GRAPEVINE, Texas -- Dallas Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said the team is "off and running" in contract talks with quarterback Dak Prescott and Amari Cooper, and Jones also mentioned the desire to sign Ezekiel Elliott to an extension.

The talks have been mostly preliminary so far without much back and forth, but the Cowboys have made it known that they want to keep all three for the long term.

Jones said he will have a word of caution for Prescott, Cooper and Elliott, just as he did for DeMarcus Lawrence before the two-time Pro Bowl defensive end signed a five-year, $105 million deal last month.

"As I told DeMarcus Lawrence, and I'll tell all three of these guys: I'd love for you to max out and give you exactly what you want, because y'all have worked hard and you deserve to have a big contract. But if we want to put together the type of team we want to have with the Cowboys ..." Jones said Wednesday at the team's annual sponsor's golf tournament at Cowboys Golf Club.

"That's not their job. It's not their job to manage the cap; I understand that. But it is my job and [owner Jerry Jones'] job, so they will understand why we're negotiating hard to make the very best deal we can. Because the money, if we can talk them into not maxing out -- doing well, but not maxed -- then that allows us to have other good football players around them."

Prescott and Cooper are in the final year of their contracts. Prescott, a fourth-round pick in 2016, is set to make a little more than $2 million in 2019. Cooper is set to make $13.9 million on the fifth-year option of his deal.

Contract extensions for both players figure to be at or near the top of the players at their position, with Prescott looking at roughly $30 million per season and Cooper anywhere from $16 million to $18 million.

Two weeks ago, the Cowboys picked up the 2020 option on Elliott's contract at $9.09 million.

"Zeke, as we all know, he's such an important player to this organization," Stephen Jones said. "He's a guy that we want to have here long term. The only reason you say, 'Well, maybe he's not at the front, front [of the list],' is because he's got this year, then he's got another year at his tender.

"These things can take time. But Zeke's every bit as important, and then you start going down the line, whether it's a Byron Jones, a La'el Collins, and these guys coming up, Jaylon Smith. I mean these are all players that we'll need to address at some point in time, and they're all players that we've drafted, that we've developed, that we think are the right kind of guys that play our defense, play our offense the way we want to play. Certainly guys we want to keep. It's a great problem to have because we do have good young football players, but it's also a challenge."

Jones hopes the players can see the bigger picture of what it means to play for the Cowboys now and for their futures, alluding to ex-players who have moved into television careers -- Troy Aikman, Tony Romo, Michael Irvin, Deion Sanders, Daryl Johnston and Darren Woodson.

"You look at the TV booths, and you look at what these players do off the field," Jones said. "If we can put Super Bowl rings on these guys, then they'll be legends around this area for many, many, many years to come. What they give up a little bit in their contract, they should be able to invest in being a Cowboy and making our teams better.

"Now, we've got to go get the job done as an organization, which means winning Super Bowls and doing great things on the field."

GRAPEVINE, Texas -- Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott will pay for the funeral expenses of Jaylon McKenzie, a promising eighth-grade football player who was killed by a stray bullet as he left a party near St. Louis on Saturday night.

Elliott, who grew up in St. Louis, reached out to the family shortly after the tragedy. The Cowboys confirmed Elliott's gesture, but the running back wanted to keep the matter between him and McKenzie's family.

"Zeke is really a special guy," coach Jason Garrett said Wednesday at the team's sponsors' golf tournament at Cowboys Golf Club. "He's a great football player obviously, but he's a really good person and that doesn't surprise me one bit.

"He's just very generous. He's got a great spirit about him. We see that every day as players and coaches. Anybody that's been around him knows that, and it doesn't surprise me one bit that he would get involved there. He's someone that a lot of people look up to, a lot of people certainly in St. Louis and Missouri, Ohio State, all across the country. If you're a fan of football, you know Zeke Elliott, and anybody who's been around him on a daily basis knows what kind of person he is."

McKenzie's mother, Sukeena Gunner, said her son was trying to leave a party in Venice, Illinois, when a fight broke out. According to Illinois State Police, McKenzie was struck by a stray bullet and died at a local hospital. A 15-year-old girl was also hit and remains in critical condition.

McKenzie, who was already receiving college scholarship offers as an eighth-grader, had been selected to compete in the All-American All-Star Game in Canton, Ohio, during the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction weekend.

