Goodell wants audience with Brady

SAN FRANCISCO — NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said Wednesday it’s his responsibility to hear directly from New England quarterback Tom Brady in his appeal of his four-game suspension in the deflated footballs case.

Goodell said he has not had time to study a request from the players’ union that he recuse himself from the appeal because he has been focused on the spring owners meetings that concluded Wednesday.

He said he would study the request when he returned to New York but added that unless there is a factor that he is unaware of, he will likely hear the case.

“It’s my job here to make sure we’re doing everything to protect the integrity of the game, protect our policies, protect our procedures,” Goodell said. “We have a process that has been negotiated with the union that has been in place for decades. It’s my responsibility, and it’s something that we’ve had in place for a long time.”

Goodell said no date has been set for the appeal.

L.A. team vote could move up

Los Angeles might be in the NFL’s future sooner than anyone thought.

The NFL could approve a team move to Los Angeles by the end of the year, with a club playing in the area by the 2016 season.

NFL vice president Eric Grubman, the league’s lead man on a possible return to L.A., said Wednesday the window for such applications that now begins Jan. 1 could be moved “to very late in the (upcoming) regular season.” The 32 team owners could vote on a team’s relocation “some weeks after that.”

Mexico, Germany could host games

A future regular-season NFL game in Mexico or Germany was discussed by NFL owners Wednesday.

Commissioner Roger Goodell says both countries have reached out about hosting games and that there is “renewed interest” among the owners. The league is intent on expanding its international series, and it will have three games in London this season for the second straight year.

Arizona hosted San Francisco in Mexico City in 2005, drawing a record crowd of 103,467 for a regular-season game.

There have been five preseason games played in Germany, none since 1994.

Jets say Smith is starting QB

The New York Jets’ quarterback competition appears over before it even got started.

Offensive coordinator Chan Gailey said Geno Smith is the team’s starter “right now” and the Jets expect it to be that way in September. Ex-Texan Ryan Fitzpatrick, who is recovering from a broken leg, is also on the roster.