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NFL

Rams to keep season tickets same price in 2017

LOS ANGELES — The Rams, coming off a 4-12 season and suddenly facing competition in the market by the newly named Los Angeles Chargers, will not raise season-ticket prices for the 2017 season.

In an email to season-ticket holders that was sent on Wednesday, the Rams informed fans that 2017 season-ticket prices would remain flat. The note also informed fans that those who renew for 2017 will have priority to choose seats for the $2.6 billion stadium in Inglewood, California, which will open in 2019.

The Rams haven’t made the playoffs since 2004 and haven’t finished with a winning record since 2003.

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Their first season back in L.A. began with much fanfare, with nearly 90,000 fans migrating to Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for the first preseason game. But the Rams followed a 3-1 start to the regular season by losing 11 of 12 games, including each of their last seven. Their offense finished last in the NFL in yards for the second straight season and Jeff Fisher was fired as head coach in the middle of December.

The Rams have since replaced Fisher with Sean McVay, who, at 31, is the youngest head coach in the NFL’s modern era. McVay’s entire coaching staff was announced on Wednesday, with Wade Phillips serving as defensive coordinator and Matt LaFleur being brought in as offensive coordinator.

Last year, the Rams established an eight-tier pricing system for season tickets, with seats ranging from $360 to $2,025.

They sold out in six hours, but interest has probably waned since then.

The Rams will play only seven regular-season games at the Coliseum, against the Seahawks, 49ers, Eagles, Redskins, Texans, Colts and Saints. Another home game will once again take place at Twickenham Stadium in London, this time against the division-rival Cardinals.

NFL

Future is now for Packers CBs Damarious Randall, Quinten Rollins

GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Green Bay Packers’ oldest cornerback is 24 years old. In fact, they’re all 24 years old.

And none of them has more than two seasons of NFL experience.

Unless you’re counting Demetri Goodson, a 27-year-old with three years of experience who probably won’t be ready for the start of the regular season because of an ACL and MCL tear in November.

That’s where the Packers are after they released Sam Shields on Wednesday. Shields’ release did not come as a surprise, and it was the only move the Packers could make with a veteran player who was scheduled to make $9 million this coming season yet had played in only two of the past 23 games, including playoffs, because of concussions.

Damarious Randall recorded three interceptions in 2016 despite missing six games because of groin surgery. Jeff Hanisch/USA TODAY Sports

But it’s a reminder of just what the Packers are facing at cornerback. And why they finished 31st in the NFL in passing yards allowed last season.

They have six corners on the roster who are under contract for next season — LaDarius Gunter, Damarious Randall, Quinten Rollins, Josh Hawkins, Herb Waters and Makinton Dorleant.

Gunter, Randall and Rollins were all part of the 2015 rookie class, while Dorelant, Hawkins and Waters were in the 2016 class. All but Randall and Rollins were undrafted.

The Packers probably got as much out of Gunter as could have been expected last season given his relative inexperience. He played just 10 snaps on defense as a rookie in 2015 only to become their No. 1 cornerback — by default — this past season. He led the cornerback position in playing time in 2016 with more than 1,000 snaps. And there’s always the chance he could develop into the next Shields or Tramon Williams — both undrafted players who became standout starters.

But the Packers drafted Randall and Rollins in the first and second rounds, respectively, in 2015 to be their cornerbacks of the future. And, barring an unexpected marquee veteran signing in free agency, the future is now. Both battled injuries last season but even before Randall and Rollins got banged up, they were inconsistent at best.

“I think when you look at the young men that you just referred to, they did a lot of good things in their first year,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said shortly after the season. “We have a long history here in the last 11 years of first-year players making a big jump in their second year, so you have to factor that into those types of decisions. And those guys, both Randall and Q. Rollins, had multiple injuries to deal with, too. It was a tough go at the cornerback position. I thought [cornerbacks coach] Joe Whitt did a tremendous job getting those guys ready. We just really never had any consistency as far as who we were playing with in multiple weeks. Obviously Gunter gave us the most consistent play in his time, and he deserves a lot of credit for that.”

Randall recorded three interceptions in 10 regular-season games; he missed six others because of groin surgery. But he also saw his playing time reduced at points during the season even when available.

Rollins was fortunate to avoid a major injury when he landed on his head and sustained a neck injury plus a concussion in the regular-season finale.

“I think both those guys will definitely grow for their experience this year,” McCarthy said, “because they both had a lot of adversity that they had to deal with.”