A federal jury in New York on Wednesday convicted aspiring agent Christian Dawkins and former Adidas consultant Merl Code for their roles in bribing basketball assistant coaches to influence their players to sign with Dawkins' new sports management company and certain financial advisers once they turned pro.

A jury deliberated for parts of three days before convicting Code and Dawkins. Dawkins was found guilty of bribery and conspiracy to commit bribery, and Code was convicted of conspiracy to commit bribery. Dawkins had been facing six total charges and Code four.

"[While the convictions of Dawkins and Code] mark the culmination of the criminal charges announced by this Office in September 2017," U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said in a statement Wednesday, "they should also make clear to those who might be tempted to engage in the sort of misconduct these prosecutions have only begun to expose: that bribery is a crime, one this Office is prepared to charge criminally and prosecute to the full extent on the law."

U.S. District Court Judge Edgardo Ramos will sentence Code and Dawkins at a later date.

Dawkins and Code had been accused of facilitating bribes of thousands of dollars to three former assistant coaches: Tony Bland of USC, Emanuel "Book" Richardson of Arizona and Lamont Evans of South Carolina and Oklahoma State.

Steve Haney, Dawkins' attorney, said his client was found guilty of conspiring to bribe and bribing Evans. The jury found him not guilty of bribery charges related to Bland and Richardson.

"We felt the jury spoke," Haney said. "The jury believed the universities were not deprived of their honest services. They essentially believed the universities were not victims. It would have been nice to walk out of there not guilty on everything, but that was unrealistic given the amount of evidence. We had a fair trial."

Each of the former assistant coaches pleaded guilty to one felony count of conspiracy to commit bribery. They are scheduled for sentencing later this month.

Leaving court, Dawkins said he could have chosen to cooperate with prosecutors and identified coaches he knew were willing to funnel money to top athletes.

"I could have," he said. "Anybody who's paying players to me is a good guy. I think the whole case is B.S., so I wouldn't have cooperated."

Haney spoke with pride of Dawkins.

"He could have brought the whole world of college athletics to its knees and he chose not to," the lawyer said. "He was asked repeatedly by the government to cooperate. He said, 'I'm not going to give you the names of 15 to 20 coaches.' Today he leaves this courthouse winning four of six [counts]."

Outside the Manhattan federal court, Code said: "There was no evidence at any point in the trial that I bribed anybody."

Attorneys for Code and Dawkins had argued during a two-week trial that their clients set up meetings with coaches only at the request of an undercover FBI agent, who was posing as an investor into Dawkins' fledgling company.

On the wiretapped recordings played during the trial, Dawkins is heard telling Jeff D'Angelo, the pseudonym for the undercover FBI agent, that he didn't think paying assistant coaches was a good way to build their business.

"It's not the end-all, be-all, in my opinion," Dawkins said on one recording.

"By the time those kids get to college, the deals are usually already done," Dawkins said during defense questioning. "There's no need to pay a college coach because those players are coming to college with agents. The idea that it's an amateur world is not real."

Dawkins testified that he didn't think college coaches had much influence over players, but D'Angelo pushed the issue.

"But here's the model," D'Angelo said on one recording. "Like ... I'm funding you, your side of the business, and I'm staying out of your way. And you're gonna do that."

"Just to pay guys just for the sake of paying the guy, because he's at a school, that doesn't make sense," Dawkins testified. "[D'Angelo] is basically saying, 'You're going to introduce me to coaches that I can pay or I'm not going to fund you.'"

The government played multiple wiretapped recordings of Dawkins discussing money with coaches and showed undercover surveillance video from a meeting in Las Vegas between Dawkins, D'Angelo, fellow undercover agent Jill Bailey (also a pseudonym) and a parade of assistant coaches. The video showed Dawkins giving envelopes of cash to multiple college basketball assistant coaches during that meeting.

Federal prosecutor Robert Boone explained during the government's final rebuttal that Dawkins' disagreement with D'Angelo's plan to bribe coaches did not indicate that Dawkins and Code had no interest in bribing coaches, but rather that Dawkins wanted to do it a different way.

"He wanted to pay college coaches. He just wanted to be smart about it," Boone told the jury.

It's the second time Code and Dawkins have been convicted in a federal criminal trial in Manhattan on charges related to alleged corruption in college basketball.

