FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A contrite Chad Johnson apologized for disrespecting a judge when the former NFL star slapped his attorney on the backside in court last week and was released from jail after only a week instead of 30 days.

Broward County Circuit Judge Kathleen McHugh accepted Johnson's apology and cut back his jail term for a probation violation to the seven days he had already served since the rear-swatting.

NEW YORK — The Cincinnati Bengals will star in the training camp documentary show “Hard Knocks” for the second time in five NFL seasons.HBO announced that the Bengals would be featured in the popular series, which premieres Aug. 6. Cincinnati last appeared on it in 2009. The Miami Dolphins were last season's team.The Bengals no longer have receiver Chad Johnson as a TV attraction. Cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones was recently charged with assault, the latest in his string of legal troubles.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Saying she has already rolled up her sleeves and is ready to work, Julie Hermann took over as Rutgers' athletic director with the promise that her No. 1 job is to create an atmosphere for student-athletes to excel on and off the field.The embattled Hermann showed up for work before most of her employees and started the task of leading an embarrassed athletic department back to respectability, winning back boosters and alumni and leading the university into the Big Ten Conference in 2014.

STATE COLLEGE — About 325 former Penn State players and coaches have signed a statement supporting the lawsuit filed by the family of former coach Joe Paterno and other former players seeking to overturn NCAA sanctions in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal.Former player Brian Masella released the letter in support of the lawsuit, which was also filed last month by some coaches, trustees and faculty. Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Paul Posluszny, and former NFL quarterbacks Kerry Collins and Todd Blackledge are among the notable names who signed on to the statement.The former players demanded “fairness, due process, truth, and a just outcome.”