AC

New England Patriots linebacker Brandon Spikes was placed on season-ending injured reserve partly because he was late for practice last week, league sources told ESPN. The Patriots placed Spikes on IR on Monday, a surprising move considering the linebacker played all 16 regular-season games despite being hobbled by a knee injury for much of the year. But Spikes was late for New England's bye week Friday practice, which was the final straw for Patriots coach Bill Belichick, who already had fined him for multiple incidents that the linebacker believed were practically explained, according to league sources. Spikes took to Twitter on Friday, Jan. 3, to publicly appeal for help when his car apparently was stuck in the snow. Help !! pic.twitter.com/7SDR0Ig16y — brandon spikes (@BrandonSpikes55) January 3, 2014 The Patriots and Spikes mutually agreed to the IR designation as opposed to an outright release, which would have made the...