TORONTO – Working from home during these virtual winter meetings, Ross Atkins’ frenetic days offered his family a first-hand look at the madness inherent to baseball’s annual swap meet.

“My wife has said to me, ‘This is the first time I’ve ever experienced the winter meetings,’” the Toronto Blue Jays general manager said Thursday, after the Rule 5 concluded the makeshift Zoom-and-phone-only gathering. “She said to me, ‘I’ve never seen you on the phone so much in my life.’ I’m on the phone a lot.”

To this point, all that talking didn’t produce anything tangible beyond a pair of waiver claims that, temporarily, have filled up the Blue Jays’ 40-man roster.

In summing up the week’s progress, Atkins delivered the usual platitudes on his pursuit of the market’s top-end players, saying he feels “there is momentum,” that transactions don’t feel “like we’re weeks away,” and that there are “more concrete offers occurring” all around.

Asked if he believes the Blue Jays remain in the hunt for all their top targets, Atkins replied, “I do.” Asked if what they’ve learned to this point has changed their approach to addressing the roster, he replied: “We have prioritized targets and we’ll start with those before we make multiple offers. We have not eliminated anyone.”

Perhaps sensing the growing eye-rolls of fans whose expectations have been raised by the club’s bold, at least by its standards, talk of adding impact this winter, Atkins added: “Just like the fans we would certainly prefer to have clarity as soon as possible, as that impacts the next move that you can make, that impacts the shaping of all of your preparations.

“But we do feel like we’re prepared and have done the work for when that time where we have to make a decision,” he continued. “We’re ready.”

Why hasn’t more happened then? It’s a fair question, especially given that several agents describe the Blue Jays as being very active on the market.

In part, the industry as a whole isn’t moving, a short run on one-year pitcher deals started by the signing of Robbie Ray is still the biggest burst of activity.

The Texas Rangers swung a pair of deals this week, acquiring Nate Lowe from Tampa Bay in a six-player deal while sending ace Lance Lynn to the White Sox, who also signed Adam Eaton. But a logjam remains atop the market and it is trickling all the way down to players who will be signing minor-league deals, as they don’t want to commit until they better understand how the bigger pieces at play this winter will fall.

One of them, George Springer, appeared to be moving toward a resolution this week with reports out of New York about a push by the Mets for the outfielder, but those quickly died down, and little else shifted publicly. The lingering effects of the pandemic, uncertainty over what 2021 looks across all realms of the sports and a reluctance from both teams and players to jump first and establish markets are other dynamics in play.

“It’s fair to say that you would typically have seen one of those high-end players probably at least be making some news today, that a deal is nearing or getting done, and we didn’t see any names attached to any teams,” Atkins said. “I think you probably would have seen that a year ago.”

Intuitively, you’d think fortune would favour the bold, and that a team determined to get something done could simply force the issue by bringing its best offer to the table early to trigger the end game.

Atkins insisted it’s more complicated than that.

“We’re not forcing things on players. We’re not putting our timelines on players to make sure they get back to us,” he explained. “We want to be very respectful of having earned the right of free agency, and we’re not in a position where we have to do that. We feel like there’s enough opportunity at different junctures for us to be disciplined and patient.”

To that end, Atkins said the Blue Jays haven’t made a final offer to a prime free agent since a deal that didn’t come to fruition earlier in the off-season, believed to be an attempt to sign right-hander Kevin Gausman.

The Blue Jays have told agents that their current focus is on free-agent targets that include Springer, DJ LeMahieu and J.T. Realmuto, whose market outlook may suddenly shift dramatically with the Philadelphia Phillies’ pending addition of Dave Dombrowski as president of baseball operations.

Star shortstop Francisco Lindor is a potential trade option, although lining up a deal with Cleveland and sorting at least the parameters of an extension is a difficult task.

Whatever the Blue Jays do on that front won’t preclude them from other significant adds and they’ve been active on other fronts, including on the top end of the relief market, as industry sources told colleague Ben Nicholson-Smith and I on Wednesday.