In October, a jury convicted Code, Dawkins and former Adidas executive James Gatto on conspiracy and fraud charges for their roles in a pay-for-play scheme to steer top recruits to Adidas-sponsored schools, including Kansas, Louisville and NC State.

U.S. District Court Judge Lewis A. Kaplan sentenced Gatto to nine months in federal prison; Code and Dawkins were each sentenced to six months.

Former NBA referee Rashan Michel, the lone remaining defendant in the third federal criminal trial involving alleged college basketball corruption, accepted a plea deal with prosecutors Tuesday on a charge of bribery conspiracy. He faces a maximum prison term of five years, but the plea agreement Michel signed with prosecutors recommends a sentence of 12-18 months in prison. His sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 18.

Former Auburn assistant Chuck Person pleaded guilty in March to accepting about $91,500 in bribes to influence his players to sign with certain financial advisers once they turned pro. He is scheduled to be sentenced on July 9 and faces up to two and a half years in prison.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

MILWAUKEE -- Malcolm Brogdon is expected to play in Game 5 between the Celtics and Bucks, coach Mike Budenholzer announced at shootaround Wednesday morning.

Brogdon, who has been sidelined since March 15 with a plantar fascia tear, will come off the bench for Milwaukee and be on a minutes restriction.

"He's such a pro," Budenholzer said. "He loves playing. He's very, very excited to be playing."

Milwaukee leads the series 3-1 and is looking to eliminate the Celtics on Wednesday night.

The Bucks have relied on their bench heavily in Games 3 and 4 against the Celtics. In Game 3, backups Pat Connaughton and George Hill gave Milwaukee an offensive boost. In Game 4, when Eric Bledsoe, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton were all sitting with foul trouble, the bench built a third-quarter lead. The Bucks never trailed after the third.

The Bucks hope that Brogdon -- who was a starter during the regular season -- can add even more punch to that second unit.

"He gives us an extra spark," Middleton said. "Someone that we missed for a long time. Just to have him available is huge for us -- another quality piece we can bring to our depth."

Brogdon traveled with the team to Boston for Games 3 and 4, worked out with the training staff and played 5-on-5.

During the regular season, Brogdon averaged 15.6 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. The Bucks expect him to return to his starting role should they advance to the Eastern Conference finals.

Negotiations between the Los Angeles Lakers and Tyronn Lue have reached an impasse without an agreement to make him the franchise's next head coach, league sources told ESPN.

Lue and his representatives turned down the Lakers' offer Tuesday, league sources said. The Lakers then on Wednesday offered Lue a deal in the range of three years and $18 million after which Lue's side pulled out of negotiations.

According to the sources, Lue's camp was seeking a five-year deal with a salary commensurate with a championship resume.

Beyond an inability to agree on contractual terms, the Lakers had proposed several scenarios involving their preferred candidates for assistant coaches, including Jason Kidd, sources said.

The Cleveland Cavaliers still owe Lue $10-plus million on his contract payout, and accepting a less-than-market-value deal from the Lakers could ultimately cost him money.

Several days of discussions culminated Wednesday without an agreement that will reunite Lue and LeBron James, a partnership that delivered Cleveland the NBA championship in 2016.

Lue was a preferred choice of James, but his championship history as a Lakers player -- coupled with his successful run as Cavaliers coach -- also played a strong role in the Lakers offering him the job.

General manager Rob Pelinka and front-office advisor Kurt Rambis had interviewed Kidd for the head-coaching job, and became convinced that he should be a key member of a Lue coaching staff, league sources said. They believed Kidd could be impactful with point guard Lonzo Ball, and were impressed with the Milwaukee Bucks' player development during his tenure there. It isn't believed that Lue had objections to Kidd joining his staff, but the two had not discussed the possibility directly, league sources said.

Lue's candidacy moved to the forefront once Sixers assistant Monty Williams accepted the Phoenix Suns' head-coaching job Friday. The coaching search began after the Lakers and coach Luke Walton parted ways April 12.

Before Lue's dismissal six games into the 2018-19 season, he had led the Cavaliers to three consecutive NBA Finals appearances. He had a 128-83 record in three-plus seasons in Cleveland.

As a player, Lue was part of Lakers championships in 2000 and 2001.

The Lakers also conducted head-coaching interviews with Kidd and Miami assistant Juwan Howard.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- It's the question that has lingered over the Golden State Warriors all season, the one that clouds their future as they play for a third consecutive NBA title: Where will Kevin Durant be playing next season?

