Steelers get special teamer in Pro Bowl
From Mirror, wire reports
PITTSBURGH — Steelers special teams ace Miles Killebrew was named to the Pro Bowl Games on Wednesday.
This is the second straight year that Killebrew will participate in the Pro Bowl Games, after he was selected to the games last year.
Killebrew, the Steelers special teams captain, had 13 special teams tackles, eight of them solo stops, which was tied for ninth most in the NFL this year.
Killebrew joins kicker Chris Boswell, safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, defensive tackle Cameron Heyward and linebacker T.J. Watt, who were voted to the Pro Bowl Games as starters, representing the black and gold in the games.
Killebrew is replacing New England Patriots special teamer Brenden Schooler, who is unable to participate due to injury.
A good deed
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Following one of his career’s low points, Baltimore Ravens tight end Mark Andrews is getting a much-needed pick-me-up from Buffalo Bills fans, of all people.
A GoFundMe page launched by 19-year-old Nicholas Howard was approaching $80,000 in donations with proceeds going toward Andrews’ charitable cause, Breakthrough T1D, a Type 1 diabetes research and advocacy organization.
Howard went from being in the stands, cheering the Bills to a 27-25 win over Baltimore in a divisional playoff on Sunday, to starting the fundraiser a day later. He did so in response to Andrews being the focus of criticism, including receiving death threats, on social media in the aftermath of him losing a fumble and dropping a potential game-tying 2-point conversion.
Vegas hires GM
HENDERSON, Nev. — The Las Vegas Raiders hired Tampa Bay Buccaneers assistant general manager John Spytek to be their GM, a person with knowledge of the situation tells The Associated Press.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the hire has not been announced. Spytek replaces Tom Telesco. He was fired along with coach Antonio Pierce.
The Raiders are still searching for a new coach. Raiders minority owner Tom Brady finished his playing career as the Bucs quarterback. He is believed to have had a hand in the hiring.
Jags’ GM is out
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — General manager Trent Baalke is out in Jacksonville after the Jaguars failed to land second interviews with three of their top coaching candidates.
Owner Shad Khan made the announcement hours after Tampa Bay offensive coordinator Liam Coen withdrew his name for consideration for the Jaguars job and agreed to a new contract with the Buccaneers. Coen had been scheduled to interview with the Jaguars on Wednesday.
Khan says “we both arrived at the conclusion that it is in our mutual best interests to respectfully separate, effective immediately.” Ethan Waugh will serve as interim general manager.
Welcome back
New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel has filled out his staff, hiring longtime Bill Belichick assistant Josh McDaniels as offensive coordinator.
It’s the third stint at the job for the former Raiders and Broncos head coach. He most recently worked as an NFL analyst for Fox Sports Radio.
The Patriots also hired Terrell Williams as defensive coordinator and retained current New England special teams coordinator Jeremy Springer. Williams spent six years on Vrabel’s staff in Tennessee.
Aaron’s way
A person with knowledge of the hiring says the New York Jets and Aaron Glenn have agreed to terms on making the Detroit Lions defensive coordinator their head coach.
Glenn oversaw the Lions’ defense the past four years and beat out 15 other candidates for the job as the Jets went through an extensive search to find their next coach.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team had not yet announced the hiring. ESPN first reported that Glenn agreed to coach the Jets.