Baseball

Tigers’ Leyland stepping down — Jim Leyland is stepping down as manager of the Detroit Tigers. Leyland announced the move Monday, two days after the Tigers were eliminated from the AL championship series by Boston in six games. The 68-year-old Leyland led Detroit to the World Series twice in eight years, and the Tigers have won the past three AL Central titles. Leyland has been working under one-year contracts the past couple years, saying he was content to wait until after the season to address his status. Leyland was 700-597 with the Tigers. In all, he is 1,769-1,728 with the Tigers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Florida Marlins and Colorado Rockies. He won the World Series in 1997 with Florida.

Football

Bradford, Wayne out for season — Sam Bradford was running out of bounds when a shove sent him tumbling to the ground. Reggie Wayne was wide open when he turned to catch a low throw and crumbled to the turf. Two seemingly harmless plays turned out to be quite costly. St. Louis’ Bradford and Indianapolis’ Wayne each tore an anterior cruciate ligament in their knees and will miss the rest of the NFL season. Bradford’s injury is a devastating blow to the St. Louis Rams, who will turn to backup quarterback, and former Oregon Duck, Kellen Clemens. Chicago quarterback Jay Cutler will miss at least the next four weeks after tearing a muscle in his groin during a 45-41 loss to Washington. Pro Bowl linebacker Lance Briggs will be out for around six weeks after sustaining a small fracture in his left shoulder.

Harvin returns to Seattle practice — Wide receiver Percy Harvin is returning to practice for the Seattle Seahawks after missing the first seven weeks of the regular season following hip surgery. The Seahawks made the announcement on Monday. The team is not scheduled to practice until today following last Thursday’s win over Arizona. Harvin has been on the physically unable to perform list all season after surgery to repair the labrum in his hip in early August. Seattle now has three weeks to add Harvin to the active roster. He could play as soon as next Monday at St. Louis and the latest Harvin could return would be Week 11 against Minnesota.

Meriweather suspended 2 games for hits — Washington Redskins free safety Brandon Meriweather’s dangerous habit of leading with his helmet will cost him two games, the latest sanction from a league determined to make the game safer by discouraging blows to the head. The NFL announced Monday that Meriweather will be suspended for this week’s game against the Denver Broncos and the following game against the San Diego Chargers, a severe blow to a struggling defense as the Redskins try to recover from their poor start to the season. Meriweather has the right to appeal.

Falcons’ Jackson to practice this week — Atlanta Falcons coach Mike Smith says running back Steven Jackson, who has missed the past four games, is expected to practice on Wednesday. Smith said Monday Jackson won’t have full participation immediately in his return from a hamstring injury. Jackson didn’t practice last week but Smith says the latest report on the running back late in the week “was very good in terms of his testing and the opportunity to go play.”

Eagles deal with QB questions — Nick Foles has a concussion and Michael Vick is still recovering from a hamstring injury, leaving the Philadelphia Eagles uncertain of a starting quarterback next week. Foles was injured when he was sacked by George Selvie and Jarius Wynn on the final play of the third quarter in a 17-3 loss to Dallas on Sunday. Foles struggled against the Cowboys, completing just 11 of 29 for 80 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. Vick has missed the past 2½ games. If neither can play against the New York Giants, rookie Matt Barkley would make his first career start. Barkley threw three interceptions in the fourth quarter in his first NFL action.

Hockey

Avs player suspended — Colorado Avalanche forward Cody McLeod was suspended for five games by the NHL on Monday for his hit along the boards on Detroit Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall last week. Kronwall was carried off the ice on a stretcher early in the first period after being rammed into the boards in the Red Wings’ 4-2 win last Thursday. He suffered a concussion and cuts to the ear.

College athletics

Miami decision set for today — Decision day has finally arrived for Miami. The NCAA will unveil the findings of its long investigation into Miami athletics and release any proposed sanctions today, about 2½ years after the probe began and more than eight months after saying the Hurricanes did not “exercise institutional control” over former booster and convicted felon Nevin Shapiro’s interactions with the football and men’s basketball programs. The report will be released at 7 a.m. PDT, the NCAA said. If the case follows typical protocols, the Hurricanes will not receive their copy of the decision until Tuesday morning, shortly before the public release.

— From wire reports