As the new second-string quarterback in his home area, Taylor Heinicke was efficient for the host Atlanta Falcons on Friday night in their 13-13 tie with Cincinnati.

Heinicke, a former Old Dominion record-setter and Washington starter who signed as a free agent with Atlanta in the offseason, completed 13 of 21 passes for 162 yards and hooked up with J.J. Arcega-Whiteside on a 28-yard completion that set up the Falcons’ only touchdown. Carlos Washington Jr. took it in from the 1.

Atlanta starter Desmond Ridder led an impressive drive in his preseason debut, and the Falcons settled for a field goal with 2 seconds left.

Jake Browning guided an 80-yard drive to that put the Bengals ahead 13-10 with 50 seconds remaining. But Logan Woodside led the Falcons into position for Younghoe Koo’s tying 45-yard kick, a decision that drew boos from the smattering of fans left in the stadium.

Ridder completed 7 of 9 passes for 80 yards and had a 7-yard run before an interception off a deflected pass in his lone possession. He carries Atlanta’s hopes of breaking a streak of five losing seasons.

Ridder started four games as a rookie at the end of last season, leading the Falcons to a 2-2 record and persuading coach Arthur Smith that he can handle the job.

Giants 21, Panthers 19: Daniel Jones completed 8 of 9 passes and threw a touchdown pass to cap a nearly perfect performance in leading New York to a home victory over Carolina and improving No. 1 overall draft pick Bryce Young.

Jones capped his only drive with a 4-yard TD toss to Daniel Bellinger. Backup Tyrod Taylor, a veteran from Hampton High and Virginia Tech, threw a 33-yard TD pass to Jalin Hyatt, and Eric Gray scored on a 9-yard run for New York (1-1).

Young, who did little in his NFL debut last week against the Jets, showed flashes and put points on the board for the first time, taking the Panthers (0-2) on a long field-goal drive.

Our armed forces are shrinking in size and capacity. The current crisis in military recruiting qualifies as a direct threat to U.S. national security.

In just two years, the active duty Army has shrunk from 485,000 to only 452,000 troops. It expects to fall short of its recruiting goals again this year. The Navy and Air Force are predicting shortfalls as well. As a result, our nation will have under-strength Army formations, Navy ships and Air Force squadrons — at a time when America is depending on its military to a greater degree than in the previous three decades.

The recruitment crisis is fueled by a variety of factors. Among them: a strong labor market paired with noncompetitive compensation, a declining number of Americans qualified for service, concerns about politicization, a fear of injury, and a general decline in patriotism felt by young people combined with a lack of familiarity with the military.

The military is working overtime to improve its recruiting, by starting preparation courses, better incentivizing its recruiters and retooling its marketing campaigns. But the fact remains that most of the factors inhibiting recruitment lie outside the military’s control. Overcoming these hurdles will require a broad, nationwide effort — not just by the Pentagon, but by the entire federal government with the support of states and local governments. What’s needed is a National Security Strategy to Support Military Recruiting.

Presidents often opt to develop national strategies when faced with complex problems threatening national security. In just two and a half years, the Biden administration has published dozens of such strategies, ranging from the overarching national security strategy to more narrow plans, such as the national cybersecurity strategy and, my favorite, the Near-earth Object Hazards and Planetary Defense Strategy.

Yet many American are unaware that the military is facing a recruitment crisis. Indeed, other than the individual military services furiously racing to turn around recruiting trends, the White House and senior Pentagon leaders have been silent on the issue, not giving a single speech or interview on the topic. Ditto the Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, Veteran’s Affairs or Labor — all of which can and should play roles in recruiting solutions.

Some suggest that the current recruiting crisis is just a temporary blip. Long-term trends, however, all point in the wrong directions: The labor market will remain tight, American youth will become increasingly obese and unfit, veterans who play a large role in influencing young people to volunteer are steadily decreasing in number, and U.S. confidence in the military continues to decrease year over year. We can see this same phenomena playing out in countries like Latvia and Sweden; both nations have had to return to conscription.

