KENDRICKS PLEADS GUILTY TO INSIDER TRADING

Former Cleveland Browns linebacker Mychal Kendricks pleaded guilty to insider trading charges on Thursday, and faces up to 25 years in prison.

U.S. District Judge Gene E.K. Pratter asked Kendricks why he was pleading guilty.

“I’m making the decision because it’s the right thing to do,” he said, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. “I know that I made the decision to accept information, secret information, and it wasn’t the right thing to do.”

Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 18.

Kendricks, who signed a oneyear contract with the Browns in June after winning a Super Bowl title last season with the Eagles, used tips from an acquaintance to make about $1.2 million in illegal profits on four major trading deals, federal prosecutors said.

The Browns released him from the team on Aug. 29, after the charges were filed.

Jets starters Kearse, Maye and Martin sit out practice.

FLORHAM PARK,

» The New York Jets could be without a few starters in their season opener.

Wide receiver Jermaine Kearse, safety Marcus Maye and outside linebacker Josh Martin all sat out practice Thursday with injuries.

Kearse, Maye and Mar tin are all projected starters for the Jets, who open their season Monday night at Detroit.

U.S. appeals court revives drug lawsuit by players.

A U.S. appeals court on Thursday reinstated a lawsuit filed against the NFL by former players who claim the league illegally plied them with powerful prescription painkillers to keep them on the field.

The lawsuit is not superseded by labor agreements between players and teams, a threejudge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously.

The NFL had argued that the players failed to exhaust the grievance procedures in those agreements.