The Six Nations has "entered into an exclusive period of negotiation" with private equity firm CVC to sell a stake in rugby's oldest championship.
The deal will provide a financial boost to each union but would mean partly surrendering control of the competition.
"Six Nations believes that investment in rugby football is vital for the long-term future of our game and this belief is central in our decision to enter into this period of negotiation," said a Six Nations statement.
"Six Nations, together with its constituent unions and federations, has agreed to enter into an exclusive period of negotiation with an external investor partner.
"As these negotiations are confidential and commercially sensitive, Six Nations will not be making any further comment."
The Six Nations unions - England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Italy and France - have been in talks for almost two years over pooling their commercial interests.
In March, BBC Sport reported that CVC's initial offer was for an approximate 30% share in the Six Nations. However, according to the Times, the latest proposal would see CVC take control of 15% of the unions' collective commercial arm.
England winger Jonny May says his side "will peak" and are ready to "do something very special" at the Rugby World Cup, which begins on Friday.
May, 29, is confident England's attack, which averages 4.3 tries per game this year, will be the difference in Japan.
The Leicester Tigers player, who has scored 24 tries for England, said: "I believe this team is ready.
"I look around the room at the team-mates and the talent we have and we can beat anybody if we are at our best."
Eddie Jones' side head into the tournament with a number of injury doubts to key players, including Joe Cokanasiga and Jack Nowell, but with Anthony Watson, Elliot Daly and Manu Tuilagi all waiting in the wings, May says the versatility of England's squad means no other side can rival them.
"I don't want to come across as arrogant because I am not but I generally just can't talk up my team-mates enough," May said.
"We have got players who can take the ball to the line and make decisions, we have got players who can run over people, we have got speed, we have got left foot options.
"Do other teams have great players? Of course they do. It will come down to who produces it on the day, who is ready for it and mentally who can handle it."
On Friday, Jones will announce his team for Sunday's England opener against Tonga in Sapporo, before a quick turn around to face the USA on Thursday, 26 September.
However, May says the 31-strong squad is "beyond" thinking about the starting XV.
"The message from Eddie is that he will pick a team to beat that opposition on that day and everyone has a role," said May, who has scored six tries in seven games in the past 12 months.
"It is not about who is better than who. We are not about that on this team. There is no point.
"We are very different and we are just about being the best versions of ourselves for the team."
May describes scoring a try as the "cherry on top of the cake" but that he also plans to focus on his "defence, kick-chase and high ball".
"I couldn't care if I don't score a try in the tournament," May added.
"If the opportunity comes to score a try, that is my role in that moment for the team. We just need to win every game."
NORTH WOODSTOCK, N.H. – White Mountain Motorsports Park will welcome the Pro All Stars Series super late models this Saturday as part of a stacked card.
Three premier PASS touring series will join two of White Mountain’s weekly divisions for a night of action in the White Mountains. All told, more than 300 laps of feature action are planned starring the Northeast’s biggest names at an unbeatable value for fans.
The PASS super late models make their second visit of the year to White Mountain on Saturday for the PASS 150. Three-time and defending PASS North champion D.J. Shaw already has three wins this year and is a former winner at White Mountain. His closest title rival, Nick Sweet, is in his first full season running with PASS but has been one of the series’ hottest drivers over the past month.
They’ll be joined by many more of the biggest names in the Northeast. Former Oxford 250 winner Curtis Gerry, multi-time PASS winner Derek Ramstrom, four-time PASS North Champion Ben Rowe and New England racing legend Mike Rowe are some of those who have filed entries for the event. Bobby Therrien, a former American-Canadian Tour winner at White Mountain, has also entered and will try to add a PASS win at the track.
The PASS Modifieds and Honey Badger Street Stock Series also have 50-lap features on the card. The Modfieds have had a resurgent season with strong starting fields and seven different winners in 10 events. Former Super Late Model racer Spencer Morse leads the standings coming into White Mountain. He’ll be feeling the heat from fellow Mainers Jairet Harrison, Mike Carignan, Kate Re, and Matty Sanborn as they try to gain ground.
