National Football League Sports

BOSTON (AP) — New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez had a connection to a homicide victim found in an industrial park near the athlete's home, but family and officials were mum on the nature of their relationship, two days after police first visited the upscale division. The body...

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (AP) — Free agent and former Packers linebacker Desmond Bishop has visited the Vikings. Defensive coordinator Alan Williams said after minicamp practice Wednesday that Bishop went through a "good workout" with team officials. Williams deferred to general manager Rick...

BOSTON (AP) — A man found dead in an industrial park about a mile from New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez's home had been killed, a prosecutor said Wednesday. The state medical examiner identified the man as 27-year-old Odin Lloyd and ruled he was a homicide victim, Bristol...

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (AP) — Adrian Peterson is back to normal again. Last summer, his knee rehabilitation was the primary focus. During the winter, he was recovering from sports hernia surgery. Now, he's added some off-the-field commitments and is running the ball in practice for the Minnesota...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Coach Mike Munchak knows from personal experience how tough practicing three straight days can be, so he decided to give his Tennessee Titans a break. He decided at the beginning of the workouts that he would hold a two-day minicamp, which ended their offseason program...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Jacksonville owner Shad Khan and the Jaguars are only focused on the one game a year the NFL wants them to play in London the next four years. However, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell recently said the league could ask the Jaguars to play two games a year in London....

IRVING, Texas (AP) — The Dallas Cowboys have signed both of their third-round draft picks to four-year contracts. Baylor receiver Terrance Williams was the 74th overall pick in April, six spots ahead of Georgia Southern safety J.J. Wilcox. The team announced the signings Wednesday. Exact...

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Former New York Giants punter and radio analyst Dave Jennings has died. He was 61. The Giants announced that Jennings died at his home in Upper Saddle River on Wednesday morning. The team was informed of his death by his sister Susan Jennings and several close...

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers signed defensive end Justin Smith to a two-year contract extension Wednesday to keep one of their most important defensive players off the free-agent market next offseason. Smith, 33, has been the anchor to one of the NFL's top defenses the...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee Titans have agreed to terms with veteran offensive tackle Barry Richardson. The Titans did not announce terms of the deal Wednesday. But the 6-foot-6, 319-pound Richardson has started 33 games at right tackle during his five NFL seasons. He was a...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee Titans gave Michael Griffin a big contract extension a year ago. Now they hope they've given him enough help so that he plays like a Pro Bowl safety once again. The Titans shuffled Griffin back and forth between the safety positions last season, and he...

CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago Tribune sports writer Dan Pompei has won the Dick McCann Award from the Professional Football Writers of America for his work covering the NFL for 28 years. The 52-year-old Pompei is one of the 46 selectors for the Pro Football Hall of Fame and one of nine members of...

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) — Steven Jackson is still trying to feel his way through his first offseason with the Atlanta Falcons. The NFL's active career-leading rusher has been reporting to work early and staying late so he can make a good impression on his new team. There's a lot to learn...

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have signed veteran free agent cornerback Michael Adams. The team announced the move Wednesday, adding the seventh-year pro to the roster and waiving guard Jeremy Lewis. Adams started seven of 74 games he's appeared in with the Arizona Cardinals...

NORTH ATTLEBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — State and local police spent hours at the home of New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez on Tuesday night as another group of officers searched an industrial park about a mile away where a body was discovered the day before. Police at the scene and...

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski underwent back surgery on Tuesday, his fourth operation this year. The latest surgery was performed by Dr. Robert Watkins and was successful, said Drew Rosenhaus, Gronkowski's agent. On May 20, the Patriots star had the...

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (AP) — Soon after the Green Bay Packers released Desmond Bishop, the seventh-year veteran linebacker was telling Wisconsin reporters about his next step. Bishop said he's visiting the Minnesota Vikings, the natural move for so many former Packers players looking for a new...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tired of being pushed around and run over last season, the Tennessee Titans want to make sure that doesn't happen in 2013. So they got bigger up front. And wider. The Titans had only one starter on the defensive line who pushed the scale to 300 pounds last season, so...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — The Jacksonville Jaguars have signed their second- and third-round draft picks. Safety Johnathan Cyprien and cornerback Dwayne Gratz inked contracts Tuesday, leaving the team with four draft picks unsigned. Seventh-rounders Jeremy Harris and Demetrius McCray signed...

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission said Tuesday it has paid $2 million to the St. Louis Rams to cover the team's legal fees for the dispute over upgrades to the Edward Jones Dome that resulted in arbitration. CVC spokeswoman Donna Andrews said payment was made...

ATLANTA (AP) — Atlanta Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez has won the 2013 Good Guy Award from the Professional Football Writers of America. Gonzalez, who recently announced he will play one more season after originally planning to retire, has been honored for his professionalism in helping pro...

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — The Green Bay Packers have released linebacker Desmond Bishop. The move Monday was expected as a cost-saving measure. Bishop was due to make $3.464 million this season after missing all of last year with a hamstring injury. The 28-year-old inside linebacker had 310...

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Chuck Pagano spent most of last season finding new ways to coach football. During his ordeal of chemotherapy treatments for leukemia, he watched games from his bed with his wife, communicated with players and assistants by phone and text messages and scoured game film on...

DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Lions have signed tight end Matt Veldman and released tight end Dominique Curry. The moves were announced Monday. Veldman was cut by the Jacksonville Jaguars last week. The former North Dakota State standout signed with the Jaguars a year ago, but didn't play...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A contrite Chad Johnson apologized Monday for disrespecting a judge when the former NFL star slapped his attorney on the backside in court last week and was released from jail after only a week instead of 30 days. Broward County Circuit Judge Kathleen McHugh...