Breaking News

Las Vegas Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels hasn't ruled out benching star quarterback Derek Carr for backup Jarrett Stidham.

"That's not good enough, you know what I mean?" McDaniels said Monday in response to a question about Carr's recent performances, per the Las Vegas Review-Journal's Vincent Bonsignore. "And for us to be able to win this time of the year and be productive offensively, you have to throw the ball better than what we've thrown it at times here over the last month-in-a-half."

While later discussing general playing-time decisions over players with injury or contractual issues, McDaniels added he wouldn't treat the quarterback position any differently in the event he thought a change is required.

"I think there's a possibility that we would do the right thing, regardless of the position, in terms of the team," the coach said.

While McDaniels didn't name Carr, he also refused to say his starting quarterback wouldn't change before the end of the season.

Through his first 10 starts this season, Carr threw 15 touchdowns to five interceptions while averaging 243.5 yards per game. His performance has since fallen off noticeably. The three-time Pro Bowler has averaged 217.4 yards per contest with nine touchdowns and nine interceptions over the last five weeks.

The odds of Stidham actually replacing Carr are probably low. The 2019 fourth-round pick has thrown for 342 yards, two touchdowns and four interceptions in 11 appearances.

McDaniels' comments are nonetheless pretty damning for a player who signed a three-year, $121.5 million extension in the spring and is supposed to be the franchise QB.

Carr's contract does provide the Raiders with an escape route this offseason. Cutting or trading him before June 1 would result in a $5.6 million dead cap hit but save $29.3 million in salary-cap space.

Perhaps that's an option the front office will seriously consider if Carr's slide continues over the final two games.

Baron Corbin provided some insight into the philosophy of WWE head of creative Triple H during a recent interview.

Appearing on the Johnny Dare Morning Show last week (h/t Shivangini Rawat of Ringside News), Corbin expressed his belief that Triple H goes to great lengths to ensure that everyone who is on TV is utilized properly:

"That's one thing I love about Triple H, he's a firm believer in, 'It's a marathon, not a race [sprint].' He likes to slow play things, and he doesn't just waste people.

"If you don't have something that is a big-time play or move on television, he's like, 'Then you don't need to be out there because it's not good to just be out there.' You want to have a purpose every time you go on television."

Triple H was elevated to the roles of WWE head of creative and executive vice president of talent relations after Vince McMahon retired in July after it was revealed he paid multiple women in exchange for confidentiality over allegations of infidelity and harassment.

Raw, SmackDown and premium live events have had a decidedly different feel under The Game, with Corbin expressing his belief that he has brought "new energy" and "new life" to the product.

Corbin also compared Triple H's creative vision to that of McMahon, noting that McMahon is "go, go, go," whereas Triple H prefers to let things breathe.

While Corbin praised McMahon for being a "machine," he also said it is "nice to step back" and spend time with family when not needed for a show.

Since Triple H took over as head of creative, Corbin has been repackaged, leaving behind the Happy Corbin gimmick. Now, he is a member of the Raw brand with WWE Hall of Famer JBL as his manager and mouthpiece.

It remains to be seen how far the new character will take Corbin, but he has been a fixture in Raw's midcard and has enjoyed a great deal of success with televised wins over Johnny Gargano, Dolph Ziggler, Akira Tozawa and Cedric Alexander.

Corbin has wrestled only one televised match since the Nov. 21 episode of Raw, which perhaps speaks to Triple H's philosophy of not forcing someone into a spot if there isn't a logical reason to do so.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).

Legado del Fantasma leader Santos Escobar reportedly avoided a serious injury during a ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship on Monday night.

During an untelevised live event at Madison Square Garden in New York City, Gunther put the IC title on the line in a ladder match against Escobar, Kofi Kingston, Shinsuke Nakamura and Madcap Moss, and Escobar was on the wrong end of a scary spot.

According to Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News, Kingston did a double stomp off a ladder and landed on Escobar's knee, which led to Escobar being helped to the back by producer Jamie Noble after the match.

Per PWInsider.com's Mike Johnson, Escobar is believed to be "OK" after being checked out by WWE's medical team following the match.

Gunther retained the Intercontinental Championship, extending a dominant reign that has now lasted nearly 200 days.

Rather than airing a traditional episode of Raw on Monday, WWE aired a "Best of 2022" show, which allowed the company to hold two separate live events in New York City and Columbus, Ohio.

Fightful Select (h/t Shubham Banerjee of Ringside News) reported that the Columbus event was a "logistical mess" since several advertised Superstars were either late or couldn't make the show due to travel issues, presumably as a result of extreme winter weather in the northeast.

Seth Rollins, Becky Lynch, Bobby Lashley and Alexa Bliss were reportedly among those who missed the Columbus show, and Rollins divulged on Twitter that his absence was a result of his bus breaking down.

Rollins was reportedly supposed to be part of a steel-cage match against Austin Theory for the United States Championship in the main event, but instead it was a steel-cage Triple Threat with Theory beating Johnny Gargano and Damian Priest.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).

Los Angeles Chargers safety Derwin James has entered concussion protocol following Monday night's win over the Indianapolis Colts, head coach Brandon Staley told reporters after the game.

James was ejected in the first quarter after hitting Colts wide receiver Ashton Dulin in the head and neck area with the crown of his helmet. Dulin also entered concussion protocol and didn't return to the game after the hit.

James, a five-year NFL veteran, entered Monday's game having posted one interception, four pass breakups, two forced fumbles, four sacks, 106 tackles, five tackles for a loss and five quarterback hits in 12 games.

The Bolts selected James with the No. 17 overall pick in the 2018 NFL draft.

