Weatherspoon to miss 2014 season

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) — Atlanta Falcons linebacker Sean Weatherspoon ruptured his Achilles tendon on Tuesday and will miss the 2014 season.

Weatherspoon suffered the injury while running under the supervision of the team’s medical staff.

Weatherspoon had been held out of organized team activities as he was continuing his recovery from a foot injury that limited him to only seven games in 2013.

The loss of Weatherspoon, the team’s first-round pick from Missouri in 2010, is a blow to the Falcons, whose disappointing 4-12 finish in 2013 was marked by a string of injuries. Weatherspoon has eight sacks and two interceptions in his first four seasons.

Saltalamacchia resumes baseball activity

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Miami Marlins catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia has been cleared to resume baseball activities, more than a week after being struck by a foul tip and going on the concussion disabled list.

Manager Mike Redmond said Tuesday that the switch-hitter took 25 swings from both the right and left sides, and played catch at their spring training facility in Jupiter, Florida.

Saltalamacchia went on the seven-day disabled list June 1, a day after being struck by a foul tip in a game against Atlanta.

Redmond says it will be a “day-by-day progression” for Saltalamacchia and that the Marlins want to make sure there are no recurring symptoms.

Jury convicts suspect in Taylor slaying trial

MIAMI (AP) — A man identified by prosecutors as the greedy organizer of a bungled 2007 Miami-area burglary that ended with the fatal shooting of Washington Redskins star Sean Taylor was convicted Tuesday of murder and burglary, and immediately sentenced to life in prison without parole.

A 12-person jury deliberated nearly four hours before finding Jason Mitchell, 25, guilty of first-degree felony murder and armed burglary. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Dennis Murphy swiftly imposed the mandatory life sentence for murder, plus 40 more years for the burglary conviction.

Although trial testimony showed Mitchell did not fire the fatal shot, prosecutors say he is equally responsible for the slaying under the law.

Assistant State Attorney Reid Rubin said Mitchell hatched the plot that eventually involved five Fort Myers-area men after spending time at Taylor’s home near Miami, where he saw the player giving friends and relatives thousands of dollars in cash. Rubin said Mitchell initially tried and failed to burglarize the home alone in mid-November 2007, returning with the group on Thanksgiving weekend to finish the job.

“It doesn’t matter whether they planned to kill him (Taylor) or intended to kill him, he died as a result of that burglary and they are all responsible for it,” Rubin told the 12-person jury in closing arguments. “At the center of it all was Jason Mitchell.”

Mitchell did not testify in his own defense but he did confess to police in a sworn, videotaped statement. The man blamed for shooting Taylor, Eric Rivera Jr., was convicted last year of second-degree murder and sentenced to 57 years behind bars. Mitchell’s lawyer, Robert Barrar, said Mitchell should be held responsible only for burglary, not for Rivera’s actions.