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Sports
Lovie Smith: 'A Typical Jameis Winston Day'
Philip Rivers, Chargers Agree To Four-Year Extension Through 2019
PHILIP RIVERS
The San Diego Chargers have agreed to terms with franchise quarterback Philip Rivers on a four-year extension that runs through 2019, the team an- nounced via its Twitter feed.
The deal is worth $83.25 mil- lion with $65 million guaran- teed.
The $65 million guaranteed would give Rivers the most guaranteed money of any player under a current contract.
Rivers, 33, was in the final year of his deal and scheduled to make $15.75 million in total compensation for the 2015 sea- son. Rivers had indicated that if the two sides hadn't reached a deal before the season started he would be comfortable play- ing out the remainder of his deal and potentially hitting free agency.
Stephen Curry Golfs With President Obama
President Obama and Stephen Curry
Stephen Curry certainly travels in star-studded circles these days. That goes along with being MVP of the NBA and star of the league champion Warriors. Still, it was a big deal on Friday when Curry spent part of his day playing a round of golf with President Barack Obama at Farm Neck Golf Club in Oak Bluffs, Mass.
Curry, his father, Dell, and longtime NBA star Ray Allen made up a foursome with the President, who has been vaca- tioning at Martha's Vineyard.
Curry spent most of the week in Las Vegas with Team USA. We don't know how Curry's golf game matched against Pres. Obama.
Ohio State Ranked #1; QB Choice Still Up In The Air
MINNEAPOLIS -- Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Lovie Smith had a pretty good sum- mation of Jameis Winston's performance in Tampa Bay's 26-16 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Saturday night.
"I thought it was a typical Jameis Winston day," Smith said.
Smith was right on point. Winston started off slowly. The No. 1 overall pick in the draft struggled to move his team early on. His first three passes were off target and in- complete.
But playing the entire first half, Winston came on strong at the end of his playing time. He led the Bucs on a touch- down drive against Min- nesota's second-team defense at the end of the second quar- ter and scored on an 8-yard scramble.
"He threw some good balls at the end," Smith said. "Pretty good decisions. We'd like to have that one interception back, but I thought he threw some pretty good balls. That's what you judge your quarter- back on, decision making. For the most part, I think it was pretty good."
Winston was up and down as he finished with nine com-
JAMEIS WINSTON
pletions on 19 attempts for 131 yards and an interception. That's been exactly how Win- ston has played all through training camp. He's been hot one minute and cold the next. "You pick up the game and you see how things are flying at you, you get into that mode of just playing football," Win- ston said. "I'm getting better every single play."
Winston's performance showed he still has a long way to go to get ready for the start of the regular season. But, if he can make "typical Jameis Winston days" more consis- tent and productive in the re- maining three preseason games, he'll be all right.
The first question Ohio State's coaching staff had to an- swer about the quarterback competition stumped them all: Who should take the first reps of fall camp? Ohio State won't announce a winner. Coach Urban Meyer said there will be no formal announcement of a winner, so we'll have to wait and see who trots out there vs. Virginia Tech on Sept. 7.
However, a coin flip was lit- erally how Ohio State decided whether Cardale Jones or J.T. Barrett would take the first snap at practice on Mon- day. Quarterbacks coach Tim Beck flipped the coin in the team room and it came up Jones.
"He got heads," Barrett said. So presumably, Barrett will be the first quarterback on the field with the first team the next time Ohio State practices. Scientific.
But that's the point at which Ohio State currently stands in its quarterback race. Nobody has a head start or an edge. Everything is from square one. "Straight even," Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said, set-
Friends and vying to be the starting QB of the National Champions, J.T. Barrett and Cardale Jones.
ting the stage for what's sure to be a very hectic -- and enter- taining -- month.
Braxton Miller is not com- pletely out of the QB race. Everyone is going to have input on who wins the battle, but Beck, a first-year assistant, knows that when it comes game time, it'll be Meyer's opinion that matters the most in the decision-making.
This is a friendly competi- tion: That doesn't mean that it's not heated. Barrett said that he's going to be helpful of Jones because that's what's best for the team, but Barrett is going to do everything to beat his friend out.
Cleveland Browns Coach Have Discussion About Signing Ray Rice
Todd Bowles On Geno Smith's Activity: 'He Shouldn't Be Doing It Right Now'
Days after the Cleveland Browns' running backs were called out by their position coach, head coach Mike Pet- tine told SI.com that the team has discussed whether it makes sense to sign Ray Rice.
Rice has not played since his release by the Ravens last sea- son after video surfaced that showed him knocking out Janay Rice, who was then his fiancée, in an Atlantic City, New Jersey, elevator.
Browns running backs coach Wilbert Montgomery was Rice's position coach with the Baltimore Ravens from 2008 to 2013. Pettine also was an assistant coach with the Ravens before he left in 2009 to join Rex Ryan's staff with the New York Jets.
Pettine was asked if the Browns had considered adding a veteran to the mix at running back and then specifically asked about Rice in a follow-
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith was repri- manded by the organization Sunday for playing catch with a friend only two days after surgery to repair a fractured jaw, disobeying an edict to avoid physical activity.
"He shouldn't be doing it right now," coach Todd Bowles said after practice. "We handled that internally. We had that discussion."
Bowles said he was con- cerned because Smith "just got surgery. You don't want it
TODD BOWLES
infected."
Smith wasn't disciplined by
the team, according to
Bowles.
Former Baltimore Raven RB Ray Rice is hopeful.
up question. Rice said he re- mains hopeful that he can re- turn to playing in the NFL but acknowledged that public opin- ion after his domestic violence incident presents a "unique" obstacle to his comeback at- tempt.
Rice, 28, said he considers himself a "rehabilitated man" and that he has tried to convey that point to potentially inter- ested teams.
Kevin Durant Is Back!
Kevin Durant was back in his self-proclaimed "basketball heaven" on last Tuesday, sur- rounded by (most) of the best players in the world as Team USA gathered for three days of meetings, light on-court work and an exhibition game.
It's a non-competition year for USA Basketball, so there are no games or tournaments to prepare for -- nothing pressing beyond where the next vacation spot will be.
Yet Durant, back with Team USA after abruptly leaving the squad last summer before the FIBA World Championships, has more on his mind than ever. And as we push closer to the start of the 2015-16 season, the spotlight is only going to shine brighter on the 2014 MVP.
First, the good news: Du-
Kevin Durant in Team USA practice with James Harden.
rant said last Tuesday he can go 100 percent after surgery in March on a Jones fracture in his right foot that wasn't heal- ing properly. He hasn't played five-on-five yet, but said he's been "getting after it" for about a month in individual drills-- and has been pain-free since about four weeks post-surgery.
"Four months after surgery," he said, "I'm excited to be back on the court."
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