The two-time reigning Finals MVP who joined the Warriors following their defeat in the 2016 NBA Finals is expected to be the most sought-after free agent this summer. Durant has faced questions and speculation about his future home all season, as he has declined to commit to staying with the Warriors while also not saying that he's committed to finding a new home either.

So while that question will go unanswered, there's another question looming for the Warriors that far fewer people are asking.

Where will Klay Thompson be playing next season?

Like Durant, Thompson will become a free agent in July. Like Durant, Thompson will get a max contract. And like Durant, Thompson will be pitched on the appeal of being a first option, to break out of Stephen Curry's shadow, and to prove himself up to a new challenge.

So why aren't the Warriors sweating Thompson's future like they are with Durant?

"The media, I think, give him a little bit of a break as far as over-speculating and throwing him into the fire because he hasn't really fueled it -- at all," said Warriors center Andrew Bogut, who has been Thompson's teammate for five seasons over his two stints with the Warriors. "You've never heard him say anything bad about wanting to leave here or going to another team or being the No. 1 option. You've never even heard that off the record. Some players say the right thing publicly but have different feelings [in private]. He completely wants to be here and he gets it that this is a very rare situation."

Thompson was drafted by the Warriors with the 11th overall pick in 2011. He played all 66 games as a rookie, starting 29, but Golden State went just 23-43 in the lockout-shortened season, with Curry missing more than half of it due to ankle injuries. But a season later, Curry and Thompson started 78 games together, beginning one of the NBA's great partnerships, one that Thompson shows no signs of wanting to break up.

Thompson has been open about the fact he wants to stay with the Warriors for years to come. However, league sources told ESPN's Zach Lowe earlier this season that Thompson has no plans to take a discount, despite the massive sneaker endorsement deal he signed with Anta. Thompson could sign a five-year, $188 million deal this summer -- and if he makes an All-NBA team, he'd be eligible for a supermax deal that would pay him $221 million.

Chatter surrounding the All-Star swingman's future has played out largely under the radar -- exactly the way he wants it. When asked recently why it has meant so much to produce and stay with the Warriors in the future, Thompson gave the type of simple and understated response that has defined his tenure in the Bay.

"I think it's just the only thing I've known professionally," Thompson told ESPN. "I saw the dark days and now I've seen the glory days. And it's cool to see the process. You appreciate the work it takes to get there. It's simple. I just appreciate how long it took to get to the mountaintop, the work it did, and just seeing how -- empower people in the community and really build this fan base to something special."

Thompson spends most of his nights prior to games at Oracle Arena sitting in front of his locker reading a newspaper. Most nights after games he pleads with Warriors public relations czar Raymond Ridder to not make him go up to the podium and go through the process of speaking to reporters. It's not that Thompson doesn't have anything to say -- he has become arguably the best quote on a team full of future Hall of Famers when he's actually engaged -- but the 29-year-old has no desire to be in the spotlight.

"It's super rare," Draymond Green told ESPN. "Especially in the day and age of social media. In this league, so many dudes just want attention. It's kind of sickening. Just want attention. Don't even do much for it but just want attention. It's rare to have a guy that don't want any. ... It's a new age with dudes. Klay just happen to not be one of them."

As much as the Warriors love Thompson for his laid-back attitude -- exemplified by his off-day dip in the Pacific Ocean before their Game 4 win over the Clippers during the Western Conference first-round series -- they also recognize how important he is to their success on the court.

Over the past three seasons, Thompson has been seen as the Warriors' third, and sometimes fourth, option on a team with two former MVPs in Durant and Curry and a nightly triple-double threat in Green. In that span, Golden State is 107-25 when Thompson scores at least 20 points. That .811 win percentage is nearly 70 points higher than the team's overall success rate in the regular season. The win percentage when Thompson makes at least five 3-pointers (as he has done 47 times in that span), is even higher: .915. By comparison, the Warriors have won 83 percent of their games in which Curry has made five or more 3-pointers over the past three seasons.

That is the Thompson who has largely been absent from the Warriors' playoff series against the Rockets, and the one they'll need to reemerge as the series shifts back to Oakland tied 2-2. Thompson has averaged just 15.4 PPG during the first four games of this series, and is shooting just 39 percent from the field and 31 percent from beyond the arc.