Granted, the history of national security strategies is checkered. Some merely serve as aspirational messaging documents. But a few have made a difference. For example: President George W. Bush’s 2005 strategy for pandemic influenza helped put in place the Strategic National Stockpile that furnished the respirators and masks (albeit not enough of them) for the initial federal response to COVID-19 in 2020. When national security strategies do come together for positive change, it’s because the National Security Council capably pulls together a working team from across the federal government and other interested parties, dissects the problem, and assigns responsibilities for solutions. The best strategies contain finite objectives and firmly assign them to agencies for implementation.

Of course, not every problem deserves its own national security strategy. Publishing too many strategies risks diluting the efforts of the federal government, and many national problems amenable to government fixes can be addressed by a single federal department.

But boosting military recruiting is not such a case. It will require a broad-based, sustained effort to be successful, and it’s far too urgent to ignore it one second longer. Indeed, failing to solve the military recruiting problem carries such grave danger for America that a national supporting security strategy is vital.

As Congress consider the yet-to-be-finalized FY 2024 defense authorization bill, lawmakers should insist that the president develop and deliver a comprehensive strategy. Then, we will have a fighting chance to turn recruiting around.

Thomas W. Spoehr, a retired Army lieutenant general, is director of the Center for National Defense at The Heritage Foundation.

Just when it looked the Norfolk Tides were headed for their fourth consecutive loss, they made Friday a “Turn Back the Clock Night” — to the International League season’s first half.

The Tides overcame a five-run deficit to defeat Memphis 9-6 before 2,255 at AutoZone Park in Tennessee. All nine starting Norfolk batters, plus pinch runner Daz Cameron, had a run or an RBI.

Until Friday’s ninth inning, first-half champion Norfolk hadn’t led in a six-game series whose fifth game is set for Saturday night. But Josh Lester hit a go-ahead single, and the Tides tacked on two more runs to improve to 70-47, 22-21 in the IL’s second half. Memphis fell to 59-59, 20-23.

TIDES TAKE THE LEAD IN THE 9TH!!!! @joshlester4 knocks in the go-ahead run in part of a three-run inning!#RisingTide pic.twitter.com/ddxQgFLg4T

— Norfolk Tides (@NorfolkTides) August 19, 2023

Chase Pinder, from Poquoson High and Clemson, slugged a three-run homer in the second inning to put the Redbirds ahead 4-0 off Norfolk left-hander Bruce Zimmermann.

Coby Mayo countered with a solo home run in the top of the fourth to pull Norfolk to 4-1, but Memphis’ Juan Yepez hit a two-run single fielded by Tides shortstop Joseph Rosa in the bottom of the fourth.

Three guys who have spent MLB time with Baltimore this season sparked the Tides’ comeback in the fifth.Colton Cowser — recently sent down by the Orioles — boomed a solo home run to right-center to trim the deficit to 6-2. Joey Ortiz then doubled, and Kyle Stowers clubbed a two-run homer to center to make it 6-4 before Memphis could record an out.

Then in the sixth, Ortiz doubled home Maverick Handley before Rosa scored the tying run when Ryan Helsley walked Stowers on a ball-four wild pitch.

Norfolk it up at 6-6 with two runs in the 6th! Joey Ortiz knocked an RBI single, then the Tides scored on a wild pitch!#RisingTide pic.twitter.com/RkKvFDcMSd

— Norfolk Tides (@NorfolkTides) August 19, 2023

Meanwhile, relievers T.J. McFarland, DL Hall and winner Logan Gillaspie (3-5) combined to shut down the Redbirds for 4 1/3 innings.

With Memphis’ Grant Black (2-5) pitching in a 6-6 game in the ninth, Norfolk’s offense broke out like it did so many times from April through June.

Stowers and Mayo singled, putting runners at first and third. Lester’s RBI single gave Norfolk a 7-6 lead, and Lewin Diaz’s RBI double and Shayne Fontana’s sacrifice fly boosted the margin to 9-6.

