Pennington to Undergo Surgery on Shoulder

New York Jet quarterback Chad Pennington will have surgery to repair the rotator cuff in his right shoulder.

Pennington was injured against Buffalo on Nov. 7 and played the last six games of the season with the injury, which the team initially said was a strain. An MRI exam last week showed the extent of the damage, requiring surgery.

The date of the procedure was not announced. If there is a tear, Pennington might sit out workouts in May and the start of training camp in late July.

Pennington sat out three games because of the injury, and when he returned he was not the same. His passes lost velocity and sailed long or fell short, and Pennington acknowledged that off-season surgery was a near certainty.

Coach Herman Edwards said Pennington played with pain and soreness when he came back, but the $64-million franchise player was able to guide the Jets to the second round of the playoffs, where they nearly upset Pittsburgh.

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Paul Hackett was hired as quarterbacks coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers less than a week after resigning as offensive coordinator of the Jets.

The move reunites Hackett, a former USC head coach, with Jon Gruden, who spent one season as an assistant under his former mentor when Hackett was the head coach at the University of Pittsburgh in the early 1990s.

Hackett, an NFL assistant for 16 years, was with the Jets for four seasons. He and Gruden began discussions Thursday, and talks continued through the weekend.

“Jon Gruden has had remarkable success and continues to be on the cutting edge of offensive football.... Jon brings so much enthusiasm to the game, and I am really excited to be a part of it,” Hackett said in a statement.

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Jim Bates was hired as defensive coordinator of the Green Bay Packers, marking the second time in two years the team has changed coordinators after losing in the playoffs.

Bates spent 4 1/2 years as Miami’s defensive coordinator before taking over as interim coach last year when Dave Wannstedt resigned at midseason. Bates led the Dolphins to a 3-4 record. The team was 1-8 when Wannstedt quit.

After the season, the Dolphins hired Nick Saban as head coach, and Bates decided to leave.

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Kurt Schottenheimer, the younger brother of San Diego Charger Coach Marty Schottenheimer, was hired by the St. Louis Rams as secondary coach.

Schottenheimer replaces Perry Fewell, who left the Rams to work for the Chicago Bears.

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The AFC and NFC championship game broadcasts had their highest combined overnight TV ratings in eight years.

Fox’s broadcast of Philadelphia’s 27-10 victory over Atlanta drew an overnight rating of 28.6 with a 48 share, a 14% jump from last year’s NFC title game between the Eagles and Carolina and the game’s highest rating since 1997.

New England’s 41-27 win against Pittsburgh drew a 27.0 rating with a 38 share for CBS, up 2% from the AFC title game a year ago between the Patriots and Indianapolis and the highest for the game since 1999.

The rating is the percentage of all homes with TVs, even if they are not in use.