Rodgers will miss rest of season
Jets QB suffers torn left Achilles tendon
Aaron Rodgers’ debut season with the New York Jets is already over. It didn’t even last one quarter.
The 39-year-old quarterback has a torn left Achilles tendon that will require season-ending surgery, coach Robert Saleh announced Tuesday. The Jets placed Rodgers on the injured reserve list.
An MRI revealed the severity of the four-time NFL MVP’s injury, confirming what the Jets feared after their 22-16 overtime win over Buffalo on Monday night. Saleh said during a video call he was not immediately certain when the quarterback would have surgery.
Torn Achilles tendons typically take several months of recovery due to the extensive rehabilitation needed.
On his fourth regular-season snap in a Jets uniform, Rodgers tried to avoid a rushing Leonard Floyd, who wrapped up the quarterback and spun him down to the MetLife Stadium turf. Rodgers stood up after a few moments, looked over to the Jets’ sideline and then sat on the turf — seemingly knowing he was seriously hurt.
EX-NFL RECEIVER WILLIAMS DIES 2 WEEKS AFTER BEING INJURED IN CONSTRUCTION ACCIDENT >>
Former NFL receiver Mike Williams, who was injured in a construction accident two weeks ago and later put on a ventilator, has died, his agent said. He was 36.
Williams, who played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Buffalo Bills from 2010-14, died at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa, agent Hadley Engelhard said.
Williams was injured at a construction site in Hillsborough County, which includes Tampa, and removed from life support on Thursday, the Tampa Bay Times reported.
Pro basketball ROCKETS’ PORTER JR. FRACTURED GIRLFRIEND’S VERTEBRA IN NYC ASSAULT, PROSECUTORS SAY >>
Houston Rockets guard Kevin Porter Jr.’s alleged attack on his girlfriend in a New York City hotel room left the woman with
a fractured neck vertebra and a deep cut above her right eye, prosecutors revealed at his arraignment.
Porter, 23, is charged with felony assault and strangulation in connection with the incident early Monday at the Millennium Hilton near the United Nations in Manhattan. Prosecutors said he didn’t stop until his girlfriend, former WNBA player Kysre Gondrezick, ran out into the hallway covered in blood.
Porter was not required to enter a plea during his brief court appearance.
College football
NCAA TROUBLED BY UNC CRITICISM OF HANDLING OF WALKER WAIVER >> The NCAA Board of Directors said it was “troubled” by North Carolina’s public criticism of the decision to deny an eligibility waiver to Tar Heels transfer receiver Tez Walker, adding that some committee members have received threats of violence.
The statement comes less than a week after North Carolina said the
NCAA had denied appeal efforts for immediate eligibility for Walker, an announcement that included pointed criticism from both Tar Heels coach Mack Brown and athletic director Bubba Cunningham.
NCAA rules allow players to transfer without sitting out a year once while they are undergraduates. Because Walker has transferred twice, he needed a waiver to play this season.
Tennis FORMER NO. 1 PLAYER HALEP GETS 4-YEAR BAN IN DOPING CASE >>
Two-time Grand Slam champion Simona
Halep has been suspended from professional tennis for four years for doping violations, the International Tennis Integrity Agency said.
The 31-year-old Romanian “committed intentional anti-doping rule violations “by failing a drug test during the 2022 U.S. Open and for irregularities in her Athlete Biological Passport, the ITIA said.
Halep, who plans to appeal the ruling, had been provisionally suspended since October 2022. The four-year ban will run to Oct. 6, 2026.