News
NFL roundup: St. Louis presents stadium plan
Four days after St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke announced plans to build an NFL stadium in Los Angeles, St. Louis on Friday unveiled a proposal for a new open-air stadium that would cost between $860 million and $985 million.
David Peacock, a former top executive at Anheuser-Busch who is leading the stadium team along with attorney Robert Blitz, told reporters at the presentation, “The Rams are our team. We believe with this kind of plan the Rams will continue to be our team.”
Blitz, who was part of the legal team that brought the Rams to St. Louis from Los Angeles in 1995, said, “We will fight for what is rightfully ours.”
No representatives of the Rams were at the announcement Friday, but the team issued a statement: “The St. Louis Rams have worked for many years with several agencies and commissions and their senior management responsible for stadium facilities in St. Louis. This includes multiple discussions with the Governor’s recently formed NFL Task Force. We received the Task Force materials shortly before the press conference. We will review them and speak with the Task Force representatives.”
The stadium plan has been in the discussion stages since 2012, when an arbitrator ruled that the Rams would be free to leave the Edward Jones Dome after the 2014 season if the now 20-year-old stadium were not among the top 25 percent of NFL facilities.
—Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is listed as probable and expected to play against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday despite a calf injury.
Rodgers was a limited participant in practice Thursday, and coach Mike McCarthy told reporters Friday, “Aaron Rodgers came through the practice with everything OK. Feels good today. I feel he’s going to be available for the game.”
Rodgers suffered the injury to his left calf in Week 16 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and briefly left the Packers’ Week 17 game against the Detroit Lions before returning to rally Green Bay to victory. It was initially reported as a strain, but it also has been reported as a slight tear.
—Wide receiver Philly Brown is questionable for the Carolina Panthers’ divisional playoff game Saturday in Seattle.
Also listed as questionable are safety Thomas DeCoud (hamstring), linebacker A.J. Klein (ankle) and cornerback Melvin White (ankle).
For the Seahawks, tight end Tony Moeaki is questionable with a calf injury and safety Jeron Johnson is out with an elbow injury.
— The Chicago Bears have requested permission from the Detroit Lions to interview defensive coordinator Teryl Austin for their coaching vacancy, according to the Chicago Tribune.
The Bears are seeking a new coach after Marc Trestman was fired in the wake of a 5-11 season.
The Bears already have interviewed Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, Denver Broncos offensive coordinator Adam Gase and Arizona Cardinals DC Todd Bowles.
Austin, who ran the league’s No. 2 defense this season, reportedly interviewed with the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday and Atlanta Falcons on Friday and was scheduled to meet with the Buffalo Bills on Saturday.
—Eric Mangini reportedly will interview for the defensive coordinator position of the Washington Redskins.
Mangini, the former coach of the New York Jets and Cleveland Browns, has spent the past two seasons as an assistant in San Francisco. According to NBC Washington, he will interview for the DC position on coach Jay Gruden’s staff, which came open when Jim Haslett and the team parted ways after five seasons.
The Redskins interviewed Wade Phillips on Thursday and also talked to 49ers secondary coach Ed Donatell and San Diego Chargers linebackers coach Joe Barry.
—The NFL is investigating whether text messages were sent to the Cleveland Browns’ sideline during games this season.
Texting would be a violation of the NFL’s rules prohibiting electronic communication during games.
Cleveland.com reported earlier this week that some coaches late in the season became angered when play calls were requested or suggested via text from the press box by a high-ranking non-coaching staff member.
The Browns and offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan parted ways Thursday after reports surfaced that friction between the coaching staff and front office became an issue for the first-year assistant.
—The New England Patriots signed starting safety Patrick Chung to a three-year contract extension through 2017, according to reports Friday.
ESPN.com reported that the deal could be worth up to $8.2 million and includes $3.4 million in guarantees.
Chung was New England’s 2009 second-round draft choice out of Oregon, but he was not re-signed in 2013 at the conclusion of his rookie deal. He signed a three-year contract with the Eagles, where he played for his college coach, Chip Kelly, but he was cut after one year and signed again with the Patriots.
Chung started 15 of 16 games and had seven passes defensed, one interception and 85 tackles this season.
— Mississippi State All-American linebacker Benardrick McKinney announced Friday that he is making himself eligible for the NFL draft this year.
McKinney, 6 feet 4 and 249 pounds, is rated as the top inside linebacker in the draft and No. 24 prospect overall by NFLDraftScout.com.
A 36-game starter, he was the Bulldogs’ leading tackler over the past two seasons.
—Rob Konrad, a former Miami Dolphins player, survived a fall from his boat and swam nine miles in the Atlantic Ocean before reaching land in Palm Beach, Fla.
The U.S. Coast Guard said Konrad, a fullback for the Dolphins from 1999 to 2004, was on a fishing excursion from Boca Raton to Lake Worth on Wednesday night when he fell overboard from a 36-foot boat.
Petty Officer Mark Barney of the Coast Guard told ABC News that Konrad, 38, was in the water for 10 to 12 hours.
—The Nevada Supreme Court has upheld a jury verdict of more than $12 million against Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Adam Jones stemming from a strip club brawl that led to the shootings of two security guards in 2007.
In 2012, a jury awarded $11 million to paralyzed security officer Thomas Urbanski and his wife and $1.3 million to fellow security guard Aaron Cudworth.
Both were shot at the end of a fracas at a Las Vegas club during NBA All-Star Weekend in February 2007.
A jury found that Jones incited the riot when he threw hundreds of dollar bills on the strippers as they danced, “making it rain.”
—Detroit Lions linebacker Tahir Whitehead was fined $22,050 by the NFL for a shot to Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Cole Beasley’s head during their wild-card playoff game last weekend.
Dallas receiver Dez Bryant also was fined $8,628 for taunting in the Cowboys’ 24-20 victory.
Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Jason Worilds was fined $10,000 for punching Baltimore Ravens tight end Crockett Gillmore in the head at the end of a play in the Ravens’ 30-17 win.
—The San Diego Chargers signed wide receiver Austin Pettis, who had been released by the St. Louis Rams in October.
A third-round pick by the Rams in 2011, Pettis caught 107 passes for 1,034 yards and nine touchdowns in 47 games with St. Louis.
In five games in 2014, he caught 12 passes for 118 yards and one touchdown. But he had fallen on the depth chart behind Brian Quick, Chris Givens, Tavon Austin and Stedman Bailey.
— The San Francisco 49ers signed linebacker Shayne Skov.
The 49ers signed Skov last May as an undrafted rookie out of Stanford and released him in final cuts.
He spent about half the season on the practice squad and also was briefly on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ practice squad.
News
Buccaneers admit mistake, boot Aguayo
Source: Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk
Powered by WPeMatico
News
Did Bucs put too much pressure on Aguayo?
Source: Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk
Powered by WPeMatico
News
Broncos holding their breath on Derek Wolfe
Source: Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk
Powered by WPeMatico