The Blue Jays are simultaneously exploring ways to backfill the roster, too, should need arise based on other moves. And they have several plans beyond Plan A should that, whatever it is, fall through.

When they, or any other team, start turning the groundwork into actual transactions is unclear, although it feels like a slew of moves are percolating under the surface and will soon push through the ground.

Maybe if the winter meetings had taken place in person, that burst would have already happened.

“There’s an unspoken pressure that occurs when we all are under one roof,” Atkins said. “When [media] ask us these questions in years prior, did we feel pressure to get something done, I think most executives say no. But there is something unspoken about the time as one day goes by and you’re feeling like this opportunity is one for you to optimize and maximize and you try to discipline yourself, to make sure not to do something [just] to do something.

“Different opportunities just are created from the human nature of that unspoken, very soft deadline of Thursday after the winter meetings. But it’s also just the opportunities that occur to meet after 9 p.m. at night or meet at 6 a.m. in the morning for coffee with a team. Every front office, every agent, all of you are all thinking about how do we maximize these 16 hours in a day before we just lay our heads on the pillow and we don’t do that as well virtually, probably.”

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It wasn’t just remarkable that Cristie Kerr played golf on Thursday. It’s amazing that she even got out of bed.

Kerr was hospitalized last Friday after being thrown from a golf cart when she collided with another cart in total darkness at the Volunteers of America Classic. Her caddie, Matt Gelczis, was also hospitalized.

Yet, just six days later, Kerr opened the U.S. Women’s Open with an even-par 71 on the Jackrabbit Course at Champions Golf Club. It was an astonishing feat given she’d suffered three dislocated ribs, had visible bruising on her arms and had to regularly take pain medication in order to make it through her round.

“We were both thrown from the cart, and I just I can’t remember. I remember landing, I remember the impact, and … I’m sorry,” Kerr said, pausing to gather herself through tears. “Maybe I shouldn’t talk about it. I remember landing on my chest, and it was awful.”

Kerr said she could barely get out of bed for days after the accident because the pain in her back and chest was so severe. But the two-time major champion has played in every U.S. Women’s Open since 1998 and she was determined to not let her injuries sideline her from what she calls her “favorite tournament.”

U.S. Women’s Open: Full-field scores | Full coverage

Kerr is making her 25th U.S. Women’s Open appearance this week. In 2007, she won at Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club and has seven more top-10s.

“It’s our national championship. I feel like we’re so lucky to play it with COVID that I just love it,” Kerr said. “If there is any way possible, I’m not going to miss this tournament.”

The timeline to getting her body in a condition in which she felt like she could compete was a step-by-step, day-by-day ordeal. On Monday, the two-time major champion says the idea of competing didn’t seem possible. On Tuesday, she chipped and putted and hit a few 60-yard chip shots that were painful. But her former caddie Brady Stockton, who stepped in for Gelczis this week, encouraged her to stay positive. By Tuesday afternoon Kerr was able to hit a few three-quarter iron shots on the range. On Wednesday, she moved up to hitting driver and long irons.

Kerr says she has undergone multiple daily cryotherapy treatments and worked extensively with the LPGA’s physical therapists. She’s also icing down her body for two hours in the morning and the evening to get her body ready for play.

“I’m here, and I played, and I was tough today,” Kerr said, “and I feel like I’m going to keep getting better every day.”

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INGLEWOOD, Calif. — With rookie Cam Akers running wild for the Rams and his defensive teammates thoroughly stifling the Patriots, Los Angeles got a tiny measure of payback for its Super Bowl embarrassment two years ago.

These Rams even looked good enough to contend for a chance at some actual Super Bowl redemption later this season.

Akers rushed for 171 yards in a breakout performance, Kenny Young returned an interception 79 yards for a touchdown and the Rams clinched their fourth straight winning season with a 24-3 victory over the New England Patriots on Thursday night.

Jared Goff rushed for a touchdown and threw a TD pass to Cooper Kupp as the NFC West-leading Rams (9-4) rolled to a one-sided victory in a rematch of their 13-3 Super Bowl loss in February 2019.

