PHOENIX — NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell says he has no plans to end the league’s Rooney Rule despite recent objections from Florida’s attorney general, who wrote that the league’s minority hiring guidelines violate Florida state law.

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Goodell — speaking on Tuesday at the end of the NFL league meetings — acknowledged the changing political landscape for diversity initiatives in the U.S., but added that he didn’t believe there should be any legal issues with the league’s policy.

“The Rooney Rule has been around a long time,” Goodell said. “We’ve evolved it, changed it. We’ll continue to do that.”

Florida’s Attorney General James Uthmeier sent a letter to Goodell last week saying the league’s 23-year-old Rooney Rule amounts to “blatant race and sex discrimination.”

The Rooney Rule requires teams to interview at least two minority candidates for head coach, general manager and coordinator positions. At least one minority candidate must be interviewed for the quarterbacks coach position.

Goodell noted that similar diversity guidelines were used in other industries.

“One thing that doesn’t change is our values and we believe in diversity and its benefit to the National Football League,” Goodell said. “We are well aware of the laws and where the laws are changing and evolving. We think the Rooney Rule is consistent with those and we certainly will engage with the Florida AG or anybody else as we have in the past to talk about our policies.”

Goodell also expressed support for the NFL Accelerator Program, which is returning in May after a hiatus in 2025. The program is used to promote diversity in leadership roles, and was expanded to include candidates of all backgrounds this year.

First-year Atlanta Falcons GM Ian Cunningham said Monday that diversity should still be a priority for the league.

“Just from my position, especially being a Black man, there’s still work to be done,” Cunningham told The Associated Press. “Now that I’m in this position and have this platform, I’m going to be intentional about what we do from a grassroots effort to a director level.

“I do think it’s important to give people of all races and sexes a chance to be in a position to further their career.”

Florida lost to Jacksonville, 4-3, on Tuesday night. The Gators hit a season-high six batters in the loss, including two in a disastrous eighth inning.

Schuyler Sandford struggled out of the gate, walking two of the first three batters and bothcing a pickoff attempt. He recovered to get through the inning without giving up a run, but he didn’t make it out of the second. Sandford neared 49 pitches after just five outs, so Kevin O’Sullivan brought in Eli Blair earlier than expected. Blair hit the first batter he faced, but forced a groundout to keep Jacksonville off the board.

Florida didn’t do much offensively until the third. Brendan Lawson and Cole Stanford singled in the first and second, respectively, but neither came around to score. Lawson drove in the first run of the game with a sacrifice fly, capitalizing on a leadoff triple from Kolt Myers. Ethan Surowiec drove in Kyle Jones, who walked earlier in the inning.

Blair hit another batter in the third. A wild pitch and passed ball got him over to third base, but he got out of it again. After a third hit batter in the fourth inning, Caden McDonald took over for Blair. McDonald was the only arm of the night for Florida that didn’t hit a batter. He allowed one run on four hits, but he also struck out five over 2 2/3 innings.

Brightline trains carried almost 10,000 passengers on the average day in February. That’s a new record as ridership between its five stations in South Florida jumped thanks to a sharp drop in average fares.

Long distance trips between South Florida and Orlando, however, remain the main driver of revenue as Brightline works to be a transportation alternative to driving on I-95 or the Florida Turnpike.

The average long distance fare in February was up 7% from a year earlier, while ridership grew by 4%. A price hike for its baggage fee also helped drive stronger revenue. Brightline’s total monthly revenue was $18.3 million, up 8%. The company does not disclose its monthly operating costs.

Short haul riders, those on trains in South Florida, jumped on cheaper fares last month. The average passenger paid 16% less for the shorter trips in February as ridership on those itineraries jumped 21%. And most of that increase came in the final two weeks of the month.

“February ridership and revenue were negatively impacted by a cold weather event in Florida during the first 10 days of February,” Brightline noted in its monthly report. Ticket revenue was flat during that same period. The company also sold a lot more higher-priced premium tickets from a year ago. Brightline has changed its scheduling and fare strategy in recent months to offer peak and off-peak prices while adding trains to its South Florida service, hoping to attract more regular commuters. It canceled a popular ticket package more than a year and a half ago only to reintroduce a commuter pass a year later.

“We believe the commuter business will reach its previous levels over the next several months,” it said.

Brightline is racing to accelerate its revenue growth to meet its debt payments. Last month, it negotiated with some of its bondholders to extend the deadline for one interest payment that was originally due Feb. 17. The lenders agreed to wait two more months.

Credit rating agencies S&P Global, Kroll and Fitch cut their grade on some Brightline bonds this year as the company’s revenue growth has lagged behind forecasts. S&P has since withdrawn its rating altogether at the request of Brightline. Its IOUs are rated as junk bonds, the riskiest category for lenders.

The company tapped its reserve account to pay its interest payments that were due Jan. 1. It is scheduled to pay $162 million in debt payments this year, though credit analysts are increasingly doubtful the company will be able to stay current on its IOUs.

In March, S&P Global predicted Brightline will be forced to restructure its debt “in about six months.”

The company has been updating lenders for months that it is looking to raise money by selling “a substantial amount of equity” to pay down its multi-billion dollar debt load. Analysts expect some bondholders will convert their loans into ownership stakes of the passenger train service.