FOOTBALL: Eagles cut Babin
The Eagles released two-time Pro Bowl defensive end Jason Babin yesterday in the first major roster move for a team that has lost seven straight games.
Babin had just 5.5 sacks after recording 18 last year. He signed a five-year, $28 million deal last summer after going to his first Pro Bowl with Tennessee following the 2010 season.
The Eagles also will place wide receiver DeSean Jackson on injured reserve after he sustained multiple rib fractures in Monday’s 30-22 loss to the Panthers. Coach Andy Reid says the injury could take six weeks to heal.
Defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh was issued a traffic citation by a police officer who said Suh was driving fast and passing cars from the right lane of a suburban Detroit roadway. The officer gave Suh the ticket on Nov. 15 for driving without due care and caution, but the police chief said he wasn’t sure the citation would hold up.
Green Bay won’t get all of their injured starters back this week, though they will have one: two-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Greg Jennings.
Jennings underwent surgery Nov. 1 to repair a lower abdominal tear that has bothered him since he first injured it near the end of the Sept. 9 season opener against San Francisco. Packers coach Mike McCarthy said he expects Jennings to be a full participant in practice today.
Jack Pardee, one of Bear Bryant’s “Junction Boys” who went on to become a five-time All-Pro linebacker and an NFL coach, has been diagnosed with gall bladder cancer and has six to nine months to live, his family said.
ETC: PSU’s O’Brien Big Ten’s top coach
Penn State head coach Bill O’Brien has been named the Big Ten’s coach of the year. O’Brien, then the Patriots’ offensive coordinator, replaced the legendary Joe Paterno and led the Nittany Lions to an 8-4 record, going 6-2 in conference play. Six Nittany Lions were named first-team All-Big Ten.
The Somerset Patriots of the Atlantic League have scheduled a press conference today to announce ex-Yankees reliever Sparky Lyle is stepping down as manager and will be replaced by pitching coach Brett Jodie.
Super middleweight champion Andre Ward will defend his WBC and WBA belts against former middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik on Jan. 26 in Los Angeles.