D2 EZ M2 THE WASHINGTON POST.WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2 , 2022
TELEVISION AND RADIO
NBA
7:30 p.m. New York at Philadelphia » ESPN
10 p.m. Portland at Phoenix » ESPN
PROFESSIONAL HOCKEY
7 p.m. American Hockey League: Abbotsford at Toronto » NHL Network
7:30 p.m. NHL: St. Louis at New York Rangers » TNT
10 p.m. NHL: Nashville at Seattle » TNT
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
6:30 p.m. Xavier at St. John’s » Fox Sports 1
7 p.m. Georgetown at Seton Hall » CBS Sports Network, WJFK (106.7 FM)
7 p.m. Texas A&M at Alabama » SEC Network
7 p.m. Western Kentucky at Marshall » ESPNU
7 p.m. Georgia Tech at Clemson » ACC Network
7 p.m. Duquesne at George Washington » NBC Sports Washington
7 p.m. Rutgers at Indiana » Big Ten Network
7 p.m. Notre Dame at Florida State » ESPN2
8:30 p.m. Connecticut at Creighton » Fox Sports 1
9 p.m. Minnesota at Maryland » Big Ten Network, WTEM (980 AM)
9 p.m. Marquette at DePaul » CBS Sports Network
9 p.m. Auburn at Mississippi State » SEC Network
9 p.m. LSU at Arkansas » ESPN2
9 p.m. Miami at Boston College » ACC Network
9 p.m. Wichita State at Tulsa » ESPNU
10:30 p.m. Wyoming at UNLV » Fox Sports 1
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTS
Noon SEC, first round: Vanderbilt vs. Texas A&M » SEC Network
1 p.m. ACC, first round: Syracuse vs. Clemson » MASN
2 p.m. Big Ten, first round: Penn State vs. Rutgers » Big Ten Network
2:30 p.m. SEC, first round: Auburn vs. Alabama » SEC Network
3 p.m. Pac-12, first round: Washington vs. Colorado » Pac-12 Network
3:30 p.m. ACC, first round: Duke vs. Pittsburgh » MASN
4:30 p.m. Big Ten, first round: Wisconsin vs. Illinois » Big Ten Network
5:30 p.m. Pac-12, first round: Arizona State vs. Oregon State » Pac-12 Network
6:30 p.m. ACC, first round: Wake Forest vs. Virginia » MASN
9 p.m. Pac-12, first round: Southern California vs. UCLA » Pac-12 Network
11:30 p.m. Pac-12, first round: California vs. Utah » Pac-12 Network
GOLF
9:30 p.m. LPGA Tour: Women’s World Championship, first round » Golf Channel
SOCCER
12:30 p.m. German Cup, quarterfinal: RB Leipzig at Hannover 96 » ESPNU
3 p.m. Italian Cup semifinal, first leg: Juventus at Fiorentina » CBS Sports Network
3:15 p.m. French Cup, semifinal: Monaco at Nantes » beIN Sports
5:15 p.m. Copa Libertadores second round, second leg: Bolívar
at Universidad Católica » beIN Sports
7:30 p.m. Recopa Sudamericana final, second leg: Athletico Paranaense
at Palmeiras » beIN Sports
10 p.m. Mexican Liga MX: Pumas UNAM at Santos Laguna » Fox Sports 2
TENNIS
6 a.m. WTA: Lyon Open, early rounds » Tennis Channel
12:30 p.m. WTA: Lyon Open and Monterrey Open, early rounds » Tennis Channel
MEN’S COLLEGE LACROSSE
4:30 p.m. Army at Syracuse » ACC Network
WOMEN’S COLLEGE GOLF
2:30 p.m. Darius Rucker Intercollegiate, final round » Golf Channel
INTERNATIONAL SPORTS
Latest sanctions bar
Russian figure skaters
Skaters from Russia and
Belarus were barred from
competition Tuesday in the latest
sanctions to target sports, a point
of pride for Russian President
Vladimir Putin, in the wake of
the invasion of Ukraine. The
governing bodies of track and
field, tennis and volleyball also
took action to punish the two
countries.
The decision by the
International Skating Union,
which governs the sport
worldwide, affects the figure
skating world championships this
month, with Olympic gold
medalist Anna Shcherbakova
and Kamila Valieva previously
expected to compete in the
Montpellier, France, event.
Valieva, the 15-year-old who
finished out of the running for a
medal in the Olympics free skate,
had been allowed to skate while
her appeal of a positive drug test
is considered.
