The Vikings theory was reasonably sound.

Gone is Ryan Kelly, the rugged veteran who occupied for the C1 spot for a single season (with no shortage of injury turmoil). Minnesota could opt for one of Blake Brandel, Michael Jurgens, or Zeke Correll. None can match Kelly, though.

Would anything have been different by adding Elgton Jenkins?

The large lad has been an excellent player for the Packers for a long time. He’s one of the few who can match — or surpass — Brandel’s versatility. Bringing him to the Twin Cities to lock down the center spot had merit until it evaporated.

Vikings Theory about Elgton Jenkins Evaporates

Ian Rapoport, The NFL Network, tosses over the update.

“The #Browns are expected to sign former #Packers Pro Bowl C Elgton Jenkins,” Rapoport begins, “per me and @TomPelissero. He can play guard or center for Cleveland. It’s a 2-year, $24M deal with $20M guaranteed.” At least in a general sense, the Jenkins deal mirrors Kelly’s insofar as it involves a veteran interior lineman playing on a two-year deal and for a similar financial commitment (Kelly was sitting at $20 million).

In Mr. Jenkins, the Browns are getting a good one. Not as well-known as many of the NFL’s top talents, but someone who has been rock solid for a little while. His résumé shows a pair of trips to the Pro Bowl.

Consider what he has done across his career in terms of snap counts across the o-line positions:

• LT: 524 Snaps
• LG: 4,161 Snaps
• C: 906 Snaps
• RG: 2 Snaps
• RT: 374 Snaps

Cleveland would be wise to play to Jenkins’ strengths, allowing him to settle into where’s he’s comfortable. Seldom, though, are the Cleveland Browns a wise football team. For his part, Elgton Jenkins has proven to be quite selfless and team first in his approach, rightly commanding a pile of respect.

Around Minnesota, there’s ongoing concern about what’s going to take place at quarterback, especially with the Geno Smith surprise. Whoever is passing the ball is going to have a better time if the o-line is solid.

Starting left tackle Christian Darrisaw has had his deal restructured. He’s not going anywhere. Left guard Donovan Jackson is coming off an impressive rookie season; right guard Will Fries will want to bounce back from a modest effort in 2025. Meanwhile, Brian O’Neill is still doing his thing. The only factor that appears likely to get adjusted is his deal, which expires after the season. Look for an extension.

The opening at center is where things get uncertain.

At the very least, the Vikings can proceed with the understanding that the floor is known. The 2025 season offered a ton of tape on what Jurgens and Brandel can do at center. Did either show enough to fully settle the debate? Or, perhaps, did the coaching staff see the exact opposite, red flags that need to get addressed?

Elgton Jenkins, 30, comes in at 6’5″ and 311 pounds. The Packers gained cap space by moving on but aren’t as good as they were with him on the roster.

Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference, PFF, and Over the Cap helped with this piece.

Senior Editor for Vikings Territory & PurplePTSD . Twitter & Bluesky: @VikingsGazette. Email: k.joudry[at]vikingsterritory[dot]com. Canadian. Jude 1:24-25.

Russian tennis player Alana Tuayeva has been banned from professional tennis for three years and nine months after admitting to match-fixing offences.

The sanction was confirmed by the International Tennis Integrity Agency, which announced that Tuayeva accepted the punishment along with a £22,000 fine, part of which has been suspended.

According to the ITIA, the 26-year-old admitted to fixing two of her own matches on the ITF World Tennis Tour in 2023 and 2024. By accepting the charges, Tuayeva also waived her right to a hearing before an independent Anti-Corruption Hearing Officer.

Tuayeva, whose highest singles ranking was No. 1282 in the world, has already been under provisional suspension since December 19, 2025. That period will count toward her ban, meaning she will be eligible to return on September 18, 2029, provided any outstanding fines are paid.

While serving the suspension, Tuayeva is prohibited from competing in, coaching at, or attending any event sanctioned by major tennis bodies, including the ATP Tour, WTA Tour, and the International Tennis Federation.

The case forms part of ongoing efforts by tennis authorities to combat corruption and protect the integrity of the sport at all levels.

