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Patriots training camp Day 29: Mac Jones hits 2 TDs to close final preseason practice

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:04:51 GMT

FOXBORO — Judging by Wednesday’s padded practice, the last of Patriots training camp, Mac Jones’ preseason might be over before Friday’s game even kicks off.Jones kept busy over an 18-of-23 day, hitting DeVante Parker and Kayshon Boutte in the end zone with his final passes during a simulated 2-minute drill. Jones’ workload indicated he’ll be limited to a couple drives, if any, during the Pats’ preseason finale at Tennessee. He lived up to the “way better quarterback” standard Patriots safety Adrian Phillips set while speaking about Jones’ progress after Tuesday’s practice.Phillips shared his confidence is “through the roof.” Jones made that plenty evident Wednesday by connecting on two long balls to Kendrick Bourne early in team drills, then firing RPO throws into tight windows and whipping touchdown passes to finish practice. Jones’ spraying the field with completions wasn’t the only welcome sight ...

Harvard tackle Thor Griffith is a 305-pound defensive presence for the Crimson

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:04:51 GMT

Defensive tackle Thor Griffith caught the attention of Harvard head coach Tim Murphy from a youth hockey video.Griffith, a 6-2, 305-pound senior from Portsmouth, N.H., enters the 150th season of Harvard football an FCS preseason All-American with Bluebloods and Phil Steele and is recognized as the dominant defensive presence in the Ivy League.Murphy was initially unimpressed with Griffith’s football abilities from his three years playing defensive tackle at Portsmouth High School. But the hockey video Griffith sent showed Murphy an athleticism and toughness the veteran coach hadn’t seen on the gridiron.“Going into his senior year we weren’t really recruiting him and he had come to our camp as junior,” said Murphy during picture day on Wednesday afternoon at Harvard Stadium. “Our coaches were less than impressed and he didn’t have a lot going for him coming from the state of New Hampshire but he was very persistent.“He said, ‘Coach I know I can play at this level.’ I told...

Patriots waive recent addition, place wide receiver on injured reserve

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:04:51 GMT

The Patriots waived recently claimed defensive tackle Marquan McCall with a failed physical designation, per the NFL transaction wire.McCall was claimed off waivers from the Carolina Panthers on Tuesday. He was not present for Wednesday’s practice.The Patriots waived wide receiver Tre Nixon to claim McCall. Nixon, who appeared to suffer a shoulder injury in Saturday’s preseason game against the Packers, reverted to injured reserve after going unclaimed.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots’ Jack Jones hopes to be available Week 1 amid gun charges New England Patriots | How Ezekiel Elliott sees his role with Rhamondre Stevenson in Patriots’ backfield New England Patriots | Patriots extra points: Ezekiel Elliott explains picking New England in first interview New England Patriots | Patriots training camp Day 28: Mike Gesicki returns to the field, Mac Jones feeds JuJu Smith-Schuster New En...

Giants tight end Tommy Sweeney collapses from ‘medical event,’ in stable condition

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:04:51 GMT

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — New York Giants tight end Tommy Sweeney collapsed during practice on Wednesday but was in “stable” condition after being carted away from the field, the club said.Sweeney “had a medical event and is under the care of medical professionals in the Giants athletic training room,” the team said in a statement. “He is stable, alert and conversant.”Giants quarterback Daniel Jones said seeing Sweeney down and needing medical attention “was extremely scary.”“You never want to see that on the field,” Jones said.Sweeney is now in his fourth NFL season out of Boston College.He spent his first three seasons with Buffalo, where in 2020 he was diagnosed with myocarditis — an inflamed heart — after contracting COVID-19.Sweeney was cleared to resume playing the following offseason and appeared in 18 games, including three starts, with Buffalo over 2021 and ’22 before signing with the Giants in free agency in March. In New York, he’s been reunited with Giants coach Brian...

Gunfire in Pittsburgh neighborhood prompts evacuations, standoff; person later pronounced dead

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:04:51 GMT

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A person facing eviction opened fire from inside a Pittsburgh home Wednesday and was later pronounced dead after a siege that lasted much of the day, authorities said. Pittsburgh Public Safety said city emergency medical service responders pronounced the person dead shortly after 5 p.m. Wednesday after the hourslong siege that forced evacuations from the city’s Garfield neighborhood. The Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office said its people were trying to serve the eviction notice when the occupant began firing shots. Witnesses said they heard what sounded like hundreds of shots beginning at about 11 a.m. Wednesday. Hours into the siege, more gunfire erupted.A sergeant leading the eviction notice detail suffered an injury unrelated to gunfire and is doing OK, sheriff’s office spokesman Mike Manko said. A state police spokesperson said drones were used during the siege, and a large number of police and other first responders were at the scene, just a few blo...

