TAMPA, Fla. -- Buccaneers defensive tackle Gerald McCoy took to Instagram on Sunday to fire back at those questioning his commitment after he missed the first five weeks of the Bucs' offseason program.

"Cinco de Mayo. Everybody out, probably getting ready to go drink, probably drinking right now. Don't matter. They want to question me? This is what I do on Cinco de Mayo. I work. I work," said McCoy, covered in sweat inside a gymnasium.

McCoy then panned the camera to show his young twins playing basketball in the background.

"Oh and I've got my kids with me. How many people doing that?" McCoy said. "All-Pro on and off the field. Wanna question me? The heck? Is he gonna be ready? Do he love football? What?! Y'all crazy. Lost y'all mind. I work. Don't you ever question me!"

McCoy, who is typically a fixture at the Bucs' facility in the offseason, has not been in the building since head coach Bruce Arians was somewhat critical of him at the NFL owners meetings.

"He's not as disruptive as he was four years ago, but he's still a good player," Arians said.

Arians also said he needed to further evaluate him.

The feeling of some in the organization is that while the six-time Pro Bowler and one of the longest-tenured players on their current roster is still a very effective player at 31, his production does not currently warrant the $13 million-per-year price tag.

McCoy is under contract through the 2021 season.

While McCoy has still been active on social media during his absence, this is the first time he's spoken at-length about his activities. He's spent much of this time working out with longtime trainer Todd Durkin in San Diego.

"He's been an absolute beast," Durkin told ESPN. "He's as focused, hungry and determined as I've ever seen him. Seriously, [he] has a fire inside of him that I haven't seen in a long time."

The Tampa Bay Times reported that the Bucs instructed McCoy to stay home from the offseason program, although Arians refuted that claim during the team's optional veteran minicamp two weeks ago.

"I don't know who the hell said that," Arians said. "It's up to him. We have open arms. If he wants to be here, practicing with us, that's great. He's under contract and part of the team, so yeah, I mean, that's the player's decision. That's all I can [say]."

There had been reports that the Bucs were attempting to trade McCoy during the draft. The Bucs currently have under $2 million in cap space prior to signing any members of their 2019 rookie draft class and need more than $10.3 million to do so.

This led some to speculate that if no trade partners were found, McCoy would be released, although he remains on the roster.

Defensive coordinator Todd Bowles said last week that while he did speak to McCoy after his hiring, he has not spoken to him since the offseason program began.

"It's voluntary," Bowles said. "For the people that are here, we coach. For the people that aren't here, we wait until they get here."

Attendance for the offseason program is voluntary until the team's mandatory three-day minicamp June 4-6. While McCoy doesn't have any language in his contract tied to participation in the offseason program, the NFL's Collective Bargaining Agreement does allow a team to fine a player up to $60,000 for unexcused absences during mandatory minicamp.

BOSTON -- Celtics guard Marcus Smart will make his return in Game 4 of Boston's Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Milwaukee Bucks Monday night at TD Garden.

Smart, who suffered a torn left oblique four weeks and a day ago after running into Orlando Magic center Nikola Vucevic's left hip, had said Sunday he was "hopeful" he would return after going through practice for the first time since the injury occurred.

He's back pic.twitter.com/DHAog0TS1w

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) May 6, 2019

"Feeling good today," Smart said after taking part in Boston's practice. "Today was a good day. I was able to participate with the team. ...The boxes are being checked.

"We're taking it one day at a time but we're definitely in the right position, right time, progressive phase to where I'm getting really close to coming back here."

Smart's timeline shifted from "really close" to "arrived" late Monday afternoon, when the Celtics announced shortly before Celtics coach Brad Stevens' pregame presser that Smart had been upgraded from questionable to available for Monday's game.

Stevens had previously said Smart would play in short bursts, likely 4 to 5 minutes long, and added that it wasn't expected he would immediately go back into the starting lineup.

