KEVIN KING

NFL coaches are taking precautions beyond the league’s COVID-19 protocols to help ensure players are available for games.

Aaron Rodgers withstood pain from a toe injury, threw two touchdown passes and also ran for a score in the Green Bay Packers’ 36-28 victory over the Los Angeles Rams.

Aaron Rodgers was uneven in his return from COVID-19 but did more than enough to support a standout Green Bay Packers defense in a 17-0 victory over the Seattle Seahawks.

Aaron Rodgers threw touchdown passes to three receivers and the Green Bay Packers defeated Washington 24-10 for their sixth consecutive victory.

Mason Crosby hit a 49-yard field goal in overtime after missing three straight attempts as the Green Bay Packers beat the Cincinnati Bengals 25-22.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (12) walks off the field after the NFC championship NFL football game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Green Bay, Wis., Sunday, Jan. 24, 2021. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)GREEN BAY, Wis. – Aaron Rodgers said he's not sure what his future holds in Green Bay. Green Bay allowed a total of 16 sacks in its other 16 games. The NFC championship game reflected the occasional inconsistency of Green Bay’s defense under Pettine. Green Bay’s most notable flaw during its seven-game streak was its occasional tendency to have a breakdown on special teams.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady (12) holds the championship trophy after winning the NFC championship NFL football game against the Green Bay Packers in Green Bay, Wis., Sunday, Jan. 24, 2021. The man with six NFL titles will become the first quarterback to play a Super Bowl on his team’s home field. No, a host team in the Super Bowl has never happened in 54 previous games. Green Bay hasn’t reached the Super Bowl since its 2010 championship season. Green Bay cut the lead to 28-23 late in the third quarter on Rodgers’ touchdown passes to Robert Tonyan and Davante Adams.

But Gronk in particular has always been a big-play guy in big games for Brady, and Green Bay doesn't have linebackers who excel in coverage. Green Bay will do some blitzing, though not as much as Buccaneers defensive coordinator Todd Bowles figures to do. Unlike Brady, Rodgers can create outside the pocket, and he's especially dangerous when doing so. Veteran placekicker Mason Crosby is solid, making all 16 field goal attempts, but missed four PATs for Green Bay. Tampa Bay's Ryan Succop, now in his 12th pro season, made 28 of 31 field goal tries but missed five extra points.

Aaron Rodgers threw for a season-low 143 yards but produced a touchdown pass – his 40th of the season – and a touchdown run for the Packers. Green Bay (11-3) won its fourth straight and took a half-game lead over New Orleans (10-3) in the race for the NFC’s best record. Mason Crosby gave the Packers some breathing room with a 51-yard field goal with 3:39 left, but the Panthers wouldn't go away. The strategy didn't work then Green Bay stopped Carolina on its final possession. Green Bay hosts Tennessee in another night game on Dec. 27.

The NFC East-leading Philadelphia Eagles have gotten healthier on offense in time for another division game. Wide receiver Alshon Jeffery is back in Philadelphia’s lineup against the New York Giants, his first action since foot surgery last year. Running back Miles Sanders, the Eagles' leading rusher, is also back after missing three games with a knee injury. Okung will miss his fifth game this season because of injury, so Dennis Daley starts, protecting Teddy Bridgewater’s blindside. The Buccaneers are playing without left guard Ali Marpet, who will miss his second consecutive game with a concussion.

Green Bay had the ball at Minnesota's 41-yard line with 12 seconds and no timeouts left, but D.J. Each of the Vikings’ first four possessions ended with Cook touchdowns. Green Bay went a 2-point conversion got within 28-22 when replays determined the ball crossed the goal line on Jamaal Williams’ inside run. Green Bay got the ball back and reached Minnesota’s 41-yard line with 12 seconds and no timeouts left, but D.J. Four times in the second half, Green Bay reached Vikings territory without scoring.

(AP Photo/John Froschauer)Dalvin Cook is back for the Minnesota Vikings from a one-game absence, his injured groin cleared to play in Green Bay. Packers: QB Jordan Love, CB Kevin King, S Raven Greene, RB Aaron Jones, LB Randy Ramsey, OT David Bakhtiari, DL Billy Winn. ___LOS ANGELES RAMS AT MIAMIRams: RB Raymond Calais, OL Brian Allen, WR Trishton Jackson, TE Brycen Hopkins, DL A’Shawn Robinson. Dolphins: RB/WR Lynn Bowden Jr., RB Salvon Ahmed, FB Chandler Cox, CB Jamal Perry, RB Jordan Howard, DE Jason Strowbridge. Bengals: K Austin Seibert, WR John Ross III, RB Joe Mixon, OG Michael Jordan, C Trey Hopkins, OT Bobby Hart, OT Jonah Williams.