The Street Stock Series is making its first visit to the White Mountain. The series pits the eight-cylinder Street Stocks run weekly at Maine’s Oxford Plains Speedway in a Northeast showdown.
Two White Mountain divisions are also on Saturday’s card. The Foley Oil & Propane Late Models kick off the night with their 50-lap feature that was rained out on Sept. 7. Following the event, Quinny Welch will officially be crowned King of the Mountains for the fifth straight year. However, fellow top runners such as Stacy Cahoon, Oren Remick, Mike Bailey, and Stephen Donahue will try to share in the night’s glory.
The 7-Eleven Dwarf Cars round out the program with a $500-to-win open event. Many of the division’s best such as Norm Forest, Bobby Brown and Dave Gyger will be going after the big money in the non-point show. They’ll be able to do so without having to fend off newly crowned Andy Hill, who is turning the seat over to his crew chief Keith Normand for the event.
LINCOLN, Calif. – The defending champion of the richest race in winged 360 sprint car history will be back to defend his title.
Jac Haudenschild, the defending winner of the Trophy Cup at Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif., will be back to try and win the race again. He’ll also be in the same car he won the event in last year, Abreu Racing’s No. 24R.
Now 61 and with more than 300 sprint car victories to his name, Haudenschild will be chasing the winner’s share of the $200,000 purse on Oct. 17-19.
In other Trophy Cup driver news, Randy Hannagan has also been confirmed as the pilot of the Brock Lemley entry. Hannagan recently clinched the NRA Sprint Invaders championship.
C and M Motorsports has confirmed Tim Crawley will pilot the team’s No. 7C entry during the Trophy Cup. The 50-year-old Benton, Ark., driver has more than 200 sprint car wins, plus 66 additional wins in other divisions.
Nineteen-year-old Kalib Henry, who just finished a strong season at Placerville Speedway with a second-place finish in track points, will drive the Mike Henry Racing No. 93 at the Trophy Cup.
The Abreu Vineyards 26th Annual Trophy Cup Presented by Rudeen Racing benefits the Make-A-Wish Foundation and will reach the $2 million mark in donations this year. All entry fees, raffle proceeds and many supporting fund raising activities have been donated to the Foundation for more than 20 years.
SEATTLE -- The arena for Seattle's NHL expansion franchise remains on track to open sometime in the summer of 2021.
Construction officials said Monday that the entire bowl of the former KeyArena has been demolished and excavation work is ongoing. Officials hope to begin digging down 15 feet from the current floor by year's end and to spend most of 2020 constructing the new seating bowl from the bottom up.
Ken Johnsen, who is overseeing the construction project for Oak View Group and the NHL franchise, says the most challenging part so far has been putting in supports to take on the weight of the 44 million-pound roof, which is staying in place. The new arena is being built under the roof, which has historical landmark status.
Johnsen says the budget for the project remains around $930 million.
Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid will be both play their Champions League Group A opener on Wednesday without a laundry list of suspended and injured stars.
Real Madrid announced on Monday that Marcelo would miss the match due to a back injury, with the Brazilian joining Isco, Luka Modric, Marco Asensio and Fede Valverde as fitness casualties along with suspended duo Sergio Ramos and Nacho Fernandez.
"After the tests carried out today on our player Marcelo by the Real Madrid medical services, he has been diagnosed with a post-traumatic cervicodorsal injury," Madrid said in a statement on Monday, without specifying how long he would be out.
The Brazilian, set to be replaced at left back by Ferland Mendy as the record 13-time winners' make their European bow, joins the long list of injuries suffered by Madrid this season.
Mbappe and Cavani both suffered injuries during last month's Ligue 1 home win over Toulouse and missed international duty with France and Uruguay, respectively, during the most recent break.