It also would have an
immediate effect on the
speedskating world
championships set to begin
Thursday in Norway.
No athletes from Russia or
Belarus, a Russian ally, “shall be
invited or allowed to participate”
in events until further notice, the
ISU said, announcing a move that
comes a day after similar
sanctions were placed on soccer
and ice hockey and after the
International Olympic
Committee recommended
barring Russian athletes from
sporting events.
World Athletics — which
governs track and field, cross-
country running, race walking,
mountain running and ultra
running — also imposed
sanctions Tuesday, with its
council announcing, “All athletes,
support personnel and officials
from Russia and Belarus will be
excluded from all World Athletics
Series events for the foreseeable
future, with immediate effect.”
— Cindy Boren, Matt Bonesteel
and Des Bieler
SOCCER
The Washington Spirit and
Portland Thorns are slated to join
two European powers in a
women’s tournament this
summer in Portland, Ore., people
familiar with the plans said.
Details are close to being
finalized for the fourth edition of
the Women’s International
Champions Cup, set for Aug. 17-20
and featuring four domestic
trophy winners from 2021.
English club Chelsea, the
Women’s Super League
champion, is also slated to
participate, one person said.
The fourth entry has not been
finalized, but from the top
leagues in Europe, Paris Saint-
Germain, Barcelona and Bayern
Munich are the prime candidates.
— Steven Goff
The U.S. Soccer Federation
reached an eight-year multimedia
rights agreement with Turner
Sports that will put broadcasts of
both men’s and women’s national
team games on TNT, TBS and
HBO Max.
The agreement does not
include the upcoming men’s
World Cup in Qatar, the 2023
Women’s World Cup or the men’s
2026 World Cup. Fox Sports owns
those broadcast rights....
F irst Manchester United, now
Tottenham. Second-tier
Middlesbrough is toppling some
of England’s biggest clubs in its
FA Cup run.
A goal at the start of the second
half of extra time earned
Middlesbrough a 1-0 win over
Tottenham in the fifth round of
the competition.
Elsewhere, Manchester City,
the P remier League champion,
dispatched another second-tier
team in Peterborough in a 2 -0
victory, and Crystal Palace
defeated Championship side
Stoke, 2-1....
Burnley missed a chance to
climb out of the Premier League’s
relegation zone by losing, 2-0, at
home to Leicester....
Inter Milan’s miserable month
continued when it drew, 0-0,
against city rival AC Milan in the
first leg of their Italian Cup
semifinal. Inter has won only one
of its past seven matches in all
competitions since the start of
February....
Top-flight Nice beat fourth-tier
Versailles, 2-0, to reach the
French Cup final for the first time
in 25 years....
Union Berlin earned a spot in
the semifinals of the German Cup
for the first time in 21 years with a
2-1 win over second-division
St. Pauli.MISC.
F ormer UFC heavyweight
champion Cain Velasquez was
arrested on suspicion of
attempted murder after he
allegedly shot a man in Northern
California, police said.
Velasquez, 39, was arrested
Monday in San Jose and is being
held without bail at Santa Clara
County Main Jail, records show.
He is scheduled to be arraigned
Wednesday....
Bob Baffert is suing Churchill
Downs and track leadership in
federal court, seeking to overturn
his two-year suspension on
grounds it violated his due
process rights.
The historic track suspended
the embattled Hall of Fame
trainer last spring through 2023
and cited a recent spate of failed
drug tests by Baffert’s horses,
including now-deceased colt
Medina Spirit after he won the
Kentucky Derby....
Kent Waldrep, a TCU running
back who became an advocate for
disabled people after a spinal
injury during a 1974 game left
him paralyzed, died at age 67. No
cause of death was given.
— From news services
and staff reportsDIGESTFROM NEWS SERVICES
AND STAFF REPORTSThe NFL has no immediate
plans to change the emphasis
on sportsmanship that led to last
season’s strict enforcement of the
anti-taunting rule.
Troy Vincent, the league’s exec-
utive vice president of football op-
erations, said there was a consen-
sus on that issue when representa-
tives of the coaches and officials
met Tuesday at the NFL combine
in Indianapolis with members of
the competition committee.
“We have to stand on sports-
manship,” Vincent said. “And that
was universally in agreement
there that the sportsmanship —
what we should expect from the
players, what we should expectfrom the coaches — that was really
clear. But there were areas that we
need to clean up.”
