Off the wire
Compiled from Democrat-Gazette Press Services
FOOTBALL Jets’ Forte on IR
Running back Matt Forte was placed on injured reserve Saturday, a day before the Jets’ season finale today and possibly ending his stint in New York. Forte, 32, said earlier in the week that he had been playing the last month on “one leg” with swelling in his surgically repaired right knee. He finished his second year with the Jets with a career-low 381 yards rushing. Forte has a year remaining on his contract, but he’s due to make $3 million next year and the Jets could opt to clear that amount on the salary cap. The Jets also announced Saturday they placed running back Akeem Judd on injured reserve with an ankle injury. The team promoted wide receiver-returner Lucky Whitehead and running back Jahad Thomas from the practice squad, and signed wide receiver Dan Williams to the practice squad.
Giants cleaning house
Any perception that the hiring of Dave Gettleman as general manager of the New York Giants indicated a status quo for the organization ended Saturday, a day after he was introduced in the position. Gettleman fired Marc Ross, the team’s vice president of player evaluation and architect of college scouting, waived right tackle Bobby Hart, and came short of waiving left tackle Ereck Flowers, who has been benched. Ross had brought the Giants Odell Beckham Jr., Evan Engram and Landon Collins, but also landed Eli Apple and Flowers, Damontre Moore and Adrien Robinson. The team’s inability to build a core of players with midrange draft picks has been an obstacle to their success in recent years. The changes at the offensive line were also expected, but during the offseason and not the day before the regular-season finale. Both Hart and Flowers were listed on the injury report this week and did not practice Friday, but according to a source both players gave up mentally and were refusing to practice or play. Hart was waived/ injured, a technicality that protects the Giants. Flowers, a firstround pick in 2015, likely would have been waived too were it not for the hefty toll on the salary cap from such a move. His dismissal may be destined for the coming months.
Packers extend Adams
The Green Bay Packers have completed one of the biggest items on their todo list by agreeing with wide receiver Davante Adams on a contract extension several months before he would have hit the open market. Adams, who turned 25 last week, was set to become a free agent in March after completing his rookie contract, but General Manager Ted Thompson and vice president of football administration/player finance Russ Ball moved swiftly to secure their No. 1 receiver before a potential bidding war drove up the price. The two sides agreed to a four-year extension worth $58 million that places Adams among the highest-paid receivers in the league, according to a report from NFL Network. Adams received an $18 million signing bonus the moment he put pen to paper, and the deal includes $32 million over the first two years.
TENNIS Serena loses exhibition
Serena Williams lost on her return to competitive tennis after giving birth, going down to French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko
in an exhibition at Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates on Saturday. Williams struggled with her serve and Ostapenko won 6-2, 3-6 and then 10-5 in a super tiebreaker, but the American still impressed to take a set off the No. 7-ranked Ostapenko after nearly a year away from tennis. Williams said after the 67-minute match at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship that she is still undecided on her title defense of the Australian Open, which starts Jan.
15, but delivered a warning to rivals. Williams, 36, took time off after winning the Australian Open last January while pregnant. She gave birth to her first child, a girl named Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr., on Sept. 1. She married Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian in November. Williams broke Ostapenko in the first game of her comeback but her own problems with her serve gave the Latvian a way back into the match. Williams has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, a record for the professional era.
Djokovic withdraws again
Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from next week’s Qatar Open, his warm-up tournament for the Australian Open, saying he still has pain in his right elbow. That problem forced him to withdraw from an exhibition tournament in the United Arab Emirates on Friday. The Serb said in a statement Saturday that his elbow has not improved. Djokovic hasn’t played a competitive match since he retired in the Wimbledon quarterfinals because of the injury. He was scheduled to play Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain in the semifinals of the exhibition event in UAE, his first match in nearly five months. Another withdrawal puts Djokovic’s participation in the Australian Open, which starts Jan. 15, in doubt. He said “only when I’m 100% ready to play, I will be able to come back. I hope it will be soon.”
HOCKEY Too soon to talk China
The NHL isn’t going to get drawn into any discussions about participating in future Winter Olympics until after the Pyeongchang Games are complete. Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said that’s the answer he provided to International Ice Hockey Federation general secretary Horst
Lichtner on Friday. Daly and Lichtner happened to sit together during the first period of the world junior hockey championship outdoor game between the United State and Canada being played at New Era Field in Buffalo, N.Y. Daly said the two talked little business, though he noted Lichtner did ask when the NHL might be ready to discuss its plans regarding the 2022 Games at Beijing. Daly said his response was: “Certainly not any time before Pyeongchang.” Citing monetary and logistical concerns, including the time difference between North America and Asia, the NHL elected against having its players compete at the Winter Games in February for the first time since 1994. Daly said it was premature for him to publicly discuss the league’s plans regarding Beijing. “The issues with each Olympics are different,” Daly said. “Obviously, some of the logistical difficulties we have with South Korea will be the same in China. But maybe there are some opportunities in China that aren’t in South Korea.”