Getting Smart back is a massive boost for Boston, which enters Monday's game trailing 2-1 in the best-of-seven series after losing both Game 2 in Milwaukee and Game 3 in Boston Friday night. Smart, the team's emotional leader, also was arguably the best defensive guard in the league this season -- something the Celtics could use against Khris Middleton and Giannis Antetokounmpo's two-headed attack.

It was Smart's return from a thumb injury in Game 5 of Boston's first-round series with Milwaukee last year that helped swing that series in Boston's favor. The Celtics will be hoping Smart can provide them a similar boost this time around.

HOUSTON -- Golden State Warriors injured center DeMarcus Cousins said he expects to play again this season after suffering a partially torn quadriceps muscle and envisions a "very nice ending" to the 2018-19 campaign.

"For me, my goal is I ain't planning on sitting," Cousins told The Undefeated after the Warriors' shootaround in preparation for Monday's Game 4 against the Houston Rockets in a second-round playoff series. "I don't know the reality of it. But for me, that is not what I'm planning on doing...It's definitely some type of bad movie. But I think it will have a very nice ending. Just wait for it."

Cousins suffered the quad injury with 8:09 left in the first quarter of Game 2 of a first-round series against the Los Angeles Clippers on April 15. The Warriors announced the next day that an MRI exam revealed that the 6-foot-10, 265-pounder had suffered a torn left quadriceps muscle. Though the Warriors said the injury would sideline Cousins indefinitely and he would begin rehabilitation immediately, he was not ruled out for the rest of the playoffs.

Cousins suffered a season-ending torn left Achilles tendon in January 2018 with the New Orleans Pelicans. The first-year Warriors center returned to action on Jan. 18, 2019, against the Clippers. Cousins was ecstatic to learn that this injury did not require surgery and was not as serious as his torn Achilles.

"I was confident from the beginning once they told me the severity of it," Cousins said. "Talking to the doctors helped me understand the injury a little more. I started analyzing things and playing it out in my head. I'm going to take it day by day and work my ass off like I always do...

"Obviously, I was little more relieved that it wasn't anything catastrophic like I've dealt with before. It sucks to be injured anyway on top of that. The timing of it really f---ed me up the most. It's a part of this game, man. I'm not the first. I won't be the last."

Though the Warriors have said that it's unlikely that Cousins will return this season, head coach Steve Kerr offered some hope Sunday, telling the media: "He's coming along pretty well. We'll just have to wait and see."

Kerr added that Cousins' recovery was following a "normal progression."

Cousins said he temporarily "shut the world out" following the injury due to all the skepticism he heard, but he feels much better mentally now. He moved well when he took part in a jump-shooting routine following the Warriors' shootaround on Tuesday at the Toyota Center. The athletic trainers and coaches joked with a sweat-drenched Cousins afterward that he moved well but shot poorly.

When asked about potentially returning in the Rockets series or at a future time, Cousins answered, "We will see."

"I'm taking it day by day," Cousins said. "I'm in better spirits, for sure. I kind of shut the world out. There are a lot of opinions out there. I shut the world out, went to my little zone and I'm taking it a day at a time.

"There were too many opinions. Everybody thought they knew what was going on. Everybody is a doctor. Just sit back and watch. I will do the rest."

Cousins averaged 16.3 points, 8.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game on 48.0 percent shooting in 30 regular-season games for Golden State. The four-time All-Star's two career playoff appearances came with the Warriors before he got injured. Cousins will miss his eighth playoff game Monday when the Warriors visit the Rockets.

"It's hard," Cousins said. "I wish I could be out there helping. But things happen for any reason. I'm not questioning any of it. I got something down the line that has me patient and working."

Cousins added that his family and his Warriors teammates "have been there for me" through his latest injury. The 29-year-old, who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, was also surprised to learn that he has been an inspiration as well.

"I have had so many young players say I'm an inspiration for them," Cousins said. "I've never heard that from a player. For me to hear, that was pretty dope. And just some of the messages, they were saying I'm built for this and if anyone can do it, it's me. I think guys know my heart, my desire and my drive. I've overcome this before...