Wandisson Charles pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for the save.

Cesar Prieto, a Tide through most of July, and Yepez each had two hits for the Redbirds.

At 7:35 p.m. Saturday, Grassfield High alumnus Garrett Stallings (4-4, 5.84 ERA in Triple-A this season) is scheduled to pitch against the Redbirds’ Michael McGreevy (7-4, 4.38).

HOCKEY

The ECHL’s Norfolk Admirals signed defenseman Andrew McLean and forward Justin Young.

McLean, a 28-year-old Michigan native from Wisconsin-Stevens Point, signed his first pro contract in March 2020 with the Admirals, only to see the season canceled after one game amid the COVID-19 response.

McLean played for current Norfolk coach Jeff Carr with the Southern Professional Hockey League’s Knoxville Ice Bears in 2020-21, compiling four goals and 13 assists to earn SPHL all-rookie honors. Last season, he had five goals and 14 assists with the Glasgow Clan, a Scottish team in the UK Elite Ice Hockey League, after playing three games for the ECHL’s Orlando Solar Bears.

Young, 25, played his first full pro season last year with the ECHL’s Allen Americans in Texas. He had 10 points in 61 games, including 10 playoff contests.

GOLF

Shingler joins elite group with VSGA Senior Amateur trophy

Haymarket’s Scott Shingler, 52, defeated Arlington’s Matt Sughrue, 63, 1-up to win the 76th VSGA Senior Amateur Championship on Friday at Willow Oaks Country Club in Richmond.

Shingler joined a select group of players to win both the VSGA Amateur and VSGA Senior Amateur. The others are Keith Decker, David Partridge, Vinny Giles and Richard Payne.

Buck Brittain and Jon Hurst shared the qualifying medal at 6-under-par 138, and the top 32 from stroke play advanced to match play.

Dave Williams Jr. of Sleepy Hole Golf Course in Suffolk earned his way to the quarterfinals. He prevailed 2-up against Carlos Aranda of Northern Virginia and 3 and 2 against Tony Good before losing 6 and 4 to Buck Brittain, who then lost a semifinal to Sughrue.

Allen Barber of James River Country Club in Newport News, Robert Bradshaw of Virginia Beach’s Bayville Golf Club and Michael Hays of Princess Anne Country Club advanced through the first round but fell in the round of 16.

Barber ousted Dave Pulk of Williamsburg 5 and 4 in the first round but was sidelined 6 and 4 by Hurst. Bradshaw defeated Nicholas Crowe of Williamsburg National 3 and 2, then lost 2 and 1 to Jeffrey Klatt. Hays edged James River’s Bob Bailey on the 19th hole, then dropped a 5-and-4 match to David Jordan from the Richmond area.

Hampton Roads Academy graduate Thomas Garner, who lives in the Richmond area, reached match play but lost 2-up to Ron Totton in the first round. Jay Serrao, from Cavalier Golf & Yacht Club in Virginia Beach, fell 3 and 2 to Richmond-area standout David Partridge in the first round.

UVA players eliminated at U.S. Amateur

A day after extra-hole magic kept two Virginia Cavaliers alive at the U.S. Amateur Championship, the Hoos could not repeat those performances during Friday’s play in Colorado.

Sophomore Ben James of Milford, Connecticut, was eliminated in the quarterfinals in 19 holes by Florida sophomore Parker Bell. UVA junior Paul Chang, from China, lost to Auburn’s John Marshall Butler on the 19th hole after their match had been suspended Thursday night because of darkness after 18.

James’ run was the farthest he has advanced at the U.S. Amateur in three showings. James, trailing by two holes, won 16 with a birdie and 17 with an eagle to square the match. After both players parred the 18th hole, Bell hit a birdie putt on the 19th hole to move on to the semifinals.

Chang, who was on the UVA club team the past two years, was invited onto the varsity this summer. Thursday, he bounced in a shot for an eagle-2 to win the 460-yard 16th hole — a stroke featured on the “Top 10 Plays” of an ESPN late-night “SportsCenter,” but Butler, from Louisville, Kentucky, won the 549-yard 17th with a birdie-4 to pull even.

