NFL=
A day after injuring his right hand in practice when a teammate
accidentally ran into him, Tom Brady did not practice – three days
before the Patriots host the Jaguars in the AFC championship game.
Brady wore gloves on both hands – he usually only wears one on his
non-throwing hand – during the stretching portion of practice, but
he was listed as a non-participant on the injury report. He was
scheduled to meet with the media afterward, but that has been
postponed until Friday.
The Steelers have officially announced Randy Fichtner will take
over as offensive coordinator, one day after deciding to part ways
with Todd Haley. Fichtner has a long relationship with Mike Tomlin
and Ben Roethlisberger, spending the past eight seasons as
Pittsburgh’s quarterbacks coach. He has never been an offensive
coordinator in the NFL, but carried that title at Arkansas State
from 1997-2000, when Tomlin was his receivers coach.
Falcons coach Dan Quinn confirmed that offensive coordinator Steve
Sarkisian will return for a second season with the team. Sarkisian
received much of the fans’ criticism for the team’s decline in
offensive production, one season after the Falcons ranked first in
scoring, second in yards per game and reached the Super Bowl under
Kyle Shanahan. Under Sarkisian’s watch, Atlanta finished 15th in
scoring and put up just 10 points in a divisional round loss to the
Eagles.
The Titans have interviewed Texans defensive coordinator Mike
Vrabel for their vacant head coaching job. Vrabel is the first
candidate Tennessee has talked to since firing Mike Mularkey on
Monday. The 42-year-old Vrabel is coming off his first season as
defensive coordinator for Houston and has never been a head coach
at any level.
Vikings leading receiver Adam Thielen was back at practice after
sitting out the previous day. Thielen missed Wednesday’s practice
due to a lower-back injury, but was participating in drills again
with three days remaining before Sunday’s NFC championship game in
Philadelphia. Thielen started all 16 regular-season games and
caught 91 passes for 1,276 yards and four touchdowns. Safety Andrew
Sendejo also participated after being hurt in last week’s win over
the Saints. He remains in the league’s concussion protocol,
although Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer has said he will be “fine.”
Turns out, the driver of the car who rear-ended Jaguars running
back Leonard Fournette on Tuesday was a Steelers fan. Fournette
escaped injury when he was involved in a three-car crash in
Jacksonville with a vehicle slamming into him from behind – two
days after he scored three touchdowns in the stunning win at
Pittsburgh. Fournette has been limited in the Jaguars’ last two
practices but it wasn’t due to the accident, but from hurting his
ankle Sunday. He is still expected to play in the AFC championship
game.
NBA=
LeBron James and Stephen Curry have been named the captains of next
month’s All-Star Game in Los Angeles. In the new format, the two
will get to draft their teams from a pool of starters – selected by
a combination of fan, media and player voting – and a group of
reserves – voted upon by the head coaches in each conference. The
starters for the game will be Boston’s Kyrie Irving, Toronto’s
DeMar DeRozan, Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid and Milwaukee’s Giannis
Antetokounmpo from Eastern Conference teams, and Golden State’s
Kevin Durant, Houston’s James Harden and Anthony Davis and DeMarcus
Cousins from New Orleans in the West. The reserves will be
announced Tuesday and the entire lineups will be unveiled next
Thursday.
MLB=
The players’ association has rejected Major League Baseball’s
proposal to institute 20-second pitch clocks and limits on mound
visits, but the commissioner’s office is likely to go ahead and
unilaterally impose the changes designed to speed pace of games.
Management can make these on-field rules with baseball’s current
labor contract, but no decision is expected to come before the next
owners’ meetings, scheduled for Jan. 30 to Feb. 1.
With save opportunities likely to be few and far between for a club
that just unloaded Gerrit Cole and Andrew McCutchen, the Pirates
have decided to lock up their closer. Pittsburgh gave hard-throwing
Felipe Rivero a four-year contract worth $22 million that includes
$10 million club options for both 2022 and 2023. The 26-year-old,
acquired in a 2016 trade deadline deal with the Nationals, took
over as the Pirates’ closer in May and posted a 1.67 ERA while
converting 21 of 23 save opportunities and striking out 88 batters
in 75 1/3 innings.
OLYMPICS=
Sentencing for Dr. Larry Nassar has been pushed back to next week
as more victims want the opportunity to speak at his hearing. Judge
Rosemarie Aquilina has already listened to more than 60 who were
molested after seeking his help for injuries since Tuesday. McKayla
Maroney, the 2012 Olympic gold and silver medalist, said ”Dr.
Nassar was not a doctor. He left scars on my psyche that may never
go away.” USA Gymnastics has announced it has severed its
relationship with Karolyi Ranch as the National Training Center for
the women’s elite program. This decision came three days after
Olympic champion Simone Biles had said she had been sexually abused
by Nassar there.