Tottenham replaced goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky in just the 17th minute of their Champions League last-16 tie at Atletico Madrid after conceding three goals inside the opening quarter of an hour.

The Czech Republic stopper, 22, endured a nightmare start and interim boss Igor Tudor quickly replaced him with Guglielmo Vicario.

Italian Vicario has started the majority of Tottenham‘s games this season but was dropped for Tuesday’s first-leg tie in Madrid after being criticised for poor performances.

However, Vicario also conceded five minutes after coming on as Atletico stormed into a 4-0 lead by the 22nd minute, before Pedro Porro reduced the deficit by half-time.

Tottenham signed Kinsky from Slavia Prague in a deal worth about £12.5m in January 2025.

His first error – a slip – led to Marcos Llorente making it 1-0 in the sixth minute, before Antoine Griezmann added a second eight minutes later.

Kinsky – who last started in October for the second of two Carabao Cup games this season – was also at fault for Atletico’s third goal, gifting the ball straight to Julian Alvarez to finish easily in the 15th minute.

The keeper had his head in his hands after that horror show and was taken off less than two minutes later, going straight down the tunnel.

BBC Sport’s chief football writer Phil McNulty, who was at the match, said: “I’ve watched a lot of football but not sure I’ve ever witnessed anything quite like this.

“Not just those mistakes, but Igor Tudor’s decision to take Antonin Kinsky off.

“What a horrible night for the young keeper. The Atleti fans actually gave him sympathetic applause but not sure how he can be consoled after that.”

BBC Sport’s Spanish football reporter Elizabeth Conway, also at the match, added: “Kevin Danso, Cristian Romero and Pedro Porro went straight over to Antonin Kinsky as he left the pitch to show their support.

“It was a disastrous 17 minutes for the 22-year-old Czech.”

After training with ChatGPT over the last six months, Ukrainian biathlete Maksym Murashkovskyi won a silver medal at the 2026 Milan Cortina Paralympic Games.

Murashkovskyi, 25, said he used the AI chatbot in a variety of ways throughout his training.

“For the past six months, I have been training with ChatGPT,” Murashkovskyi said, according to The Athletic. “It was not only tactics. It was half of my training plan, motivation, etcetera. So it was a huge volume of all of my training.

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Silver medalist Maksym Murashkovskyi of Team Ukraine and guide Vitaliy Trush celebrate on the podium during the medal ceremony for the Para Biathlon Men’s Individual Visually Impaired on day two of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Paralympic Games at Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium in Val di Fiemme, Italy, on March 8, 2026. (Buda Mendes/Getty Images)

“I used it as a psychologist, coach and sometimes, as a doctor.”

Murashkovskyi won a few medals at the Para Biathlon World Cup in January and gave credit to ChatGPT for his success.

“I also won a few medals there, and even a gold. So I can give great credit to ChatGPT,” he said. “I believe in it, it is a revolutionary technology.”

IRAN’S FLAG REMOVED FROM PARALYMPICS OPENING CEREMONY AFTER SOLE ATHLETE WITHDRAWS OVER TRAVEL SAFETY CONCERNS

Gold medalist Hesong Dang of Team People’s Republic of China and guide Hongda Lu, silver medalist Maksym Murashkovskyi of Team Ukraine and guide Vitaliy Trush, and bronze medalist Dmytro Suiarko of Team Ukraine and guide Oleksandr Nikonovych pose for a photo on the podium during the medal ceremony for the Para Biathlon Men’s Individual Visually Impaired on day two of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Paralympic Games at Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium in Val di Fiemme, Italy, on March 8, 2026. (Buda Mendes/Getty Images)

Murashkovskyi was asked if AI could replace coaches, psychologists and doctors, and he agreed to an extent.

“Not completely for five to 10 years. But part of it, definitely.”

