouver for the weekend wedding of a granddaughter when they heard the fire had started. “We didn't feel too celebratory,” Lucille Beach said Tuesday.
The couple, staying for now in West Kelowna with their dog, haven't seen their home since leaving Friday but believed it was OK. It took a few days to adjust to the reality of what was happening, Lucille Beach said.
Carmen Bodzasy evacuated from Summerland, where she and her husband moved recently. She had to navigate evacuating on unfamiliar roads while he was away for work.
Before leaving, “I cried my eyes out for a minute, and I thought, you know what, if I had to restart over, what would I take with me?” She took photos of her parents' wedding, of her children's families and of her and her husband. “I thought if I didn’t have walls to go home to, at least I have memories to put up on my new one,” she said.
Holding her small dog Tuesday, she was not sure of the status of their home but said whatever happens, she intends to stay in Summerland, a place where people wave at passing motorists and stop to ask how you're doing.
“I’ll do whatever I can to help that town rebuild because everybody’s so kind there,” she said.
In the United States, firefighters in California were fighting a blaze that has burned nearly 5 square miles (about 12 square kilometers) in the Big Sur region of the state’s rugged central coast.
Area state parks have closed and evacuation orders have been issued, including for a roughly 7-mile (11-kilometer) stretch of Highway 1, the state’s iconic coastal route. Portions of the highway were closed on Tuesday due to the fire's spread and evacuations, according to the California Highway Patrol.
In Minnesota, a person involved in the fight against a wildfire near the town of Ely died on Tuesday following an unspecified medical emergency. The victim was taken to a hospital for treatment where they died, the Superior National Forest said in a social media statement.
Further details, including the victim’s name, were not immediately released.
At least eight other people have died while helping with wildfires in the U.S. this year, including four firefighters who got trapped in a fire in western Colorado, a bulldozer operator who got overrun by flames in Oregon, two helicopter pilots who crashed while helping fight a fire in Utah and a helicopter pilot in Colorado who crashed into a reservoir.
Gillies reported from Toronto. Associated Press writer Claire Rush contributed from Portland, Oregon.
A firefighter cuts brush to stop the Timber Fire from burning above Deetjen's Inn in Big Sur, Calif., Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)
People float on the Channel Pathway that connects Okanagan Lake and Skaha Lake as smoke from wildfires burning in the region fills the air, in Penticton, British Columbia, Monday, Aug. 10, 2026. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
People float on the Channel Pathway that connects Okanagan Lake and Skaha Lake as smoke from wildfires burning in the region fills the air, in Penticton, British Columbia, Monday, Aug. 10, 2026. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
The Bald Range wildfire, that has forced people out of their homes in the south Okanagan region, burns in Summerland, B.C., late Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
The Bald Range wildfire, that has forced people out of their homes in the south Okanagan region, burns in Summerland, B.C., late Saturday, Aug.8, 2026. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
