THE HOT CORNER

1 PRO FOOTBALL: Fox Sports hired Rob Gronkowski as an NFL analyst and the former New England Patriots tight end will make his debut during Thursday night’s pregame show before the Patriots-Giants game. Gronkowski retired at the end of last season after winning his third Super Bowl with the Patriots. He is expected to appear on Fox’s NFL studio show as well as be an analyst for some games.

2 PRO FOOTBALL: Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said QB Mason Rudolph “appears to be doing fine” but remains in the concussion protocol following an illegal hit by Ravens safety Earl Thomas this past Sunday. Rudolph was knocked unconscious on the play. Tomlin declined to give a timetable on Rudolph’s potential availability for Sunday’s visit to Los Angeles to play the Chargers. Rookie undrafted free agent Devlin Hodges will start at QB if Rudolph is unable to play. Also, the Steelers will be without RB Jaylen Samuels for about a month after he underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee.

3 PRO FOOTBALL: RB Saquon Barkley (sprained ankle) doesn’t know if he can play when his Giants (2-3) face the Patriots (50) on Thursday.

4 COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Maryland will start Tyrrell Pigrome at QB on Saturday against Purdue in place of Josh Jackson, who has a sprained ankle and foot injury.

5 CYCLING: France’s Julian Alaphilippe prematurely ended a successful season during which he wore the Tour de France’s yellow jersey for 14 days and won the Milan-San Remo classic. Alaphilippe, who rides for the Belgian team Deceuninck-QuickStep, is a candidate for the Velo d’Or award as the best rider of 2019. After a disappointing showing at the world championships last month, he had been expected to finish the year with a couple of races in Italy.