WASHINGTON — The NFL and its players' union acknowledged Thursday they have not held a large-group negotiating session since November — and there are no formal meetings scheduled to work toward a new collective bargaining agreement.

Thursday marked seven weeks until the current CBA is set to expire, and while the private talks are seemingly at a standstill, the public rhetoric is not.

Bob Batterman, an outside lawyer for the league, said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press the union's “strategy is not to expedite this, but to slow it down, so that they can file an antitrust lawsuit.” That echoed his comments to The Washington Post a day earlier, when Batterman said: “This is a union waiting for a lockout to occur.”

In response to that story, the union arranged a conference call for media on Thursday, and its general counsel, Richard Berthelsen, said: “Any suggestion that we want a lockout is coming from outer space.”

PARADISE VALLEY, Ariz. — Hall of Famer Frank Robinson was hospitalized Thursday because of a rapid heartbeat and dizziness, and later returned to a hotel to meet with baseball executives.The 75-year-old Robinson said doctors at Scottsdale Memorial Hospital told him he was “a little dry, not dehydrated, but a little dry.”Otherwise, he said, they could find no reason that his heart rate jumped to 190. The typical rate for a healthy man is 60 to 80.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson has decided to stay and play for coach Brady Hoke.School spokesman Dave Ablauf said Robinson informed Hoke of his decision during a meeting on Thursday.The first player in NCAA history to throw and run for 1,500 yards hasn't publicly reacted to the firing of Rich Rodriguez last week or the hiring of Hoke.

SAN ANTONIO — The NCAA won't put restrictions on how early coaches can offer scholarships to young players.The NCAA's legislative council Thursday defeated a proposal that would have prohibited coaches from making scholarship offers until after a student's junior year of high school.Council leaders said making sure coaches were abiding that rule would've been difficult. They also predicted constant allegations of wrongdoing had it passed.