US nurse kidnapped in Haiti speaks via video for first time since her release

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:04:51 GMT

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A U.S. nurse who was kidnapped in Haiti last month with her young daughter spoke via video this week for the first time since her release.Alix Dorsainvil appeared alone in the video and sat in a manicured garden with crickets chirping in the background, thanking people who prayed for her.The nearly five-minute video was posted Monday on the website of El Roi, the Christian group founded by Dorsainvil’s husband that offers medical care, education and other basic services in Haiti’s poorest areas.“For the gangsters, I have a message for you: I want you guys to know that everything I said during my time in captivity was sincere,” she said in a soft voice. “They were not the manipulative words of someone desperate to escape, but simply the truth, especially when I told you my clinic doors are always open to you or anyone in need.”Dorsainvil also shared that while she was kidnapped, one gang member told her, “Nurse Alix, the people of Duvivier are marching fo...

Supporters of silenced Montana transgender lawmaker Zooey Zephyr won’t face trespassing charges

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:04:51 GMT

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Montana prosecutors are declining to pursue misdemeanor trespassing charges against seven people who were arrested in the state House gallery for protesting after Republicans denied transgender lawmaker Zooey Zephyr the right to debate bills near the end of the 2023 legislative session.The Lewis and Clark County Attorney’s Office filed motions in Justice Court to dismiss the charges “in the best interests of justice.” A justice of the peace signed three of the seven motions on Tuesday, court officials said. The remaining four were signed Wednesday.Zephyr’s silencing drew scores of protesters to the state Capitol and renewed nationwide debates about manners in politics. It also took place as conservative lawmakers nationwide have introduced a flurry of anti-LGBTQ+ bills this year.One of the defendants, Paul Kim of Missoula, said his attorney told him the county decided to drop the charges. Phone messages seeking comment Tuesday from County Attorney Ke...

North Dakota Gov. Burgum will participate in the GOP primary debate stage after injuring leg

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:04:51 GMT

MILWAUKEE (AP) — North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum says he plans to participate in the Republican presidential debate on Wednesday after he was injured playing basketball on Tuesday and his campaign wasn’t sure he would be able to appear on stage. The Burgum campaign posted a photo on X, formerly known as Twitter, of Burgum entering the stage on crutches during a candidate walkthrough earlier Wednesday. “I’m in,” he posted. Burgum hurt his Achilles tendon playing basketball with members of his campaign staff on Tuesday and was taken to the emergency room. Campaign spokesman Lance Trover said earlier Wednesday that it was “unclear if he will be able to stand at the debate,” set for Wednesday night in Milwaukee. The injury was first reported by CNN.Missing the two-hour debate would have been a major setback for Burgum, who is the least known of the eight candidates expected to take the stage at Fiserv Forum in downtown Milwaukee, home to the Milwaukee Bucks basketb...

North Korea says its 2nd attempt to launch a spy satellite has failed

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:04:51 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said its second attempt to launch a spy satellite failed Thursday and it will make a third attempt in October, the country’s state media reported. The North’s state news agency said Thursday’s launch ended in a failure because of an error that happened during a three-stage flight of the rocket.It cited the country’s aerospace agency as saying that North Korea will conduct a third attempt in October after finding what caused a failure.The announcement followed a statement by South Korea’s military that North Korea had launched a long-range rocket. In late May, a North Korean rocket carrying a spy satellite plunged into the sea soon after liftoff, posing a setback to leader Kim Jong Un’s push to establish a space-based surveillance system to better monitor the U.S. and South Korea. North Korea had since vowed to make a second attempt.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea launch...

Beverly's 'Bike Whisperer' teaching kids how to ride bicycles

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:04:51 GMT

CHICAGO —Aa man from Chicago’s Beverly neighborhood has single handedly taught hundreds of kids how to ride a bikeErin Ivory first read about him in Block Club, and as a parent who has struggled to teach their own kids how to take off on two wheels she was intrigued.So she found Louie Burrel, who is also known as the “Bike Whisperer.”He said he figures he puts in at least a mile of running for each lesson and says there's really no secret, just sweat equity and two rules: he won’t let them crash and he won’t let them fall."I can't let them fall. So I'm serious about that. When you prove it and a kid wobbles, or leans a little bit and you catch them,” he said. "After a while the kid becomes comfortable and realizes, ‘Wow he's not going to let me fall.’"Find him on Instagram hereThere hasn't been one person he hasn't been able to teach how to stay upright on two wheels.This fall, Burrel returns to his full time job as a varsity basketball coach and P.E. teacher, but still plans to kee...