Hometown Broadcasting Sports Wednesday 11/11/20
11 November 2020 Sports
The Packers will be back on the practice field today getting ready for the Jacksonville Jaguars Sunday at Lambeau Field. Green Bay is hoping to have the services of starting left tackle David Bakhtiari, who’s missed the last three games with a chest injury. The Packers have had to shuffle around players as the offensive line has been banged up. Last Thursday against the 49ers, starting right tackle Rick Wagner was out with a knee injury, so the coaching staff decided to move starting left guard Elgton Jenkins to left tackle and Billy Turner, who was filling in for Bakhtiari, back to right tackle. That gave an opportunity for rookie sixth-round pick Jon Runyan to fill in at left tackle to complement starting right guard Lucas Patrick. The Packers may have to use that same combination against the Jaguars. Green Bay is 6-2 while Jacksonville is 1-7. Sunday’s game starts at 10 with the kickoff at noon and can be heard on 102.3FM WAUH.
Meanwhile, the Packers have activated QB Jordan Love from the reserve/COVID-19 list. The transaction was announced Tuesday by General Manager Brian Gutekunst.
Per agreed-upon NFL-NFLPA policy, clubs are not permitted to comment on a player’s
medical status other than referring to roster status. Being placed on the
reserve/COVID-19 list is for a player who either tests positive for COVID-19 or who
has been in close contact with an infected person or persons.
According to ESPN, NFL owners began planning for the possibility that their 2020 regular season will be cut short by COVID-19 cancellations, one of several developments from a two-hour video meeting Tuesday afternoon. Speaking later on a conference call, commissioner Roger Goodell reiterated that the league is “committed” to completing its full regular season in its scheduled 17-week interval. But after the league’s most recent COVID-19 testing report indicated a sharp rise in confirmed cases, Goodell acknowledged the importance of determining an alternative should the season end with not all teams having played 16 games. If that happens, the league will expand its postseason from 14 to 16 teams, split equally between the AFC and NFC. It was not immediately clear how many games would need to be canceled for the 16-team bracket to be enacted.
Tuesday’s news coincided with the release of a COVID-19 testing report that reflected the growing case counts around the country. A total of 56 employees, including 15 players and 41 staff members, returned confirmed positive tests between Nov. 1-7. That’s more than twice the total of any other period (26, from Sept. 27-Oct. 3), the period that accounts for most of the Tennessee Titans outbreak that forced multiple changes to the league’s early-season schedule. Since then, the NFL has managed to play its games on schedule after deciding to isolate any high-risk close contacts for five days. But league officials are making contingency plans for future game cancellations, including the possibility of a 16-team playoff field.
The NHL is considering a temporary realignment of its teams for the 2020-21 season due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, according to commissioner Gary Bettman. Bettman said Tuesday that restrictions on travel across the Canadian border, as well as “limitations in terms of quarantining when you go from certain states to other states” within the United States, could mean the NHL creates a more regionalized alignment for its upcoming season. The NHL board of governors has a meeting scheduled for Thursday which will provide a progress report and possible recommendations for a season format, based on talks between the league and the NHL Players’ Association. The target date for starting next season remains Jan. 1. Bettman said the league is considering a few scheduling options for the 2020-21 season. Something that’s off the table: playing the entire season in the kind of bubbles the NHL had in Toronto and Edmonton, Alberta, to complete last season. But Bettman said teams opening in their own arenas is a possibility, along with a modified bubble.
Don Mattingly and Kevin Cash were honored as Major League Baseball’s 2020 Managers of the Year on Tuesday after seasons that tested and ultimately brought out the best in both men. Both won easily. Cash received 22 of 30 first-place AL votes by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America while Mattingly received 20 of 30 first-place votes in the NL race. Voting is based on regular-season performance. Mattingly, the 1985 AL Most Valuable Player, is the fifth man to win both an MVP and a Manager of the Year Award.
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