THE HOT CORNER

PRO FOOTBALL: Patriots running back Rex Burkhead says he will be sidelined for the rest of the season. He was carted off the field Sunday in Houston following a knee- to- helmet collision with Texans cornerback Bradley Roby. Burkhead, who scored the winning touchdown in the 2019 AFC title game against Kansas City, was having one of the best years, with a combined 466 yards and six touchdowns rushing and receiving.

PRO FOOTBALL: Browns cornerback Denzel Ward, who leads the NFL in passes defensed, will miss time with a strained calf he sustained in Sunday’s win over Philadelphia. Ward’s injury is just the latest to a big- name player for the Browns, who are already missing dynamic defensive end Myles Garrett. He’ll miss his second straight game at Jacksonville as he recovers from COVID- 19.

PRO TENNIS: The sports minister for Victoria state says the 2021 Australian Open in Melbourne will “most likely” be delayed by a week or two from its scheduled start of Jan. 18. Martin Pakula also said negotiations between various levels of governments and tennis officials were close to a conclusion and that the first Grand Slam of the year was expected to go ahead.

GOLF: U. S. Amateur champion Tyler Strafaci of Georgia Tech and Davis Thompson, the No. 2 amateur in the world, are among 16 players invited to a Walker Cup practice session Dec. 1618 at Bay Hill and Lake Nona in Orlando, Florida. The Walker Cup is scheduled for May 8- 9 at Seminole.

OLYMPICS: Two Romanian weightlifters were stripped of their 2012 Olympic medals Wednesday after positive doping tests, extending the record of doping cases at any Summer or Winter Games to 77. The IOC said silver medalist Roxana Cocos and bronze medalist Razvan Martin tested positive for multiple steroids in a reanalysis of their samples.