"My family and my team are the people I've leaned on the most. But I feel I've been through the worst. I know how to work. I know what it takes to overcome these things. I am going to do my part."

IT WAS 3½ HOURS before tipoff at Barclays Center and the Philadelphia 76ers already had claimed a piece of the court.

As the Brooklyn Nets' drum line and dancers practiced nearby, the Sixers' training staff went through its own prep before a first-round playoff game. The makeshift on-court training area featured:

• Two black EarthLite folding massage tables

• A green exercise ball borrowed from the Nets

• A red, plastic Tri-Stretch balance pad placed by the basket

• Three black, cylindrical ViPR tubes weighing 16, 24 and 32 pounds

• Two dumbbells borrowed from the Nets (JJ Redick prefers them to the tubes)

• Two black roller bags stuffed with assorted tension bands, jump ropes and other tools of the trade.

While other teams use cramped visitors training rooms to stretch and work on their players before games, Todd Wright, the 76ers' assistant coach and head of strength and conditioning, brought his on-court method with him from the University of Texas in 2015. Wright takes advantage of the extra space on the court while allowing players to enjoy the atmosphere of the arena.

A similar scene will play out along a baseline at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto prior to Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Tuesday. Only the exercise ball borrowed from the Toronto Raptors will be gray and the on-court entertainment will be limited to the dance team and a performer's dry run of "O Canada."

"IT'S DIFFERENT," Greg Monroe said, breaking into a hearty laugh before Game 3 of the Sixers' first-round series in Brooklyn. And Monroe has plenty to compare it to. The 6-foot-11 center has played for five franchises in his nine-year career, including three teams this season alone.

"But it is easier," Monroe said. "Get your stretch in, get your warm-up and [you're already on] the court. So, that actually makes sense."

One by one, Sixers players ambled out to the Barclays court before Game 3 and plopped onto a massage table to start a sequence of stretches required before they're allowed to hoist up a shot.

Wright manned one of the tables, while Todor Pandov, the assistant strength and conditioning coach, manned the other. They worked on the players like mechanics under a hood -- stretching, pushing, pulling and kneading the players' limbs to get them ready for the game.

Wright has a shaved head, dark, pronounced eyebrows and intense blue eyes. His thick frame "looks like a bag of meat," said one Sixers staffer. Philly's players rave about Wright's subtle sense of humor, expertise and personal touch. He is the type of guy who offers up a, "Thanks, brother," to a total stranger, as he did before Game 1 in Toronto when a Raptors locker room attendant delivered the exercise ball to the court.

A Bulgaria native who played forward for Western Kentucky University in the early 2000s, the 6-foot-9 Pandov offers a visual contrast to Wright, with his full head of hair, gray, speckled beard and lanky limbs.

"They're just good people," guard T.J. McConnell said. "You want to be surrounded by good people. But obviously, when you're great at your job, it makes it that much better."

After the massage, the players worked their way down an assembly line.

Guard Furkan Korkmaz performed a set of calf raises, trying to gain access to the next level of the Sixers' required pregame prep: Lifting those, um, big rubber things that look like empty paper towel rolls.

"What do you call them? Dang, I forgot the name," Tobias Harris said. "I forgot. I guess we call them 'the bar.' Yeah, 'the bar.'"

"The bar" is the ViPR weighted cylinder that allows Philly players to turn their little corner of the court into a weight room

"We obviously can't bring [full] weights onto the floor, but it simulates lifting weights and movement," McConnell explained. "Kind of kills two birds with one stone."

NBA PLAYERS ARE large human beings, and the room required to have those bodies stretch out and move around is considerable.

While changes in ownership and a flood of new revenue in the past several decades have led to modernized NBA arenas -- 18 of the league's 29 arenas were opened in 1999 or later -- the visitors training rooms didn't get the same priority in the blueprints as, say, luxury boxes and club lounges.

