Reuters Sports News Summary

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs. Patriots pup an unexpected star in 'virtual' draft

It's a dog-eat-dog world in the NFL and no more so than Friday night, when a canine companion made an unexpected appearance in place of New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick during the draft telecast, perhaps a hint that the second evening of the "virtual" event could have more unscripted moments in store. After trading out of the first round, Belichick was set to make his second-round pick from a relatively spare home workstation, as coaches across the league settled in for the evening under coronavirus lockdown. UFC announces three comeback cards in Florida after coronavirus hiatus

After several recent cancellations due to the spread of the coronavirus, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has announced its comeback with three fight cards in the space of a week at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. The first event will be the postponed UFC 249 card which was originally scheduled to take place in Brooklyn, New York, on April 18. The main event will feature a much-anticipated interim lightweight title fight between Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje, and there will also be a matchup between current holder Henry Cejudo and former champ Dominick Cruz for the bantamweight belt. First night of draft breaks records for TV viewership, league says

Television viewership for the first round of the NFL Draft broke records, the league said on Friday, with an average of more than 15.6 million tuning in for one of the rare few live sports events left on a professional calendar otherwise frozen during the coronavirus pandemic. Viewership was up 37% over the previous year as Louisiana State University's Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Joe Burrow went first overall to the Cincinnati Bengals, as expected. Eagles select QB Hurts in second round

Adding protection for injury-prone quarterback Carson Wentz, the Philadelphia Eagles selected Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts in the second round of the NFL draft on Friday. Hurts was chosen 53rd overall. NFL: Higgins ready to 'tear it up' with Burrow in Cincinnati

One night after selecting LSU's Joe Burrow with the first pick of the NFL Draft, the Cincinnati Bengals wasted no time finding him a target by nabbing Clemson wide receiver Tee Higgins with the first pick of the second round on Friday. Higgins, who grew up rooting for the Bengals, had 1,167 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns last season and is already familiar with Burrow's game, having faced his now team mate in last year's national championship game. Swimming: Delay will make Titmus stronger for Ledecky showdown - coach

Ariarne Titmus's coach believes the postponement of the Olympics will be a "positive" for the young Australian world champion as she prepares to face American Katie Ledecky in a tantalizing Tokyo showdown. The Tasmanian teenager stunned the swimming world, and herself, when she won the world 400 meters freestyle title in Gwangju last year, ending Ledecky's six-year unbeaten run at world championships. Rodgers shows some Love to Packers draft pick

Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers' first interaction with his heir apparent was cordial, Packers first-round draft Jordan Love said Friday. Speaking with ESPN's Maria Taylor, Love said of his new teammate, "Yeah, I was able to talk with him earlier. You know, really good guy. (He was) just congratulating me, and I was just letting him know that I was excited to be able to work with him." Texans, QB Watson reportedly talking contract

Quarterback Deshaun Watson and the Houston Texans are discussing a long-term contract, ESPN's Ed Werder reported, but the talks were framed as "very preliminary." On the day the franchise made left tackle Laremy Tunsil the highest-paid offensive lineman in the NFL with a $66 million contract over three years, reports leaked that Watson and the Texans are also talking about a new deal. Reports: Goff restructures contract, saves Rams $7 million

The Los Angeles Rams restructured the contract of quarterback Jared Goff to save $7 million against this season's salary cap, ESPN reported Friday. Spotrac indicates $8.8 million of Goff's $10 million base salary for 2020 was converted into future bonuses. 2020 NFL Draft: Run on SEC talent, WRs highlights Day 2

Wide receivers and Southeastern Conference talent dominated the second day of the 2020 NFL Draft on Friday. Teams continued to dip into a deep receiver class on Friday, with the Cincinnati Bengals kicking off the second round by grabbing Clemson wideout Tee Higgins.