MORNING ROUNDUP
US women beat France 2-0
Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan scored and the U.S. women’s national team beat France 2-0 in an exhibition on Tuesday.
The United States extended its unbeaten streak to 39 games, dating to January 2019 when the Americans fell to France 3-1.
Rapinoe scored on a penalty kick in the fifth minute. She leads the team with seven goals in seven matches this year.
Morgan made it 2-0 with her 109th career goal in the 19th minute.
France was missing some of its top players, including Wendie Renard, Amandine Henry and Dephine Cascario, because of a coronavirus outbreak on that trio’s club team, Lyon.
The Americans were coming off a 1-1 draw against Sweden on Saturday in Stockholm that snapped a 16-game winning streak. The United States, the top-ranked team in the world, is preparing for the Olympics in Tokyo.
NFL urges teams to get vaccinated
The NFL has laid out team guidelines for COVID-19 vaccinations and is strongly urging franchises to have all employees vaccinated.
Commissioner Roger Goodell told teams in a memo Tuesday to plan on using stadiums or team headquarters as vaccination centers for their players, employees and family members.
Teams must report their vaccination plans to the NFL and update the league weekly on vaccination figures.
The memo instructed that any Tier 1 and Tier 2 employees who decline vaccinations without “bona fide medical or religious grounds” should have limited access to facilities and be barred from working directly with players.
The NFL and NFLPA remain in discussions on the parameters for the offseason workouts, which can begin on Monday.
Cardinals sign RB James Conner
The Cardinals continued to add to their offseason free-agent haul on Tuesday, signing running back James Conner on a one-year deal a day after he visited the team and took a physical.
Conner, 25, joins the Cardinals after spending the past four seasons with the Steelers. In 50 career games (33 starts), he rushed for 2,302 yards and 22 touchdowns on 532 carries (4.3-yard average) and caught 124 passes for 963 yards and four touchdowns.
A third-round pick out of the University of Pittsburgh who was named to the Pro Bowl in 2018, Conner becomes the latest well-known veteran to join the Cardinals. The team previously signed edge rusher J.J. Watt, a five-time Pro Bowl selection and three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year, wide receiver A.J. Green, a seven-time Pro Bowl selection, cornerback Malcolm Butler, a twotime Super Bowl champion, along with kicker Matt Prater, guard Brian Winters and safety Shawn Williams.
Nuggets’ Murray tears ACL
The Denver Nuggets will be without Jamal Murray indefinitely after the dynamic point guard suffered a torn ACL in his left knee.
The Nuggets announced the diagnosis in a statement Tuesday. It’s a big blow to a team coming off a season in which it advanced to the Western Conference finals and is hoping to make another deep postseason run.
Murray was hurt late in a loss at Golden State on Monday night. He drove the lane, tried to elevate off his left foot and fell to the ground, instantly grabbing his knee in pain.
Before Monday, the 24-year-old Murray had missed four games with a sore right knee. He is averaging 21.2 points and 4.8 assists this season as the Nuggets sit in fourth place in the West.
Pacers Hall of Fame coach dies
Bobby “Slick” Leonard was selected as the ABA’s greatest coach. Hall of Fame player George McGinnis considered him a genius.
On Tuesday, the Indiana Pacers announced that the man who led them to three ABA championships during a Hall of Fame coaching career and was selected a 1963 NBA All-Star had died. No details about the 88-year-old Leonard were provided but he had been in failing health in recent years.
He went 573-534 in 14 seasons as a coach, winning 529 in 12 seasons with the Pacers.
Leonard took the Pacers to the ABA Finals in his first season — and four more times over the next six years, winning titles in 1969-70, 1971-72 and 197273.