Still, Thompson remains the only Warrior to have played in each of the team's playoff games during this run, starting all 112 of them, since 2013. Only LeBron James has appeared in more playoff games in that time.

His recent slump has given light to the fact that as a free-agent target, Thompson is perceived to be a level below Durant, Kawhi Leonard and Kyrie Irving this summer. He also brings with him less mystery, at least according to the ESPN Forecast panel. When polled earlier this season about where this year's top free agents will land this summer, 91.7 percent of the experts projected Thompson's return to the Warriors. By comparison, none of the other top targets -- Durant, Leonard, Irving and Anthony Davis -- were given better than a 53 percent shot of returning to their current teams.

Part of the reason for that confidence in Thompson remaining a Warrior is his ability to fit in with the group as it changes around him. Only he, Curry, Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston have been with the Warriors for each of the past five seasons. Livingston has a team option for next season, and Iguodala can become a free agent in 2020, so locking up Thompson to a long-term deal this summer would go a long way toward providing organizational stability.

"I think Klay sort of ties it all together in a lot of ways," Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said. "There's not one person in this organization who would ever question Klay's agenda or motives. He's just Klay. He just wants to win; he wants to shoot, he wants to play. So that kind of personality is important when you have a lot of emotional swings within a season. Because you need people like Klay who are just easy-going and fun to be around. No B.S."

Even if Warriors owner Joe Lacob wanted to right now, he couldn't come out and say "We plan to offer Klay a max contract"; that's against league protocol. But the reason both the Warriors and Thompson have been so confident about getting an extension done is the respect built up between the two parties over close to a decade. The simple fact is that the Warriors love Thompson and Thompson loves being a Warrior.

Players, coaches, executives all appreciate him for who he is. In the star-studded world of this iteration of the Warriors' dynasty, Thompson's ability to adapt to any situation sets him apart. Especially considering that after all the success Thompson has earned during the Warriors' run, he has the ammunition to fire back on all the critics who doubted his game. Instead, the people who stood in his corner are able to have the last laugh.

Former Warriors coach Mark Jackson was ridiculed six years ago for saying that Thompson and Curry were the "greatest shooting backcourt in the history of the game." Six years later, Jackson looks like a prophet and takes "great pride" in his belief in Thompson's maturation.

"I know the work ethic," Jackson said. "I know where he comes from, and he still doesn't get the credit he deserves. Incredible basketball player. I was just actually talking to Kerr about it -- zero maintenance. And I'm just as proud [about] the person he is."

When Kerr arrived on the scene in 2014, reports indicated that the Warriors were in discussions to send Thompson to Minnesota as part of a deal to acquire Kevin Love. Some experts at the time suggested it was the only way to put the franchise over the top. However, the Warriors chose to keep their backcourt intact, thanks in part to then-consultant Jerry West, who strongly discouraged the trade. Ultimately, the Warriors, led by West and Kerr, came around to the belief that Thompson could be a cornerstone for the future, a decision that continues to pay dividends every day.

"I wouldn't use the term validation," Kerr said when asked about that decision five years ago. "I know when I got here and hired my coaching staff and we watched tape it was pretty easy to see: 'This guy's an amazing two-way player.' ... So when we got here it was like, 'This is a no-brainer.' It wasn't a no-brainer to people who had been here because they had seen the flaws with the team and they were trying to take the next step. But ultimately Bob [Myers] came to the same conclusion that we did, which was it's tough to trade a two-way guy. The playoffs are all about two-way [players].

"He's been amazing, an integral part of three championships," Kerr continued. "And just a rock, an absolute rock as a foundational piece for our franchise."

West is now with the LA Clippers, one of the teams that would potentially like to pry Thompson away from Golden State this summer. Not only does the team have the cap space necessary to do so, but Thompson was born in Los Angeles, where his father won multiple championships with the Lakers in the 1980s. However, despite the lack of chatter around him this season, the Warriors aren't about to let Thompson go without a fight.

"I know that everybody -- coaches, management, ownership -- everybody wants Klay back," Kerr said. "I think the feeling is just, Klay wants to be here, we want Klay."

Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson, whose melee-inciting bat flip three weeks ago continues to follow him, told ESPN's The Dan Le Batard Show on Wednesday that he is just trying to draw fans by having fun and isn't worried about how other teams react to him.

