FOOTBALL
Titans keeping Tannehill
The Tennessee Titans are keeping the quarterback that led them within a victory of the Super Bowl, agreeing to a four-year, $118 million extension with Ryan Tannehill. The Titans announced the deal Sunday, hours after the NFL Players Association approved a new collective bargaining agreement. After being traded by Miami to Tennessee last March, Tannehill went 9-4 overall as a starter, 7-3 over the final 10 games of the regular season after the Titans benched Marcus Mariota in mid-October. Tannehill led the NFL with a career-best 117.5 passer rating, the fourth highest in NFL history and a franchise best. Tannehill threw for 2,742 yards with 22 touchdowns and 6 interceptions during the regular season. His 9.6 yards per attempt also led the league as another team record. He also set a team mark for completion percentage, completing 70.3% of his passes for third overall in the NFL. He also ran for 185 yards with 4 TDs on 43 carries. He helped lead the Titans to their first AFC championship appearance in 17 years as the No. 6 seed with road wins at New England and Baltimore. They lost 35-24 at Kansas City one win short of the Super Bowl. Tannehill earned his first Pro Bowl nod and was The Associated Press NFL Comeback Player of the Year. This extension now allows the Titans to either franchise tag NFL rushing leader Derrick Henry or sign him to an extension.
Jags trading DL to Ravens
The Jacksonville Jaguars have agreed to trade veteran defensive lineman Calais Campbell to the Baltimore Ravens for a fifth-round pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Sunday because the trade can't become official until the new league begins. Campbell, 33, was due to earn $15 million this season and count $17.5 million against Jacksonville's salary cap. He's expected to agree to a revised deal with the Ravens. Campbell has made five Pro Bowls, including three in a row with Jacksonville. He was instrumental in helping rookie Josh Allen make a successful transition to the NFL last year. Allen was a Pro Bowl alternate and made the team as a replacement. Campbell was voted defensive MVP of the Pro Bowl in January. He was recognized as the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year for his charitable work. He has 696 tackles and 88 sacks in 12 seasons with Arizona and Jacksonville. He's started every game over the last five seasons and has been an key leader on and off the field. The Jaguars are unlikely to replace him with a fifth-round pick. It's also another sign that Jacksonville is in rebuilding mode.
Colts, Castonzo agree
Veteran tackle Anthony Castonzo has agreed to a two-year contract extension with the Indianapolis Colts. Castonzo, 31, has been the anchor of the offensive line since he arrived in 2011 as a first-round pick. And after Castonzo considered retirement earlier this offseason, Colts General Manager Chris Ballard made it clear he wanted Castonzo back as part of one of the league's top offensive lines over the last two seasons. Castonzo has started all 132 games he has appeared in during his NFL career, plus eight postseason games. In 2019, Castonzo started all 16 games for the sixth time in his career. Indianapolis' 4.52 yards rushing average was the fifth-highest single-season total in franchise history. Running back Marlon Mack finished 11th in the NFL in rushing yards with a career-high 1,091 yards on the ground.
GOLF
Koepka: 'No' to new league
Brooks Koepka said Sunday he has no interest in the Premier Golf League, another setback to a league promising guaranteed money and a team concept that now won't have the top two players in the world. "I am out of the PGL. I'm going with the PGA Tour," Koepka told The Associated Press. "I have a hard time believing golf should be about just 48 players." Rory McIlroy, who replaced Koepka at No. 1 in the world a month ago, said last month in Mexico City that he was not interested in the new league. He said he valued his freedom to decide when and where to play instead of the proposed schedule of 18 tournaments, not including the majors. Koepka said he made up his mind after meeting with organizers in Los Angeles a month ago during the Genesis Invitational, wanting to wait for a time where any announcement would not become a distraction. With golf shutting down over concerns about the coronavirus, he wanted it made clear he wasn't going anywhere. Koepka, like McIlroy, cited the freedom he enjoys on the PGA Tour. He also spoke about the majority of the PGA Tour who he fears would be left out if all the attention was heaped on top stars competing in a team format. "I get that the stars are what people come to see," Koepka said. "But these guys who we see win, who have been grinding for 10 or 15 years, that's what makes the cool stories. I'd have a hard time looking at guys and putting them out of a job."
BASEBALL
Minor-leaguer tests positive
A minor-leaguer for the New York Yankees tested positive for the coronavirus over the weekend, becoming the first known player affiliated with Major League Baseball to contract coronavirus. Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman said Sunday that a "younger player" was affected, without identifying him. Cashman said the player "feels much better" and his symptoms had subsided, but he was still isolated. "He did not have any interactions with our major league players," Cashman said on a conference call. The Miami Marlins, meanwhile, became the first organization to completely close their complex. Big leaguers were told to take a break and avoid group activities. The Marlins' move was a team decision, rather than something mandated by Major League Baseball. MLB is expected to update clubs on its health policy today. Some of Miami's players have homes near the spring training complex in Jupiter and plan to stay there. Others will go home. In the wake of the virus outbreak, MLB and the union recently had given players the option to stay at the site of their spring camp, return to their offseason homes or go to the club's home city. Yankees player representative Zack Britton said Friday that the team had voted to remain together in Tampa and continue voluntary workouts.
BASKETBALL
Wood in self-isolation
Christian Wood of the Detroit Pistons has tested positive for the coronavirus, a person with direct knowledge of the situation said Saturday night. Wood is feeling fine, according to the person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because neither the Pistons nor Wood had publicly confirmed his positive result. Wood's diagnosis became known one week after he played against the Utah Jazz -- spending much of that night matched up with Rudy Gobert, who was the first NBA player known to test positive for the virus. Utah's Donovan Mitchell has also tested positive for the virus. It cannot be concluded that any of those three players were involved in spreading it to one another. The Pistons later confirmed that a player -- they did not name Wood -- tested positive Saturday and has been in self-isolation. The NBA's shutdown, which began Wednesday, came with Wood in the best stretch of his career. He had averaged 21.6 points and 9.1 rebounds over a 16-game stretch starting Feb. 2. He also had double-digit scoring numbers in each of those 16 games, after never putting together more than three such games together previously. Wood had what was then a season-high 30 points in that March 7 game against the Jazz, topping it four nights later with a 32-point effort against Philadelphia. He's having his best season, averaging 13.1 points and 6.3 rebounds.
SLED DOG RACING
Norwegian musher takes lead
Deep snow is slowing down mushers in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, but the leader has a secret for dealing with the difficult conditions. "I've been training with 120 pounds of concrete and all the gear in the sled," Thomas Waerner, 46, told a camera crew from the Iditarod Insider as he was preparing his sled to leave a checkpoint outside the Alaska community of Kaltag late Saturday. "That's perfect for these kind of conditions," he said. Waerner, a native of England living in Norway, was first to arrive at the next checkpoint -- Unalakleet -- on Sunday. He rested his dogs nearly five hours before leaving the checkpoint. He said he's not worried about other mushers or making a mistake in the world's most famous sled dog race. The checkpoint in Kaltag is normally at a community hall, but this year it was set up outside the village of about 235 people, 629 miles miles into the nearly 1,000-mile race across Alaska.
Sports on 03/16/2020