KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Chiefs wide receiver Mecole Hardman says he spent part of last season in the hospital after an abdominal injury caused him to lose feeling in his legs. Hardman signed with the Jets in free agency and was traded back to the team where he won two Super Bowls earlier this week. Hardman says the injury occurred against Tennessee and caused him to miss the rest of the season. Doctors believe it was a condition that causes inflammation of the joint between the left and right pubic bone, and that caused swelling and pain in the groin and abdomen. Hardman is healthy now and hopes to help the Chiefs as soon as Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Patrick Mahomes says he “jumped” at the chance to invest in a Formula One team when he was asked to join a group of celebrity backers behind the Alpine team. The Kansas City Chiefs quarterback, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and golfer Rory McIlroy were among a group of top sports names announced as joining the Otro Capital investment. The F1 season resumes this week at the United States Grand Prix in Austin. Otro had previously announced an investor group headlined by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Travis Etienne ran for two touchdowns, Foyesade Oluokun returned an interception for a score, and Christian Kirk’s 44-yard touchdown after a short catch over the middle lifted the Jacksonville Jaguars to a 31-24 victory over the New Orleans Saints. Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence returned from a sprained knee that forced him out of the final minutes of a victory over Indianapolis on Sunday. He led Jacksonville with 59 yards rushing and completed 20 of 29 passes for 204 yards and one TD to help the Jags win their fourth straight. The Saints were in position for a tying TD when they drove inside the Jacksonville 10 in the final minute only to stall out on four straight incomplete passes.
HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — Raiders quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo will not play Sunday because of a back injury when Las Vegas visits the Chicago Bears, a person with knowledge of the situation said. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the Raiders have not announced Garoppolo’ playing status. Either 15-year veteran Brian Hoyer or rookie Aidan O’Connell will start for Las Vegas. Hoyer played the second half of Sunday’s 21-17 victory over the New England Patriots when Garoppolo was injured. O’Connell started and played the entire game when the Raiders lost at the Los Angeles Chargers 24-17 on Oct. 1.
MANHATTAN, Kansas (AP) — Kansas State will be trying to remain in the Big 12 title hunt when it plays TCU on Saturday in a rematch of their conference championship game a year ago. The Wildcats are coming off a win over Texas Tech in which freshman quarterback Avery Johnson ran for a school record-tying five touchdowns. It was a nice bounceback after the Wildcats lost the previous week at Oklahoma State. The Horned Frogs also bounced back from consecutive Big 12 losses to blow out BYU. Freshman quarterback Josh Hoover threw for 439 yards and four touchdowns in his first career start against the Cougars.
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Oklahoma quarterback Dillon Gabriel looks forward to facing his former school. Gabriel passed for more than 8,000 yards at UCF, then transferred well before the announcement that the Knights would leave the American Athletic Conference for the Big 12. UCF is playing its first Big 12 season now, creating the matchup between Gabriel’s past and present teams. Gabriel’s decision has worked out. He’s a Heisman Trophy hopeful and the sixth-ranked Sooners have a clear path to a spot in the Big 12 title game.
CINCINNATI, Ohio (AP) — Baylor and Cincinnati have never met on the football field. That changes Saturday. The Bearcats enter the matchup as losers of four straight following a 30-10 defeat to Iowa State last week. Cincinnati now hosts a Baylor squad that is rested and ready following a bye week. The Bears are seeking their second consecutive road win after toppling UCF 36-35 on Sept. 30. Baylor rallied from a 35-7 deficit.
UNDATED (AP) — Oklahoma State is riding a two-game winning streak on the strength of running back Ollie Gordon. The sophomore will be going after his fourth straight 100-yard rushing performance at West Virginia. Last week Gordon scored three touchdowns and set career highs with 168 rushing yards and 116 receiving yards against Kansas. West Virginia has allowed just one 100-yard rushing performance this season. The Cowboys will play their first road game in a month, while West Virginia is playing at home for the first time over that span. The Mountaineers are coming off a 41-39 loss at Houston on a last-second Hail Mary TD.