Titans: CB Joshua Kalu, LB Derick Roberson, LB David Long Jr., OL Daniel Munyer, T Isaiah Wilson, DL Matt Dickerson. Washington: T Geron Christian, WR Isaiah Wright, DE James Smith Williams, WR Robert Foster, LB Thomas Davis, DE Casey Toohill. ___DETROIT AT ATLANTALions: QB David Blough, CB Desmond Trufant, S Miles Killebrew, OL Logan Stenberg, WR Quintez Cephus, RB Bo Scarbrough. ___GREEN BAY AT HOUSTONPackers: QB Jordan Love, CB Kevin King, S Darnell Savage, RB Tyler Ervin, RB Aaron Jones, T David Bakhtiari, DL Tyler Lancaster. Texans: WR Keke Coutee, CB John Reid, LB Peter Kalambayi, T Charlie Heck, TE Jordan Akins.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady (12) throws a pass against the Green Bay Packers during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 18, 2020, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken)TAMPA, Fla. – Tom Brady outplayed Aaron Rodgers in a rare meeting between the Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers erased an early double-digit deficit to rout the previously unbeaten Green Bay Packers 38-10 on Sunday. Brady also threw a 7-yard TD pass to rookie Tyler Johnson and Ronald Jones had a pair of rushing TDs for Tampa Bay, which got an even more impressive performance from its defense. Green Bay (4-1) never recovered. BRADY VS. RODGERSBrady and Rodgers split their two previous head-to-head meetings, with the Packers winning 26-21 in 2014 at Green Bay and New England winning 31-17 at home in 2018, while Brady was playing for the Patriots. INJURIESPackers: LT David Bakhtiari left in the third quarter with a chest injury, leaving Green Bay to play the remainder of the game without its best offensive lineman.

Tonyan caught three of Aaron Rodgers’ four touchdown passes, Za'Darius Smith recorded three sacks and the Packers remained unbeaten with a 30-16 victory over the winless Atlanta Falcons on Monday night. “I just had to continue to do what I've been doing, just keep playing well and stick to the game plan,” Tonyan said. Green Bay star receiver Davante Adams sat out a second straight game with a hamstring injury and Allen Lazard is on injured reserve with a core problem. Tonyan has scored in three straight games and now has five touchdown catches to match Tampa Bay's Mike Evans for the NFL lead. Defensive tackle Kenny Clark (groin) missed a third straight game.

Kevin King, a 63-year-old graduate of the University of Miami, was one of two professors kidnapped by the Taliban in 2016. After being held hostage for three years, he was released Tuesday, Nov. 19, in exchange for three high-level Taliban militants. Afghan officials said the deal was brokered in hopes of ending the 18-year Afghan war with the Taliban. In the second video, which was released in 2017, members of the Taliban said Kings health was deteriorating quickly as he suffered from serious heart and kidney problems. The three fighters released in exchange for Kings freedom include Mali Khan, Hafiz Rashid and Anas Haqqani, members of the highly militant Haqqani network within the Taliban.

U.S. citizen Kevin King and Australian citizen Timothy Weeks were forcibly removed from a vehicle while traveling in Kabul in August 2016, according to the FBI. Their release was announced Tuesday by the American University of Afghanistan (AUAF), where both men taught. The Taliban called the swap a "positive step" towards "good-will and confidence-building measures that can aid the peace process." The three Taliban figures have since left Afghanistan and have arrived in Qatar, according to Suhail Shaheen, Taliban spokesman for their political office in Doha. Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison also expressed his gratitude to the U.S. and Afghan governments for assisting in the release.

iStock/allanswart(CNN) - Afghanistan is to "conditionally" release three high-ranking Taliban prisoners in exchange for two American University of Afghanistan (AUAF) professors who were kidnapped by the group three years ago, President Ashraf Ghani said on Tuesday. Ghani said that Afghanistan had decided to release the prisoners "to pave the way" for the release of US citizen Kevin King and Australian citizen Timothy Weeks. One of the Taliban prisoners is Anas Haqqani, who is the brother of Sirajuddin Haqqani -- deputy leader of the group and leader of the Haqqani Network. The AUAF professors were forcibly removed from a vehicle while traveling in Kabul in August 2016, according to the FBI. In 2017, the Taliban released a video purportedly showing the professors begging then-President-elect Donald Trump to make a deal for their release.

Dimitrov entered the US Open ranked 78th -- his lowest figure at a major since the 2012 French Open -- and lost seven of his last eight matches entering the season's final major. One of those came against Kevin King, who was ranked 405th when he downed Dimitrov to open the US Open Series of hard-court tournaments in Atlanta in July. One of the two will land in a maiden grand slam final. The match turned when Vekic -- appearing in her first grand slam quarterfinal -- couldn't serve out the first set at 5-4. Andreescu is the fourth woman to reach the semifinals in her US Open debut, joining Chris Evert, Pam Shriver and Venus Williams.