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Billy Napier will continue to coach Florida, according to athletic director Scott Stricklin, who put to rest rampant speculation about the embattled coach’s future with the Gators.

In a letter Thursday, Stricklin stressed the need for a “disciplined, stable approach” and asked Florida fans to “continue standing behind Billy and his dedicated team while we work together to build a championship program.”

Napier, in his third season at Florida, is 15-18 with the Gators. After a 41-17 season-opening loss to Miami, he faced increased scrutiny over his job performance — scrutiny that mounted after a 33-20 loss to Texas A&M two weeks later.

Stricklin, however, has been unwavering in his support of Napier, who has repeatedly said he needs time to get the Gator program headed in the right direction.

Back-to-back wins over Mississippi State and UCF helped quell fan discontent, but performances in close losses to No. 7 Tennessee and No. 3 Georgia — Florida held leads in both games — showed progress.

“As we’ve seen these past several weeks, the young men on this team represent what it means to be a Gator,” Stricklin wrote. “Their resolve, effort and execution are evident in their performance and growth each week — building a foundation that promises greater success next season and beyond.”

Stricklin added that he is “confident that Billy will meet the challenges and opportunities ahead.”

The Gators are 4-4 overall this season, including 2-3 in SEC play. They visit No. 5 Texas on Saturday before closing their regular season home for LSU, home for Ole Miss and at rival Florida State.

Much of the progress Stricklin cites has to do with the way Florida’s freshmen and sophomores have played of late.

After veteran quarterback Graham Mertz was lost for the season against Tennessee, freshman DJ Lagway took over as the full-time starter and has played well — leading a 48-20 victory over Kentucky and giving the Gators the lead against Georgia until he left the game with a hamstring injury.

Lagway had been splitting time with Mertz, but his ability to make plays as a dual-threat quarterback has opened up the possibilities for the Florida offense. Lagway is considered questionable for Saturday’s game at Texas.

Freshman running back Jadan Baugh has impressed, too, with 323 yards and five touchdowns.

Sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel that 70% of Florida’s name, image and likeness money is tied to freshmen and sophomores, and there is a sense that losing Napier would also mean losing Lagway, who chose the Gators to play for Napier.

In an interview with ESPN earlier this season, Lagway’s high school coach, Trent Miller, said Napier “did a great job of getting DJ to commit early to help the process of building that brand with recruits and everybody else around him.”

The buyout for Napier alone would have been more than $26 million, which would have been the second biggest in college football history, behind Texas A&M’s $76 million for Jimbo Fisher last year.

Sources indicated the cost of transitioning from Napier and staff and buying out an incoming coach was estimated internally at $40 million.

There are other factors at play as well. Interim president Kent Fuchs, who returned after Ben Sasse stepped down, hired Napier and Stricklin and wants to see them succeed.

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Jets’ Scheifele misses G7 because of injury

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Jets' Scheifele misses G7 because of injury

Winnipeg forward Mark Scheifele did not play in Game 7 of the Jets’ first-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the St. Louis Blues on Sunday due to an undisclosed injury, coach Scott Arniel said.

Arniel ruled out Scheifele following the team’s morning skate. He was hurt in Game 5 — playing only 8:05 in the first period before exiting — and then did not travel with the Jets to St. Louis for Game 6. Arniel previously had said Scheifele was a game-time decision for Game 7.

Scheifele, 32, skated in a track suit Saturday, and Arniel told reporters the veteran was feeling better than he had the day before. Scheifele, however, was not able to participate in the Jets’ on-ice session by Sunday, quickly indicating he would not be available for the game.

Winnipeg held a 2-0 lead in the series over St. Louis before the Blues stormed back with a pair of wins to tie it, 2-2. The home team has won each game in the best-of-seven series so far.

The Jets’ challenge in closing out St. Louis only increases without Scheifele. Winnipeg already has been dealing with the uneven play of goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, a significant storyline in the series to date. Hellebuyck was pulled in all three of his starts at St. Louis while giving up a combined 16 goals on 66 shots (.758 SV%). In Game 6, Hellebuyck allowed four goals in only 5 minutes, 23 seconds of the second period.

