Wednesday's Sports in Brief

Updated Nov. 5, 2020 5:21 a.m. ET
Associated Press

PRO FOOTBALL

DETROIT (AP) — Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford was placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list, although his wife Kelly said on social media he tested negative.

It was the second straight day the team gave a player the designation. The Reserve/COVID-19 list was created for players who either test positive or have been in close contact with an infected person.

Detroit put linebacker Jarrad Davis on the list Tuesday.

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The Lions announced Stafford’s status after finishing practice. Earlier in the day, coach Matt Patricia said there was no requirement to shut down the team’s training facility.

Detroit (3-4) plays at Minnesota (2-5) on Sunday, and Stafford’s status was unknown.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers shut down their facility after receiver Kendrick Bourne tested positive for the coronavirus, but the defending NFC champions were still scheduled to play Green Bay on Thursday night.

The team said the positive test came back Wednesday morning and Bourne immediately went into self-quarantine. He was later placed on the COVID-19 list.

The Niners also placed starting left tackle Trent Williams, and receivers Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel on the COVID-19 list because of “high risk” contacts with Bourne. Samuel was already out this week with a hamstring injury.

FRISCO, Texas (AP) — The Dallas Cowboys will have their fourth different starting quarterback of the season against undefeated Pittsburgh, with Andy Dalton unavailable because of COVID-19 protocols.

Coach Mike McCarthy said he was benching rookie Ben DiNucci in favor of either Garrett Gilbert or Cooper Rush. Gilbert and Rush will compete for the job in practice, and one will start Sunday at home against the Steelers.

DiNucci looked overmatched in his first start at Philadelphia last weekend, a 23-9 win by the Eagles.

CLEVELAND (AP) — Browns star wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. has surgery scheduled early next week to repair a torn knee ligament that ended his second season with Cleveland.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Louisville has paused all football activities and its Saturday game at Virginia was postponed at least a week due to a spike in COVID-19 cases.

Louisville athletic director Vince Tyra told reporters the program has 10 players who have tested positive for COVID-19 and five players who were in quarantine because of contact tracing. Five support staff members also tested positive and two others are in quarantine.

The AD said no coaching staff members have tested positive.

Nine Louisville players, mostly on defense, were held out of last week’s 42-35 loss to Virginia Tech. Coach Scott Satterfield said afterward that some of the absences were COVID-19-related.

Tyra said the latest testing left the Cardinals down to three scholarship players on defense.

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — California’s season-opening game Saturday night against Washington is in jeopardy following a positive coronavirus test on the Golden Bears that has caused what coach Justin Wilcox said is a “significant” number of players needing contact tracing.

Wilcox said Cal’s athletic department was in contact with Washington officials about the game scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. PST kickoff Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Berkeley.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah football coach Kyle Whittingham signed a four-year contract extension through the 2027 season.

Whittingham, the reigning Pac-12 coach of the year, will kick off his 16th season in charge of Utah on Saturday when the Utes host Arizona. The Utes are looking to win a third straight Pac-12 South title.

Whittingham has a 131-64 record, going 11-3 in bowl games.

TENNIS

PARIS (AP) — Rafael Nadal became the fourth man to reach 1,000 match wins when he beat fellow Spanish veteran Feliciano Lopez 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 in the second round of the Paris Masters.

The 20-time Grand Slam champion joined Jimmy Connors (1,274), Roger Federer (1,242) and Ivan Lendl (1,068) as the only male players to reach the 1,000-win mark since the Open era began in 1968.

The 34-year-old Nadal posed at the net with the number 1,000 displayed in large numbers on the court.

SOCCER

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Diego Maradona was recovering after an operation for bleeding in his skull, his personal doctor said.

Maradona had a subdural hematoma, which is an accumulation of blood between a membrane and his brain, said Dr. Leopoldo Luque, a neurologist who performed Tuesday’s operation.

Luque described the postoperative developments as “excellent” and said the former soccer star had no complications associated with the surgery.

BASEBALL

CINCINNATI (AP) — Trevor Bauer’s agent said the pitcher is rejecting the Cincinnati Reds’ $18.9 million qualifying offer.

The free-agent right-hander, who turns 30 in January, was given the offer on Sunday and had until Nov. 11 to make his decision.

Bauer was 5-4 with a National League-leading 1.73 ERA, striking out 100 and walking 17 in 73 innings. Acquired from Cleveland on July 31, 2019, he had a $17.5 million, one-year contract that resulted in $6,481,481 in prorated pay.

Bauer was among six players given qualifying offers, joined by Houston outfielder George Springer, New York Yankees second baseman DJ LeMahieu, Philadelphia catcher J.T. Realmuto, New York Mets right-hander Marcus Stroman and San Francisco right-hander Kevin Gausman.

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