"I like to go out and play with a lot of passion because that's fun, and I think that draws attention to the fans and the kids," Anderson said. "You know the kids love it. I'm on deck now, I get from the fans, 'Hey, do the bat flip.' So it's cool stuff, and it's all fun stuff. It's nothing to disrespect anybody, but I think it's a part of the game or it should be."

Not everyone in baseball shares his opinion. Anderson's bat flip after a home run against the Kansas City Royals on April 17 led to him being hit in the backside with a 92 mph fastball one plate appearance later. After Anderson was hit by the pitch, he stepped toward the mound and the benches cleared.

Anderson, 25, said if he broke some unwritten rule, he was unaware of it.

"I don't really know the rules," he said. "There's not any for me. I can't call them dumb because I don't have any. ... Nobody really came to me and said these are the rules, so I really don't know what they are."

A week after the bat flip against the Royals, Anderson hit a walk-off homer to beat the Detroit Tigers 12-11 and punctuated it with a bat flip. He isn't worried that he might get payback for it later.

"I'm not bothered by other teams," he said. "I go in and I'm trying to beat the other teams. I could really care less how they feel about me or how they think of me as a player. But I know my teammates understand me. I'm going to go out every day and give them what I got."

Anderson, 25, has been one of the breakout stars of 2019, batting .331 with 6 home runs, 20 RBIs and an American League-leading 12 stolen bases and doing it all his own way.

He recently told Sports Illustrated: "I kind of feel like today's Jackie Robinson. That's huge to say. But it's cool, man, because he changed the game, and I feel like I'm getting to a point to where I need to change the game."

That comment earned him some criticism, but he brushes that off as well.

"When I said it, I was saying it in a jokingly way," he said. "I had said that Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier. I was saying that I feel like Jackie Robinson, I need to break the fun barrier. And I think that kind of got pulled out and thrown into the main topic of things. The people that know me kind of understand me. And I don't think I really have to explain anything to the people that don't understand me."

Anderson, who was named the AL Player of the Month in April, says he doesn't really follow baseball news. He wasn't aware that Oakland's Mike Fiers had pitched a no-hitter Tuesday night, he said.

"I'm not really logged into the baseball world. I try to stay away from it. You know I play the game, but that's about it, I leave it at that," Anderson said, adding with a laugh. "Man, it's a boring sport."

Texas Rangers slugger Joey Gallo earned a place in baseball's history books with a major league first on Wednesday.

Gallo hit a two-run shot into the Allegheny River in the third inning of the Rangers' 9-6 win at the Pittsburgh Pirates, becoming the first player in major league history to hit 100 home runs before reaching 100 singles (he has 93).

The blast, estimated at 443 feet, was Gallo's 100th career home run in his 377th game, making him the fastest player to 100 homers in American League history.

"Yeah, that's pretty crazy," Gallo said. "Like, if you would have told me that I would do that three years ago, I would think you were crazy. Pretty cool accomplishment, honestly. Be in the history books forever, so that's pretty special."

In setting the American League record, Gallo surpassed Mark McGwire, who hit his 100th homer in his 393rd game with the Oakland Athletics. Ryan Howard owns the major league record, recording his 100th in his 325th game with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Before Gallo hit his 100th, the player with the fewest singles in reaching that milestone was journeyman first baseman Russell Branyan, who had 172 singles when he hit his 100th home in 2004 while with the Milwaukee Brewers.

Gallo, 25, made his MLB debut in 2015 with the Rangers. Wednesday's blast was his 12th homer this season.

The Chicago Cubs have recalled Addison Russell, who will start at second base and bat eighth Wednesday night against the Miami Marlins. It will be his first game since Sept. 19.

Russell, 25, was suspended 40 games in September for violating the league's domestic abuse policy after an investigation into allegations of emotional, verbal and physical abuse made by his ex-wife, Melisa Reidy.

In 130 games last season, Russell hit .250 with 51 runs scored and 38 RBIs. Russell played 12 games at Triple-A Iowa before the recall, batting .222 with three home runs and 13 RBIs.

The Cubs said they have been monitoring Russell's mandated counseling and are calling his return to the Cubs a "conditional second chance."

The move comes as Ben Zobrist takes an indefinite leave of absence for personal reasons.

The Cubs also placed reliever Pedro Strop on the injured list with a Grade 2 left hamstring strain and activated left-handed reliever Mike Montgomery.