A date has been set for Ray Rice‘s appeal hearing, which will get underway on November 5 and conclude the following day, a source tells Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun. The investigations being conducted by Robert Mueller and the NFLPA into the league’s and the Ravens‘ handling of the Rice incident almost certainly won’t have concluded in time for the hearing. Still, Rice’s camp is expected to argue that the running back was punished twice for the same infraction, and that the league’s decision to increase Rice’s punishment was based on a video that was edited by TMZ.
Here’s more from around the NFL’s two North divisions:
- Ravens defender Pernell McPhee may be in the process of pricing himself out of the team’s plans beyond this season, says Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun. Although Zrebiec expects the Ravens to try to bring McPhee back when his contract expires, he figures the 25-year-old will have plenty of suitors.
- Free agent cornerback DeMarcus Van Dyke, who auditioned for the Dolphins earlier this week, worked out for the Vikings today, according to Rand Getlin of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter).
- Lions head coach Jim Caldwell didn’t shoot down the idea that the team might be interested in Australian rugby star Jarryd Hayne, but was noncommittal when asked about the possibility. “Obviously, there are a lot of good athletes around this country, and there are a bunch of them playing other sports,” Caldwell said, per The Detroit Free Press. “Basketball, baseball, rugby, which is similar to our sport, and there is a lot of carryover. So, we’ll see.”