In brief: Lions kicker Hanson has knee surgery
Football: Injuries are piling up on teams across the NFL three weeks into training camp and Detroit hasn’t escaped.
Longtime kicker Jason Hanson, a Mead High and Washington State graduate, two-time Pro Bowl selection and the team’s career leading scorer, underwent what coach Jim Schwartz called a “fairly minor” procedure to treat a nagging knee injury Tuesday morning. The coach wouldn’t say which knee was affected, offering only that the team hopes to have the 18-year veteran back on the field soon.
Hanson, one of only six men in NFL history to kick more than 400 field goals, made both attempts in Saturday’s preseason-opening win over Atlanta, including a 47-yarder that won the game as time expired.
• Bucs ’ Jackson suspended four games: Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety Tanard Jackson was suspended without pay for the first four games of the regular season for violating the NFL’s substances of abuse policy.
The third-year pro’s suspension begins Sept. 5 and will continue through the Bucs’ Oct. 4 game against the Washington Redskins. He will be eligible to return on Oct. 11 against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Citing confidentiality rules, general manager Mark Dominik declined to discuss specifics about the suspension.
• Schilens breaks bone in foot: Oakland Raiders receiver Chaz Schilens broke a bone in his left foot while running a route during Tuesday’s joint practice with the San Francisco 49ers.
Raiders coach Tom Cable didn’t provide a timeline for when Schilens might return, but such an injury would likely sideline Schilens at least a month. X-rays revealed he broke the fifth metatarsal in his foot.
• Champs Sports Bowl gets deal with Big East: The Big East announced a four-year agreement that will give the Champs Sports Bowl the choice of any conference team not headed to a Bowl Championship Series game.
The new deal does, however, allow the Champs Sports Bowl to pick Notre Dame over a Big East team if the Fighting Irish’s record is at least 7-5 and within two wins of the Big East’s No. 2 school.
Bucks, Raptors complete deal
Miscellany: The Toronto Raptors completed a trade with the Bucks, sending Carlos Delfino to Milwaukee as part of a four-player NBA deal.
Toronto acquired forward Amir Johnson and guard-forward Sonny Weems and sent Roko Ukic to Milwaukee along with Delfino, who spent last season in Russia.
• Venus Williams loses in Toronto: Venus Williams’ tuneup for the U.S. Open hit a surprising roadblock with a 1-6, 7-5, 6-4 loss to Ukraine’s Kateryna Bondarenko in the second round of the Rogers Cup.
Williams, seeded third, lost to an opponent ranked No. 64.
• Breeder arraigned on cruelty charges: Horse breeder Ernest Paragallo, who was banned from racing after 177 malnourished horses were seized in a raid of his upstate New York farm, has been arraigned on 35 counts of animal cruelty.
Paragallo appeared in Greene County Court but didn’t enter a plea. Paragallo remains free on $5,000 bail and has denied abusing the animals. If convicted of the misdemeanor counts, the Long Island resident could face up to two years in jail and $35,000 in fines.
• Former coach re-indicted in death case: A grand jury has re-indicted a former Kentucky high school football coach on an additional charge in the case of a player who collapsed at practice and later died.
The indictment charges David Jason Stinson with wanton endangerment in the case of 15-year-old Max Gilpin, who died three days after collapsing in Louisville last August.
Stinson was already facing a reckless homicide charge in Gilpin’s death. He has pleaded not guilty.
• Midland wins American Legion crown: Kyle O’Boyle had three hits, scored three runs and was the winning pitcher as Midland, Mich., drubbed Medford, Ore., 11-4 to win the American Legion World Series in Fargo, N.D.