NoneNendah Tarke scores 24 to help Towson defeat Morgan State 64-60
Trump threatens jail time for Jan. 6 committee members. How did Schiff respond?WACO, Texas (AP) — Georgia's Dasha Vidmanova and Columbia's Michael Zheng won NCAA singles tennis titles on Sunday. Vidmanova, a 21-year-old senior from the Czech Republic, beat DJ Bennett of Auburn 6-3, 6-3 for the Bulldogs' first women's singles championship since 2010. Zheng, a 20-year-old junior from Montville, New Jersey, beat Ozan Baris of Michigan State 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 to become the first Ivy League player to collect an NCAA men's singles crown since 1922. The final between Zheng and Baris was the first men's NCAA tennis singles final between two Americans since 2017. More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennisPHILADELPHIA – Eagles quarterback Kenny Pickett has seen limited action this season, mostly appearing in mop-up duty when games were already decided. Those moments allowed him to stay sharp. With starting quarterback Jalen Hurts ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys, Pickett finally got his chance to start, marking his first start since Dec. 3, 2023, when he played for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Pickett’s backup, Tanner McKee, had also never played in a regular-season game. Together, the two quarterbacks formed an unlikely duo to lead the Eagles to an NFC East title. On Sunday, they combined for 197 net passing yards in the Eagles’ 41-7 win , clinching the division and ensuring the team will finish no lower than the No. 2 seed in the NFC. Pickett completed 10 of 15 passes for 143 yards, including a touchdown to wide receiver DeVonta Smith , and added a rushing touchdown. However, his day ended in the third quarter when Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons re-injured Pickett’s ribs with a hard hit. “I just wanted to come in and do my part,” Pickett said. “I told the quarterbacks in the tunnel before warm-ups, ‘Just win at all costs. That’s it. That’s all I care about.’ All I wanted to accomplish today was to get the win for the team and for the city. I also wanted to keep the momentum we’ve had going this season.” Pickett, who wore extra padding in his flak jacket to protect his injured ribs, admitted the “Brotherly Shove” play and earlier hits during the game aggravated the injury. The Parsons hit ultimately forced him out of the game. Despite the discomfort, Pickett expressed optimism about his recovery. “I’ll undergo more tests, but I don’t believe they’ll show anything significant,” he said. “Of course, you want to finish the game, but I left it all out there. I did everything I could to play today and stayed as long as I could. I have no regrets. We got the win, and that’s all that matters.” Smith saw Pickett gut it out on the field after taking the shots he did with his banged-up ribs and said he and his teammates respected Pickett for the toughness that he showed. “It did not go unnoticed,” Smith said. “To see him fight through the things he was fighting through, he’s a very tough guy.” BUY EAGLES TICKETS: STUBHUB , VIVID SEATS , TICKETMASTER After serving as the emergency quarterback this season, McKee was elevated to the backup role and made the most of it replacing the injured Pickett, although he did not know how long he was going to play. “They were saying to just stay ready,” McKee said. “They’re great. They’re very positive with things like that. During that moment, we didn’t really know if I was going to go in or if Kenny was going to come back. so Nuss (quarterbacks coach Doug Nussmeier) asked me if I was prepared and ready for this. He also told me to stay warm, so I was excited.” In very limited work, McKee completed three of his four passes for 54 yards and two touchdown passes, becoming the first player to throw for multiple touchdowns with fewer than five attempts in their first career game. “It was great. Before the game, I was thinking that this could be my shot. Then going out there and just being on the field, it’s great because you’re just playing football. You realize you’ve been here before and had reps multiple times in practice. I was running through it in my bedroom last night. Once you finally get in the field, all you’re doing is playing football.” Head coach Nick Sirianni said he was happy that they both came in and played “clean” football and limited their mistakes, helping the Eagles come away with the win. “They deserve all that credit. You can’t go out there and play that position without the greatness of other people, and they had some greatness from other guys out there. Starting with their coaches...who really did a good job of getting them ready. Then the plays that they got from Smitty (Smith), Saquon (Barkley), Grant Calcaterra, A.J. [Brown] and the offensive line. That’s what a team is. A team steps up in adversity and steps up and has each other’s backs.” Having two quarterbacks who are capable of coming in and playing in a short-term capacity is important for a team with much higher aspirations than winning the division title. Either Pickett or McKee will likely play a lot in next week’s regular-season finale against Giants if the Eagles are eliminated from the race for the top seed if either the Minnesota Vikings or Detroit Lions win their games this weekend. It could also help them this offseason if the team wanted to recoup a few draft picks from teams that is desperate to add a quarterback because of an injury. For now, the Eagles will make sure that they are prepared to step in if anything else were to happen to Hurts this season. MORE EAGLES COVERAGE Why Eagles’ offensive lineman is ‘all in’ if Saquon Barkley wants to chase record against Giants Eagles secure NFC East title behind Kenny Pickett as Saquon Barkley eclipses major milestone Eagles’ Saquon Barkley becomes 9th player in NFLto rush for 2,000 yards: Will he set record vs. Giants or get rested? Eagles down to 3rd-string QB who has never played in a regular-season game after Kenny Pickett injury Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting us with a subscription. Chris Franklin may be reached at cfranklin@njadvancemedia.com .
