NFL labor talks don’t produce revised proposal

INDIANAPOLIS — NFL owners met with representatives of the NFL Players Association for nearly four hours on Tuesday in Indianapolis trying to close the deal on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement.

While there was an expectation that enough progress would be made for the NFLPA to send a revised proposal to a full vote of players by Tuesday night, that was not the case.

As owners and player representatives left the meeting just before 9 p.m. local time, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said no word from owners would be coming on Tuesday.

“Out of respect for the process, we will not have further comment at this time,” McCarthy said.

He did not indicate if more meetings are scheduled.

Raiders not interested in AB

While Antonio Brown has begun making the rounds on an apology tour and expressed his desire to play in the NFL again, it doesn’t look like the Raiders will be reuniting with the mercurial wide receiver any time soon.

General manager Mike Mayock was pretty clear on that when asked about Brown during his press conference on Tuesday.

“Antonio Brown, I have very little comment about,” Mayock said. “I think he had his time with the Raiders, and I think his time there is up.”

The Raiders traded for Brown in the 2019 off-season but granted his release after he asked for it following a tumultuous week — during which Brown had a heated exchange with Mayock at practice. Brown has filed a grievance to recoup the guarantees in his Raiders salary after they were voided by the wide receiver’s actions in missing practices and receiving fines. The hearing for the grievance is reportedly slated for May.

After the Raiders released Brown, he signed with the Patriots — playing one game for the club before being released again amid allegations of sexual assault.

Tua a lefty by choice

If you’ve ever seen quarterback Tua Tagovailoa play, you know he’s not the typical quarterback in part because he throws with his left hand.

But on Tuesday, Tagovailoa said playing football is one of very few things he does left-handed.

“I hit (in baseball) right. Write with my right, eat with my right, I golf right,” Tagovailoa said. “I only throw with my left and shoot (basketballs) with my left.”

The 21-year-old quarterback out of Alabama said he originally started throwing with his left hand because his father requested it. This was when Tagovailoa was about 5 or 6 years old.

“He was the only lefty in our family and he wanted me to be a lefty as well, so he switched the way I threw,” Tagovailoa said. “I didn’t touch the ball with my right as far as throwing — I just threw with my left. And I don’t think I’d be here if I was a righty.”

Why’s that?

“Well, because I only know I’m good with my left hand throwing the ball,” Tagovailoa said with a laugh.

Known for his ability to be a dual-threat quarterback, Tagovailoa mentioned trying to model his game after righties Russell Wilson and Drew Brees — which makes sense with Tagovailoa being around the same height as the pair of Super Bowl champions. But when it comes to being left-handed, Tagovailoa said he’s not too sure if there are any real advantages.

When asked about it, he could only come up with one thing before cracking a smile and laugh.

“The ball is spinning a different way,” he said.

Contact Vinny Bonsignore vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow at @VinnyBonsignore on Twitter.

Contact Myles Simmons at msimmons@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0350. Follow @MylesASimmons on Twitter.