UVA senior wins Mass. Women’s Amateur

Virginia senior Rebecca Skoler took the Massachusetts Women’s Amateur Championship trophy in her home state.

A year after losing in the final, the Needham native defeated Central Florida freshman Molly Smith 2 and 1 at Dedham Country & Polo Club. Par putts on holes 16 and 17 ensured Skoler of the title.

HORSE RACING

Gallardo rides three victors for day

Antonio Gallardo rode to three victories Friday afternoon at Colonial Downs, giving the Spanish native a meet-leading 20 this summer in New Kent County. Mychel Sanchez is next with 17, including a triumph aboard By the Sey Shore in an $87,500 turf allowance for Virginia-bred, sired and certified horses.

Gallardo’s winning horses Friday were Tiberius Mercurius, Andie One and Boomin’ Belle.

By PAN PYLAS and BRIAN MELLEY (Associated Press)

LONDON (AP) — A neonatal nurse in a British hospital was found guilty Friday of murdering seven babies and trying to kill six others during a yearlong campaign of deception that saw her prey on the vulnerabilities of sick newborns and their anxious parents.

Following 22 days of deliberation, the jury at Manchester Crown Court convicted 33-year-old Lucy Letby of killing the babies, including two triplet boys, in the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital in northwest England between June 2015 and June 2016. She will be sentenced on Monday.

“Parents were exposed to her morbid curiosity and her fake compassion,” said senior prosecutor Pascale Jones. “Too many of them returned home to empty baby rooms. Many surviving children live with permanent consequences of her assaults upon their lives.”

Her attacks, Jones said, were “a complete betrayal of the trust placed in her.”

Families of the victims said they will “forever be grateful” to jurors who since last October had to sit through 145 days of “grueling” evidence.

In a joint statement read outside court, they also expressed their gratitude to all those who came to give evidence during the trial, which they described as “extremely harrowing and distressing” to listen to.

“To lose a baby is a heart-breaking experience that no parent should ever have to go through, but to lose a baby or to have a baby harmed in these particular circumstances is unimaginable,” they said.

Letby’s motives remain unclear, but the scale of her crimes points to intricate planning.

She was accused of deliberately harming the babies in various ways, including by injecting air into their bloodstreams and administering air or milk into their stomachs via nasogastric tubes. She was also accused of poisoning infants by adding insulin to intravenous feeds and interfering with breathing tubes.

The British government launched an independent inquiry soon after the verdicts that will look into the wider circumstances around what happened at the hospital, including the handling of concerns raised by staff.

“This inquiry will seek to ensure the parents and families impacted get the answers they need,” Health Secretary Steve Barclay said. “I am determined their voices are heard, and they are involved in shaping the scope of the inquiry should they wish to do so.”

One of the senior doctors at the Countess of Chester Hospital told the BBC he had repeatedly tried to raise the alarm about Letby but hospital executives failed to investigate the allegations.

Dr Stephen Brearley, the lead doctor in the neonatal unit, said the hospital tried to silence doctors who complained about Letby and delayed calling the police.

The jury of seven women and four men deliberated for 22 days before reaching the verdict. One juror was excused well into deliberations for personal reasons, and the judge later gave the remaining 11 jurors the option of reaching a verdict with 10 people in agreement instead of a unanimous decision.

Letby was found guilty of the seven murders and of seven charges of attempted murder relating to six children. She was cleared of two charges of attempted murder and the jury could not reach a verdict on several others.

Some of the verdicts were announced in court earlier in the month, but the judge imposed a ban on reporting them until deliberations were complete.

During the lengthy trial, prosecutors said the hospital in 2015 started to experience a significant rise in the number of babies who were dying or suffering sudden deteriorations in their health for no apparent reason. Some suffered “serious catastrophic collapses” but survived after help from medical staff.