The pair have been training ahead of the Real clash but neither have been able to sufficiently prove their fitness, despite coach Thomas Tuchel revealing last week that both had trained well ahead of the victory over Strasbourg at Parc des Princes.
Mbappe took to Twitter to confirm the bad news: "It is now official -- I will not start our European campaign at home against Real Madrid. I am very sad not to be able to play, but I will give the team all the support I can from the stands. I still hope to return at 100 percent and to give my best, as always."
Summer signing Mauro Icardi, who made his debut as a substitute against in the last-gasp win over Strasbourg at the weekend, could well find himself needed as part of Tuchel's starting XI vs. Real this midweek.
Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen says it was "inappropriate" for Manuel Neuer to criticise him for expressing his desire to play more for the German national team.
Ter Stegen, 27, has been Barca's outright No.1 since Claudio Bravo moved to Manchester City in 2016, but has remained backup to Neuer in international football.
After being an unused substitute in games against the Netherlands and Northern Ireland during last week's international break, Ter Stegen revealed it had been a "massive blow" not to feature at all.
Neuer responded by saying his comments were not helpful. The Bayern Munich stopper added that Ter Stegen didn't say anything while with the German camp and suggested he was also being disrespectful to the other goalkeepers pushing for a spot -- naming Arsenal's Bernd Leno and Eintracht Frankfurt's Kevin Trapp.
"There's competition for places and every player wants to play," Ter Stegen said in a news conference ahead of Tuesday's Champions League game against Borussia Dortmund in his homeland.
"That's football. A lot of the time you're happy, but there are also other feelings. I have expectations and I have to express them.
"You can see how I have behaved in recent years and I don't think that Neuer or others have to talk about my feeling or assess them. His remarks were inappropriate but I don't want to say much more, I want to bring an end to all this controversy."
Ter Stegen has won 22 caps for his country but has played just once during 2019 despite being promised action in the qualifying campaign for Euro 2020 by coach Joachim Low. That one appearance came in a friendly against Serbia, in which he played 45 minutes.
However, he remains Barca's first pick and will start on Tuesday back in Germany when the Spanish champions face Borussia Dortmund -- coached by his former manager, Lucien Favre -- in the Champions League.
Barcelona's defence is under the microscope, though, having conceded seven goals in just four league games this season.
"We're trying to stop the goals going in but things haven't come off," Ter Stegen said. "It's not what we expected. We have to improve. There have been mistakes which we can easily correct. We've spoken about it."
The game at Signal Iduna Park signals the start of a new European campaign for Barca as they look to get over last season's semifinal loss to Liverpool and win the Champions League for the first time since 2015.
"We know that we have to fight for everything every year," Ter Stegen said. "One defeat against Liverpool complicated our whole season last time out. But we have a team to be convinced that we can have success.
"Winning the Champions League is always our objective. Last year we messed up at a key moment."
Major League Soccer's seemingly endless regular season has just three weeks left, and the playoff race seems as jumbled as ever. With the playoff field expanding to seven clubs from each conference this season, the West is ridiculously tight, with just six points separating second through eighth place.
The Eastern Conference is a little more defined, although there remains plenty of jockeying for position in order to land a coveted home playoff spot. That homefield advantage will be crucial in 2019, with the MLS Cup playoffs moving to a single-game-knockout formula throughout the entirety of the postseason.
Here's how the push for playoff spots is shaking out.
LAFC | First in West (clinched playoff place) | 64 points
Next MLS match: Sept. 21 vs. Toronto FC (10:30 p.m. ET, stream live on ESPN+)
Such is LAFC's lead in the Supporters' Shield race -- seven points with four games to go -- that they can wrap up their first trophy next weekend if other results go their way. But the league's runaway leaders for most of the season have stumbled a bit of late, going winless in their past four games, by far their longest dry spell of the campaign.
Granted, the streak coincided with an injury to Carlos Vela, although he's back now. But a leaky defense that has conceded eight goals in the past four matches remains a concern, as does their in-game management. Still, the record for most points in a season, set last year by the New York Red Bulls with 71, is well within reach.
