CHECKING OFF THE BOXES

ATLANTA — NFL commissioner Roger

Goodell addressed a number of other matters on Wednesday at his state-of-the-league news conference. Including these:

The Oakland Raiders still don’t know where they will play home games in 2019, the last year before they relocate to their newstadium home in Las Vegas. But he said the preference of Raiders owner Mark

Davis is to play somewhere in the Bay Area.

He once again threw water on the idea of an NFL team any time soon relocating to the United Kingdom. Logistical and fairness issues, as Goodell suggested, are daunting.

Goodell said that in spite of some reports suggesting that a littleknown NFL rule permits the commissioner to intercede in the result of a game, there is a rule that actually forbids it, which he read out: “I think it’s clear, and I actually wrote down the rule … that ‘the commissioner will not apply his authority in cases of complaint by clubs concerning judgmental errors, or routine errors, by the officials. Games involving such complaints will continue to stand as completed.’ So that was not a consideration.”

Goodell reiterated for the umpteenth time over the past two years that player personnel decisions are entirely up to the clubs, not the league office. So, basically, stop asking him why Colin Kaepernick remains on the outs, now two full seasons since the controversial quarterback last played for the San Francisco 49ers.

The league hasn’t decided yet whether the retractable dome roof of Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday will be open or closed for Super Bowl LIII.

— John Kryk