Page 28 - Florida Sentinel 10-23-15 Edition

Sports
Lovie Smith: Bucs
Steeler LB And NFL Reach Deal After Fined For Black Eye Tribute To Dad
CAMERON HEYWARD
In Week 5, Steelers defen- sive lineman Cameron Hey- ward honored his late father, Craig "Iron Head" Hey- ward, by writing "Iron Head" on his eye black. Craig Heyward, a bruising back who played 11 seasons in the NFL for five teams, passed away in 2006 at the age of 39 as a result of malignant bone cancer. The younger Hey- ward was fined by the NFL for breaking uniform code.
In Week 6, Heyward didn't get permission to wear the let- ters again, but he did it any- way.
Heyward was fined again, but according to ESPN, he reached a deal with the NFL to reduce the fines. He also agreed to no longer write "Iron Head" on his eye black, announcing that decision via his Twitter account.
WNBA Star Glory Johnson Gives Birth To Premature Twins
GLORY JOHNSON
WNBA star Glory John- son revealed on Instagram that she gave birth to twin girls Oct. 12. The babies are prema- ture but healthy.
Johnson described how grateful and elated she is that they're here.
"Babies Ava Simone & Solei Diem arrived on Mon- day! Born a little earlier than expected [...] I have no worries because these babies are fight- ers just like I am,” the Tulsa Shock forward wrote.
When Johnson revealed that she was pregnant in June, she said it wasn't a surprise for her because she and her then- wife, WNBA star Brittney Griner, planned for the preg- nancy with an in vitro fer Us Weekly magazine reports.
Johnson and Griner were married in May. Griner filed for an annulment just 28 days later—one day after Johnson announced her pregnancy. Johnson said she was blind- sided by the annulment filing, and Griner said she felt pres- sured into marrying John- son.
Bucs Hit The Road To Face The Redskins
Doing What They Can To Protect Jameis Winston
The Tampa Bay Bucca- neers have already equaled their win total from 2014, and on Sunday they will be travel- ing to the Nation’s Capitol to challenge the Washington Redskins. Kickoff will be at 1 p. m.
The Redskins will be com- ing off a 34-20 loss to the New York Jets, and with hopes of improving on their 2-4 record so far this season.
The Buccaneers, 2-3, will continue to look for improve- ment on the offensive side of the ball and at the same time try to solve the problems they’ve been having in their defensive backfield.
Buccaneer quarterback Jameis Winston continues to improve each week, and ac- cording to head coach Lovie Smith, he’s become a lot more comfortable in running the offense.
Redskins wide receiver
Lovie Smith starts a young quarterback, No. 1 overall draft pick Jameis Winston.
And Smith knows there's a limit to how much a coach can do to prevent an injury.
"You never know when an injury will happen," Smith said Tuesday. "You do every- thing you can to safeguard against it. But beyond that, it's a contact sport. The object is to tackle, to get them down, to get the guy with the ball down every play. So injuries are going to happen. You just hope you're lucky. But you can't really think about that an awful lot."
Titans coach Ken Whisenhunt called the hit on Mariota by Miami Dol- phinsdefensive end Olivier Vernon "bulls---" after the game. ESPN reporter Paul Kuharsky reported that the injury is a Grade 2 MCL sprain and that Mariota, who was drafted second over- all in April behind Winston, could face a three- to four- week recovery.
Mariota has faced more pressure than Winston has
The Bucs have a lot in- vested in a rookie quarter- back and are trying to keep him healthy.
this season. Mariota has been sacked 19 times in Ten- nessee's 1-4 start, and Win- ston was dropped on 11 occasions as Tampa Bay earned a 2-3 mark before its bye week.
"As far as protecting our quarterback, we do think about that," Smith said. "We want to protect him as much as we possibly can. Limit the amount of times he runs, and just limit the amount of times that he's exposed to what those big, bad defenses are doing. But you can only do that so much."
LOVIE SMITH
DeSean Jackson is not ex- pected to play as he’s still suf- fering from a hamstring injury he sustained during their 17-10 loss to the Miami Dolphins in their first regular season contest.
The Buccaneers are com- ing off a bye week and a 38-31 win over inner-state rivals, the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Returning Buc kicker, Connor Barth, converted on all three of his field goal at- tempts, and through five games, Winston has com- pleted 86 of 152 passes for 1,174 yards and 7 touchdowns.
Cam Newton's Performance More Impressive When You Consider His WRs
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- If you aren’t impressed by what Carolina Panthers quarter- back Cam Newton has ac- complished during a 5-0 start, take a look at his wide receivers' statistics.
His top three -- Ted Ginn Jr., Philly Brown and Jer- richo Cotchery -- have combined for 28 catches for 396 yards and two touch- downs.
Thirty-two receivers in the NFL have at least 29 catches
CAM NEWTON
and 24 have at least 396 yards. Nineteen have more catches and receiving yards than Carolina’s top three combined.
Seahawks' Fred Jackson Involved In Car Crash Near Practice Facility
The crash site. Fred Jackson (Inset).
Seattle Seahawks running back Fred Jackson crashed his sports car near the team's facility following practice Tuesday.
Jackson drove his black Corvette into a large planter box and a stop sign, then dragged the sign across a two- lane road. Although his car "sustained moderate front-end damage," according to Renton, Wash., police, a team source said that Jackson was not in- jured.
It had been reported earlier that Jackson was engaged in a street race with fellow Sea- hawks running back Mar-
shawn Lynch, but Renton police said that was not the case.
"As of this time, there is no indication that Jackson was racing another vehicle," Ren- ton police said in a statement. "He remained on scene until officers could speak to him. He was polite and cooperative."
Jackson also took to Twit- ter to deny reports of street racing.
Lynch drove away un- harmed, according to TMZ.
The Seahawks (2-4) take on their NFC West rivals, the San Francisco 49ers (2-4), on Thursday.
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