FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Quarterback Tom Brady practiced with the New England Patriots for the first time Tuesday since suffering a season-ending knee injury in last year’s opening game.
Patriots spokesman Stacey James said Brady threw passes and did other activities during his first formal practice with the team since he suffered a torn left knee ligament midway through the first quarter of the Patriots 17-10 win over the Kansas City Chiefs.
In an interview for this week’s issue of Sports Illustrated, Brady said he has no pain or restrictions in his movement when he runs and cuts.
He said he is “as confident as anyone could be that I’ll be ready to play, back to playing normally, when the season starts.” The article also quoted Brady, 31, as saying, “I want to play until I am 41.”
Quinn hired to coach Oilers
EDMONTON, Alberta — The Edmonton Oilers are bringing Pat Quinn back to the NHL.
Quinn, who led Canada to a gold medal at the world junior championships this year, has been out of the league since being fired as coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs following the 2005-06 season.
The Oilers also picked former New York Rangers coach Tom Renney as associate coach.
Quinn, who succeeds the fired Craig MacTavish, has 657 career wins in 1,318 games behind the bench with Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Vancouver and Toronto.
• Peter Zezel, a center who played 15 NHL seasons after breaking into the league with the Philadelphia Flyers as a teenager, died in Toronto. He was 44.
Zezel, who struggled with the rare blood disease hemolytic anemia for the past 10 years, was admitted to the hospital last week for scheduled surgery, but complications developed and his conditioned worsened.
In 873 games with Philadelphia, St. Louis, Washington, Toronto, Dallas, New Jersey and Vancouver, Zezel had 219 goals and 389 assists.
• The St. Louis Blues signed center Jay McClement to a multiyear contract.
Celtics’ Garnett has knee surgery
BOSTON — Boston Celtics forward Kevin Garnett had surgery to remove bone spurs from his right knee after missing all of the playoffs.
“Kevin can now begin to focus on rehabilitating his knee, returning to top physical shape and fully preparing for the 2009-10 season,” said Danny Ainge, Boston’s president of basketball operations.
Tyson’s daughter dies
PHOENIX — The 4-year-old daughter of boxer Mike Tyson died at a hospital a day after her neck apparently got caught in a treadmill cord at her home, police said.
Exodus Tyson had been on life support and police have said their investigation showed her injury Monday was a “tragic accident.”
Footnotes.
Guard Jeff Peterson, who averaged 10.6 points during his sophomore season at Iowa, is transferring to Arkansas.
• Austrian cyclist Bernhard Kohl announced his retirement, ending a controversial career marred by a doping scandal.
The Associated Press
