KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Chiefs trainer Rick Burkholder defended his medical staff's response to an eye injury sustained by Ravens linebacker Kyle Van Noy in last week's game, adding Friday that he also spoke with the Baltimore medical staff and exchanged text messages with coach John Harbaugh to “clear the air.”
Van Noy hurt his right eye in the third quarter of the first NFL game last week, which Kansas City won 27-20. He said later that he was “disappointed” about how long it took for the Chiefs doctors to see him in the locker room after leaving the field.
“We respect the Ravens. We respect their medical staff. I respect Kyle as a player and I'm pretty upset that he was upset,” Burkholder said. “When he went down, I went out there because I thought he had a head or neck injury. I asked their physician if they wanted an opthamologist at the time. They did not.”
The Ravens' medical staff decided later that Van Noy should have the eye specialist examine him after all, so they asked the Chiefs to summon the ophthalmologist. It took 12 minutes for the doctor to be found and reach the locker room.
There is no NFL mandate to have an opthamologist or dentist available. The Chiefs provide both as courtesies to visiting teams.
“I'm sorry he was upset,” Burkholder said. “I think we worked it out with the Ravens."
The NFL likewise said in a statement Thursday night that it had discussed the case with officials from the the Ravens and Chiefs, and the league had determined that Van Noy received “appropriate” care from the Kansas City medical staff.
Van Noy had made his displeasure known on his podcast Tuesday with retired defensive tackle Gerald McCoy.
“When you get hurt, especially something that can be serious like mine was, you’re supposed to rely on the team’s training staff or their doctors, and I was supposed to see an ophthalmologist,” Van Noy said. “They took an entire quarter to get down to talk to me in the locker room, which to me is unacceptable because then you start thinking, ’What if I was trying to go back in the game? What if I was really, really hurt? I know mine happened to be moderate, but it still was serious because it’s an eye.”
NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell, who visited the Ravens on Thursday as part of his league-wide tour, told reporters the medical treatment on-site should be provided “as quickly as possible” under the collective bargaining agreement.
“I think this was an unfortunate situation where that did not occur,” Howell said. “Thank God for Kyle’s situation (that) it wasn’t worse. But here we are with the first game of the season; we got many more games to play. We just can’t have that.”
The NFL said in its statement that it was "disappointing the NFLPA would publicize unsupported conclusions without attempting to understand the facts"."
AP Pro Football Writer Rob Maaddi contributed to this report.
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FILE - Baltimore Ravens outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy walks of the field after being injured during the second half of an NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)
FILE -Baltimore Ravens linebacker Kyle Van Noy takes part in drills before the start of an NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024 in Kansas City, Mo. The Chiefs defeated the Ravens by a score of 27-20. (AP Photo/Reed Hoffmann, File)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A$AP Rocky turned down a final prosecution plea offer of 180 days in jail, risking the possibility of a guilty verdict and years in prison as jury selection began at his trial on Tuesday.
The agreement offered to the 36-year-old hip-hop star, fashion mogul and actor was to plead guilty to one of two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm. Los Angeles County prosecutors would also recommend a seven-year suspended sentence, three years of probation and the six-month jail term.
But Rocky, whose legal name is Rakim Mayers, told a judge he respectfully declined.
He is accused of firing at a former friend near a Hollywood hotel in 2021, and could get a maximum sentence of 24 years in prison if convicted. He has pleaded not guilty.
Rocky's attorney Joe Tacopina also revealed for the first time in court Tuesday that the defense plans to call witnesses to testify that a firearm seen on a security video is a starter pistol that Rocky carried as a prop for security.
A panel of more than 100 prospective jurors were summoned to the downtown Los Angeles courtroom and packed into the gallery. Opening statements will come once 12 of them and alternates are seated. That won't be until at least Wednesday, when selection is set to resume. Cameras will be allowed in the courtroom starting with openings.
The Grammy-nominated hip-hop star's longtime partner is Rihanna, and the couple have two toddler sons together. Tacopina suggested that it's unlikely the pop star will show up in court.
Rocky has been named one of the celebrity chairs of the Met Gala in May, and has a major role in a Spike Lee-directed film with Denzel Washington to be released soon after. But his life could be upended with a conviction.
Superior Court Judge Mark Arnold has said he hopes to seat a jury quickly, and is keeping strict limits on how long attorneys can question prospective jurors.
“Mr. Mayers is an entertainer," Arnold told the prospective jurors. "His stage name is A$AP rocky. His life partner is also an entertainer. Her name is Rihanna. Because Mr. Mayers is an entertainer, a celebrity, that cannot harm him, and it cannot benefit him."
Of the initial 12 jurors questioned, four said they knew who Rocky was, and 10 said they knew who Rihanna was.
In 2023, another judge ruled after a preliminary hearing that Rocky should stand trial on charges that he fired a gun at Terell Ephron, a childhood friend who testified that their relationship had soured and a feud came to a head on the night of Nov. 6, 2021. Ephron testified that bullets grazed his knuckles.
Initial questioning on Tuesday revealed that the recent Los Angeles-area wildfires have affected many of the potential jurors' lives, including one woman who is fostering many displaced animals, and at least one man who had to evacuate. The judge himself revealed he had to evacuate from his home for 11 days.
“Luckily the house didn’t burn down," Arnold said.
One man was excused early in the process because he said his anti-gun feelings were too strong for him to be fair.
Tacopina tried to explore the potential jurors' feelings about hip-hop artists and their music, and several said they had negative feelings, though not overwhelming ones. Some cited parenting as the reason.
“I used to love it but then I had a kid,” one panelist said.
Deputy District Attorney John Lewin, questioning for the prosecution, told those with negative feelings, “You will not be called upon to render a verdict on how you feel about rap music, do you understand that?" All said yes.
Tacopina, who like his client Rocky is from New York and has represented President Donald Trump, also asked whether anyone on the jury is rubbed the wrong way by New Yorkers, bringing laughs throughout the room.
“When I get up here with this ridiculous accent, which I try not to have but I do, is anyone going to have a problem?" he said. “I will point out that we gave you guys the Dodgers a few years ago.”
No one conceded any negative feelings.
“I love LA," the lawyer added.
FILE - A$AP Rocky, left, and Rihanna attend The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala in New York on Sept. 13, 2021. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - Rapper A$AP Rocky at Pre-Grammy Gala And Salute To Industry Icons in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Feb. 9, 2019. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - Rapper A$AP Rocky appears in a Los Angeles Superior courtroom on Aug. 17, 2022, where he pleaded not guilty to two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool, File)