TAMPA, Fla. — Mack Brown ran for 149 yards and a touchdown in the rain to lead Washington to a 20-13 preseason-closing victory over Tampa Bay on Wednesday night.

With Tropical Storm Hermine approaching Florida’s Gold Coast, the game – played in mostly empty Raymond James Stadium – was moved up 24 hours from Thursday, when the NFL’s other 30 teams will conclude the exhibition schedule.

Brown, a first-year pro out of Florida, spearheaded a 245-yard rushing attack and scored on a 60-yard burst in the second quarter.

He also broke runs of 21 and 22 yards in helping Washington built a 13-0 halftime lead.

Rookie Nate Sudfeld played the entire game at quarterback for Washington, who left Kirk Cousins and the rest of the team’s projected starters behind in Virginia to attend the team’s Welcome Home Luncheon, an annual event that raises money for a charitable foundation.

A LAST-MINUTE appeal in the NFL concussion case, filed by the son of an all-star and civil rights activist, has sent the proposed settlement to the U.S. Supreme Court and delays payouts for at least several months.

The family of the late Buffalo Bills fullback Carlton “Cookie” Gilchrist asked the high court Tuesday to review whether the judge should have approved the potential $1 billion settlement without a full challenge to the scientific evidence presented jointly by both sides.

VIKINGS: Minnesota’s replacement plan for Teddy Bridgewater has received an emergency activation.

Backup Shaun Hill will be the first remedy.

“I have confidence in him,” Coach Mike Zimmer said. “I have confidence in this football team.”

Bridgewater’s recovery from a badly damaged left knee, sustained during a seemingly harmless drill in practice Tuesday with nobody near him, will be the most important development for the Vikings over the next year and beyond.

The most crucial issue for the team’s immediate future will be how well Hill, or whoever else might wind up leading the huddle in the 2016 season, can handle the caretaker role while Bridgewater embarks on an arduous rehab.

NFL STARS James Harrison, Clay Matthews and Julius Peppers can start the regular season without having the specter of a league investigation over whether they used performance-enhancing drugs hanging over their heads.

The NFL cleared all three players on Wednesday, saying there was “no credible evidence” the players were guilty of any of the claims made in a documentary by Al-Jazeera America in January.

49ERS: Colin Kaepernick’s decision to sit during the national anthem is prompting protests over a display at the Reno airport that includes memorabilia from his days at the University of Nevada, where he was a star player before being drafted by the San Francisco 49ers.

An official at the Reno-Tahoe International Airport said Wednesday that the airport has received more than a hundred angry messages by phone, email and social media from locals and travelers who want Kaepernick’s trophy, helmet and other memorabilia removed from the prominent display case.

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