Newsmakers

Sidelined Running back Fred Jackson will miss the rest of the year with a broken bone in his lower right leg, an injury that could derail Buffalo’s once-promising season. The team placed Jackson on injured reserve Wednesday, hours after Bills coach Chan Gailey said Jackson wouldn’t play Sunday in a pivotal game against the New York Jets. Jackson’s best season was cut short after he was hurt in Sunday’s blowout loss to Miami. Now, the Bills will face the challenge of trying to erase an 11-year playoff drought without their most explosive offensive threat.

• Houston Texans coach Gary Kubiak woke up to the bad news he knew was probably inevitable. Doctors told quarterback Matt Schaub that he’ll need season-ending surgery to repair a Lisfranc injury in his right foot, and Houston put Schaub on injured reserve and signed Kellen Clemens. Kubiak was hoping Schaub might still return this season after he was hurt in Houston’s 37-9 win over Tampa Bay on Nov. 13.

Denied Despite numerous reports saying he’s all but set to become Ohio State’s next football coach, Urban Meyer said that is not the case. Several websites, TV stations and The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch have reported that Meyer has reached an agreement in principle with Ohio State and, barring any last-minute problems, will be introduced as the Buckeyes’ coach next week.

Honored Montana coach Robin Pflugrad is the Big Sky Conference football coach of the year, as voted on by conference coaches. In his second season as head coach, Pflugrad guided the Grizzlies to a co-Big Sky Conference championship with a 7-1 record, including an upset of then top-ranked Montana State last weekend.

Replaced Car owner Richard Childress predicted at the start of the season that one of his drivers would win NASCAR’s championship. So after falling short for a second consecutive season, Kevin Harvick will have a new crew in 2012. Richard Childress Racing announced that Shane Wilson will replace Gil Martin as crew chief of Harvick’s No. 29 team.