Patriots acquire Van Noy, send Derby to Broncos
The New England Patriots acquired linebacker Keith Van Noy from the Detroit Lions and shipped tight end A.J. Derby to the Denver Broncos in two separate trades on Tuesday.
New England received a fifth-round draft pick from the Broncos in the deal for Derby. The Patriots sent a sixth-rounder to the Lions and received Van Noy plus a seventh-round pick.
Van Noy, a second-round pick in 2014, has been considered an underachiever with the Lions. But New England was looking for insurance at linebacker with Jamie Collins (hip) and Dont’a Hightower (knee) both playing through injuries.
Derby was a sixth-round pick in 2015 and doesn’t have an NFL catch. Denver waived safety Shiloh Keo to open up a roster spot. Keo has played with the Houston Texans and the Broncos since reaching the NFL in 2011.
Detroit re-signed linebacker Josh Bynes to fill the opening created by Van Noy’s trade.
Bynes had a career-best 82 tackles for the Lions last season but was released with an injury settlement after suffering a knee injury in the preseason.
Bruins G Khudobin out 2-3 weeks
Boston Bruins backup goaltender Anton Khudobin sustained an upper-body injury and is expected to miss approximately three weeks.
Goaltender Zane McIntyre was recalled on an emergency basis from Providence and the NHL’s Bruins also assigned defenseman Rob O’Gara to the American Hockey League affiliate.
Khudobin has struggled in two games with Boston this season, posting an 0-2-0 mark with a 4.20 goals-against average and .849 save percentage. The 30-year-old Russian has recorded a 44-41-8 mark with a 2.45 goals-against average and .917 save percentage in 102 career appearances since being selected in the seventh round of the 2004 draft by the Minnesota Wild.
McIntyre is making his second recall to Boston after serving as the backup for the club against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday. The 24-year-old Minnesota native has posted a 1-0-0 mark with AHL-bests in goals-against average (0.44) and save percentage (.977) this season.
O’Gara has yet to dent the scoresheet in three games this season with Boston.
Namath apologizes to Jets QB
Hall of Famer Joe Namath took to social media to apologize to Geno Smith two days removed from publicly questioning the toughness of the current New York Jets quarterback.
An MRI exam revealed on Monday that the 26-year-old Smith sustained a torn ACL in New York’s 24-16 victory over the Baltimore Ravens at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.
“My bad Geno,” Namath wrote on Twitter. “In the dark ages we players had the say. I hope you heal and play as long as you choose! Joe”
Duke freshman Tatum suffers foot injury
Duke freshman Jayson Tatum reportedly suffered a foot injury during Tuesday’s Pro Day at Duke.
ESPN college basketball analyst Seth Greenberg, who attended the event, tweeted, “Jayson Tatum goes down with some type of foot injury. Didn’t look good.”
There were no other immediate details, but if Tatum is sidelined for any significant period, it will be a blow to the Blue Devils, who are No. 1 in a number of preseason rankings.
Tatum, a 6-foot-8 forward, is rated the nation’s No. 3 overall recruit in the class of 2016 by ESPN.
Duke’s other highly touted freshman forward, Harry Giles, recently had knee surgery and is expected to be sidelined when the Blue Devils open the regular season Nov. 11 against Marist at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Giles is ranked the nation’s No. 1 recruit by ESPN.