Hellebuyck was Winnipeg’s backbone during the regular season, earning a Hart Trophy and Vezina Trophy nomination for his impeccable year (.925 SV%, 2.00 GAA).

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Stars expect Robertson, Heiskanen back in semis

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Stars expect Robertson, Heiskanen back in semis

Stars coach Pete DeBoer expects to have leading goal scorer Jason Robertson and standout defenseman Miro Heiskanen available in the Western Conference semifinals after both missed Dallas’ first-round series win over the Colorado Avalanche.

Following their thrilling Game 7 comeback victory over the Avalanche on Saturday night, the Stars await the winner of Sunday night’s Game 7 between the Winnipeg Jets and St. Louis Blues. If the Blues win, the Stars will have home-ice advantage in the best-of-seven series.

“I believe you’re going to see them both play in the second round, but I don’t know if it’s going to be Game 1 or Game 3 or Game 5,” DeBoer said after Saturday’s series clincher. “I consider them both day-to-day now, but there’s still some hurdles. It depends on when we start the series, how much time we have between now and Game 1. We’ll have a little better idea as we get closer.”

Robertson, 25, who posted 80 points (35 goals, 45 assists) in 82 games this season, suffered a lower-body injury in the regular-season finale April 16 and was considered week-to-week at the time.

Heiskanen hasn’t played since injuring his left knee in a Jan. 28 collision with Vegas Golden Knights forward Mark Stone. Initially expected to miss three to four months, the 25-year-old defenseman had surgery Feb. 4 and sat out the final 32 games of the regular season. In 50 games, he collected 25 points (five goals, 20 assists) and averaged 25:10 of ice time, which ranked fifth among NHL blueliners.

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Red Sox 1B Casas out for year after knee surgery

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Red Sox 1B Casas out for year after knee surgery

BOSTON — Boston Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas suffered a ruptured tendon in his left knee and is out for the remainder of the season, the team said.

The 25-year-old Casas ruptured his patellar tendon running to first on a slow roller up the line and fell awkwardly in Boston’s victory over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night. After laying on his back in pain — not moving the knee — he was carted off on a stretcher before being taken to a Boston hospital.

The team announced Sunday that he had surgery for a left patellar tendon repair at Massachusetts General Hospital. The surgery was performed by Dr. Eric Berkson.

“I talked to him last night,” chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said in a news conference on Saturday discussing the injury outside Boston’s clubhouse. “We exchanged text messages [Saturday]. We all care deeply about just his overall wellbeing.”

Manager Alex Cora said Casas worked hard during the offseason to play every day after missing a large amount of last year with torn cartilage in his rib cage.

“He did an outstanding job in the offseason to put himself in that situation. It didn’t start the way he wanted it to,” Cora said of Casas’ struggles. “He was going to play and play a lot. Now we’ve got to focus on the rehab after the surgery and hopefully get him back stronger than ever and ready to go next year.”

Casas batted just .182 with three homers and 11 RBIs, but Breslow said his loss will be felt, especially with the team’s lack of depth at the position.

“He certainly struggled through the first month of the season but that didn’t change what we believe his production was capable of being,” Breslow said. “It’s a big loss. In addition to what we think we were going to get on the offensive side, he was kind of like a stabilizing presence on the defensive side of the field — also a big personality and a big part of the clubhouse.”

During spring training, Casas talked about how his focus at the plate this season was being more relaxed.

“You really want it until you don’t,” he said, explaining his thoughts while standing at his locker. “Then you can’t want it that much.”

Now, he’ll have to focus on his recovery plan for next season.

Casas, a left-handed batter, was placed on the 10-day injured list Saturday with infielder/outfielder Abraham Toro selected from Triple-A Worcester.

Cora said Toro — a switch-hitter — will split time at first along with Romy Gonzalez. who bats right-handed.

Breslow said the team might be exploring a long-term replacement.

“This is unfortunately an opportunity to explore what’s available,” he said. “We’ll look both internally and outside as well.”

Cora said there are no plans to move Rafael Devers, who was replaced at third by offseason free-agent acquisition Alex Bregman and moved to DH.

“We asked him to do something in spring training that in the beginning he didn’t agree with it and now he’s very comfortable doing what he’s doing,” Cora said. “Like I told you guys in spring training, he’s my DH.”

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