“We’ve got a lot of respect for them, but it’s a totally different year,” Rams coach Sean McVay said. “It doesn’t have anything to do with what occurred a couple of years ago.”

While the Rams’ offence looked sharp, their defence pushed the Patriots (6-7) perilously close to disarray. New England managed only 220 total yards — just 62 in the second half with a series of misbegotten drives.

Cam Newton went 9 of 16 for 119 yards and got sacked four times before the 2015 NFL MVP was replaced by Jarrett Stidham for the final three series in the fourth quarter.

“We knew exactly what they were going to do,” Newton said. “We have to be better, and it starts with me personally. I have to make more plays.”

Five days after the Patriots scored 45 points at SoFi Stadium against the Chargers, New England endangered its push for a 12th straight playoff berth with only its second loss in six games.

When asked if he expected to start next week, Newton replied: “That’s not my call.”

Bill Belichick doused the understandable speculation moments later: “Cam is our quarterback.”

The Rams got a superb game from Akers, the second-round draft pick out of Florida State who has seized a major role in their offence over the last three weeks. Akers’ yards mostly came in big chunks during the biggest rushing game by an NFL rookie this season and just the ninth 150-yard game against a Belichick-coached defence since 2000.

“It’s just (great) watching that guy really assert himself as a big-time player for us,” McVay said. “You can just see this guy is going to be a really special player for us, and this was a great night for him.”

Aaron Donald had 1 1/2 sacks to move into the overall NFL lead with 12 1/2 this season while leading another strong game from Los Angeles’ elite defence, which recorded six sacks and also scored a touchdown in its third consecutive game. The Pats’ third-ranked rushing offence managed just 3.7 yards per carry.

“We knew they had a great running game, that they outphysical-ed people, and we took that personally,” said Rams defensive tackle Michael Brockers, who had two sacks. “If they were going to come in here and run the ball, we were going to stop them.”

New England again struggled to move the ball through the air, and Newton threw his first pick-six of the season to Young, who also had a sack and led the Rams with eight tackles. Stidham went 5 of 7 and got sacked twice after taking over early in the fourth quarter.

Despite their strong recent play, the Patriots have seven losses for the first time since 2002, officially ending their NFL-record streak of 17 straight seasons with at least 10 victories.

The Rams’ opening 75-yard TD drive at SoFi Stadium looked better than anything it did in the Super Bowl. Tyler Higbee and Akers had long gains before Goff leaned over the line on fourth-and-goal for his career-high fourth rushing touchdown of the season.

An intentional grounding penalty on Goff and a poorly thrown pass intercepted by New England’s Myles Bryant kept the Pats’ deficit manageable early. But Young opened the second quarter with an interception by Donald’s disruption up front, taking it all the way back for the third-year linebacker’s first NFL touchdown.

Kupp’s 2-yard TD catch late in the third quarter capped a dominant 16-play, 90-yard drive by the Rams that included two fourth-down conversions.

“It didn’t really matter anything else that happened,” Patriots safety Devin McCourty said. “They were able to continuously run it and get first downs. It takes you out of the play-calling. We were able to do well on third downs, but it didn’t matter because of how well they did in the run game. They took the whole third quarter with the long drive, and we can’t play that way.”

HISTORIC NIGHT

The Rams will have four consecutive winning records under McVay, something the franchise hadn’t done since 1983-86 with Eric Dickerson and coach John Robinson. Los Angeles still hasn’t clinched McVay’s third playoff spot, but his team will sit atop the division with three games to play.

Los Angeles also improved to 33-0 with a halftime lead under McVay.

INJURED

Patriots: S Adrian Phillips injured his hand at some point near halftime, but he returned in the second half. … RB Damien Harris left the field gingerly in the fourth quarter.

Rams: K Matt Gay played and didn’t miss a kick despite a shoulder injury.

UP NEXT

Patriots: Visit the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, Dec. 20.

Rams: Stay home to host the New York Jets on Sunday, Dec. 20.

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