According to the league, attend-
ees at the meeting felt that 56 of
the 61 taunting penalties assessed
last season were examples, in their
view, of conduct that should con-
tinue to be penalized.
It was the competition commit-
tee that made strict enforcement
of the previously existing taunting
rule a point of emphasis for offici-
ating crews last season.
Some players, media members
and fans criticized the move, and
the NFL Players Association
called for the point of emphasis to
be removed. But the league didn’t
budge, and several coaches ex-
pressed support for the change.
— Mark Maskel JAGUARS: Owner Shad
Khan reversed course on hiring an
executive vice president, leaving
key football decisions to new
coach Doug Pederson and General
Manager Trent Baalke.
Khan’s about-face came less
than a month after he announced
his plans to tweak the Jaguars’
power structure, adding “brain-
power” to a “too flat organization.”
Khan said he changed his mind
after sitting in on staff meetings
and seeing a turnaround in terms
of professionalism and chemistry.
The EVP would have been in
charge of day-to-day operations,
with ultimate say in football deci-
sions. Pederson and Baalke would
have reported to the EVP.
l COWBOYS: Quarterback
Dak Prescott underwent surgeryon his non-throwing shoulder af-
ter the season, with Coach Mike
McCarthy saying it was a cleanup
for an issue that isn’t a concern.
McCarthy told reporters at the
combine that he expects Prescott
to be available for offseason work.
The coach said he didn’t think the
left shoulder bothered Prescott
during the season.
l BEARS: Chicago signed vet-
eran inside linebacker Joe Thom-
as.
Thomas has played in 89
games, with 16 starts, over seven
seasons with the Green Bay Pack-
ers (2015-17), Dallas Cowboys
(2018-20), Houston Texans (2021)
and Baltimore Ravens (2021). He
has 218 tackles, 12 tackles for a loss
and 10 pass breakups.
— Associated PressNFL NOTESLeague, coaches stand by crackdown on tauntingBY MARK MASKE
AND NICKI JHABVALAindianapolis — Some promi-
nent NFL quarterbacks, from
Aaron Rodgers to Russell Wilson
to Deshaun Watson, could be on
the move this offseason. Or may-
be not. Their teams must figure
out how to handle delicate situa-
tions involving their franchise
cornerstones. Other teams with
quarterback voids are busy mak-
ing plans, formulating bidding
strategies and lining up contin-
gencies.
But first, Rodgers must decide
what he’s going to do. The four-
time league MVP for the Green
Bay Packers has not said whether
he intends to stay put, seek a
trade or retire. Of the many
quarterback dominoes that could
fall leaguewide this offseason,
that’s the biggest and perhaps the
first.
“Obviously we’re planning for
a lot of different scenarios,” Pack-
ers General Manager Brian
Gutekunst said Tuesday at the
NFL scouting combine. “But cer-
tainly once we kind of get the
situation with Aaron figured out,
then everything can kind of fol-
low. So that’s kind of where we’re
at.”
Other teams undoubtedly feel
the same way. Trade speculation
has persisted regarding Wilson,
the nine-time Pro Bowl selection
for the Seattle Seahawks. The
Houston Texans could seek to
trade Watson, the three-time Pro
Bowl pick who did not play last
season while facing allegations of
sexual misconduct made by wom-
en in civil lawsuits.
The Indianapolis Colts could
part with Carson Wentz only one
season after obtaining him in a
trade with the Philadelphia Ea-
gles. Colts General Manager
Chris Ballard was noncommittal
Tuesday. And the San Francisco
49ers could trade Jimmy Garop-
polo and hand their quarterback
job to Trey Lance entering his
second NFL season.
But it’s Rodgers, 38, who draws
the most attention. He has, after
all, won the past two league MVPawards.
“There’s no new updates,”
Gutekunst said Tuesday. “But I do
think specifically with Aaron, I
think he’s got a very tough proc-
ess that he goes through to get
himself ready to play every sea-
son. It’s a big commitment, and
he’s done that for a long time. And
it certainly shows in the results. I
think he feels he needs to do that
to play at the level he plays at. So I
know that weighs on him. But I
think he’s going through that
now.”
The rift that existed between
Rodgers and the team’s manage-
ment last offseason seems to have
been repaired. But the Packers
suffered another postseason dis-
appointment, losing in the NFC
divisional playoff round to the
49ers, and now are facing a salary
cap crunch. Star wide receiver
Davante Adams is eligible for
unrestricted free agency.