Letby was on duty in all the cases with prosecutors describing her as a “constant malevolent presence” in the neonatal unit when the children collapsed or died. They said the nurse harmed the babies in ways that did not leave much of a trace, and that she persuaded her colleagues that the collapses and deaths were normal.

Police launched an investigation into the baby deaths at the hospital in May 2017 and Letby was eventually charged in November 2020.

“The last thing we expected to find was a suspect responsible for these deaths and non-fatal collapses,” said the senior investigating officer, Detective Superintendent Paul Hughes.

“Turning up at the home of a family who have lost a baby, grieved for their loss and are trying to move on from that is difficult enough, but having to tell them that someone who was meant to be caring for their little one could ultimately be responsible for their death — is not an easy task,” he added.

Letby testified for 14 days, proclaiming her innocence. During the trial, the defense argued that she was a “hard-working, dedicated and caring” nurse who loved her job and that the infants’ sudden collapses and deaths could have been due to natural causes, or in combination with other factors such as staffing shortages at the hospital or failure by others to provide appropriate care.

Letby fought back tears on Aug. 8 as the jury found her guilty of two counts of attempted murder and burst out crying as she left the courtroom. She was present again three days later when she was convicted of four murders and another two attempted murders.

She declined to be in the courtroom as additional verdicts were announced Friday and has indicated to the court she does not wish to appear in court Monday, nor to follow the sentencing hearing via videolink.

A note police found at Letby’s home after she was first arrested in 2018 will now stand as a chilling confession.

“I don’t deserve to live,” she wrote on a green sticky note shown in court. “I killed them on purpose because I’m not good enough to care for them.”

“I am a horrible evil person,” she wrote. “I AM EVIL I DID THIS.”

___

Sylvia Hui in London contributed to this story.

By IGNACIO MARTINEZ and JULIE WATSON (Associated Press)

CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico (AP) — Hurricane Hilary churned off Mexico’s Pacific coast Friday as a powerful Category 4 storm threatening to unleash torrential rains on the mudslide-prone border city of Tijuana before heading into Southern California as the first tropical storm there in 84 years.

Forecasters warned the storm could cause extreme flooding, mudslides and even tornadoes across the region.

Hilary grew rapidly in strength early Friday before losing some steam, with its maximum sustained winds clocked at 130 mph (215 kph) in the evening, after falling from 145 mph (230 kph). Nevertheless, it was forecast to still be a hurricane when approaching Mexico’s Baja California peninsula on Saturday night and a tropical storm when approaching Southern California on Sunday.

Hilary was already disrupting life.

Major League Baseball rescheduled three Sunday games in Southern California, moving them to Saturday as part of split-doubleheaders. The National Park Service closed Joshua Tree National Park and Mojave National Preserve to keep people from becoming stranded amid flooding. Cities across the region, including in Arizona, were offering sandbags to safeguard properties against floodwaters.

No tropical storm has made landfall in Southern California since Sept. 25, 1939, according to the National Weather Service. The watch was posted for a wide swath of Southern California from the coast to interior mountains and deserts. The U.S. National Hurricane Center warned of potential threats to life and property.

The latest forecast pointed to Hilary making landfall along a sparsely populated area of the Baja peninsula Sunday, about 200 miles (330 kilometers) south of the Pacific port city of Ensenada.

As it moves north, it could bring heavy rains to Tijuana. Mayor Montserrat Caballero Ramirez said the city was tracking the storm closely and clearing out storm drains.

The sprawling border metropolis of 1.9 million people is particularly at risk of landslides and flooding, in part because of its hilly terrain. Shacks are perched on cliffs with little vegetation to hold soil in place. In addition, dozens of people live under tarps on the streets and in canals in flood zones, including migrants who arrive daily from various parts of the world.

The city was setting up four shelters in high-risk zones and warning residents in risky zones, Caballero Ramirez said.

“We are a vulnerable city being on one of the most visited borders in the world and because of our landscape,” she said.

Mexico issued a tropical storm watch for parts of mainland Mexico and put 18,000 soldiers on alert.

