IRVIN TAKEN OFF SUPER COVERAGE
Michael Irvin has been pulled from the remainder of NFL Network’s Super Bowl week coverage after a complaint about Irvin’s behavior in a hotel Sunday night.
The Hall of Fame wide receiver went on a Dallas radio station Wednesday and said he was asked by network officials to move to another hotel on Monday after what he described as a brief encounter with a woman.
“Michael Irvin will not be part of NFL Network’s Super Bowl LVII week coverage,” NFL Network spokesman Alex Riethmiller said
In interviews with Dallas’ 105.3 The Fan and the Dallas Morning News, Irvin said the conversation with the woman lasted between 45 seconds and one minute. Irvin also said he initially didn’t remember the meeting because “I had a few drinks, to tell you the truth.”
Irvin said he did not know the woman and that there was “no sexual wrongdoing.”
“Sunday night when I came into the hotel, they asked what I did and I said, ‘I just went straight to the room,’ ” Irvin said during the “Shan & RJ” show. “But I guess I had met somebody in the lobby. Talked to somebody in the lobby for about a minute, and then I went to my room. And then after I got up there, they said they had to move me in the hotel.
“I said: ‘I didn’t talk to anybody. I went straight to the room.’ And then they showed it on camera that I did talk to somebody. I talked to this girl for about a minute. I don’t know what — they didn’t show it to me. They told it to me. I didn’t see it. I guess the girl said I said something to her within that minute that we talked, and so they moved me.”
Irvin has been with NFL Network since 2009. He did appear during the network’s coverage of Super Bowl opening night on Monday.
Glendale, Ariz., police said they have not received any reports about any incident involving Irvin.
Notable
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy will undergo surgery on his injured elbow later this month and should be fully recovered by training camp.
A person familiar with the decision said Purdy will undergo the surgery on Feb. 22 to repair the torn ligament in his right elbow.
NFL Network first reported the decision on surgery that will be performed by Dr. Keith Meister, the team physician for the Texas Rangers.
Purdy got several opinions from doctors on whether to avoid surgery and try to rehabilitate the elbow, have an “internal brace” procedure to repair the elbow or undergo reconstructive Tommy John surgery.
He opted for the internal brace, which should allow him to begin a throwing program in three months and be fully cleared to practice sometime in August if everything goes as planned.
• Sam Howell is going into offseason workouts as the Washington Commanders’ starting quarterback, coach Ron Rivera said.