Gutekunst dismissed the un-
certainty as “no different than
every year.” But it’s not every year
that a two-time defending league
MVP might move on. Gutekunst
called the Rodgers and Adams
situations “completely different.”
Yet Rodgers has said he does not
want to be part of a rebuilding
project.
After an NFL Network report
that the two sides are negotiatinga revised contract to accommo-
date Rodgers’s possible return,
Gutekunst called the financial
considerations “part of the proc-
ess.” He said he hopes for clarity
by the mid-March opening of the
free agent market.
“I would hope so,” Gutekunst
said. “Yeah, that’s obviously the
start of the new league year.
There’s a lot of decisions have to
be made before that. So that
would be helpful. I would think
we would know something before
then.”
Texans General Manager Nick
Caserio remained vague Tuesday
about Watson’s status, saying the
team is “day-to-day” in planning
around the quarterback’s future.
“Once the information be-
comes more relevant or preva-
lent, we’ll handle it accordingly.
My philosophy from the begin-
ning has always been to do the
right thing by the Houston Tex-
ans organization,” Caserio said.
“And we’re going to continue to
do that here moving forward.”
A district court judge in Harris
County, Tex., ruled Monday that
Watson can be deposed in some
of the civil cases against him. His
attorney, Rusty Hardin, said the
Harris County district attorney
will probably decide by April 1
whether Watson will be criminal-
ly charged. Watson has deniedthe allegations.
Watson has been the subject of
trade rumors for months, even
after the Texans placed him on
the game-day inactive list on a
weekly basis throughout the 2021
season. The NFL also is investi-
gating the matter and could im-
pose disciplinary measures.
Watson has four years left on
his contract with the Texans,
which includes a fully guaranteed
$35 million salary for the 2022
season and a $20 million salary
and a $17 million roster bonus for
the 2023 season that becomes
fully guaranteed M arch 22 of this
year.
Ballard offered no guarantees
Tuesday that Wentz will remain
with Indianapolis, saying t he
team is “still working through it.”
The Colts traded for Wentz last
year in exchange for a 2021 third-
round draft pick and what be-
came — based on Wentz’s playing
time last season — a first-round
choice this year. He has three
years left on his contract, and if
he’s still on the roster March 19,
his $22 million salary for the
upcoming season becomes fully
guaranteed.
“Ultimately, you’ve got to have
a guy that you believe in, that you
can win with,” Ballard said. “That
will play some into it. But ulti-
mately, we’ll make the decision
that we think is best both in the
short and the long term.”
Ballard said he visited with
Wentz for an hour Tuesday morn-
ing and the meeting was “really
good.”
But when pressed about
whether the Colts’ staff believes
Wentz can help the team win,
Ballard’s indirect answer spoke
volumes.
“Not saying we don’t,” he said.
“But in the long-term best inter-
ests for us, I think as we sit down
and work through whether Car-
son is the long-term best answer
or not, is the best way I can put it
— we’re not there yet. I’m not
there yet. And that’s something
that we’ll talk about as a group
and move forward. And whatever
decision we make will be the best
one for us.”Rodgers undecided as QB carousel readies to spinMARK J. TERRILL/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Two-time reigning MVP Aaron Rodgers holds the s port in his grip
as he mulls whether to return to Green Bay, seek a trade or retire.Rivera said.
The future of safety Landon
Collins is also uncertain, largely
because of his contract. Collins
has the largest salary cap charge
on Washington’s roster for 2022,
at $16.08 million. But his
$11.5 million salary isn’t guaran-
teed, and if Washington chose to
move on from him, it would save
roughly $6.5 million in cap space.
Washington used him as more
of a hybrid, drop-down safety in
the latter half of last season, in
part to fill a void at linebacker,
where the team lost Jon Bostic to
a season-ending injury and rook-
ie Jamin Davis struggled to devel-
op into an immediate impact
player.
Rivera said he would like to
keep Collins if he returns in that
role.
“Yeah, for what he does and
playing that position, he can be a
dynamic guy for us,” Rivera said.
“He’s a guy that made an impact
when he played that position.”
The decisions also extend to
Rivera’s staff. The head athletic
trainer, Ryan Vermillion, and one
of the assistant athletic trainers,
Doug Quon, have been on admin-
istrative leave since October be-
cause of a Drug Enforcement Ad-
ministration investigation. Rive-
ra said the team has interviewed
four candidates to fill Vermillion’s
role and all four have NFL experi-
ence. Two of them are in the
college ranks.