"The visiting training rooms are usually super small," Nets guard Joe Harris said. "If you went in and saw a lot of the training rooms, we have to stagger our treatment times because you can't have more than like three people in the training room at a time. There's not enough space."

Measuring 7-foot-3 and weighing 291 pounds, Sixers backup center Boban Marjanovic might benefit the most from the change in settings.

"Sometimes, we don't have space for ourselves," Marjanovic said. "I think it's a good idea. To be very honest, it's a good idea."

The space might be the biggest perk to the trainers -- Wright appreciates the consistent training environment the court provides on the road -- but the players have their own reasons why they enjoy the unusual setup.

"For me, it's more about feeling the atmosphere of the arena, breathing the air, just being around it and being on the court and hearing the sound of the basketballs. It just helps me better prepare." Joel Embiid

"For me, it's more about feeling the atmosphere of the arena, breathing the air, just being around it and being on the court and hearing the sound of the basketballs," Joel Embiid said. "It just helps me better prepare."

Other players agree.

"I do like the way it feels. I do like the way it kind of gets me going," Monroe said.

As Tobias Harris added; "You get the energy, for sure. That's always cool."

Embiid missed the entire 2014-15 season with a broken navicular bone in his right foot. The following season, his rookie year, he played in just 31 out of 82 games because of a rest plan, combined with a torn meniscus in his left knee that wiped out what was left of his season in late February.

If the byproduct of having more room to operate means keeping Embiid more connected and engaged in the periods he is out, it makes sense that Wright and Pandov don't mind lugging all that equipment -- each cumbersome massage table weigh 38 pounds -- to 41 road games a year. And in a league in which teams go to great lengths to keep their star players happy by shuffling practice times and accommodating travel plans, it's a small concession to make.

"It's all for Joel," a team source said.

Just a massage and some anime to get hype for Game 1. ?

Never change, @JoelEmbiid. pic.twitter.com/LMhav2Qy62

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 30, 2018

TAKING A NORMALLY private activity and making it public can have its drawbacks.

While Embiid was getting his shoulders worked on prior to the opening game of the Eastern Conference semifinals at the Boston Celtics in 2018, TNT cameras showed the big man watching the Japanese anime "Dragon Ball Z" on his phone.

Earlier in the 2018 playoff run, before a first-round game at the Miami Heat, Embiid was seen eating a chicken sandwich on the massage table out on the court while his back was being poked and prodded.

But Embiid isn't concerned.

"I don't care," Embiid said. "I'm a chill guy. I don't care. I'm a human being at the end of the day. I don't want to be different than anybody else walking on the streets. If they can do it, I can do it too."

A lack of privacy isn't the only challenge the Sixers face.

As Wright contorted the large frame of Marjanovic, who was spilling over the massage table before Game 3 in Brooklyn, Pandov was attending to James Ennis III while simultaneously protecting his turf. Television reporters and camera crews were setting up a couple of feet from the training tables for live shots to preview the game. The extra space the 76ers coveted had been shrunk to a few feet.

Pandov did his best to secure his space.

"We all got to work together," Pandov pleaded with the encroaching media. "We got players to get going."

BALTIMORE -- Boston Red Sox left-hander David Price has been placed on the 10-day injured list because of tendinitis in his pitching elbow.

Boston announced the move Monday, a day ahead of Price's scheduled start at Baltimore.

Price told reporters that his arm is "bothering" him, but hopes to miss only one or two starts.

The 33-year-old Price is 1-2 with a 3.75 ERA in six starts and has allowed three runs or fewer in his last four appearances.

The 2012 AL Cy Young Award winner with Tampa Bay, Price was slowed by elbow problems throughout 2017. He did not make his first start for Boston until May 29 due to a strained elbow and did not pitch for the Red Sox between July 22 and Sept. 17 because of elbow inflammation.

He was 6-3 with a 3.38 ERA in 11 starts and five relief appearances, then rebounded to go 16-7 with a 3.58 ERA in 30 starts last year as Boston won the World Series.