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Maksym Murashkovskyi of Team Ukraine approaches the finish line with guide Vitaliy Trush during the Para Biathlon Individual Visually Impaired on day two of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Paralympic Games at Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium in Val di Fiemme, Italy, on March 8, 2026. (Buda Mendes/Getty Images)

Murashkovskyi competed under the NS3 classification, which is applied to athletes with the lowest level of visual impairment. He ran the race alongside his guide skier, Vitaly Trush. For the NS2 and NS3 competitors, guide skiers are optional, but are mandatory for NS1 athletes.

Murashkovskyi finished with a time of 33:41.1 in the men’s individual vision-impaired event on Sunday. He was just over two minutes behind Chinese gold medalist Dang Hesong, and beat his compatriot Dmytro Suiarko for second place.

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Tottenham keeper Antonin Kinsky was replaced just 17 minutes into his side’s Champions League last-16 first leg after a disastrous debut.

Head coach Igor Tudor opted to replace first-choice keeper Guglielmo Vicario with Kinsky for their knockout tie against Atletico Madrid, despite the Czech having only made two appearances this season, both in the Carabao Cup.

It was a baptism of fire for Kinsky, who endured a torrid start in just his 13th appearance for the club.

The 22-year-old let in Atletico’s first goal just six minutes into proceedings at the Metropolitano.

He slipped on a routine pass out from the back amid damp conditions in Madrid, fumbling the ball and allowing Ademola Lookman to gain possession.

Marcos Llorente then slotted home an easy finish in an embarrassing start for crisis-ridden Spurs, who were fourth in the Champions League table going into the knockouts but in relegation form at home, and have carried that dire run into the knockout stage in Europe.

Defender Micky van de Ven slipped a few minutes later attempting to clear a ball forward by Llorente, with Antoine Griezmann picking up the ball and finishing past Kinsky again.

A mere minute later and just 15 minutes into the first half Kinsky was again at fault, slipping again on the ball and falling flat on the pitch, and allowing Julian Alvarez to stroll forward and tap into an empty net at leisure.

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Tudor opted to immediately replace his keeper with his initial decision to bench Vicario totally backfiring.

Kinsky was consoled by teammates Joao Palhinha, Conor Gallagher and Dominic Solanke as he left the pitch, with captain Cristian Romero and Kevin Danso hugging him before he headed straight down the tunnel.

The Atletico fans also showed their support, applauding him off sympathetically.

While it was a calamitous 15 minutes for Kinsky it was also a terrible beginning to the game for Tudor, whose judgement will be further questioned in just his fourth game in charge.

Fiorentina keeper David de Gea, who began his career at Atletico before a long spell at Manchester United, posted in support of Kinsky on social media.

The Spaniard wrote: “No one who hasn’t been a goalkeeper can understand how difficult it is to play in this position. Keep your head up and you will go again.”

Confirmation of Hunter Greene’s elbow injury came down Tuesday, and while it wasn’t quite the worst-case scenario, Greene is going to have surgery and miss most of the first half of the season, the team announced.

Greene will have arthroscopic surgery to clean up bone spurs in his right elbow and is not expected to return until July. That decision came after a second opinion from Dr. Neal ElAttrache, and the surgery will carry a 14-to-16 week timetable to return to the majors. 

The early part of that timetable could see Greene back just before the All-Star break, though any kind of delay would push him back to the second half of the season. And of course, while this is viewed as a fairly minor surgical procedure, the ligaments in his elbow are healthy, apparently, so it’s more about cleaning up loose bodies – a full return to play at the same level as before is never a guarantee when a pitcher goes under the knife.

That’s a blow for the Reds and for Fantasy players, who had been drafting Greene as an ace before this injury. He could still give us about a half-season of ace-level production, but that would require him to come back from this surgery without any setbacks and be himself when he does. It’s possible, but there’s also plenty of ways for things to go wrong along the way.

One example is Walker Buehler, who had a bone spur removed in July of 2022 and was given a similar timetable to Greene. However, his recovery didn’t go as planned, and he ultimately required Tommy John surgery later that same season. He was also dealing with a flexor strain along with the bone spur surgery, which could explain the complications, but nonetheless, that is a prominent example of another ace having a season ruined after a relatively minor cleanup procedure.

