Raiders suffer first loss as Crowell tears Achilles tendon
Running back Isaiah Crowell, who signed a one-year contract with the Raiders a month ago to help offset the potential absence of Marshawn Lynch, sustained an Achilles tendon tear during a team workout Tuesday and is out for the season.
Not long after being confronted with the reality of being without a player they expected to be one of their primary ballcarriers, the Raiders were in the process Wednesday of bringing back Doug Martin, their leading rusher in 2018.
NFL Network reports Lynch is open to a return to the Raiders, if they’re interested. ESPN reported last week that the 33-year-old Lynch planned to retire for the second time in his career. There has been no confirmation from Lynch.
Crowell, 26, signed a one-year contract worth $2.5 million contract on March 28. The injury to Crowell was reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Martin’s return by Mike Garofolo of NFL Network, and both were confirmed by the Bay Area News Group. The Raiders drafted Alabama running back Josh Jacobs last Thursday in the first round, No. 24 overall.
Crowell gained 685 yards on 143 carries last season for the New York Jets, averaging 4.8 yards per carry with a long run of 77 yards. In his fiveyear career, Crowell has 880 carries for 3,803 yards with 27 touchdowns and 117 receptions for 922 yards and a touchdown.
Martin led the Raiders last season with 723 yards on 172 carries and four touchdowns in 16 games and nine starts. Lynch started six times and had 376 yards on 90 attempts and three scores before missing the rest of the season with a groin injury.
Other running backs on the Raiders roster include Jalen Richard, who has been primarily a receiving back, DeAndre Washington and Chris Warren III.
THEISMANN GIVES OK FOR NO. 7 >> Retired Washington quarterback Joe Theismann has given his blessing for rookie Dwayne Haskins to wear his No. 7. The number hasn’t been worn since 1985 and is unofficially retired. Washington has retired just one number — Sammy Baugh’s No. 33 — but has kept several others out of circulation.
Theismann told 106.7 The Fan on Wednesday that he and Haskins talked about the number. Haskins, the former Ohio State quarterback, was selected by Washington at No. 15 overall last week in the NFL draft.
“I told him it was OK to wear No. 7,” Theismann told the radio station. “Given him permission. Not that I felt like I needed to, but he was respectful enough to ask.”
GIANTS EXCUSE DRAFT PICK >> The New York Giants said they have advised sixth-round draft pick Corey Ballentine to stay home in Kansas to continue to recover from his gunshot wound and not attend this weekend’s
rookie minicamp.
Ballentine, a 23-year-old cornerback, and Washburn University teammate Dwane Simmons were shot early Sunday near the school’s campus in Topeka, Kansas. Simmons was killed, and Ballentine was shot in his gluteal muscle.
Soccer
COUPLE SURPRISES ON U.S. WOMEN’S CUP TEAM >> Today, about five weeks before the FIFA Women’s World Cup begins, U.S. national team coach Jill Ellis will name the 23 players she plans to take to France.
Most of her selections have been set in stone for months, players such as Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe and Becky Sauerbrunn and many others who have remained in the mix since the 2015 championship or have figured into Ellis’ plans the past two years.
According to a published reports, two experienced players who seemed on the outside looking in for a long time have made the cut: midfielder Morgan Brian and defender Ali Krieger.
Krieger, 34, a veteran of the 2011 and 2015 Cup teams, will provide depth at right back with Kelley O’Hara and Emily Sonnett. Brian, the youngest member of the 2015 squad, has 82 international appearances.
College basketball
RECORDING SUGGESTS ARIZONA’S MILLER PAID $10K A MONTH TO AYTON >> Federal prosecutors played a recording in a courtroom which suggested that Arizona men’s basketball coach Sean Miller paid former player Deandre Ayton $10,000 a month while in the Wildcats’ program, according to published reports.
In a conversation between assistant coach Emanuel Richardson and aspiring agent Christian Dawkins, reportedly
to work on a plan to lure Ayton to Dawkins’ sports management company, the Wildcats assistant revealed the sum being paid.
“You know what he bought per month?” Richardson asked Dawkins, while talking about Miller and Ayton. “What he do?” Dawkins replied. “I told you ... 10,” Dawkins said. In February, ESPN already reported that FBI wiretaps revealed that Dawkins and Miller had discussed a price tag of $100,000 to get Ayton to come to Arizona. The center, who is a native of the Bahamas, played the 2017-18 season at Arizona before leaving for the NBA.
Golf
CAL’S MORIKAWA NAMED TOP PAC-12 MEN’S GOLFER >> Cal’s Collin Morikawa was named the Pac-12 men’s golfer of the year as selected by the league’s coaches. Morikawa earned Pac-12 medalist honors last week at the conference championships. Cal’s men’s team also learned it earned the No. 2 seed in the Myrtle Beach (South Carolina) hosted by Coastal Carolina at TPC Myrtle Beach.
STANFORD HOSTING REGIONAL >> Host Stanford will be one of 13 teams along with 10 individuals to compete in the men’s NCAA Stanford Regional at Stanford Golf Course on May 1315. Stanford is the No. 2 seed in the regional behind top-seeded Arizona State.
The low five teams and low individual not a member of an advancing team at each site qualify for the NCAA Championships, May 24-29 at Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
• San Jose State and Saint Mary’s were both sent to Texas to play in the Austin Regional at the University of Texas Golf Club.