FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady opened his Saturday news conference by apologizing for lashing out at offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels on the sideline last Sunday, saying it had been bothering him all week.

“I want to apologize to Josh for last week in Buffalo. I know our coaches work really hard, and they are responsible for putting us in a great position to succeed. I just want to get that off my chest,” Brady said in opening remarks, before he answered any questions.

When Brady was asked if those types of outbursts were part of the emotion of football, he replied, “Yeah, but a lot of people see it and they think the nature of our relationship might be something like that, but it’s really the exact opposite of that. I’ve been feeling bad all week and haven’t had a chance to say it. He knows how much I love him.”

The exchange between the two had occurred after the Patriots’ first drive in their 23-3 win over the Bills. Brady had fired an incomplete pass on third-and-11, and as he came to the sideline, McDaniels said something to him that led to a pointed reaction.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, together again.

Real Madrid’s Portuguese scoring sensation moved level with his perennial Argentine counterpart on Thursday, winning the fifth Ballon d’Or of his illustrious career to equal Messi for the all-time lead.

Ronaldo, 32, captured the honour after a wildly successful 2016-17 campaign saw him lead Real Madrid to a second consecutive Champions League crown, while also spearheading the club’s march to the La Liga title, and subsequently captaining Portugal to 2018 World Cup qualification. He was presented with the award in Paris.

Having gotten his hands on the hardware once again, Ronaldo has now claimed football’s top individual honour in four of the last five years, with Messi last winning the award in 2015. The last time the award was not given to either of those players was Kaka’s 2007 victory.

ALLEN PARK, Mich. — Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford is officially questionable for Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with a bruised right hand.

Stafford practiced on a limited basis all week with tape on his right ring and pinkie fingers. Each day in front of the media, Stafford’s throwing amount and velocity improved — from none Wednesday to light throwing Thursday and then more complete throws Friday.

On Friday, Lions coach Jim Caldwell said Stafford was “progressing” and that the quarterback threw the ball “decently” Thursday. He did not give any indication there would be a determination point of how much they needed to see from Stafford — or by when — in order to play him against the Buccaneers, but Stafford said Wednesday that feeling had come back to his hand. On Sunday, he said his hand had briefly gone numb with nerve pain.

“It’ll be important to take a look at it and see how it’s feeling,” Stafford said Wednesday. “And hopefully get it progressing throughout the week.”

The Lions gave backup Jake Rudock more reps during the week just in case Stafford would be unable to play.

The Council of Europe is sceptical about FIFA’s appointment of Maria Claudia Rojas, the chairwoman of the Ethics Committee’s Investigatory Chamber.

A report by the human rights organisation argues that Rojas doesn’t have the skills for the job. Written by Anne Brasseur, a representative from Luxembourg who is a member of the Parti Democratique, it states, according to the Guardian’s David Conn: “Also, her lack of knowledge of English and French is a major obstacle, as almost all documents (relevant to the investigations) are in one of these two languages.

“This is not merely a factor that risks slowing her down in her examination of case files … but it also means – and this is much more problematic – that she is more dependent on the (FIFA) secretariat that assists her and that it is objectively difficult for her to enter into confidential contacts with witnesses or experts.”

Cornel Borbely and Hans-Joachim Eckert were omitted from FIFA’s proposal of the members for its judicial bodies in May. The former was the chairman of the Ethics Committee’s Investigatory Chamber and was replaced by Rojas, a judge from Colombia. The omissions reportedly took place while Gianni Infantino, the president of football’s governing body, was under investigation for two alleged instances of malpractice.

The report concluded that, by removing Borbely and Eckert, FIFA undermined the independence of reformed integrity procedures.

“Regretfully, the general feeling is that FIFA Council and Mr. Infantino, in particular, wished to get rid of persons who might have embarrassed them,” Brasseur wrote.

Brasseur referred to Rojas as a professional “of the highest level and of the highest integrity,” but wrote that her job “calls for experience in the field of criminal investigations, especially financial investigations, which Ms. Rojas does not have. She does not really meet the profile of a ‘prosecutor.'”

Per Conn, Borbely was investigating the alleged role of Vitaly Mutko – Russia’s deputy prime minister, the president of the Football Union of Russia, and a member of the Organising Committee for the World Cup – in state-sponsored doping when he was removed by FIFA.

On Monday, Mutko was excluded by the International Olympic Committee from participatin all future Olympic Games. The decision was announced as the Russian Olympic Committee was suspended by the IOC for the systematic manipulation of the anti-doping rules and system in Russia. FIFA said the decision “has no impact on the preparations for the 2018 World Cup.”