NFL

Source: Giants re-sign Spagnuolo to run defense

The New York Giants have re-signed defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo after a bounce-back campaign that saw his unit transform from the league’s worst to among the best, a source told ESPN on Wednesday.

Spagnuolo returned to the Giants prior to the 2015 season after a short stint with the Baltimore Ravens. His two-year contract ran out after the Super Bowl, but there was little doubt he’d return, as the Giants wanted him back and Spagnuolo wanted an opportunity to build on this past season’s success.

The veteran defensive coordinator led the league’s 10th-ranked defense this season after finishing last in yards allowed in 2015. The Giants allowed the second-fewest points in the NFL this past season and improved dramatically as the year progressed after receiving a significant injection of talent last offseason.

Steve Spagnuolo, whose defense ranked 10th in the NFL this season, will return to the Giants in 2017, a source told ESPN. AP Photo/Julio Cortez

“He’s a guy that didn’t panic when things were going wrong and was never overly excited when they were great,” said All-Pro defensive tackle Damon Harrison in a text to ESPN. Harrison thrived in his first season with the Giants in Spagnuolo’s defense after signing a lucrative free-agent deal last offseason.

“He has this calm about him and assurance that everything would work out for the better defensively, and I think it rubbed off on everybody in our room,” Harrison added. “Great coach!”

Spagnuolo, 57, seemingly pushed all the right buttons until the second half of a playoff loss to the Green Bay Packers.

He will be entering his seventh season as a defensive coordinator, and his third in two stints with the Giants. His previous tenure with the Giants in 2007-08 produced a Super Bowl win over the previously undefeated New England Patriots.

As teams have shuffled their staffs around the league over the past few weeks — even the Atlanta Falcons after reaching the Super Bowl — Giants coach Ben McAdoo is expected to keep most of his staff intact, although they’re still working through some things, according to multiple sources. The Giants (11-5) had a five-game improvement in McAdoo’s first season and returned to the playoffs for the first time in five years.

That means after weeks of evaluation McAdoo will stick with the same offensive coaches who guided one of the league’s lowest-scoring units in 2016. The Giants scored just 19.4 points per game in 2016 after averaging 26.3 the previous year.

Offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan, tight ends coach Kevin Gilbride, quarterbacks coach Frank Cignetti, running backs coach Craig Johnson, wide receivers coach Adam Henry, offensive line coach Mike Solari, assistant line coach Lunda Wells and offensive assistant Ryan Roeder are expected to return. So is special teams coach Tom Quinn and Spagnuolo’s defensive assistants.

McAdoo said he didn’t expect any changes after the Giants’ 38-13 playoff loss to the Packers in the wild-card round.

“No, it’s way too early for that, but I don’t anticipate anything,” McAdoo said then. “Never say never.”

Nothing transpired, and it appears the hope is that bringing the entire coaching staff back for another season should help create continuity as the Giants attempt to build on their success in 2016.

NFL

HOF QB Fouts says T.O. got 'fair evaluation'

Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Fouts was a member of the Hall of Fame selection committee for the first time in Houston, and said he believes receiver Terrell Owens got a fair shake before his case didn’t advance.

“I think his numbers are very worthy, but again on the other side of it, I think his actions on and off the field, on the sidelines, in the locker room, and the fact he played for so many teams and was such a great player, the question that comes back to me is if he was such a great player, why did so many of those teams get rid of him?” Fouts said in a visit with The Midday 180 in Nashville. “And I think we all know the answers.”

In his second year of eligibility, the NFL’s second leading all-time receiver with 15,934 yards failed a second time to advance from the field of 15 to 10. Ultimately up to five of the 15 modern era finalists can be selected for induction.

Upon learning he was not elected, Owens tweeted:

“I think he did receive a fair evaluation of his career, both pros and cons,” Fouts said. “But obviously ripping the Hall of Fame in the process, what good is that going to do. I just don’t understand that. I didn’t understand a lot of things he did in his career.”

Could Fouts have played with Owens?

“Well, that’s a hypothetical type of question,” he said. “All I know is the guys I played with, never had a problem. We were dedicated to what we were trying to do with the [Don] Coryell offense and we were excited about each Sunday we went out and played and never once did I have a player come to me and complain about not getting the ball.

“They understood that I had little control on who was getting the ball, it was the design of the offense against whatever the defense was trying to do to us and they realized and understood being intelligent and good guys that I was doing what was best for the team.”

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