Blue Jackets without Dubinsky for 6 weeks

Blue Jackets without Dubinsky for 6 weeks

COLUMBUS

The Columbus Blue Jackets will be without center Brandon Dubinsky for the next six weeks after he underwent abdominal surgery.

Coach Todd Richards said Wednesday’s practice that Dubinsky had surgery earlier in the day.

Dubinsky had 16 goals and 34 assists a year ago as one of the leaders on a young Blue Jackets team that made the postseason for only the second time in the franchise’s 13 years. He was injured during a Monday practice.

Richards said that Dubinsky’s absence would provide an opportunity for several players to get more playing time, including rookies Marko Dano, Michael Chaput and Alexander Wennberg, and others. Columbus opens the season at Buffalo on Thursday night.

December trial date set in Peterson abuse case

CONROE, Texas

A Texas judge has tentatively set a Dec. 1 trial date for Vikings star running back Adrian Peterson on a charge of felony child abuse for using a wooden switch to discipline his 4-year-old son.

Judge Kelly Case set the date Wednesday as Peterson made his first court appearance in suburban Houston for the incident that occurred earlier this year. Peterson did not enter a plea, though his attorney said he will eventually plead not guilty to the charge that carries a penalty of up to two years in prison.

Peterson is on paid leave. The Vikings’ final game of the season is Dec. 28.

Montgomery County District Attorney Brett Ligon indicated he intends to file a motion to recuse the judge after Case allegedly called attorneys in the case “media whores.” Case apologized, but a Nov. 4 hearing was scheduled on whether to assign a new judge.

Defense attorney Rusty Hardin says he wants to try the case as quickly as possible to get Peterson back to playing.

NFL owners’ meetings focus on player conduct

NEW YORK

There hasn’t been much football talk at the NFL owners’ meetings Wednesday.

Instead, the focus has been on the personal conduct policy, and on educating everyone involved in the league about domestic violence.

After approving the sale of the Buffalo Bills to Terry and Kim Pegula in the morning, the owners listened to a presentation on domestic violence that included a video by a former player appealing for recognition and action. They also began intense discussions on potential changes to the personal conduct policy and how to discipline players, executives, and even their peers, should they make missteps.

There have been plenty such mistakes recently, most notably the Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson abuse cases. In the midst of a maelstrom over how the league has handled those and other incidents, Commissioner Roger Goodell has asked for a re-examination of the policy.

Muschamp says Harris facing ’serious charge’

GAINESVILLE, FLA.

Florida coach Will Muschamp says sexual assault allegations against freshman quarterback Treon Harris is “a serious charge.”

Making his first public comments since it was announced that Harris was suspended indefinitely while authorities investigate sexual assault allegations made against him, Muschamp turned away several questions Wednesday after saying “you handle things and move forward.”

Muschamp added that “I feel very comfortable in how we’ve approached this situation.”

The program banned Harris from all team activities during the investigation. The school said a female student accused Harris of sexually assaulting her around 3 a.m. Sunday — hours after he helped Florida rally to beat Tennessee 10-9 in Knoxville.

The University Police Department said the police report won’t be released Wednesday as authorities want to speak with Harris again.

Wire reports