On Friday evening, Hilary was centered about 310 miles (495 kilometers) south-southwest of Cabo San Lucas, near the southern tip of the Baja peninsula. It was moving northwest at 12 mph (19 kph) and was expected to turn more toward the north.

Some Cabo San Lucas schools were being prepared as temporary shelters, said Flora Aguilar, a city official.

In La Paz, the picturesque capital of Baja California Sur state on the Sea of Cortez, police patrolled closed beaches to keep swimmers out of the whipped-up surf. Schools were shut down in five municipalities.

It was increasingly likely that Hilary would reach California early Monday while still at tropical storm strength, though widespread rain was expected to begin as early as Saturday, the National Weather Service’s San Diego office said.

Hurricane officials said the storm could bring heavy rainfall to the southwestern United States, dumping 3 to 6 inches (8-15 centimeters) in places, with isolated amounts of up to 10 inches (25 centimeters), in portions of southern California and southern Nevada.

“Two to three inches of rainfall in Southern California is unheard of” for this time of year, said Kristen Corbosiero, a University of Albany atmospheric scientist who specializes in Pacific hurricanes. “That’s a that’s a whole summer and fall amount of rain coming in probably 6 to 12 hours.”

The region could face once-in-a-century rains and there is a good chance Nevada will break its all-time rainfall record, said meteorologist Jeff Masters of Yale Climate Connections and a former government in-flight hurricane meteorologist.

President Joe Biden said the Federal Emergency Management Agency had pre-positioned staff and supplies in the region.

“I urge everyone, everyone in the path of this storm, to take precautions and listen to the guidance of state and local officials,” Biden told reporters Friday at Camp David, where he is meeting with the leaders of Japan and South Korea.

Deputies with the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department were driving on service roads to announce warnings over public address systems and urge homeless people living in riverbeds to move into shelters before the storm hits.

Janice Hahn, chair of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, said planning had been underway for several days, which included evacuation plans for the tourist destination of Santa Catalina Island, off the coast.

“I don’t think any of us — I know me particularly — never thought I’d be standing here talking about a hurricane or a tropical storm,” Hahn said.

Officials in Southern California were also re-enforcing sand berms, built to protect low-lying coastal communities against winter surf, like in Huntington Beach, which dubs itself as “Surf City USA.”

In nearby Newport Beach, Tanner Atkinson waited in a line of vehicles for free sandbags at a city distribution point.

“I mean a lot of people here are excited because the waves are gonna get pretty heavy,” Atkinson said. “But I mean, it’s gonna be some rain, so usually there’s some flooding and the landslides and things like that.”

SpaceX delayed the launch of a satellite-carrying rocket from a base on California’s central coast until at least Monday. The company said conditions in the Pacific could make it difficult for a ship to recover the rocket booster.

Storms don’t usually hit Southern California because prevailing winds usually push them either due west into open ocean or northeastward into Mexico and other parts of the U.S. Southwest, according to experts.

“Almost all of them just go out to sea. That’s why we never hear about them,” said Kerry Emanuel, a hurricane professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

That’s unlikely to happen with Hilary mostly because of a high pressure heat dome that is expected to bring triple digit heat indices in the Midwest and block the eastern turn, Masters said.

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Watson reported from San Diego. Associated Press writers Seth Borenstein in Washington, Maria Verza and Mark Stevenson in Mexico City, John Antczak in Los Angeles, and Eugene Garcia in Newport Beach, California, contributed to this report.

NORFOLK — A Portsmouth man was sentenced Friday to 12 years in prison for a drunken, high-speed crash that resulted in his girlfriend’s death.

Jonathan Brownell, 36, pleaded guilty in April to aggravated involuntary vehicular manslaughter. The crime carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, but prosecutors agreed to seek no more than 12½ years in exchange for his plea.

Norfolk Circuit Judge Mary Jane Hall issued the prison term to Brownell after hearing emotional testimony from several friends and family members of Samantha Leigh Sims, 23, who was killed in the crash, as well as from Brownell.

