Aaron Rodgers insisted he played no role in the firing of Robert Saleh as the New York Jets coach and called such allegations “patently false.”

The star quarterback made his weekly appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Wednesday, a day after Jets owner Woody Johnson fired Saleh after the team got off to a 2-3 start in the coach’s fourth season.

There was speculation by some media and fans that Rodgers might have had a hand in influencing Johnson, who said during a conference call Tuesday the decision was “my decision and my decision alone.”

Johnson tabbed defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich as the Jets’ interim head coach the rest of the season.

Texans’ Collins placed on IR >> Nico Collins, the NFL’s leading receiver, will miss at least four games after the Houston Texans placed him on injured reserve with a hamstring injury Wednesday.

Collins left Houston’s 23-20 victory over the Bills on Sunday after scoring on a 67-yard reception late in the first quarter.

Peppers placed on the exempt list >> The NFL has placed New England Patriots safety Jabrill Peppers on the exempt list while he goes through the legal process following his arrest on charges that he shoved his girlfriend’s head into the wall and choked her.

Patriots coach Jerod Mayo said Wednesday that Peppers won’t be with the team “in the near term.”

Former All-Pro Fischer Passes Away >> Pat Fischer, an All-Pro cornerback who was chosen three times for the Pro Bowl during his 17-year NFL career with St. Louis and Washington, has died. He was 84.

A Washington Commanders spokesperson said Tuesday the family informed the team of Fischer’s death. A cause of death was not immediately available.

Fischer played in the league from 1961-77, was first-team All-Pro in 1964 and was picked for the Pro Bowl in ‘64, ‘65 and ‘69. His spent his first seven years with the St. Louis Cardinals and his final 10 with Washington, making 57 interceptions in 220 regular-season and playoff games.

Baseball

Tigers take series lead over Guardians >> Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson each drove in a run, and six pitchers combined to lift Detroit to a 3-0 win over Cleveland and a 2-1 lead in their AL Division Series.

The Tigers, baseball’s hottest team the past two months, will have their first chance to advance in the playoffs since 2013 on Thursday night in Game 4 at Comerica Park.

Cleveland has gone 20 straight innings without scoring since opening the series with a five-run first and a two-run sixth in its 7-0 win.

Mets take NLDS over Phillies >> Francisco Lindor hit a grand slam in the sixth inning, his latest clutch swing in an extraordinary season full of them, and New York reached the National League Championship Series with a 4-1 victory over Philadelphia.

Edwin Díaz struck out Kyle Schwarber with two runners aboard to end it as New York finished off the rival Phillies in Game 4 of their best-of-five Division Series, winning 3-1 to wrap up a postseason series at home for the first time in 24 years.

NBA

Magic v Pelicans called off due to hurricane concerns >> Concerns over Hurricane Milton and its effects on Florida forced the cancellation of Friday’s preseason game in Orlando between the Magic and the New Orleans Pelicans, the NBA said.

The game will not be rescheduled.

Orlando was playing at San Antonio on Wednesday night and was scheduled to return to central Florida on Thursday. Those plans are now in flux because of the storm, which forecasters say was set to make landfall somewhere on the Gulf coast of Florida sometime late Wednesday or early Thursday.

Mavericks guard Exum has surgery >> Dallas Mavericks guard Dante Exum had surgery on his injured right wrist, the team announced Wednesday, without saying how long he will be sidelined.

The injury to Exum came during training camp in Las Vegas and after star guard Luka Doncic had injured his calf in a workout.

NCAA

Football and Basketball transfer portals cut to 30 days >> The NCAA’s Division I Council has approved changes that will shorten the transfer portal windows for football and basketball from 45 to 30 days while keeping an additional 30-day window in all sports after the departure of a head coach.

Tuesday’s decisions, first reported by On3, will not become final until meetings end on Wednesday but will take effect immediately.

Football’s current fall portal window runs Dec. 9 to Jan. 7, 2025 and April 16-30 in the spring. The new fall window will be 20 days after Bowl Subdivision conference championships from Dec. 9-28, with the remaining 10 days occurring from April 16-25 next spring.

Hockey

Senators extend goalie Ullmark >> The Ottawa Senators signed goaltender Linus Ullmark on Wednesday to a four-year contract extension worth $33 million.

The contract with the 2023 Vezina Trophy winner, which was announced by the team the day before its season opener against the Florida Panthers, has an average annual value of $8.25 million.

Tennis

Sinner gets his revenge in Shanghai Masters >> Jannik Sinner avenged his defeat to Ben Shelton in the fourth round of last year’s Shanghai Masters with a 6-4, 7-6 (1) to spoil the 22-year-old American’s birthday on Wednesday.

Like last year, the duel again featured some incredible shot-making and serving dominance but this time the 23-year old Italian prevailed to improve his record against Shelton to 4-1.

He will play fifth-ranked Daniil Medvedev, who earlier beat long-time rival Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6 (3), 6-3, in a match where the Greek player launched into a minutes-long rant against the chair umpire Fergus Murphy over a time violation call and initially refused to continue playing.