Looming on the horizon is a possible playoff matchup against intra-city rivals the LA Galaxy, but that would require Zlatan Ibrahimovic & Co. to hold up their end of the deal. (More on that later.)
Poised for a deep run
New York City FC | First in East (clinched playoff place) | 57 points
Next MLS match: Sept. 22 at FC Dallas (11 p.m. ET)
If postseason success is a function of a strong regular-season finish, then New York City FC has to like its chances. The Bronx club has taken 19 out of a possible 21 points in the past month, and even ground out four points last week without the services of striker Heber and playmaker Maxi Moralez.
Of course, a strong regular-season finish isn't a guarantee of anything, although the revised playoff format could benefit NYCFC by allowing for some major home cooking at Yankee Stadium. Getting the likes of Heber and Moralez back to health will loom large, but the improved play of Keaton Parks and the steady performances of Alex Ring and Valentin Castellanos still make NYCFC tough to beat.
Philadelphia Union | Second in East (clinched playoff place) | 52 points
Next MLS match: Sept. 22 at New York Red Bulls (6:30 p.m. ET, stream live on ESPN+)
After a season of solid play, about the only thing the Union were missing was a signature win. On Aug. 31, Philly got it with a 3-1 victory over Atlanta United. The Union then went on and tied league-leading LAFC 1-1. Now a home playoff game in the opening round looks well within the Union's grasp.
Kacper Przybylko continues to find the net, upping his tally to 14 goals on the season, while Ilsinho remains an effective super-sub, netting three times and adding seven assists in games in which he came off the bench. Given that kind of quality, as well as tremendous balance in midfield, Philadelphia will be a tough team to get by in the playoffs.
Atlanta United | Third in East (clinched playoff place) | 48 points
Next MLS match: Sept. 18 at Cincinnati (7:30 p.m. ET, stream live on ESPN+)
It's almost as if Atlanta United thrives on drama. The Five Stripes looked to have put a season of dysfunction behind them when they won the U.S. Open Cup back on Aug. 27, but now Atlanta has dropped two in a row, including a 3-1 stinker of a defeat at home to the Columbus Crew that was totally deserved. With those two losses, Atlanta's hopes of finishing atop the Eastern Conference now look to be gone. Worse, the team's difficulty in defending in transition moments revealed itself once again.
One glimmer of hope is that Ezequiel Barco is due back soon, and Frank de Boer will be hoping it's the version that played well at the start of the campaign. Josef Martinez remains menacing in front of net. Now it's all about earning a home playoff spot. The talent is there. Can Atlanta regain its mental sharpness?
It always helps when a team gets players back from international duty. Even more so when that group includes Jordan Morris and Nico Lodeiro. Both Morris and Lodeiro inspired the Sounders to a 4-2 win against the New York Red Bulls on Sunday, and now Seattle finds itself in second place in the West.
Granted, not all is well in Sounder-land. Defensively, Seattle has been less than convincing in the past few weeks. But right now the attack is doing more than enough to put the Sounders firmly in the "home playoff game" zone.
The Loons remain on course to bag the first playoff berth in their brief history thanks to last weekend's 3-1 win over Real Salt Lake. Better yet, the up-and-down Darwin Quintero is on the up again, providing some support for the ascendant Mason Toye. Kevin Molino is rounding into form as well.
Consistency remains an issue for Minnesota, as witnessed by a recent defeat to the Houston Dynamo, but overall the Loons look to be a team on the rise.
Real Salt Lake hasn't really skipped a beat since Freddy Juarez took over for the dismissed Mike Petke, going 5-3-0 during his time in charge. Given the way Minnesota took advantage of Salt Lake in transition, that will be an issue to watch, although for the most part RSL have been solid defensively.
A forgiving run-in that includes games against Houston and Vancouver should enable RSL to reach the postseason and send off the likes of Nick Rimando and Tony Beltran with a final, positive memory.
