Attorney apologizes for accusing Donald

The attorney for a man who accused NFL star Aaron Donald of assaulting him at a Pittsburgh nightclub last weekend has apologized, saying it was a case of mistaken identity.

Attorney Todd Hollis, who represents DeVincent Spriggs, told Pittsburgh reporters April 16 that his client mistook someone else for Donald during the altercation.

He said his client had believed Donald was responsible, but after reviewing the tapes, “I realized that it was not Aaron Donald.”

“I certainly extend an apology to Aaron for any problems this may have caused him,” Hollis said. ”Aaron has certainly been through enough so we want to put this to rest.”

MORE WORKOUT OPT-OUTS >> Players on five more NFL teams will be skipping inperson voluntary workouts because of the pandemic: the Rams and Chargers, the Falcons, Dolphins and 49ers. The players posted through their union that they are joining 11 other groups who previously said they would not be on hand for the sessions.

Golf

CINK HOLDS LEAD >> Stewart Cink maintained his fivestroke lead and set another scoring mark at the RBC Heritage with a 2-under 69, moving closer to his third victory at Harbour Town Golf Links. Cink, 47, cooled off from his pace in the first two rounds, when he shot a pair of 63s for his lowest career 36-hole score and shattered the event’s halfway scoring mark shared by Jack Nicklaus and Phil Mickelson.

MLB

ANGELS-TWINS POSTPONED >> The Twins’ games against the Angels on April 17-18 have been postponed due to Minnesota’s COVID-19 problems, including at least four positive tests in the past week. Kyle Garlick, another unnamed Twins player and a team staff member tested positive in the two days before the postponements, manager Rocco Baldelli said. Shortstop Andrelton Simmons already hadn’t made the trip to Anaheim after testing positive early in the week.

NBA

MITCHELL PROGNOSIS >> The NBA-leading Jazz were without injured starters Donovan Mitchell, Mike Conley and Rudy Gobert against the Lakers on April

17. Mitchell will be out at least a week with a sprained right ankle he sustained in a win over Indiana on April

16. An MRI showed there was no structural damage.

Auto racing

O’WARD ON POLE >> Pato O’Ward ran three blistering laps around Barber Motorsports Park to win the pole for IndyCar’s season-opening race and make good on his promise to become a headache that series veterans must deal with all year long. O’Ward, in his second full season of IndyCar and the centerpiece of Arrow McLaren SP’s bid to become an IndyCar heavyweight, set a new track record in Saturday qualifying.

Seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson will start 21st out of 24 drivers in his IndyCar debut.