Boston made the roster move retroactive to Friday. The Red Sox selected the contract of 28-year-old right-hander Ryan Weber from Triple-A Pawtucket.

Major League Baseball suspended Atlanta Braves right-hander Kevin Gausman for five games on Monday for throwing a 97 mph fastball behind the Miami Marlins' Jose Urena in the second inning of the Braves' 7-2 victory Friday.

Gausman has appealed the suspension.

Urena was at the center of a melee last season with the Braves.

Urena said after Friday's game that Gausman and the Braves set a bad example for the fans.

"That's the way they claim they are professional?" the Dominican said in Spanish. "I've never had anything against them. They are the ones keeping it going."

Urena was suspended six games last season for hitting the Braves' Ronald Acuna Jr., who had homered in five straight games at the time, including three straight against the Marlins.

Gausman, who was acquired by the Braves last season from the Baltimore Orioles, is 1-2 with a 4.83 ERA in six starts this season.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Ron Darling, former New York Mets pitcher and current broadcaster for SNY, said in a statement Monday that he has thyroid cancer.

"After the removal of the mass on my chest along with further tests, I have been diagnosed with thyroid cancer," said Darling, 58. "My doctors have said they are optimistic that the cancer is treatable and that I would be back on air talking baseball in the next month or so. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank everybody for their continued support."

Last month, Darling took a leave of absence from calling games on SNY to have a mass removed from his chest.

Darling played for the Mets from 1983 to 1991 and was a member of their 1986 World Series championship team. He also pitched for the Oakland Athletics through 1995.

CINCINNATI -- A swarm of bees settled above the backstop screen shortly before the first pitch, prompting an 18-minute delay to the start of a game between the San Francisco Giants and Cincinnati Reds.

The game began after the swarm moved toward the upper deck.

Ready now... play ball! ? pic.twitter.com/Z4ioWU8Ojp

— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) May 6, 2019

It's the second time the Giants have been involved in a bee delay in Cincinnati. A swarm went into the Giants' dugout at Riverfront Stadium on April 17, 1976, forcing a 35-minute delay. The Reds won the game 11-0

There was a 17-minute bee delay before another game at Riverfront on May 11, 1987, against the Phillies. Reds starter Ted Power got stung on his hand.

Pablo Sandoval on Monday became the first major league player since 1905 to hit a home run, steal a base and pitch a scoreless inning in the same game.

Sandoval achieved the feat in the San Francisco Giants' 12-4 loss to the Cincinnati Reds on Monday.

The only other time the feat was achieved was also by a Giants player in a game against the Reds. Hall of Famer Christy Mathewson threw nine shutout innings, hit a homer and stole a base in a victory on May 23, 1905, according to the Elias Sports Bureau's data.

Chief Johnson of the Kansas City Packers also accomplished this feat playing in the Federal League on August 14, 1915.

Sandoval's steal of third base in the second inning of Monday's game was his first stolen base since the 2012 season. His home run Monday was a three-run shot in the sixth inning that cut the Giants' deficit at the time to 7-4. He has three home runs this season.

In his scoreless inning Monday, which came during the eighth inning, he hit Jose Peraza to lead off the inning but got Josh VanMeter to fly out and induced a ground ball double-play off the bat of Nick Senzel. When Sandoval hit Peraza, it marked the fifth time in Monday's game that a Reds player was hit by a pitch, tying a National League record.

Sandoval has now pitched two innings in his career and has not allowed a run.

After crawling across the London Marathon finish line to a 2:33 PB, the England international marathoner tells AW about her mental strength, training and future plans

When asked about the biggest lessons she has learned in her running career so far, Hayley Carruthers replies: “That ultimately nothing beats hard work and that the sport will reward persistence and resilience.”

Her own resilience and persistence was proved at the recent Virgin Money London Marathon, when Carruthers crawled across the finish line after collapsing just metres from it. Swinging her leg across the timing mat, the Birchfield athlete clocked a PB of 2:33:59.

