Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
North Dakota State quarterback Trey Lance says he will enter the NFL Draft.
FOOTBALL QB Lance enters draft
North Dakota State quarterback Trey Lance, who had a record-breaking season last year in leading the Bison to the FCS championship but only played one game this fall because of the coronavirus pandemic, said Tuesday he will bypass the spring season and enter the NFL Draft. Lance announced his decision Tuesday on Twitter. Last year as a redshirt freshman, he set an NCAA record for all divisions by throwing 287 passes without an interception while throwing 28 touchdown passes and running for 14 more scores. Coach Matt Entz said Tuesday he has spoken recently to several NFL executives. Many experts have predicted that Lance will be a top-five pick. Lance threw two touchdown passes and ran for two more scores Saturday in a 39-28 victory over the University of Central Arkansas.
Cowboys cut Carr
The Dallas Cowboys released defensive back Brandon Carr on Tuesday, cutting ties with the 13-year veteran after bringing him in just before the season for depth in the secondary. Carr, who was with the Cowboys for five of his first 12 seasons while starting all 192 of those games, rejoined the club on the practice squad. The 34-year-old was moved to the active roster for the opener but didn’t play, ending his streak of consecutive games. Carr played sparingly in the past three games. The move with Carr comes with cornerback Anthony Brown eligible to come off injured reserve. Brown suffered a rib injury in practice before the second game of the season.
Vrabel defends Titans
Coach Mike Vrabel said the Tennessee Titans stand by how they’ve followed the NFL’s protocols for the coronavirus pandemic and hope the league will allow the team back inside the building today. The NFL’s first team to deal with a covid-19 outbreak has had a couple of what Vrabel called “really good days” with testing, and the coach said they’re hoping for more good news this morning. If allowed back inside the team’s headquarters, that would keep the Titans (3-0) on target to host Buffalo (4-0) on Sunday in a matchup of two of the NFL’s six remaining undefeated teams. The outbreak reached 20 cases on Sunday, the team’s sixth straight day of at least one positive. There has not been a positive since.
TE Howard out for year
Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end O.J. Howard will miss the remainder of the season after rupturing his right Achilles tendon. The Bucs placed the fourth-year pro on injured reserve Tuesday, the third time in Howard’s career that an injury has ended his season prematurely. Howard, the 19th overall pick in the 2017 draft, had 11 receptions for 146 yards and 2 touchdowns in four games, helping the Bucs to a 3-1 start. He had a 28-yard touchdown reception before being injured early in the fourth quarter of last week’s 38-31 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers. Howard will be replaced in the lineup by Cameron Brate. The sixth-year pro has 28 career touchdown receptions but hasn’t played much this season with Howard and Rob Gronkowski handling most of the tight end duties in the Tom Brady- led offense. Through four seasons, Howard has 105 receptions for 1,602 yards and 14 touchdowns in 42 games.
HOCKEY Lafreniere goes No. 1
The New York Rangers selected Canadian forward Alexis Lafreniere with the No. 1 pick in the NHL Draft on Tuesday night. Lafreniere was the NHL Central Scouting Bureau’s top-ranked North American skater. He becomes the first Canadian to go No. 1 since Connor Mc
David was chosen by Edmonton in 2015. From suburban Montreal, the 6-1 play-making left wing was the first to earn both Canadian Hockey League and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League MVP honors in consecutive seasons since Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby in 2004 and 2005, when he also played for the Oceanic. The Los Angeles Kings then selected Ontario Hockey League center Quinton Byfield with the second pick. The Ottawa Senators were next and chose topranked international forward Tim Stuetzle, who played professionally in his native Germany last year.
BASEBALL Rangers let coach walk
Julio Rangel will not return next season as pitching coach for the Texas Rangers. The Rangers are not renewing Rangel’s contract after two seasons. The team also will not bring catching coach Hector Ortiz back on Manager Chris Woodward’s big- league staff, though Ortiz has been offered a position in the organization’s minor-league system. Those moves Tuesday came nine days after Texas finished the season with an American League-worst 22-38 record. Texas pitchers had a combined 5.02 ERA in the pandemic-shortened season. That was just below their 5.06 mark during the full 162-game season in 2019.