Josh Sills. Associated Press
CAMBRIDGE, Ohio — Josh Sills, a reserve offensive lineman for the NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles, has been indicted on rape and kidnapping charges that stem from an incident in Ohio just over three years ago, authorities said Wednesday.
Sills, an undrafted free agent who appeared in just one game this season, was placed on the commissioner’s exempt list. That means he can’t practice, play or travel with the team as it prepares for the Super Bowl.
The NFL announced the move Wednesday and said the issue is being reviewed under the league’s personal conduct policy.
The rookie, who played at West Virginia and Oklahoma State, was indicted Tuesday by a Guernsey County grand jury in Ohio and ordered to appear in court on Feb. 16, four days after the Eagles are to play the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl.
His attorney, Michael Connick, said the allegations are false and that Sills will be aggressively defended.
Sills was listed as a backup guard and played just four snaps on special teams against the Cardinals on Oct. 9, the one game he played. He was on the inactive list for most of the year, including this past Sunday in Philadelphia’s conference title victory over the San Francisco 49ers.
MATT RUHLE, Nebraska’s football coach, has filed an arbitration suit with the NFL against the Carolina Panthers seeking about $5 million in offset severance compensation, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press.
Rhule was fired as Panthers head coach on Oct. 10. A Panthers spokesman would not confirm the suit and declined to comment to the AP. Rhule, reached by text, also declined to comment.
Rhule was fired after Week 5 of the NFL season, less than three years into a seven-year, $62 million contract. He was 11-27 as head coach with the Panthers. He was owed approximately $34 million at the time he was fired by billionaire David Tepper, the NFL’s second-wealthiest owner.
Rhule returned to college coaching in November when he was hired by Nebraska, receiving a reported eight-year, $72 million contract.
DOLPHINS: Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has been cleared from the NFL’s concussion protocol over a month after being diagnosed with his second concussion in the 2022 season, a league source confirmed to the Miami Herald.
Tagovailoa had been in the protocol since Dec. 26 and missed Miami’s final three games, including a season-ending loss to the Buffalo Bills in the wild-card round.
Tagovailoa, who was named a first alternate to the 2023 Pro Bowl Games, will not participate in the all-star event as he continues to recover. He sustained his first diagnosed concussion in September, causing him to miss two games.
BOBBY BEATHARD, the architect of four Super Bowl-winning teams with two different organizations during his lengthy tenure in football, has died. He was 86.
A spokesperson for the Washington Commanders said Beathard’s family told the team he died Monday at his home in Franklin, Tennessee, less than a week after his 86th birthday. A cause of death was not immediately available.
Beathard was director of player personnel for two of the NFL championships by Miami in the 1970s and served as general manager for two more by Washington in the ’80s. He also scouted for Kansas City when the Chiefs won the American Football League title and made Super Bowl I following the 1966 season and was GM with San Diego when the Chargers got there in the mid-1990s.
Part of seven teams that made the Super Bowl during his lengthy front office career, Beathard was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018. Washington added him to the organization’s Ring of Honor in 2016.
Beathard also scouted for the Atlanta Falcons, but is most known for his roles with Don Shula’s Dolphins that won the Super Bowl back-to-back and then hiring Coach Joe Gibbs and drafting Darrell Green, Art Monk and others during his time in Washington.
COMMANDERS: Washington is interviewing Anthony Lynn for its offensive coordinator vacancy.
The team confirmed the interview. Lynn, the San Francisco 49ers’ assistant head coach/running backs coach, is the sixth candidate the Commanders have spoken to about the job.
Coach Ron Rivera interviewed Lynn in person in California days after the 49ers flew home following their loss at Philadelphia in the NFC championship game. Rivera was criticized on social media Tuesday by Washington radio broadcasters for golfing at Pebble Beach before hiring an offensive coordinator.
That process has been ongoing since Rivera fired Scott Turner on Jan. 10, less than 48 hours after the Commanders missed the playoffs with the NFL’s 20th ranked offense.
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