TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama tailback Mark Ingram practiced Monday, wearing a brace on his left knee.
The Heisman Trophy winner appears on track to return Saturday against Duke after missing the first two games with a knee injury. The Crimson Tide also is set to get defensive end Marcell Dareus back from a two-game suspension.
• Utah quarterback Jordan Wynn‘s return is still uncertain because of his sprained right thumb. If Wynn’s thumb isn’t ready for Saturday’s game at New Mexico, Terrance Cain will get the start.
• A detailed examination of the brain of a Penn football player who committed suicide showed he had the same disease caused by hard hits that has been associated with NFL players.
The New York Times reported Owen Thomas was in the early stages of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a disease that has been linked to depression and impulse control, primarily among NFL players.
A former Penn captain, the 21-year-old Thomas was found dead in April at his off-campus apartment. He had apparently hanged himself.
• Arkansas will be without kickoff returner and running back Dennis Johnson when it plays at Georgia on Saturday for what coach Bobby Petrino described as a “bowel injury.”
• North Carolina announced tailback Shaun Draughn will play Saturday against Georgia Tech after sitting out against LSU because of an ongoing NCAA investigation.
Devils to pay more for Ilya
NEWARK, N.J. — The NHL fined the New Jersey Devils $3 million and took away two high draft picks over the next four years for signing Ilya Kovalchuk to a 17-year, $102 million contract in July that circumvented the league’s salary cap.
In handing down what might be his harshest penalty for a team salary cap violation, commissioner Gary Bettman forced New Jersey to forfeit a first-round pick sometime over the next four years and a third-round pick next year.
• Vancouver Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo relinquished the team captaincy after two years in the role.
Footnotes.
Former Nuggets guard Allen Iverson, who has not been contacted by any NBA team with training camps set to open in less than two weeks, is considering playing in China.
• Wake Forest suspended junior center Tony Woods indefinitely following a recent arrest on assault charges.
• Former UCLA player J’mison Morgan, a junior center, has been granted an NCAA waiver that will allow him to play at Baylor immediately without sitting out a season.
• Mikel Nieve of Spain won the 112.7-mile 16th stage of the Spanish Vuelta, while Joaquin Rodriguez regained the overall lead.
• Serena Williams, the world’s top-ranked women’s player, is back practicing after foot surgery that kept her out of the U.S. Open.
• Los Angeles prosecutors charged ESPN personality and former Denver Post columnist Jay Mariotti with seven misdemeanors in connection with an incident last month in which he allegedly grabbed and shoved his live-in girlfriend. He is to be arraigned Friday.
Denver Post wire services
