LIONS GIVE NEW MULTIYEAR DEAL TO COACH CALDWELL
Detroit Lions coach Jim Caldwell signed a multiyear contract extension with the team. The deal was struck months ago, the Lions said.
Caldwell, 62, had been in the final year of his contract and consistently has had to answer questions about whether he will return in 2018. Those questions included speculation about retirement and whether he felt he should be coaching on a lame-duck deal.
Turns out, he never was leaving. “I don’t worry about those kinds of things,” Caldwell said this month when he was asked about an extension. “I don’t think twice about them. They don’t concern me. I have one mission: to take care of my men and to win football games . ... That’s the truth.
“So it may be great to ask those questions, which is fine. I’m going to answer them the exact same way if you ask them now or six weeks from now. It’s going to be exactly the same way. It doesn’t concern me. My concern, like I said, is winning football games.”
Bradford sidelined for Week 3. Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Bradford will not play Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, coach Mike Zimmer announced.
Bradford’s left knee did not respond well to practice work last week, a source told ESPN’S Dan Graziano. The quarterback practiced on a limited basis Wednesday and Thursday but was not present for the portion of practice open to the media Friday morning.
• The Buccaneers will be without three top players on defense Sunday against the Vikings. Starting defensive tackle Chris Baker and defensive end Jacquies Smith did not make the trip to Minneapolis because of the flu, according to Tampa Bay team officials.
Chargers lose Verrett again.
Los Angeles Chargers cornerback Jason Verrett was placed on seasonending injured reserve due to a left knee injury.
Verrett had an MRI on the knee last week and has decided to have surgery.
“It was never right in my opinion, just watching him in practice,” Chargers coach Anthony Lynn said. “But he’s such a competitor (that) he kept wanting to go out, save himself and play the first week. But he wasn’t able to play to his standard. So we just want him to get healthy.”
Verrett, 26, shut it down last season after a Week 4 game against the New Orleans Saints, when an MRI revealed he had a partially torn ACL in his left knee.
After having surgery to repair the issue, the TCU product endured a rigorous rehab to work his way back onto the field.
Wozniacki in Pan Pacific final.
TOKYO» Defending champion Caroline Wozniacki upset world No. 1 Garbine Muguruza 6-2, 6-0 to advance to the final of the Pan Pacific Open.
Wozniacki, a champion here in 2010 and 2016, converted six of seven break points to reach her seventh final of 2017.
• Fabio Fognini will play for his second ATP title of the year and Damir Dzumhur for the first of his career in the final of the St. Petersburg Open.
The third-seeded Fognini eliminated top-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain 2-6, 7-6 (7), 7-5 (5) in 2½ hours in the semifinals.
Kings victorious twice in China. BEIJING» The Los Angeles Kings beat the Vancouver Canucks 4-3 in penalties to win both of the NHL’S firstever preseason games in China.
Saturday’s game in Beijing capped a push by the NHL to popularize ice hockey in China ahead of the country’s hosting of the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Thursday, the Kings won their first game in Shanghai by a 5-2 score.