nfl roundup | News and notes

49ers: The York family has sold two small stakes in the San Francisco 49ers franchise. “They were important people to us,” John York said Monday night in explaining the moves. The San Jose Mercury News said each stake was 1 percent. York’s son, team president Jed York, said the sales have nothing to do with helping finance a new $1 billion stadium in Santa Clara, near the current team headquarters in technology-rich Silicon Valley. “They’re strategic limited partners,” he said. Earlier this month, the team announced it secured $850 million in loans from Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and U.S. Bank to finance the project it hopes will get underway this spring with a formal groundbreaking. Make-ready work at the construction site is set for January. The new stadium is set to be a state-of-the-art 1.85 million-square foot facility with a seat 68,500-seat stadium featuring 165 luxury suites and 9,000 club seats. The venue also will be constructed with the versatility to host a wide range of events including domestic and international soccer, college football, motocross, concerts and various civic events. The Yorks live part-time in Youngstown and Jed is a Mooney High graduate.

Vikings: Minnesota running back Adrian Peterson says he thinks the New Orleans Saints were purposely trying to injure his sprained left ankle in their game on Sunday. Peterson had 10 carries for 60 yards against the Saints after missing the previous three weeks with a high ankle sprain. Peterson said after the game he expected the defensive players to target his ankle while trying to bring him down. But he also says he took particular offense to one play when cornerback Jabari Greer twisted his ankle in a pile up. Peterson says he confronted Greer because he thought that “it kind of got overboard.” Peterson said he didn’t injure the ankle anymore in the 42-20 loss.

Panthers: Offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski has a bag full of tricks and he’s not afraid to use them — even if it means borrowing a play from a kids’ movie. With Cam Newton under center, Chudzinski is finding fun news ways to use the talented rookie’s athleticism to his advantage. The latest twist was borrowing a hidden-ball trick very loosely adapted from a play called “the annexation of Puerto Rico” from the 1994 movie the Little Giants to help the Panthers beat the Texans 28-13. The play resulted in a 7-yard touchdown run by fullback Richie Brockel and landed the Panthers on highlight reels across the country. And it had the Texans chasing an empty-handed Newton, who sold the play perfectly. “Cam’s ability to run and throw, it just adds another dimension,” coach Ron Rivera said.

Associated Press