Ultimately, there’s no such thing as minor elbow surgery for any pitcher, but this is about as minor as you can hope for when they have to open a guy up. Greene dealt with this issue late last season and is having surgery now with the plan to be ready for the stretch run of a season where the Reds very much plan to be alive for the postseason, which certainly gives Greene an incentive to get back for the second half.

The good news for the Reds is they do have the pitching depth to survive an injury to their ace. They have a solid pitching staff already, with hope for Nick Lodolo to take a step forward after a solid 2025. But the bigger hope for truly replacing Greene’s impact is for Chase Burns to emerge as an ace in his own right. He shares a lot of similarities with Greene as a pitcher, and could have a similar ceiling if he stays healthy and throws enough strikes. With an open rotation spot, Burns seems all but certain to be in there for the Reds – not that there was much skepticism that he would win a spot, with Burns’ ADP holding steady just outside the top 100 in most drafts.

But he was in a competition for the fifth starter spot, and this injury also seemingly confirms that Rhett Lowder, another former first-rounder, will be in the rotation. Lowder, the team’s 2023 first-round pick, made his MLB debut for a cup of coffee in 2024, but struggled with injuries in 2025 while throwing just 9.1 innings in the minors. He’s healthy this spring, throwing well, and has 10 strikeouts to two walks in 8.2 innings. He doesn’t have near the upside of Greene or Burns, but Lowder has the upside to be an above-average strikeout pitcher with great groundball rates. I could see some outcomes like what we’ve gotten from Chris Bassitt in recent years – not a superstar, but a useful pitcher for Fantasy. Add him to the late-round flier pile, especially if the early-season schedule looks beatable.

As for Greene, it depends on what kind of league you’re in. In a 15-team or NL-only league, it’s harder to justify drafting him as anything more than a reserve rounds pick, especially if you don’t have a lot of IL spots to play with. But in leagues with robust IL spots and shallower rosters overall, the replacement level on the wire is high enough that Greene is an interesting stash candidate. You’d have to let Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon go off the board before you look Greene’s way, since their timetables should have them back before Greene. 

But I would still take a flier on Greene after the top 200 or so are off the board in those shallower leagues with IL spots. Stick him in an IL spot and go add your favorite late-round sleeper who might go undrafted – Andrew Painter, Parker Messick, or Mike Burrows, Sean Manaea, Jacob Lopez, or whoever, there is no shortage of options! – and hope you catch lightning in a bottle for a few months.

And if Greene comes back and pitches like himself, you could still end up with 80-90 innings of ace-level production. That’ll be worth waiting for, even if it’s not as much of a guarantee as you’d like. 

Michael Vaughan (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

NEW DELHI: After their early exit from the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, the West Indies national cricket team and South Africa national cricket team have been stuck in Kolkata for more than a week, sparking criticism from former England captain Michael Vaughan.Vaughan questioned why England national cricket team managed to return home quickly while the other teams remain stranded. England were knocked out on March 5 but reportedly flew home within 36 hours. Meanwhile, West Indies were eliminated on March 1 and South Africa on March 4, yet both squads were still waiting in India days later.

Frustrated by the situation, Vaughan wrote, “Just to let you all know that the West Indies got knocked out of the World Cup on March 1st .. it’s now March 9th .. they are still stranded in Kolkata .. SA are in the same position .. !!!!!!!!!!!! This isn’t right … England got on a charter 36 hrs after being knocked out .. as should be the case for all teams ..”The issue has also been raised by players such as Quinton de Kock, David Miller, and West Indies coach Daren Sammy, who have expressed concerns about the delay.However, tournament organisers say the problem is not favoritism but travel restrictions. According to the International Cricket Council and Cricket West Indies, the delay is linked to airspace restrictions caused by rising tensions in the Middle East involving the US, Israel, and Iran. Several flight corridors across the Gulf region have been partially closed for safety.Flights heading to the UK can avoid the most affected zones by taking northern routes, which likely helped England return sooner. But routes to the Caribbean and South Africa pass closer to restricted Gulf airspace, leading to cancellations and permit issues. A charter flight planned earlier was reportedly cancelled due to missing overflight approvals.