NFLPA: No joint workouts
The medical director of the NFL Players Association recommended all players stop private workouts together.
Dr. Thom Mayer told members of the players’ union in a message Saturday that the risk of being stricken by the coronavirus is too great to be holding such workouts.
Mayer said union staff was working on the best mitigation procedures at team facilities for training camps and for the upcoming season and advised ‘‘against any voluntary joint practices before training camp commences [late next month].’’
Players on the Buccaneers, Cowboys, 49ers and Texans have tested positive for COVID-19 in recent days.
♦The Redskins said they will retire the No. 49 jersey of Hall of Fame receiver Bobby Mitchell, their first African American player, who died in April at 84. They also said they will rename the lower level of FedEx Field for him, replacing the section named for former owner George Preston Marshall.
Mitchell’s number will be only the second in Redskins history to be retired. The other is former quarterback Sammy Baugh’s No. 33.
League sets dates for draft, free agency
The NBA firmed up the schedule for what will be a hectic fall, settling on Oct. 16 — three days after a potential Game 7 of the Finals — as the date for the draft and saying teams can begin talking with free agents Oct. 18.
The annual moratorium will begin at 11:01 p.m. Central time Oct. 18 and continue through 11 a.m. Oct. 23, the NBA told teams in a memo. As was the case last offseason, teams and free agents can begin negotiating six hours before the moratorium.
Four-way tie for lead at PGA Tour stop
Tyrrell Hatton shot an 8-under-par 63, Abraham Ancer a 6-under 65, Ryan Palmer a 5-under 66 and Webb Simpson a 3-under 68 to share the lead after the third round at the RBC Heritage in Hilton Head, South Carolina. All completed 54 holes at 15-under 198.
The four were one stroke ahead of Daniel Berger, who won the PGA Tour’s return event last Sunday at Colonial, Carlos Ortiz and Joel Dahmen, all of whom shot 63s.
Leafs won’t say if Matthews positive
The NHL’s Maple Leafs declined to comment on newspaper reports that star center Auston Matthews tested positive for the coronavirus. The Leafs said a player’s medical information is private.
♦ The Major League Soccer club Atlanta United confirmed a second player tested positive for the coronavirus after mandatory testing Friday. The team announced its first positive result for a player Thursday.
♦ Sports Illustrated reported 30 or more LSU football players have been put into quarantine to curtail the spread of the coronavirus, but there was no immediate word about how many had tested positive.
♦ Kansas State paused all voluntary workouts for football players for two weeks after results showed 14 had tested positive for the coronavirus as of Friday.