The 26-year-old NHS radiographer has come a long way since starting out in the sport just three years ago (she ran 3:22:58 on her marathon debut in Manchester). Having had time to reflect on London, she shared some insight into her performance, mental strength, training and future plans.

Athletics Weekly: The past week must have felt like a bit of a whirlwind. Now you’ve had time to reflect on your run in London, how are you feeling?

Hayley Carruthers: I suppose it is mixed emotions. The disappointment from the outcome is still there as we really, really wanted to qualify for Doha (World Championships) and so it is bound to hurt for a while. On the other hand, people have been so lovely and supportive that it’s been hard to feel too sorry for myself.

Today I learnt how NOT to run a marathon! ?? #londonmarathon atleast I PB’d … pic.twitter.com/iD1FYZSA5N

— Hayley Carruthers (@mileswithhayley) April 28, 2019

AW: We know mental strength is something you’ve worked on and we featured some advice from your coach Dan Robinson before the race. How important is mental strength and using that strength alongside listening to your body? Is that what you had to do in London?

HC: We always talk about having a toolkit of mental strategies available. It allows me to feel more relaxed that I have something else I can turn to in the difficult moments. I think by the end on Sunday I was looking around in the bottom of the bag! Seriously though, I was having to employ those strategies from around 10km onwards. It helped because I was able to focus on dealing with the here and now rather than contemplating having 20 miles to go feeling like that!

AW: Can you give some insight into your training set-up and diary in the lead-up to London?

HC: Dan is my coach and also, despite being middle-aged, he can still do the sessions with me which is great. Up until the autumn I was coached remotely by someone else which worked well at the time. Since I have started working with Dan though I have really felt the benefit of building up a close relationship where we speak all the time. He knows when I am tired or stressed and can adapt the training accordingly. I am sure this has helped to avoid injury and illness.

A typical training week might be:

Monday: AM – 30min easy, PM – 45min easy / gym

Tuesday: AM – 40min easy, PM – track – 4 x (5x400m)

Wednesday: AM – 30min easy, PM – 60min easy

Thursday: AM – rest, PM – 4x10min threshold / S&C session

Friday: Rest day

Saturday: AM – parkrun and 6x2min off 60sec

Sunday: AM – 2 miles easy, 4×4 miles at marathon effort with a 1 mile float

AW: Is it hard to combine your running with your full-time job as an NHS radiographer?

HC: I think for the most part it has worked pretty easily up to this point. The fact that I am new to running has meant that we have built up the volume quite gradually and so the job hasn’t been too much of a problem in that respect. Maybe in the future that will change as I get stronger and we can progress the training further. I am conscious that in this build-up, recovery became more of an issue as the intensity increased.

Don’t worry guys! I am a’ok! Back to reality… ? #doublelife pic.twitter.com/ba03G05zaQ

— Hayley Carruthers (@mileswithhayley) April 29, 2019

AW: What are your next goals – both long and short term?

HC: In the short term I am having a much needed rest before racing the Vitality London 10,000 at the end of the month. It will be good to race in London again and hopefully finish a race vertical. I will then try and get as fit as possible to run well at Highgate (Night of the 10,000m PBs) in the summer. It is already an iconic event and I can’t wait to race there. Longer term we will look at an autumn marathon but I don’t want to think about that too much just yet.

AW: You must have received many messages since last Sunday – are there any which have meant that bit more to you?

HC: It’s hard to pick out individual messages because they’ve all been so positive. Some teachers have been in touch saying that they have used the footage in school assemblies or with their junior cross-country teams. That’s very gratifying and if there is a positive message associated with what happened I feel very fortunate.

AW: What are the biggest lessons you have learned in your running career so far?

HC: That ultimately nothing beats hard work and that the sport will reward persistence and resilience. Absorbing disappointments is just part of it but that makes successes all the more satisfying.