“We’re not trying to speed
through this,” Rivera said. “We
want to do this very, very deliber-
ately and make sure we get the
right decision.”thing else and the reason I’d be
comfortable with a rookie is just
because of the players we have.
We have a solid offensive line and
we’ve got skilled players at the
skill positions,” he said. “Would it
be ideal? No, but I would be
comfortable.”
Rivera believes Washington’s
roster has a lot to offer veteran
free agents, notably on offense
with its line and skill players. But
after signing Curtis Samuel and
Adam Humphries in free agency
and drafting Dyami Brown,
Washington never saw its receiv-
ing corps come together as envi-
sioned last year. Samuel was side-
lined for nearly the entire season
because of groin and hamstring
injuries.
Rivera, though, is confident
Samuel can provide a needed
complement to Terry McLaurin
and is hopeful Brown can develop
in Year 2. He also spoke glowingly
about Cam Sims, a soon-to-be free
agent.
Washington has a handful of
players who will hit the open
market if not re-signed before
mid-March. Atop the list is right
guard Brandon Scherff, who ap-
pears headed for free agency after
the team franchise-tagged him
twice. But running back J.D. McK-
issic, safety Bobby McCain and
wide receiver DeAndre Carter are
players Rivera expressed hope of
retaining.
“We’ll be talking with their
agents while we’re here, letting
them know how we feel about
them and what we’re looking at as
far as they’re concerned, and we’ll
go from there with those guys,”interceptions while going 4-8 as a
starter. But in his second season
with the club, he helped the Bears
win the NFC North title.
He signed a one-year contract
with the Buffalo Bills in 2020 to
be Josh Allen’s backup. Though
he saw limited playing time,
Trubisky’s experience with the
staff could make him intriguing
to Washington; Rivera worked
with Bills Coach Sean McDermott
and General Manager Brandon
Beane on the Carolina Panthers
and has spoken with them often
about their approach in rebuild-
ing their roster.
Rivera believes the Command-
ers are built to succeed with ei-
ther an elite quarterback or a
second-tier veteran. But the for-
mer option would undoubtedly
lead to an easier turnaround.
“A quarterback of that ability is
a guy you win with, and you win
because of his abilities,” Rivera
said. “To me, it’s either looking at
it, ‘Hey, this is going to be easier to
do,’ or, ‘We’ve got to be better here
in these specific areas.’ So which-
ever route we take, I just know
that we’re going to fortify the
other parts here.”
Washington’s difficult deci-
sions are compounded by the
relatively weak quarterback class
in this year’s draft. No clear leader
has emerged among Pittsburgh’s
Kenny Pickett, Liberty’s Malik
Wilson, Mississippi’s Matt Corral
and North Carolina’s Sam Howell.
Rivera said he would be “com-
fortable” with starting a rookie
immediately but indicated it
wouldn’t be his preference.
“The big thing more than any-Holding up the process is un-
certainty surrounding Aaron
Rodgers, Russell Wilson and De-
shaun Watson, veterans who have
been speculated as possible trade
candidates. Also uncertain is the
status of Jimmy Garoppolo,
whose time with the San Francis-
co 49ers is probably over and who
could be another trade candidate.
“The [impending] free agents,
those are clear-cut,” Rivera said.
“We’ve done a lot of work on those
guys already. As far as the veter-
ans that can potentially be traded,
no, there is no clarity on that
because, again, everybody’s just
waiting to hear what they have to
say. What we hope is that we’ve
said enough. I’ve talked with peo-
ple in interviews — as far as the
media is concerned, it’s just been
put out there that we feel we have
a lot to offer and we most certain-
ly will be willing to discuss and
talk and just listen to what people
have to say and would love to be
able to get in some of those
conversations just because we
think it’s important.”
Landing an elite veteran could
change the trajectory of the fran-
chise and mask many deficiencies
elsewhere on the roster. But rare-
ly do elite quarterbacks hit the
open market in their prime, and
this year’s second-tier market is
especially thin. One name that
has surfaced frequently is Mitch-
ell Trubisky, the second overall
draft pick in 2017.
Trubisky struggled as a rookie
with the Chicago Bears, recording
as many touchdowns (seven) asCOMMANDERS FROM D1Commanders s eek long-term answer at quarterback