Sims’ mother, brother, and friends described her as a loving, kind and bubbly person who was a “bright light” to all who knew her.

“She was always so happy,” Sims’ friend, Heather Bush, told the judge. “She was just that soul that you wanted to be around.”

The incident happened at 2:30 a.m. Sept. 21, 2021, on Interstate 64 near the Granby Street exit, which was under construction.

According to prosecutors, the car’s airbag control module showed Brownell was driving between 95 and 103 mph when he lost control and slammed into a street sweeper truck.

Sims was sitting in the front passenger seat and died on impact. A construction worker in the area had to jump over a guardrail to avoid being hit, Senior Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Emily Woodley said.

The car was pinned under the truck, and emergency personnel had to cut the vehicle open to extract Brownell from the driver’s seat. His blood alcohol content was tested about an hour later and was estimated to be between .16 and .18% — at least twice the legal limit. Brownell suffered a broken leg, ankle and ribs and spent several days in the hospital.

Sharon Sims, Samantha’s mother, testified during the sentencing hearing that Brownell had claimed a blown tire had caused the accident. She didn’t find out about his speeding or drunken condition until months later, when details of the crash started to emerge.

A former neighbor of Brownell’s and Samantha Sims testified she frequently heard loud thuds on the wall as well Brownell yelling expletives at Sims. She said she also heard Sims crying during those times. The woman said she never did anything about it because she was afraid.

“I’m haunted constantly by it,” the woman testified as her voice choked with emotion. “I regret every day not coming over and knocking on your door because I was afraid of what you would do to me and my family,” she said as she looked at Brownell at the defense table.

The mother of Brownell’s son also testified. She said she wasn’t surprised to find out that he was speeding when the crash occurred because he did the same when she and her son were in a car with him in an effort to scare her.

While Brownell told the judge he accepted responsibility for what he’d done, he claimed he’d stopped drinking hours before the accident, and that he wasn’t going that fast. He also continued to claim a blown tire led to the crash.

“This really wasn’t an accident,” Hall said to him before issuing her sentence. “I think you have been consistently minimizing your role in this tragedy.”

Jane Harper, [email protected]

ASHBURN, Va. (AP) — Coach Ron Rivera has named Sam Howell the Washington Commanders’ starting quarterback, making the North Carolina product the latest in a revolving door of players at the position for the organization in recent years.

Rivera announced the decision Friday morning before practice after deliberating with new offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy and quarterbacks coach Tavita Pritchard.

Howell, if he remains healthy until then, would become Washington’s seventh different season-opening starter in as many years.

“He’s basically met the challenge that we talked about, and that was seeing the growth and improvement from OTAs and minicamp,” Rivera said. “Then talked about going into training camp and continuing to grow and show us what he’s capable of.

“We’ve been very pleased with it to the point where I decided yesterday that we were going to name him the starter going into the regular season.”

Rivera and the Commanders planned to give Howell this opportunity after the 2022 fifth-round pick impressed in his NFL debut in Week 18 last season. Howell also went 9 of 12 for 77 yards and a touchdown in the exhibition opener last week at Cleveland and has showed progress over the course of training camp.

Howell’s play during the first of two joint practices with the Baltimore Ravens clinched the decision, Rivera said.

“He sees the field really well, and he’s going to give us chance to make opportunities on the perimeter,” top receiver Terry McLaurin said after that practice. “He’s been the same guy since we started camp, since he stepped in at the last game last year. He’s just really poised.”

Veteran Jacoby Brissett is set to back up Howell on Sept. 10 when Washington hosts Arizona — the first regular-season game since the new ownership group led by Josh Harris took over. The team signed Brissett this offseason to compete with Howell, who has been empowered since before spring workouts by Rivera by giving him the first-team snaps.

“I’m always confident in my abilities just to come out here and perform and do well for this football team,” Howell said. “Throughout camp, every single day I’ve gotten better and more comfortable, and I feel like I’m in a really good place right now with the offense. I feel really good going out there every single day, and I feel good about my chances to go out there and execute.”

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl