Page 23 - Florida Sentinel 11-9-18

Sports
Mike Tomlin’s Son Commits To Play Football At Maryland
MIKE TOMLIN AND DINO TOMLIN
Mike Tomlin’s son has committed to play collegiate football not too far from where his father coaches profession- ally.
On Tuesday, Dino Tom- lin, a 3-star wide receiver from Shady Side Academy in Pitts- burgh, announced via his Twitter account his intentions to play for the University of Maryland.
Jason Garrett A Heavy Favorite To Be Fired By Cowboys
JASON GARRETT
Jason Garrett is a heavy favorite to lose his job as the Dallas Cowboys’ head coach before next season.
The Cowboys are 3-5 after losing 28-14 to the Titans on “Monday Night Football.” There seems to be a disconnect between where the Cowboys believe they are (a competitive team that traded for Amari Cooper) and what they actu- ally are (a team that can’t score enough to come close to com- peting with the top teams in the league).
Dak Prescott is favored to remain the team’s quarter- back next year and Jerry Jones is favored to remain the team’s GM. The most logical direction of the team seems to be firing Garrett, who has been the team’s head coach since the middle of the 2010 season.
Dez Bryant Agrees To 1-Year Deal With Saints
Buccaneers Sticking
With Ryan Fitzpatrick
As Starting QB
Against Redskins
Despite a 42-28 loss to the Carolina Panthers, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will have Ryan Fitzpatrick starting at quarterback for at least another week, against the Washington Redskins Sunday at 1 p.m., coach Dirk Koetter announced Sunday.
"Ryan's our starter next week," said Koetter, who has seen the Bucs become the league's No. 1 offense de- spite shuffling at the quar- terback position. "Ryan had one [bad play] there in the first half -- an overthrow on that one interception that we'd like to have back -- but did a good job of leading us back.”
The Buccaneers benched Jameis Winston after a dismal four-interception performance against the Cincinnati Bengals last week, opting to go with Fitz- patrick against the Pan- thers and then reassess.
Fitzpatrick rallied the Buccaneers from a 35-7 deficit, completing 24 of 40 passes for 243 yards and four touchdowns to make it 35-28 and a one-score game in the fourth quarter.
But it wasn't enough to overcome a first-quarter pass from the Tampa Bay 22 that sailed over wide receiver Mike Evans' head and into the hands of safety Eric Reid, or when Fitzpatrick tried to hit wide receiver De- Sean Jackson on a deep
RYAN FITZPATRICK
pass with 3 minutes, 45 sec- onds to go in the fourth quarter that was picked off by cornerback Donte Jack- son at the Carolina 20.
"Having the turnover right away didn't help with any sort of momentum, espe- cially on the road," Fitz- patrick said. "I put the team behind with that one, and they [went] on to score. We really didn't get much going."
Koetter added: "That second interception, he was trying to get a big play to De- Sean, but Ryan did some good things today. We've gotta play better across the board."
Buccaneers quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick will get another opportunity to un- leash some magic against Washington in Week 10.
The Bucs surrendered 407 yards of total offense and struggled to run the ball, producing just 82 yards rushing.
Dez Bryant has finally found a new place to play, and it is with one of the best of- fenses in the NFL.
It was reported on Wednesday that Bryant will sign a one-year deal with the New Orleans Saints.
The Saints already have an explosive offense, with Drew Brees having an outstanding season at age 39 and Michael Thomas putting up Pro Bowl numbers as his top wide receiver.
They also have one of the
DEZ BRYANT
best play-making running backs in the NFL in Alvin Kamara.
Veteran Running Back Chris Johnson Officially Retires
Longtime NFL running back Chris Johnson has of- ficially retired.
Best known for his time with the Tennessee Titans, Johnson announced his re- tirement Monday via a state- ment from his agency.
Johnson hadn’t played in 2018. He got 45 carries in a very limited role with the Arizona Cardinals last season.
Johnson will be best re- membered for his second NFL season, when he rushed for 2,006 yards and 14 touch- downs back in 2009. He never quite reached those heights again, though he did
CHRIS JOHNSON
rush for 1,000 yards or more in each of his first six NFL seasons. His time with the Ti- tans did not end amicably, and he never found the same levels of success after he de- parted Tennessee.
Le’Veon Bell Back In
Pittsburgh, But Still Tweeting
Rather Than Reporting To Steelers
Le’Veon Bell is report- edly back in Pittsburgh. But the disgruntled running back would still apparently rather post tweets than report to the Steelers.
A terse Twitter post by Bell on Monday, in which he bade farewell to Miami, where he had been training while holding out from his NFL team, gave many the impres- sion that his next stop would be Pittsburgh. That appears to have been the case, but so far, he has been more interested in playing basketball than the sport he could have been mak- ing millions by playing this season.
He also was interested on Wednesday in making some- thing of a defense of his lengthy absence from the Steelers, who placed a $14.55M franchise tag on Bell this summer after failing to come to an agreement on a long-term contract. With an
LE’VEON BELL
eye toward getting a lucrative deal from another team in free agency next spring — as long as he stays healthy — the three-time Pro Bowler has de- clined thus far to sign the one- year offer, in the process costing himself over $855,000 each week since the regular season began.
“I’m not apologizing for what I believe is right for my- self, family and the rest of my peers, period,” Bell said in a Twitter post rendered in up- side-down text. “Also if you’re really finding the time to figure out what I’m saying, you’ve proved my point.”
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