NFL owners approve emergency 3rd QB

NFL owners approved a rule change that allows teams to play an emergency quarterback from the inactive list if the first two are injured during a game.

The third quarterback designation will not count against the limit of active players — either 47 or 48 — that is determined 90 minutes before kickoff.

The emergency activation can only occur after injury or disqualification, not for a performance-related decision or other conduct.

If either of the first two QBs are cleared by the team’s medical staff to return to play, the third must be removed from the game and can only return if an injury scenario arises again.

If a team puts three QBs on the active list for a game, it can’t use the emergency option. Game-day practice squad elevations are not eligible, either.

League owners convened in Minnesota for their spring meetings. In other announcements Monday, the league revealed that Green Bay, Wisconsin, will host the 2025 draft.

Also, the Super Bowl will return to the Bay Area in 2026 at Levi’s Stadium, the home of the 49ers in Santa Clara. This will be the third time for the big game in the Bay Area. Levi’s Stadium hosted Super Bowl 50 in Santa Clara. The 49ers won Super Bowl 19 at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto when they beat the Dolphins after the 1984 season.

In another approved proposal Monday, the league will have the capacity to flex a limited number of late-season “Thursday Night Football” games on the Amazon Prime streaming platform.

Soccer: A bad day for Juventus turned worse when a 4-1 loss at Empoli saw its hopes of qualifying for the Champions League implode. Juventus was hit by a 10-point penalty for false accounting shortly before its Serie A match kicked off. That dropped it five points behind fourthplace AC Milan. It hosts Milan next weekend in one of its final two matches.