TFC have surged up the table in the past month, securing 12 points from six matches and easing concerns that a second consecutive year without a playoff game was in the offing. Toronto's back line still looks suspect, especially in transition, but an attack that counts Alejandro Pozuelo and Jozy Altidore among its contributors remains potent.
Toronto will contest the Canadian Championship final against Montreal in the next 10 days, leaving manager Greg Vanney with some tricky squad rotation issues, but he no doubt can breathe easier now than he did a month ago.
The Black and Red were nearly in free fall, having won just once in seven games before the end of August. So what did DCU do? They grabbed a 3-0 victory at Montreal and followed that up with a 1-0 win in Portland, cementing a playoff spot. A first-round playoff game at home isn't out of the question either, as D.C. United finds itself level on points with Toronto.
But what this team will serve up next is anyone's guess. Wayne Rooney hasn't scored since July 18, although defensively the team is solidifying at the right time. Games against Seattle (at home) and away to the Red Bulls will shed more light.
The Galaxy broke out of their funk on Sunday with a 7-2 obliteration of Sporting Kansas City. Ibrahimovic had a hat trick and the Galaxy vaulted up to fifth place in the West.
It's tempting to think LA will push on given the friendly schedule it has down the stretch, but remember the Decision Day flameout against Houston last season, when the Galaxy squandered a playoff spot that was in their grasp? The players no doubt do. And for all the Zlatan talk, finding defensive consistency will be critical, as the Galaxy have been depending on goalkeeper David Bingham far too much.
Perhaps there isn't as much mystery about the Red Bulls these days as they might like. New York has dropped three in a row, and conceded eight goals while doing it. When Tyler Adams departed for RB Leipzig at the turn of the year, a defensive drop-off was expected, but what's taken place has been gargantuan. The Red Bulls' 48 goals allowed so far in 2019 are already 15 more than they conceded in all of 2018.
On the bubble
San Jose Earthquakes | Sixth in West | 44 points
Next MLS match: Sept. 21 at Atlanta United (3:30 p.m. ET)
The Quakes have paid the price for a schedule that has been heavy in away games of late, and San Jose has dropped five of its past seven matches as a result. The good news is that teams like Dallas and Portland haven't taken advantage of San Jose's woeful road form as much as they could have, so the Quakes still have the inside track on a playoff spot.
The San Jose front office has mostly gotten it right in terms of offseason acquisitions, with midfielder Cristian Espinoza and goalkeeper Daniel Vega doing plenty to lead the Earthquakes' revival. The same can't be said about defender Marcos Lopez, who has been the weakest link in a defense that hasn't been pulling its weight of late, leaving one to wonder why Nick Lima wasn't in the lineup last weekend against NYCFC. San Jose plays Portland away the last weekend of the season, and that may well be an all-or-nothing clash in terms of those teams' postseason hopes.
Bruce Arena arrived back in May and stopped the bleeding almost immediately. But the Revs are officially in scuffle mode following a 1-2-4 stretch. That said, a playoff spot is still there for the taking.
Gustavo Bou remains as advertised, with seven goals and one assist in 10 games. Carles Gil has lived up to the Designated Player hype with nine goals and 14 assists. The defense remains suspect, however, and blowing a two-goal lead in Orlando on the way to a 3-3 draw hurts.
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Rooney believes MLS players deserve more money
Wayne Rooney discusses the two things that he would change about Major League Soccer.
New England still controls its own destiny, but its schedule is brutal with games at home against Real Salt Lake and NYCFC as well as road tilts against Portland and Atlanta.
For all the talk of a home-heavy slate of games, the Timbers haven't made their home cooking count as much as they could have, dropping three of their past five. There are no gimmes in the last five matches either, save perhaps for an away date in Kansas City, although SKC are usually tough at Children's Mercy Park.
The Timbers haven't been the healthiest, and rued the absences of Brian Fernandez and Sebastian Blanco in Sunday's 1-0 loss to D.C. United. The back line has been dinged up too, but no one will be feeling sorry for the Timbers, who must find a way through in these last five games.
