Off the wire

LITTLE ROCK — FOOTBALL

Mallett backup QB

After the New England Patriots released Brian Hoyer on Friday, Ryan Mallett will be the backup quarterback to Tom Brady. Mallett (Arkansas Razorbacks) completed 25 of 52 passes for 260 yards and 3 touchdowns and threw 1 interception during the exhibition season. Mallett was drafted by New England in the third round of the 2011 draft and served as the Patriots’ third-string quarterback last season behind Brady and Hoyer. Hoyer signed with New England as an undrafted rookie out of Michigan State in 2009 and served as Brady’s backup the past three seasons. He has played in 13 regular-season games with no starts. He completed 13 of 32 passes for 100 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions during the exhibition season. Wide receiver Deion Branch was also among the cuts the team made Friday as it got down to the NFL limit of 53 for next week’s opener. Center Dan Koppen was also let go. Branch, 33, re-signed with the Patriots in March after spending parts of six seasons in New England. He recorded 51 catches for 702 yards and 5 touchdowns last year, and has 502 receptions for 6,499 yards and 39 touchdowns in his career.Branch’s spot on the team appeared safe after the Patriots cut receivers Donte’ Stallworth and Jabar Gaffney earlier this week. Branch was a two-time Super Bowl champion with the Patriots, and was named MVP of their victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in 2005 after tying a Super Bowl record with 11 catches for 133 yards. He was the first receiver to win the honor since San Francisco’s Jerry Rice in 1989. He then spent four injury-plagued seasons with the Seattle Seahawks before returning to New England during the 2010 season. Koppen had been New England’s starting center since 2003 and had been a part of all three Patriots Super Bowl victories. The 10-year veteran fractured his ankle in the season opener last year and missed the rest of the season.

Trent Edwards beat out Mike Kafka for the third-string quarterback job with the Philadelphia Eagles. Kafka was released Friday afternoon, leaving Edwards and rookie Nick Foles behind Michael Vick on the depth chart. Kafka, a fourth-round pick from Northwestern in 2010, appeared in four games last year. He completed 11 of 16 passes for 107 yards and threw 2 interceptions. Kafka played in one preseason game this summer before breaking his nonthrowing hand. Edwards, a 28-year-old veteran who sat out 2011, completed 54 of 80 passes (68 percent) for 489 yards and four touchdowns and threw no interceptions. Edwards started 32 games for Buffalo and one for Jacksonville in four seasons, going 14-19. He completed 60.5 percent of his passes for 6,019 yards and 26 touchdowns and threw 30 interceptions. He was released last preseason by Oakland and didn’t find a job until the Eagles signed him in February. Foles, a third-round pick from Arizona, was outstanding in the preseason. He finished 40 for 63 for 553 yards and 6 touchdowns and threw 2 interceptions.

The NFL and its on-field officials’ union are negotiating again, hoping to end the lockout that resulted in replacement officials working the exhibition games. The league locked out the NFL Referees Association in early June, then hired replacements, whose work in exhibition games has been heavily criticized. There even is some optimism surrounding Friday’s talks, as Michael Arnold, lead negotiator for the officials, says in a statement: “Reports on the economic gap between the NFL and NFLRA are inaccurate.” A league spokesman says that statement is accurate. Earlier this week, NFL executive Ray Anderson said the regular season would open with replacement officials and that the league was prepared to use them “as much ... as necessary” afterward.

BASKETBALL

Gillispie hospitalized

Texas Tech men’s Coach Billy Gillispie was hospitalized for an undisclosed medical issue Friday, the same day the university announced it was scrutinizing his leadership of the struggling program. Athletic department spokesman Blayne Beal said Gillispie, 52, was admitted to University Medical Center early Friday but declined to provide further details.

Hospital spokesman Eric Finley said Gillispie was in satisfactory condition and likely to be held overnight. Finley said he had no other details on why Gillispie was admitted. Gillispie was hospitalized on the same day that Beal said the university is looking into matters stemming from the coach’s dealings with his players. Beal confirmed that members of the team had met with Texas Tech Athletic Director Kirby Hocutt but declined to say when the meeting occurred or what issues were discussed. The meeting was first reported by ESPN.com. Gillispie is entering his second year as coach of the Red Raiders. His first Texas Tech team finished 8-23 and won only one game in the Big 12. When Gillispie was hired by Texas Tech, he had been out of coaching for two years after being fired at Kentucky after just two seasons. He was named SEC Coach of the Year in his first season, but his second team failed to reach the NCAA Tournament. Six months after his firing, Gillispie sought treatment at the John Lucas substance-abuse program in Houston. That followed his third arrest for drunken driving in 10 years. Gillispie got the Kentucky job after leading Texas A&M to three consecutive 20-victory seasons. In his previous coaching stop, he oversaw a turnaround at Texas-El Paso in which the Miners tied the NCAA record for most improved team from one season to the next.

MOTOR SPORTS

Stewart claims pole

Defending Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart has claimed the pole for Sunday night’s NASCAR race at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Ga. Stewart turned a fast lap of 186.121 mph Friday night to take his first pole of the season and second of his career at the 1.54-mile tri-oval. He also was on the pole at Atlanta for the season finale in 2002, setting him up to clinch the first of his three Cup titles. Greg Biffle (185.648) will start on the outside of the front row for the AdvoCare 500. Kyle Busch (185.493) and Matt Kenseth (185.319) took spots on the second row. Michael McDowell, Josh Wise, Stephen Leicht and Mike Bliss failed to make the 43-car field.

HOCKEY

NHL breaks off talks

NHL labor negotiations hit a standstill after talks broke off Friday, two weeks before the league has threatened to lock out its players. NHL Players’ Association Executive Director Don Fehr announced that the NHL asked that talks be “recessed” after the union presented its latest proposal during negotiations held at the league’s headquarters in New York. Fehr said the union’s latest proposal “did not bear fruit.” The NHLPA’s latest offer came three days after the NHL made its first counter proposal. After asking the players to cut their share of hockey revenue from 57 to 43 percent, the NHL upped its proposal to have the players get a 46 percent share over a six-year deal.The two sides took a break from talks Thursday after the union said it was preparing a counter proposal. The current CBA expires Sept. 15, with the NHL already saying it’s prepared to lock out its players if no deal is reached by then. The NHL regular season is scheduled to open Oct. 11, but that date is now in jeopardy. The two sides were scheduled to continue negotiations in New York next week, but the status of those talks are now uncertain. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said he doesn’t see a need to continue negotiations until new ideas can be brought to the table. This is not the turn in negotiations the commissioner was hoping for, especially after the NHL altered its proposal this week. The NHLPA is now preparing for the possibility of a lockout, and has scheduled an executive board meeting in New York for Sept. 12-13. The breakdown in talks further raises the prospect that the NHL is heading toward its fourth labor dispute in 20 years.It’s a stretch that dates to April 1, 1992, when players held a 10-day strike which forced 30 games to be rescheduled. The most memorable and disruptive breakdown in labor talks came during the last negotiations, which led to the entire 2004-2005 season being wiped out.