NFL
DENVER (AP) - The Denver Broncos promoted a rookie practice squad receiver to play quarterback Sunday against the New Orleans Saints.
Kendall Hinton played quarterback for three years at Wake Forest before moving to wide receiver for his redshirt senior season last year. The Broncos signed Hinton as an undrafted college free agent this spring and then cut him after training camp. They re-signed him earlier this month.
The Broncos found themselves in a quarterback quandary when the NFL deemed Drew Lock, Brett Rypien and Blake Bortles as high-risk close contacts after QB Jeff Driskel tested positive for COVID-19 earlier in the week.
Hinton made a shaky NFL debut by going 1 for 9 for 13 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions in a 31-3 loss to New Orleans.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) - The Jacksonville Jaguars fired general manager Dave Caldwell on Sunday after the team’s 10th consecutive loss, sending a clear message that the small-market franchise is headed in a new direction.
It was a move many thought owner Shad Khan should have made at the end of last season. But Khan gave Caldwell another chance to make Jacksonville a playoff contender for just the second time in his eight-year tenure.
Caldwell came up well short of the owner’s winning expectations.
Khan will keep coach Doug Marrone and his staff in place to finish out the season and likely let the next general manager decide their fate. It would be stunning to see Marrone return in 2021. Former San Francisco executive Trent Baalke will serve as interim GM.
DETRIOT (AP) - The Detroit Lions fired general manager Bob Quinn and coach Matt Patricia, ending the franchise’s attempt to replicate the success the men helped Bill Belichick achieve in New England.
The Lions made the moves Saturday, surprising no one.
Detroit (4-7) lost consecutive games for the third time this season, collapsing in a 41-25 loss to Houston at home on Thursday after getting shut out for the first time in 11 years in its previous game at Carolina.
The setbacks dropped Patricia to 13-29-1 in two-plus seasons and Quinn’s mark fell 12 games under .500 over five seasons.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The San Francisco 49ers and other teams may need to find a temporary new home after Santa Clara County on Saturday banned all contact sports from holding games and practices for the next three weeks.
County officials issued the directives in response to rising cases of the coronavirus in the area. The rules take effect Monday and will last until Dec 21.
The 49ers have home games scheduled for Dec. 7 against Buffalo and Dec. 13 against Washington at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. The team also practices at that site in the county.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Indianapolis defensive tackle Grover Stewart has signed a contract extension that will keep him with the Colts through the next three seasons.
The deal is reportedly worth as much as $30.75 million, with $20 million guaranteed.
General manager Chris Ballard has made it clear he wants to build Indy around the offensive and defensive lines, working his way inside out and this move is part of that plan.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Los Angeles Rams cornerback Tyrique McGhee has been suspended without pay for two games by the NFL for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing substances.
McGhee has been on the Rams’ practice squad all season. He signed with the team during the spring as an undrafted free agent.
He is eligible to return following the Rams’ Week 13 game at Arizona on Dec. 6.
NBA
NEW YORK (AP) - NBA players who test positive for the coronavirus this season may have to miss nearly two weeks in some instances before being allowed to return to the court, the league told its teams Saturday.
That revelation was one of many in a 63,000-word document, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, that explained some of the heath and safety protocols for the looming season. Preseason games begin Dec. 11 and regular-season contests start Dec. 22.
The document still needs to be ratified by the league and the National Basketball Players Association. All players who will be part of training camp need to begin a testing program by Monday, and teams can begin holding mandated group workouts starting Dec. 6, the league said.
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) - Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett will finally enter the Basketball Hall of Fame in May 2021.
The NBA said Saturday that the delayed Hall of Fame weekend - it was to have taken place in Springfield, Massachusetts in August, before being pushed back because of the coronavirus pandemic - will be held from May 13-15.
Bryant, Duncan and Garnett were the headliners of the class that was announced in April. They all got into the Hall in their first year as finalists, as did WNBA great Tamika Catchings.
Others getting the Hall’s call: Two-time NBA champion coach Rudy Tomjanovich got in this year, as did longtime Baylor women’s coach Kim Mulkey, 1,000-game winner Barbara Stevens of Bentley and three-time Final Four coach Eddie Sutton.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - The Charlotte Hornets have acquired forward Gordon Hayward and unprotected 2023 and 2024 second-round draft picks from the Boston Celtics in exchange for a heavily protected 2022 second-round draft pick as part of a sign-and-trade transaction.
The Celtics will only get Charlotte’s draft pick if the Hornets finish in the top five in the league next season, so it’s unlikely they will get anything in the deal other than unloading Hayward’s contract.
Hayward previously agreed to a four-year, $120 million deal to join the Hornets.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
The Atlantic Coast Conference shuffled its football schedule, calling off Florida State’s game at Duke on Saturday and sending Miami to play the Blue Devils instead.
The Hurricanes were scheduled to come back from a two-week pause because of COVID-19 issues at Wake Forest. But that game was postponed because of virus problems with Wake Forest’s program.
For Florida State, this will be its third consecutive game to be called off.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Vanderbilt fired coach Derek Mason on Sunday after losing the first eight games of his seventh season, and offensive coordinator Todd Fitch will serve as the interim coach.
Hired in 2014 as Vanderbilt’s 28th coach, Mason replaced James Franklin when he left for Penn State. Mason came to Vanderbilt after being associate head coach and defensive coordinator at Stanford. He became the first Vanderbilt coach since the 1920s to beat in-state rival Tennessee three straight seasons.
He guided the Commodores to a bowl twice in three seasons. At 27-55, Mason leaves as the sixth-winningest coach in program history.
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) - Sarah Fuller made history, but her barrier-breaking kickoff was the only highlight for Vanderbilt in a 41-0 loss to Missouri.
Fuller became the first woman to participate in a Power 5 conference football game when she kicked off to start the second half. Fuller delivered a low kick that bounced to the 35-yard line, where Missouri pounced on it. She never got the chance to attempt a PAT or field goal, as the Tigers (4-3) rarely allowed the Commodores (0-8) to cross midfield.
EL PASO, Texas (AP) - UTEP suspended football activities Sunday and called off another game after “multiple members” of the football team tested positive for COVID-19.
The Miners won’t play host to Southern Miss as scheduled Friday after scrapping this weekend’s game at Rice because of the positive tests.
It’s the third straight UTEP game to be called off, starting with UAB on Nov. 20 because of coronavirus issues in the UAB program.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - LSU receiving leader Terrace Marshall Jr. has decided to opt out for the rest of this season, leaving the Tigers without their leading receiver on the week they’re scheduled to host No. 1 Alabama.
Marshall, a junior, was one of three highly regarded college players to declare for the draft Sunday with a social media post, along with Texas offensive tackle Samuel Cosmi and Florida State defensive back Asante Samuel Jr.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Maryland basketball star Len Bias, who was chosen No. 2 by the Boston Celtics in the 1986 NBA Draft before dying days later of a drug overdose, was chosen for induction into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame on Sunday.
Bias leads a group of six players and two coaches that will be enshrined in Kansas City next November.
The other players to make up the class are Hersey Hawkins, who scored more than 3,000 points during his career at Bradley; UCLA’s David Greenwood, the No. 2 pick of the Chicago Bulls in the 1979 draft; Jim Jackson, the two-time Big Ten player of the year at Ohio State; Antawn Jameson, who led North Carolina to back-to-back Final Fours; and Kansas star Paul Pierce, who went on to play 19 years in the NBA, mostly with the Celtics.
The two coaches selected for the Hall of Fame were Rick Byrd, who won 805 games at Maryville, Lincoln Memorial and Belmont, and Tom Penders, who took four different schools to the NCAA Tournament.
BOXING
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Mike Tyson showed glimpses of his destructive prime during the 54-year-old boxing icon’s return to the ring for a lively exhibition bout with 51-year-old Roy Jones Jr.
Both fighters had impressive moments during a fight that was ruled a draw by the WBC judges at ringside. Tyson and Jones fought eight two-minute rounds, and both emerged smiling from a highly unusual event at Staples Center.
The former heavyweight champion of the world’s return to the ring after a 15-year absence attracted international attention, and Iron Mike did his best to show the form that made him a legend to a generation of boxing fans.
In the co-main event, YouTube star Jake Paul knocked out former NBA player Nate Robinson, stopped in the second round of Robinson’s pro boxing debut.
AUTO RACING
SAKHIR, Bahrain (AP) - Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton won a crash-marred Bahrain Grand Prix where Romain Grosjean somehow escaped with only minor burns after his car exploded into a fireball.
The 34-year-old French driver slid off the track Sunday at high speed on the first lap and his Haas car burst into flames after being sliced in two by a barrier. Grosjean clambered out with the fire roaring behind him and his race helmet singed. He was conscious and stable and then taken by helicopter to a military hospital.
Governing body FIA said in a statement that Grosjean was staying overnight in a military hospital to have treatment for burns on the back of both hands, but that he did not have any fractures despite hitting the barriers at an estimated speed of at least 200 kph (125 mph).
OLYMPICS
Another test event for the 2022 Beijing Olympics was called off Saturday, when bobsled and skeleton officials canceled plans to have a training week and World Cup race on a newly built track to end this year’s sliding season.
The decision comes just days after luge officials also canceled that sport’s season-ending World Cup and training week on the track built in Yanqing.
The reason, in both cases, was the same: ongoing concerns about international travel during the coronavirus pandemic, which originated in China about a year ago.
TOKYO (AP) - The cost of the one-year postponement of the Tokyo Olympics is estimated to be just under $2 billion, or about 200 billion yen.
Japan’s Kyodo news agency and the Yomiuri newspaper both reported the figure on Sunday citing unnamed sources close to games organizers.
The reported cost of the delay because of the COVID-19 pandemic is in line with repeated estimates over the last several months.
The International Olympic Committee has said it would chip in about $650 million to cover some of the costs of the delay, but has offered few public details.
HORSE RACING
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) - After nearly 50 years, the sun set on a racing day at Calder for the final time.
Diligent won the final race at the track formerly known as Calder on Saturday, ending a half-century run of racing at the facility that was rebranded several years ago as Gulfstream Park West.
It was a fitting finish: Eddie Plesa Jr., a member of Calder’s Hall of Fame, was the winning trainer in the final race at the facility. Plesa’s father, Eddie Plesa Sr., was one of the very first trainers at the facility when it opened in 1971.
OBITUARY
Papa Bouba Diop, the tall Senegal midfielder who scored the goal that delivered one of the greatest upsets in World Cup history, has died. He was 42.
Diop was the hero when Senegal shocked defending champion France 1-0 in the opening game of the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea. It was Senegal’s World Cup debut and the win sent the West Africans on a run to the quarterfinals to match the best performance at the tournament by an African team.
DETROIT (AP) - Bob Miller, a right-hander for the Philadelphia Phillies’ 1950 “Whiz Kids” National League pennant winner who went on to coach alma mater Detroit Mercy for 36 years, died Saturday. He was 94.
Miller pitched two seasons for the Titans in 1947-48 before signing with Philadelphia. In 10 seasons with the Phillies, he was 42-42 with 14 saves and a 3.96 ERA in 261 appearances, including 69 starts.
He returned to Detroit Mercy as an assistant coach in 1963 and became head coach in 1965 after Lloyd Brazil, Miller’s college coach, was killed in an auto accident. Miller was 896-780-2 from 1965-2001.
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