PROVO, Utah (AP) — BYU and Texas Tech face a must-win contest to keep their bowl hopes on track. The Cougars are reeling on defense after surrendering a season-high 447 passing yards in a 44-11 loss at TCU and need a victory with back-to-back road games against Texas and West Virginia looming. The Red Raiders are looking to get back on track after they faded in the second half of a 38-21 home loss to Kansas State.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — JosĂ© Abreu hit a three-run homer right after Yordan Alvarez’s tiebreaking sacrifice fly, and the Houston Astros pulled even in the AL Championship Series with a 10-3 victory over the Texas Rangers in Game 4. The Astros led 3-0 only four batters into the game. They responded immediately after Texas got even on Corey Seager’s opposite-field homer in the third inning. Adolis GarcĂa also homered for the wild-card Rangers, who have dropped two games in a row at home after starting this postseason with seven consecutive wins — six on the road. Game 5 is Friday afternoon at Texas before the best-of-seven series shifts back to Houston for Game 6 on Sunday. Jose Altuve had three hits and scored three times in his 100th career playoff game.
PHOENIX (AP) — Ketel Marte capped a three-hit afternoon with a walk-off single in the ninth, rookie Brandon Pfaadt pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings and the Arizona Diamondbacks rallied to beat the Philadelphia Phillies 2-1 to close to 2-1 in the NL Championship Series. On the verge of falling behind 3-0 in the best-of-seven series, Arizona tied the score on Lourdes Gurriel Jr.’s RBI double. Gurriel opened the ninth with a leadoff walk off Craig Kimbrel, stole second and took third on Pavin Smith’s infield single. Marte drove in the tiebreaking run with one out.
UNDATED (AP) — Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh denied having any knowledge or involvement in plotting to steal opponents’ play-calling signals by sending representatives to their games. He also said he and his staff would fully cooperate with an NCAA investigation into the allegations against his program. The Big Ten conference provided no further details, only to say that it had notified Michigan’s upcoming opponents about the investigation. The second-ranked Wolverines play at Michigan State on Saturday. The NCAA does not have rules specifically against stealing signs but does prohibit in-person advanced scouting of opponents and also has bylaws prohibiting unsportsmanlike activities.
AP-Scorecard
Here are the scores from yesterday's sports events:
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AMERICAN LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Final Houston 10 Texas 3
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NATIONAL LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Final Arizona 2 Philadelphia 1
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NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PRESEASON
Final Boston 127 Charlotte 99
Final Minnesota 114 Chicago 105
Final Detroit 118 Oklahoma City 116
Final Sacramento 116 Utah 113
Final Denver 103 L.A. Clippers 90
Final Phoenix 123 L.A. Lakers 100
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NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Final Nashville 4 N-Y Rangers 1
Final Florida 3 Toronto 1
Final Tampa Bay 4 Vancouver 3
Final Calgary 4 Buffalo 3
Final Philadelphia 4 Edmonton 1
Final Vegas 5 Winnipeg 3
Final Arizona 6 St. Louis 2
Final Los Angeles 7 Minnesota 3
Final Dallas 3 Anaheim 2
Final Seattle 7 Carolina 4
Final Colorado 4 Chicago 0
Final Boston 3 San Jose 1
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NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Final Jacksonville 31 New Orleans 24
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TODAY'S SPORTS SCHEDULE
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AMERICAN LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Houston at Texas 5:07 p.m.
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NATIONAL LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Philadelphia at Arizona 8:07 p.m.
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NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PRESEASON
Atlanta at Philadelphia 7 p.m.
Cleveland at Indiana 7 p.m.
Flamengo Flamengo at Orlando 7 p.m.
Washington at Toronto 7:30 p.m.
Detroit at Dallas 8 p.m.
Memphis at Milwaukee 8 p.m.
Miami at Houston 8 p.m.
San Antonio at Golden State 10 p.m.
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NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Calgary at Columbus 7 p.m.
New Jersey at N-Y Islanders 7:30 p.m.
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