PRO FOOTBALL
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Colin Kaepernick wants to play in the NFL, even if he has to compete to get on the field.
A person close to Kaepernick tells The Associated Press: “Colin has always been prepared to compete at the highest level and is in the best shape of his life.”
Kaepernick released a video earlier this week saying: “5 a.m. 5 days a week. For 3 years. Still Ready.”
The Philadelphia Eagles lost backup Nate Sudfeld to a broken left wrist suffered Thursday night, raising speculation the team would be in the market for an experienced quarterback. Sudfeld was scheduled for surgery, but coach Doug Pederson said it’s not a season-ending injury and the team was content with No. 3 quarterback Cody Kessler and rookie Clayton Thorson.
The 31-year-old Kaepernick hasn’t played since 2016. Kaepernick, then with the San Francisco 49ers, helped start a wave of protests about social and racial injustice that season by kneeling during the national anthem at games.
ALAMEDA, Calif. (AP) - Oakland Raiders wide receiver Antonio Brown has reportedly filed a grievance with the NFL over a league rule that prevents him from wearing his 10-year-old helmet.
ESPN reported that Brown had a two-hour conference call Friday with an independent arbitrator to state his case for why he should be able to use a helmet that is no longer certified by the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment. League and union representatives were also on the call and ESPN reported a ruling could come as early as next week.
Brown has not participated in a full practice for the Raiders after starting training camp on the non-football injury list with injuries to his feet that reportedly came from frostbite suffered while getting cryotherapy treatment in France. Brown was cleared to practice on July 28 and participated in part of two sessions but hasn’t been around the team the past few days.
GOLF
JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) - Tiger Woods withdrew from the opening FedEx Cup playoff event with what he called a mild oblique strain.
Woods opened with a 75 on Thursday in The Northern Trust. He says his oblique muscle caused him mild pain and he went for treatment Friday morning. He says it wasn’t enough for him to play the second round Friday afternoon.
It’s the first time this year Woods has withdrawn in the middle of a tournament.
He says he hopes to be able to play next week in the BMW Championship at Medinah, where he won two of his PGA Championships.
If he plays next week, Woods would need to move back into the top 30 in the FedEx Cup to be able to defend his title at the Tour Championship, where last year he won to cap off a remarkable return following four back surgeries.
BOXING
LONDON (AP) - Anthony Joshua’s promoters say his world heavyweight title rematch against Andy Ruiz Jr. will take place in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, on Dec. 7.
The British fighter will be trying to win back the IBF, WBA and WBO belts he lost to Ruiz at New York’s Madison Square Garden on June 1.
Ruiz, an American, had insisted that the rematch take place back in the U.S. or at a neutral venue. Diriyah is a town on the outskirts of Riyadh, the Saudi Arabian capital.
Their rematch will be the highest-profile boxing event to be held in the country after welterweight Amir Khan’s win over Australia’s Billy Dib in Jeddah on July 12.
Saudi Arabia also hosted the World Boxing Super Series super middleweight final between British fighters Callum Smith and George Groves last year.
TENNIS
MASON, Ohio (AP) - Andy Murray says he has accepted a wild-card invitation to make his return to singles competition at the Western & Southern Open next week.
Murray announced the news on his Facebook page.
The three-time major champion and former No. 1 hasn’t played a singles match on tour since the Australian Open in January. At the time, he made it sound as if he would be retiring because of a painful hip that already has been surgically repaired.
But Murray had a second hip operation shortly after that and began playing doubles in June.
He has been cautious about when he might be able to get back on the court in singles.
Murray won the U.S. Open 2012 and Wimbledon in 2013 and 2016.
BASEBALL
BALTIMORE (AP) - Orioles first baseman Chris Davis said he reached a “breaking point” when he charged at manager Brandon Hyde in the dugout on Wednesday night, and expressed his regret during a lengthy conversation with Hyde.
The flare-up occurred in the fifth inning of Baltimore’s 14-2 loss to the New York Yankees. Hyde walked over to Davis and said something that the first baseman clearly didn’t like, and Davis attempted to charge at the manager before being restrained by teammate Mark Trumbo and hitting coach Don Long.
Davis is batting .182 with nine homers and 31 RBIs, hardly the production the Orioles expected from a slugger who’s in the middle of a $161 million, seven-year contract. Last season he batted .168, the worst average in major league history by a player with enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title.
AUTO RACING
McLaren will return to full-time IndyCar competition next season for the first time since 1979 in a partnership with existing team Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.
The new venture will be renamed Arrow McLaren Racing SP and rely on Arrow SPM’s current infrastructure. McLaren will be responsible for technical expertise, commercial experience and marketing. It will be a two-car team but switch next season to Chevrolet.
The team currently fields cars for James Hinchcliffe and Marcus Ericsson, but Hinchcliffe is a longtime Honda ambassador and star of ads for the automaker in North America.
Arrow Electronics will remain the team’s title partner and team co-founders Sam Schmidt and Ric Peterson will continue in their current leadership roles. Gil de Ferran, the sporting director for McLaren Racing, will lead the IndyCar effort.
McLaren is coming off a spectacular embarrassment in which it failed to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 in May with celebrated two-time Formula One champion Fernando Alonso.
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