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SANTA CLARA — As the 49ers’ season comes to a close amid an avalanche of missed games, Dominick Puni remembers the one that got away. The one snap, that is. It happened with 9:28 to play in the first quarter of an eventual 30-13 win over the New England Patriots in Week 4. Puni took a blow to the stomach on a 1-yard run by Jordan Mason. “I had one snap where I got the wind knocked out of me and they told me to stay down so I missed one snap this year,” Puni said Saturday as the 49ers (6-9) concluded preparations to host the Detroit Lions (13-2) Puni, a rookie third-round draft pick out of Kansas, will be in his usual spot as the starting right guard Monday night as the 49ers close out their home schedule. Jake Brendel will be the center. The rest of the offensive line will be determined at some point before kickoff. Spencer Burford, the third 49ers’ left tackle, was declared out with a calf injury, along with left guard Aaron Banks (knee), linebacker Dre Greenlaw (calf) and defensive end Robert Beal Jr. (ankle). Right tackle Colton McKivitz is listed as questionable but didn’t practice all week with a knee injury. Also questionable were safety Ji’Ayir Brown (ankle), linebacker Tatum Bethune (knee) and cornerback Charvarius Ward (personal matter). Banks is expected to be the 14th player to go on injured reserve, although Bethune is eligible to be activated from I.R. If McKivitz doesn’t play, the 49ers starting line could consist, from left to right, of newcomer Charlie Heck at left tackle, Nick Zakelj at left guard, Brendel at center, Puni at right guard and Austen Pleasants, a recent practice squad promotion who signed on Dec. 17, at right tackle. Coach Kyle Shanahan characterized the challenge of playing mix-and-match this way: “You try to keep it simple for them, try to categorize stuff in groups, and the guys next to them just, they try to communicate as much as possible and you try to help him out,” Shanahan said. Puni, who has established himself as a foundation piece going forward, finds himself possibly being in the unusual position of dispensing advice and wisdom at age 24. “With these tackles, whoever is going to play next to you, you’ve got to tell them some things,” Puni said. “If you just get here you’re not going to know all the tricks of the offense. Other than that, I’m just going try and control my one-eleventh and do my job. It is exciting though.” Puni’s 938 snaps are the most on the team — two more than McKivitz and three more than Brendel. Remarkable when you consider Puni had to nearly avert his eyes during some recent film study of his own practices and game tape when he first arrived as the 86th overall pick of the draft. “I went back to rookie minicamp, the fall camp, the first three training camp practices, just to see how bad I was when I first got here compared to now,” Puni said. “It’s like a night and day difference. When you get here, you don’t know the offense, you don’t know the technique. Yet by the third training camp practice, Puni (6-foot-5, 315 pounds) was the starter. He’s never relinquished the position and health permitting isn’t likely to be out of the lineup for years. “I got a lot of reps with the (first team) and that’s the only reason I was able to do so well early in the year,” Puni said. Puni credits linemates such as McKivitz, Brendel, Banks, Burford and Trent Williams as well as line coach Chris Foerster for helping to bring him along, but it’s clear he’s been a quick learner who wears durability as a badge of honor. While the outside world fixates on who should and shouldn’t play regardless of injury on teams out of the playoffs, Puni’s outlook is appealingly old school. “You don’t ever want to miss a snap,” Puni said. “If you can be out there, you’ve got to play. The last thing I want to do is bring a backup guy in who has been sitting on the sidelines and now he’s got to go in and I don’t think that’s fair. If I can play, I’m going to play.” GUERENDO GOOD TO GO Running back Isaac Guerendo (foot, hamstring) was a full participant in practice and wasn’t given a status after missing the Miami game, meaning the 49ers should get another look at their fourth-round draft pick as a lead back. “It was good to have him back,” Shanahan said. “We had a full speed practice (Friday) and he looked good. So no holdbacks. He’s good to go.” Also good to go is fullback Kyle Juszczyk, who missed the two previous days with an illness. Ward, who lost his 23-month old daughter in October, is awaiting the birth of his son and currently away from the team. KITTLE ON CAMPBELL It’s not difficult to look at 49ers tight end George Kittle and hard-nosed Detroit coach Dan Campbell as kindred spirits. Kittle likes what he’s seen of Campbell from afar. “When you have a head coach who played, and the way he played was gritty and kind of nasty but beloved by all his teammates, it’s easy to play for a guy like that,” Kittle said. “He seems like a really easy guy to play for, makes them grind and earn every second, but you want people like that who hold you to a standard. It’s awesome to see the Lions have gotten to that. but it’s our job to take them down a little bit.” WATTERS, BOLDIN MISS HOF CUT Former 49ers running back Ricky Watters (1991-94) and wide receiver Anquan Boldin (2013-15) did not make the cut to the round of 15 to be considered for induction for the Class of 2025 in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Shanahan spent a lot of time around the 49ers when his father was offensive coordinator and Watters turned into a game-changer in both the pass game and run game. “I was only in middle school, so I can’t act like I really knew strategically what was going on,” Shanahan said. “But he was a really cool player. I loved talking to him and hanging out with him up in Rocklin at training camp.” Mike Holmgren, a San Francisco native who was a 49ers assistant from 1986 to 1991 as quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator, is a coach finalist. — Staff writer Cam Inman contributed to this report
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President-elect Donald Trump “should not be threatening his political opponents with jail time,” Sen. Adam Schiff — one of those being threatened — said Tuesday. During an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Trump said Sunday that members of the special House committee that investigated the January 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection should go to jail. He said the committee destroyed its records, which Vice Chair Liz Cheney said is a “ridiculous and false” charge. But in fact, Trump said, “Cheney was behind it. And so is Bennie Thompson and everybody on that committee,” he said. “For what they did, honestly, they should go to jail.” Trump told “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker he would not direct his FBI director or attorney general to send them to jail. “Not at all,” he said, but added, ‘They’ll have to look at that.” Schiff, then a Los Angeles-area congressman, was a member of the committee. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., was chairman and former Rep. Cheney, R-Wy., was vice chairman. The committee had two Republicans and seven Democrats, and it gained widespread publicity as it held hearings and revealed details about the involvement of Trump and his allies in their efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. It issued its final report two years ago. Schiff, sworn in as California’s junior U.S. senator Monday afternoon, was appearing at a news conference Tuesday with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who was introducing him. They were asked about Trump’s threats . Schumer was quick to defend Schiff. “Look, bottom line is we all know Sen. Schiff did a very good job on the hearings. He broke no laws whatsoever. The truth stands for itself,” Schumer said. Schiff weighed in, saying of Trump’s comments: “That’s not the kind of talk we should hear from the president in a democracy nor do I think that a pardon is necessary for members of the Jan. 6 committee.” The White House has been considering preemptive pardons for some who could be subject to Trump administration investigations. Schiff has said repeatedly he’s not interested in a pardon. He reiterated he was “proud of the work we did on that committee. It was a fundamental oversight obligation, to investigate the first attempt to interfere with the peaceful transfer of power in our history.” ©2024 McClatchy Washington Bureau. Visit mcclatchydc.com . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.