Seahawks’ Lynch sidelined
Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch will sit out Sunday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
It will be the second straight game Lynch misses due to a hamstring injury. He suffered the injury against the Chicago Bears in Week Three and missed last Monday’s game against the Detroit Lions.
Lynch had played in 61 consecutive regular-season games prior to sitting out versus Detroit.
Running back Fred Jackson (ankle) is questionable after being injured against Detroit, meaning rookie Thomas Rawls could be the starter for the second straight game.
Bengals’ Dalton answering boos
Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton, off to the hottest start of his career, may be responding after being booed at a celebrity softball game this summer.
Offensive coordinator Hue Jackson thinks the softball game held a couple of days before the Major League Baseball All-Star Game in Cincinnati was a “turning point” for Dalton.
Dalton, who has made two trips to the Pro Bowl, was booed by local fans when he took his first at bat in July. Dalton shrugged off the boos later, saying at the time “I’m not worried about it.”
“I truly believe that was a turning point for Andy,” Jackson told Peter King of TheMMQB.com. “I’m not going to tell you it didn’t bother him. It did.
“When you have the success he has had — four seasons in the league, four times in the playoffs — getting booed in your own city, that has to hurt a bit.
“But he was able to hit one over the fence for a home run. And he flipped the bat. His message was sort of, ‘You might not like me now, but you’re going to love me later.’”
The Bengals are 4-0.
NBA suspends Utah’s Booker
Utah Jazz forward Trevor Booker has been suspended one game for striking Los Angeles Lakers center Roy Hibbert with an open hand to the head.
Kiki VanDeWeghe, the NBA’s executive vice president of basketball operations, announced the punishment Friday.
The incident, for which Booker was assessed two technical fouls and ejected, occurred with 7:14 remaining in the third quarter of Utah’s 117-114 preseason win over the Lakers on Tuesday in Honolulu.
Booker’s suspension without pay will begin with the first game of the 2015-16 regular season for which he is eligible and physically able to play.
Ducks sign D Despres to extension
The Anaheim Ducks signed defenseman Simon Despres to a five-year contract extension Friday through the 2020-21 NHL season.
The deal is worth $18.5 million, an average of $3.7 million per season, a source told ESPN.com.
Despres, 24, has recorded 39 points (six points, 33 assists) with a plus-29 rating and 142 penalty minutes in 160 career NHL games with the Ducks and Pittsburgh Penguins. Despres, who was acquired from the Penguins on March 2, also tallied one goal and six assists with eight penalty minutes in 22 career Stanley Cup playoff games.