Ravens reach extension with kicker Tucker
The Baltimore Ravens agreed to a four-year contract extension with kicker Justin Tucker.
The team announced the move Monday. Tucker’s previous deal was through 2023.
A five-time All-Pro, Tucker has been a game changer for the Ravens in his 10 years with the team. He’s made a record 91.1 percent of his field goal attempts, and his 1,360 points are the most ever by a player through 10 seasons.
He set another record last year with a 66yard kick at Detroit that won the game. He is 16 of 16 on field goal attempts in the final minute of regulation and has converted 58 straight in the fourth quarter and overtime, the longest active streak in the league.
League: no Rodgers violation
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers’s use of the hallucinogenic drink ayahuasca during an offseason retreat isn’t considered a violation of the NFL’s drug policy.
Rodgers discussed on “The Aubrey Marcus Podcast” last week how he went on an ayahuasca retreat to Peru in 2020, before the third of his four MVP seasons. Ayahuasca is defined as a psychoactive beverage native to South America and is often used for religious, ritualistic or medicinal purposes.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said that it wouldn’t have triggered a positive test result on either the substance abuse or performanceenhancing substance policies collectively bargained by the NFL and its players’ association.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel first reported McCarthy’s comment.
Rodgers said on the podcast that the retreat gave him “a deep and meaningful appreciation for life” and added that “I came back and knew I was never going to be the same.” Rodgers said he believed the experience helped pave the way for his success that year.
Becton’s knee appears serious
The injury to New York Jets offensive tackle Mekhi Becton’s surgically repaired right knee is more serious than initially believed after he left early in practice.
A person with direct knowledge of the injury told The Associated Press that Becton will continue to have tests on the knee, and it is unrelated to the one that sidelined him for almost all of last season. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the team did not announce details on the injury.
NFL Network first reported that the injury to Becton was more concerning than the team originally thought.
The 6-foot-7 Becton, entering his third NFL season, was run-blocking at right tackle on the second play of team drills when he went down on the grass and immediately grabbed at his knee. The 2020 first-round draft pick was down for a few moments before trying to get up, and needed assistance from trainers to walk off the field.
He took off his pads and eventually walked very gingerly on his own to the locker room with a noticeable limp.
Coach Robert Saleh wasn’t overly concerned shortly after practice because initial reports appeared to indicate Becton avoided a serious injury, but an MRI on the knee later in the afternoon apparently revealed otherwise.
If Becton is forced to miss any significant time, it would be a major setback for a player in the middle of adjusting to a position change. Becton entered his first two NFL seasons as the starter on the left side, but suffered a dislocated right kneecap and cartilage damage in the opening game last year at Carolina. He missed the rest of the season and was replaced by George Fant, who slid over from right tackle and played well in Becton’s place.