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Bengals RB Mixon will start when cleared to play

CINCINNATI — Cincinnati Bengals coach Zac Taylor made the team’s running back hierarchy explicitly clear Wednesday.

Even though Samaje Perine has done well the past few weeks, the starting spot still belongs to Joe Mixon.

“Joe Mixon’s our starting running back,” Taylor said. “The last game he played, he had five touchdowns. Tremendous effort. And Samaje’s done a really good job filling in.”

Perine has started the last two games while Mixon has been out recovering from a concussion he sustained in the team’s Week 11 win against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Since that game, Perine has rushed for 194 yards, one touchdown and 10 first downs. Perine also has 136 receiving yards during that span, the fourth-highest of any running back according to ESPN Stats & Information research.

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Cincinnati’s rushing attack sputtered early in the season before the team shifted its rushing philosophy from a zone-heavy scheme to a gap scheme. Mixon’s rushing numbers, which were among the worst in the NFL at one point, showed improvement in the middle of the season. In Week 9 against the

Soccer

Report: Saudi club offers Ronaldo contract worth over £100M per year

Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr tabled a grandiose offer to Cristiano Ronaldo worth over £100 million per year, sources told Rob Dawson of ESPN.

The Portuguese forward, a free agent after the “mutual” termination of his Manchester United contract earlier this November, will wait until after the World Cup to decide the next step in his career, Dawson adds.

Al Nassr tendered a three-and-a-half-year deal for Ronaldo’s services. To sweeten the pot, the Saudi outfit is willing to pay the wages he would’ve earned during the final six months of his Manchester United contract, according to Dawson. Ronaldo had roughly £16 million remaining on his deal with the Red Devils before his now-infamous incendiary interview with Piers Morgan fractured his relationship with the club beyond repair.

The Portuguese captain, 37, could yet decide to sign with another European club. With his focus currently on the tournament in Qatar, it’ll take time for a clearer picture of interested suitors to emerge.

Portugal plays its final group-stage match against South Korea on Friday having already qualified for the last 16. Ronaldo’s involvement in the competition will thus extend into next week, at least.

Saudi Arabia is hopeful that having Ronaldo play in its domestic league would boost the country’s presence on the global stage as it bids to host the 2030 World Cup. Earlier this year, Lionel Messi signed a lucrative contract to become a tourism ambassador for the Middle Eastern nation.

NFL

Titans' Ryan Tannehill doesn't see Bengals matchup as a revenge game from playoff loss

6:00 AM ET

  • Turron DavenportESPN

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    • Covered Eagles for USA Today
    • Covered the Ravens for Baltimore Times
    • Played college football at Cheyney University

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The look on the faces of quarterback Ryan Tannehill and other Tennessee Titans players said it all as they walked off the field after a crushing home loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in the divisional round of the playoffs last season.

Having finished the regular season with the top seed in the AFC and earning a first-round bye, the Titans had a golden opportunity to do something special, but it was swept from under their feet.

With three interceptions in the 19-16 loss, Tannehill bore the bulk of the criticism. He called the loss “brutal,” saying it would take a long time to get over it.

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Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill threw three interceptions in Tennessee’s Divisional Round playoff loss last season. The Titans are set to play the Bengals on Sunday. Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

“That was last year, and half this team wasn’t even here,” Tannehill said about the matchup. “This is a new team facing another new team. Obviously, it’s a game that we want to win. But it has nothing to do with last year.”

Tannehill is right. The Titans only returned 29 players from last season.

But through eight games this season — he Everything you need this week:
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Tannehill threw for 333 yards and two touchdowns in last week’s 27-17 win over the Green Bay Packers. It was his most passing yards in a game since Week 2 of last season when he threw for 347 yards against the Seattle Seahawks.

Rookie receiver Treylon Burks came alive in the Packers game, posting seven receptions for 111 yards. Burks went through his share of trials and tribulations during minicamp when he faced questions about his conditioning and asthma which kept him from participating.

Through it all, Tannehill was a steadying force for Burks and showed confidence in the rookie from the start.

“He has been really encouraging,” Burks said. “He’s always making sure that I’m in the right spots. He just has always had confidence in me.”

Burks obviously didn’t play in last season’s postseason game, but his presence the last two games after missing the previous four with a turf toe injury has maybe sparked two of Tannehill’s best two performances of the season.

That’s the confidence they hope to build on against the Bengals, whether it’s a redemption game or not.

Soccer

Manchester United terminate Ronaldo's contract by mutual consent

Manchester United released Cristiano Ronaldo on Tuesday, bringing an end to the 37-year-old’s tumultuous second spell with the club.

The move comes after Ronaldo criticized the Glazer family, United manager Erik ten Hag, and his now-former teammates in a scathing interview with British broadcaster Piers Morgan last week.

United waited until they could review the 90-minute interview in its entirety before launching legal proceedings last Friday and eventually voiding Ronaldo’s contract.

“Ronaldo is to leave Manchester United by mutual agreement with immediate effect,” the club said in a statement.

Ronaldo’s deal would have expired in June 2023. Now a free agent, he can sign with any club at any point.

He was earning an estimated £500,000 per week at United.

Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea, Roma, and Napoli have all been linked with Ronaldo in recent months.

“I love Manchester United and I love the fans, that will never ever change. However, it feels like the right time for me to seek a new challenge,” Ronaldo said in a statement obtained by the BBC’s Simon Stone. “I wish the team every success for the remainder of the season and for the future.”

The Portuguese international, who’s playing in his fifth World Cup, told Morgan he felt “betrayed” by United’s attempts to offload him in the summer. Ronaldo also said the club didn’t believe him when his newborn daughter was hospitalized in August, that he has no respect for Ten Hag, and that United have failed to upgrade their facilities since he made his first debut for the club in 2003.

The Red Devils re-signed Ronaldo from Juventus in August 2021. He went on to lead the team in scoring, racking up 24 goals in 39 total appearances.

But things seemed to change when United fired Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as manager last November. Ronaldo criticized the club’s decision to hire Ralf Rangnick, who served in an interim capacity for the remainder of the 2021-22 campaign, before butting heads with Ten Hag.

Ten Hag repeatedly told reporters Ronaldo was a part of his plans for the 2022-23 season. But the Dutchman started him just four times in the Premier League and dropped him from the squad altogether when Ronaldo refused to come on as a substitute in a 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur.

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