Facing their biggest game of the year against Chicago, Dallas landed with a thud, losing 4-0. Some of the communication breakdowns on defense were the kind you see in preseason, not in September, although Bryan Acosta's absence due to suspension was keenly felt. Now Dallas is looking more and more like the odd team out in the West, with games coming up against Seattle and NYCFC. To survive, Dallas needs Acosta to continue his improved play while Zdenek Ondrasek will need to show his recent uptick in form isn't a mirage.
Was last weekend's 4-0 hammering of FC Dallas a case of the new owner bounce or a rare instance of the Fire's play being reflected on the scoreboard? Probably more of the latter, although there does seem to be a new era dawning with Joe Mansueto now taking sole ownership of the team. And with New England unable to close the deal just yet, the Fire are still alive in the playoff race, although Chicago is running out of time with just three games remaining. If the Fire are going to make it, their road form is going to have to improve. Chicago has two away games left and it has just one road win all year.
The playoff window is all but shut for the Lions after last weekend's 3-3 home draw with New England. That three-goal outburst, with Nani contributing two goals and an assist, was a rare instance of offensive production this season. Orlando's attack is tied for the fourth worst in the league.
The Impact switched coaches last month, swapping out Remi Garde for Wilmer Cabrera, but there's been little change in Montreal's fortunes, as the team's late- season fade continues. Montreal has picked up just four points in the past month -- despite the arrival of Bojan Krkic and Lassi Lappalainen -- and has won just twice since June 29. The coup de grace was last weekend's 1-0 defeat to lowly FC Cincinnati. There seems no way back for the Impact now.
A three-game winning streak gave SKC a glimmer of hope that reaching the playoffs was still possible, but those dreams were blown away following Sunday's 7-2 hammering at the hands of the Galaxy. It will be interesting to see the extent of the personnel changes sporting director and manager Peter Vermes will make ahead of next season.
The season may be all but over in terms of postseason aspirations, but the Crew have done an admirable job of playing spoiler, taking points off Chicago and handing Atlanta a rare home defeat. Costa Rican winger Luis Diaz looks to be a promising signing.
The Robin Fraser era has gotten off to an impressive start, going 3-1-0 in his first four matches. There's rarely any carryover from year to year, however, so the work to improve the roster has hopefully already begun.
The Dynamo haven't mailed it in completely just yet, handing Minnesota a 2-0 defeat last week. But there just isn't enough time left to make even a modest run for a playoff spot. All eyes are now on the front office to see who they will hire to manage the team next season.
It's all about playing out the string now for the Whitecaps, although a recent win over Houston provided a bit of light on a lost season. With games remaining against the Galaxy and RSL, the chance to play spoiler is there for Marc Dos Santos' side.
Ron Jans picked up his first win as FCC manager, with the 1-0 win over Montreal putting a significant dent in the Impact's playoff hopes. He can only hope that GM Gerard Nijkamp is mining his contacts to find some help on both sides of the ball for next season.
For the first time in more than nine years, former USC great Reggie Bush is headed back to the Coliseum for a Trojans game.
Fox Sports announced on Monday that its new college football pregame show will broadcast live on location from the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum during USC's game Friday night against No. 10 Utah (9 p.m. ET, FS1).
Bush, along with a crew that includes ex-USC quarterback Matt Leinart and former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer, will present a one-hour pregame show, plus halftime and postgame coverage from the field.
In June 2010, the NCAA ruled that the Trojans had to permanently disassociate themselves from Bush and his family, who allegedly received cash and other improper benefits from sports marketers while the running back played at USC from 2003 to '05.
The NCAA placed the Trojans on four years' probation, barred them from playing in bowl games after the 2010 and 2011 seasons and docked them 10 scholarships in each of three seasons. The Trojans were forced to vacate their 2004 BCS national championship, and Bush voluntarily returned his 2005 Heisman Trophy.
