|
 Rice stands to lose more than $470,000 in base salary and will
also be fined $58,000, per the report.
Rice can practice with the team and play in preseason games, with
the suspension beginning Aug. 30. He is eligible to be reinstated
Sept. 12, meaning Rice will miss key home games against division
rivals - the season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals and a Week
2 tilt against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday night.
Bernard Pierce is expected to start in Rice's absence. However, he
was only medically cleared Wednesday after an idle offseason. He
averaged 2.9 yards per carry last year and underwent offseason
shoulder surgery.
The Atlanta Falcons agreed to terms with Roddy White on a four-year
contract extension that runs through the 2018 season and could set
the wide receiver up to finish his career with the franchise that
drafted him in the first round in 2005.
Financial terms were not disclosed, but ESPN reported the deal
includes $10 million in guaranteed money for the four-time Pro
Bowler. White was scheduled to enter the final year of his six-year,
$48 million contract signed following a training camp holdout in
2009. White, 32, was set to earn a $5 million base salary in 2014
before the extension, ranked No. 11 among NFL wide receivers.
Jay Gruden's first training camp as an NFL head coach got under way
in the rain in Richmond, Va..
Of course, nothing can dampen the 47-year-old's enthusiasm, and that
energy appears to have revitalized quarterback Robert Griffin III.
After a trying second season under former coach Mike Shanahan,
Griffin has received nothing but praise so far from Gruden and new
offensive coordinator Sean McVay.
"It's really just a good thing to have two coaches that believe in
you," Griffin said."
The Redskins backslid from 10-6 NFC East champions in 2012 to 3-13
division cellar-dwellers in 2013.
New England Patriots veteran nose tackle Vince Wilfork was on the
field for the first time in team workouts since he tore his Achilles
at Atlanta four games into last season. There was a time in the
offseason when it appeared Wilfork, entering his 11th season at age
32, might not be back with the Patriots.
"Hopefully I'm picking up where I left off. I don't know," Wilfork
said. "Like I said, I try not to think about it. That's me. The
future, you never know what happens in the future. Like I said, I'm
not going to dwell over the past. Right now I feel good, I'm
practicing, I'm excited about being here and I'm going to keep that
excitement."
All-Pro linebacker Aldon Smith was back on the field with the San
Francisco 49ers on Thursday, and hopes to keep the focus there after
repeated off-field issues.
Six days after he received three years probation and was ordered to
do 11 days work crew service during sentencing for drunken driving
and weapons charges. Smith said he was pleased with the outcome. But
there's still a looming meeting with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell
and the prospect of a suspension.
Smith, who has 42 sacks in 43 career games, said he has been sober
since he went to rehab last September during a leave of absence from
the team.
Rookie offensive tackle Taylor Lewan signed a four-year deal with
the Tennessee Titans, closing the book on contract negotiations for
the 2014 NFL Draft class.
Lewan was the last player selected in May to sign his rookie deal.
Despite not really having a guaranteed starting spot for Lewan to
make an immediate impact as a rookie, the Titans pulled the trigger
with the future in mind when he was surprisingly on the board with
the 11th overall pick. Tennessee already has veteran left tackle
Michael Roos, a starter since his rookie year of 2005, and the team
recently signed right tackle Michael Oher to a four-year, $20
million contract. That could leave Lewan waiting in the wings until
2015.
 Three months and six days after ankle surgery, Carolina Panthers
quarterback Cam Newton was medically cleared to participate in
training camp when the team opens with a Friday night workout.
Newton was ahead of schedule and participated in on-field sessions
in June. Head coach Ron Rivera said questions about the
quarterback's mobility are moot until he is on the field in "live
situations." Game situations are not expected to be simulated this
week and Newton will not be exposed to contact in scrimmages.
The Panthers are taking no disciplinary action against defensive end
Greg Hardy, who was convicted on two counts of domestic violence
last week and is expected to be suspended by the NFL. However, the
NFL could wait to bring any punishment until after his appeal is
heard at trial, which might not occur until after the season ends.
[to top of second column] |
Cleveland Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon will appeal a pending
one-year suspension in a meeting with NFL officials on Aug. 1,
according to an ESPN report.
Gordon has a string off off-field incidents since entering the NFL
as a Supplemental Draft pick in 2012, and is facing a yearlong
suspension after another failed drug test this offseason. The
suspension was reported leading up to the NFL Draft in May, two
months before Gordon was charged with a DWI in North Carolina. The
Browns open training camp Saturday, and will not know Gordon's
status for at least another week. However, coach Mike Pettine made
it clear the franchise has no intention of giving up on Gordon.
Also on Thursday, the Browns signed linebacker Edgar Jones, an
eighth-year veteran was originally signed by Baltimore as an
undrafted rookie in 2008 and has appeared in 64 career games as a
reserve.
The Browns added offensive linemen Chris Faulk and Jeremiah Warren,
defensive lineman Jacobbi McDaniel and running back Terrance West to
the active roster. All four were designated as active/non-football
injury Wednesday. Running back Jourdan Brooks and wide receiver
Kenny Shaw were waived.
The Dallas Cowboys placed guard Ronald Leary and defensive end
Anthony Spencer on the active/physically unable to perform list on
Thursday.
Spencer continues to rehab from the microfracture surgery he had on
his knee last October. Leary reportedly strained his hamstring
during the team's conditioning test earlier this week.
The Cowboys also placed defensive tackle Amobi Okoye on the
non-football illness list. He was out of football last season but
the former first-round pick, just 27 years old, is hoping to
contribute under defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli.
Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Justin Blackmon was arrested in
Edmond, Okla., and charged him with possession of marijuana,
according to multiple reports.
Blackmon was reportedly stopped for a traffic violation, and police
officers smelled the odor of marijuana coming from his car. A search
found marijuana and Blackmon was taken into custody.
Owner Shad Khan said the Jaguars will not cut ties with Blackmon
despite the ongoing off-field issues. It is the third arrest for
Blackmon, who is currently suspended indefinitely by the franchise.
following his third violation of the NFL's substance-abuse policy.
Former Buffalo Bills great Jim Kelly, who is recovering from cancer
treatments, will take part in the coin toss for the Hall of Fame
game to kick off the NFL season.
Kelly will represent Buffalo as an honorary captain, while former
linebacker Harry Carson will be the New York Giants' honorary
captain to open the NFL's 95th season at Pro Football Hall of Fame
Field in Canton, Ohio, on Sunday, Aug. 3 at 8 p.m. ET.
The Green Bay Packers swapped linebackers on their 90-man roster,
signing Korey Jones and releasing Shaun Lewis.
Jones is a 6-foot-1, 232-pound first-year player who went undrafted
out of Wyoming in 2013. He signed with the Arizona Cardinals as a
rookie and spent training camp with the team before being released
on Aug. 25 and playing for the B.C. Lions in the CFL last season.
Lewis signed with the Packers on June 10 after being invited to the
team's rookie orientation camp in May on a tryout basis.
Luke Butkus will be interim offensive line coach of the Jacksonville
Jaguars, filling in while George Yarno battles cancer near his
family in Spokane, Wash.
Butkus, nephew of Hall of Fame Chicago Bears linebacker Dick Butkus,
played football at University of Illinois and is in his seventh
season in the NFL.
Yarno, 56, will be away from the team for "some months," head coach
Gus Bradley said Thursday.
(Editing by Steve Keating in Toronto.)
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reserved.]
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