Browns place Vernon on IR, coach tests postive for COVID
CLEVELAND » Reeling from coach Kevin Stefanski’s positive COVID-19 test, the Browns also placed valuable defensive end Olivier Vernon and rookie guard Nick Harris on injured reserve Tuesday.
Stefanski will miss Cleveland’s first playoff game since the 2002 season, and Vernon and Harris are both done for the season with their injuries.
Vernon tore his left Achilles tendon in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s 24-22 win over Pittsburgh and will undergo surgery. His loss is a major one for Cleveland’s defense, which could be missing more players for this week’s playoff game against the Steelers.
Soccer
LA GALAXY HIRE MLS CUP
WINNER GREG VANNEY AS HEAD COACH » The LA Galaxy have hired MLS Cup winner Greg Vanney as their head coach.
The club announced the deal with Vanney, who played seven seasons with the Galaxy in two stints before beginning his successful coaching career.
Vanney led Toronto FC to the MLS Cup championship and the domestic treble in 2017 during 6 ½ seasons as the team’s head coach and technical director.
MANCHESTER CITY’S TITLEWINNING
GREAT COLIN BELL DIES AT 74 » Colin Bell, one of the best English midfielders of his generation and considered an all-time
great at Manchester City, has died. He was 74.
Bell, whose name lives on in the “Colin Bell Stand” named after him at the Etihad Stadium, died after a short illness not linked to the coronavirus, City said. ALTIDORE BACK ON US NATIONAL
SOCCER TEAM ROSTER » Jozy Altidore is back with the U. S. national team for the first time in 1 ½ years.
The 31-year- old Toronto forward is among 12 players invited to a training camp starting Jan. 9 in Bradenton, Florida, ahead of a contemplated exhibition against Serbia in late January at Orlando. At 115 international appearances, Altidore is the senior player on the roster ahead of Seattle forward Jordan Morris, second with 39.
NBA
SMAILAGIC OUT AT LEAST
FOUR WEEKS AFTER KNEE SURGERY » Warriors forward Alen Smailagic will miss at least the next four weeks after undergoing surgery to repair a right meniscal tear, the team announced.
Smailagic, who has not played in the first six games of the season, had the procedure performed Monday morning at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in South San Francisco by Dr. Chris Lehman. Smailagic, 20, will begin rehabilitation immediately and will be re- evaluated in approximately four weeks.