USC spokesman Tim Tessalone told ESPN on Monday that the university "checked with the NCAA and was told that if Reggie is in a working capacity, it is OK for him to be at the Coliseum for a USC game."
In an interview with The Athletic last month, Bush said he looked forward to returning to the USC campus if his new job required him to do it.
"I assume it would be amazing," Bush said. "Not to pat myself on the back, but a lot of the kids still commit there based off what we did when we were there in college. I still talk to a lot of guys there. I still have relationships with a lot of people there.
"I hear stories where guys come to USC and they want to wear my jersey or they want to meet me. So I'm flattered and I appreciate it. I think it speaks volumes to if you work hard enough, you'll be able to achieve it."
Agent David Mulugheta told ESPN's Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen on Monday that he asked the Jaguars to trade his client. League sources also told ESPN that the Jaguars have had talks with teams and are asking for at least one first-round pick but would like more than that in return for the two-time Pro Bowl cornerback.
Another league source also said he believes a trade could happen as early as this week because of the damage to the relationship between Ramsey and head coach Doug Marrone after Ramsey's sideline outburst during Sunday's loss to Houston.
Sunday's incident wasn't the first time Ramsey's discontent with the team spilled over into the public. He and fellow defensive backs Tashaun Gipson and Davon House were unhappy with the way they were used during the 2016 season. Ramsey, who was a rookie that year, and Gipson complained of being limited by the scheme and Ramsey also advocated a clean sweep of the defensive coaching staff.
Ramsey also was critical of the team's defensive calls in the fourth quarter of the AFC Championship game against New England after the 2017 season.
Ramsey, the fifth overall pick in 2016, also wants a new contract. He said in the offseason that the team wasn't going to get a hometown discount after they told him they were not going to work on a contract extension for him this season. Ramsey, who showed up to training camp in a Brinks truck, is in the fourth year of his rookie contract and the team has picked up his fifth-year option in 2020.
Marrone said Monday that the team wasn't going to discipline Ramsey. He downplayed the sideline incident, which was caught by CBS cameras, in which Ramsey yelled at Marrone because he was upset that Marrone did not challenge a completion to Texans receiver DeAndre Hopkins. Ramsey yelled at Marrone as he walked by on the sideline and moments later players and coaches had to get between Ramsey and Marrone near the bench.
"Those things, they happen all the time," Marrone said. "They really do. I think now they're a little bit more publicized but ever since I played there's always stuff that goes on during the course of the game. I know when I was a line coach they didn't see a lot of them, though, because no one was really in on them. But those things occur and it's a high-intensity profession. There's a lot of emotion that goes on.
"... We knew it was going to be a tough game, going to be on the road, we wanted to match that intensity with the Texans coming off that tough loss that they had and we were all jacked up."
Marrone said he did not speak to Ramsey about the incident either after the game or Monday. Ramsey left the post-game locker room after declining to speak to the media. The players had Monday off but will be back in the building on Tuesday to prepare for Thursday night's home game against Tennessee.
Ramsey was guarding Hopkins on a 3-yard completion that converted a third-and-2 late in the first quarter. Ramsey immediately jumped up and signaled incomplete toward the Jaguars sideline and wanted Marrone to challenge the play. Marrone didn't and Ramsey was irate when he came the sideline after the Texans took a 3-0 lead on a 39-yard field goal six plays later.
Ramsey stormed past Marrone and cornerbacks coach Tim Walton wrapped his arms around Ramsey and guided him to the bench. Marrone came over to the bench and exchanged words with Ramsey before safety Ronnie Harrison and strength and conditioning coordinator Tom Myslinski got between the two. Harrison walked Marrone away.
Marrone said Monday that he went to the bench to tell Ramsey to calm down and focus on the rest of the game. "I wanted him to move on from it," Marrone said. "I mean, that was over plays ago. Move on from it. Let's go. We've got a long way to go in this game. Get that behind you."
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