His rookie season couldn't have been much better. In 16 starts, the former Florida State star amassed three interceptions, 13 pass breakups, 105 tackles and 3.5 sacks en route to Pro Bowl and All-Pro honors.

The Chargers went 11-5 and defeated the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Wild Card Round before losing to the eventual Super Bowl champion New England Patriots.

Unfortunately, James only played five games over the next two years.

A stress fracture of the fifth metatarsal of his right foot suffered during a mid-August practice in 2019 forced him to miss the season's first 11 games. He returned for the final five and had 34 tackles (three for a loss) and one pass breakup.

James suffered a torn right meniscus during an Aug. 30, 2020 practice that required surgery and forced him to miss the entire season.

However, James returned to his dominant self in 2021 with his second Pro Bowl year. He finished the season with 15 starts that resulted in 118 tackles (75 solo), seven pass breakups and two sacks.

Unfortunately, if James is sidelined yet again, the Chargers lose the heart and soul of their defense. He's one of the most exciting and productive defensive backs when healthy, and hopefully, he returns as soon as possible to lead the Bolts' D once again.

Without him, look for Alohi Gilman to fill Derwin's spot. The 25-year-old, who is in his third NFL season, has 44 tackles in 14 games this season.

Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields will "absolutely" not be shut down for the remainder of the season despite injuries to his shoulder and foot, head coach Matt Eberflus told reporters Monday.

Fields' status for the rest of the 2022 regular season had been uncertain since he suffered a left shoulder injury late in Chicago's Week 11 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. He suffered the foot injury in Saturday's loss to the Buffalo Bills after getting stepped on.

Eberflus told reporters after the Falcons game that they were operating as if Fields would be "day to day," but he didn't rule out the possibility of shutting down his second-year quarterback for the season.

"We have not ruled that out at this point," Eberflus said when asked if the Bears could say the injury isn't season-ending. "We'll see where it is on Wednesday."

Even going into Week 12, the Bears were playing coy about Fields' status. He was officially a game-time decision against the New York Jets after being a limited participant in practice all week.

Fields went on a dazzling run of success prior to the injury. The 23-year-old threw for 963 yards, ran for 640 yards and accounted for 16 touchdowns in a six-game span from Weeks 6-11.

The Bears scored at least 24 points in each of the final five games during that stretch. Fields set an NFL record for most rushing yards in a single game by a quarterback when he ran for 178 against the Miami Dolphins in Week 9.

Fields' development in the second half of this season has been critical for a Chicago team that needed to see improvement from him after a rough start to his career. The No. 11 overall pick in the 2021 draft certainly looks like he can become a franchise quarterback.

The Bears will face the Detroit Lions on Sunday before closing out the season against the Minnesota Vikings on Jan. 8.

NBA executives don't expect tampering to ever be a legitimate concern among teams given the relatively minor penalties for the infraction.

"If second-round picks are the only punishment, nothing will ever change," a general manager told NBA writer Marc Stein in the wake of the New York Knicks being docked a 2025 second-rounder by the league for holding free-agent talks with Jalen Brunson before they were permitted this summer.

It's unlikely that the Knicks will shed too many tears over losing a second-round pick in exchange for getting the jump on signing Brunson, who has been excellent for them (20.2 PPG, 6.6 APG) this season.

The NBA said the Knicks cooperated with its investigation into the team's pursuit of Brunson and the eventual four-year, $104 million contract the two sides agreed upon over the summer.

Per Zach Braziller of the New York Post, there were a "myriad of connections" between the Knicks and Brunson, including the fact that his "father, Rick, was hired to join Thibodeau's staff in June, he has known Thibodeau since he was a kid and his agent, Sam Rose, is the son of Knicks president Leon Rose. Leon Rose once represented Brunson before taking over the Knicks, and also repped his father when he was a player."

The NBA's investigation reportedly looked into the hiring of Brunson's father to Thibodeau's staff and also the team's signing of Isaiah Hartenstein to a two-year, $16 million deal, though the team was cleared of any potential wrongdoing in those inquiries.

The Knicks weren't alone. The NBA took away second-round picks from the Philadelphia 76ers in 2023 and 2024 after finding that they committed tampering infractions by holding early free-agent discussions with P.J. Tucker and Danuel House Jr., who both signed with the team.

Last season, the Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls lost second-round picks for tampering violations.

While tampering rules prohibit teams from speaking to prospective free agents before a set date each offseason, complex free agent deals seem to quickly and mysteriously be reported on as finalized within minutes of free agency officially beginning each and every summer.

"There's not a team in this league that follows the tampering rules to a T," a front-office executive told Sarah Todd of the Deseret News in August. "But there are 30 teams in this league that find ways around the rules every day."

Even tougher punishments might not change the culture of tampering, however.

"The threat of harsher penalties and random audits doesn't even make teams flinch," a league office source told Todd. "And at this point, if we investigated every possible instance of tampering, the whole league would come to a screeching halt and nothing would ever get done."

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has been placed in the concussion protocol, head coach Mike McDaniel told reporters Monday.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reported the NFL Players Association will review the situation. A source told Florio that it's "standard protocol" to review it.

Previously, Tagovailoa most recently suffered an ankle injury at the end of his team's Week 13 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, although it wasn't believed to be significant, per Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.

Any injury involving the 24-year-old is a concern considering his past durability issues.

Tagovailoa missed two games this season because of a concussion after injuries cost him four games in 2021. A hip issue at Alabama also led to a slow start to his NFL career after being drafted fifth overall in 2020.

The left-hander has totaled 3,548 passing yards and 25 touchdowns through 13 games. He leads the NFL with a 105.5 passer rating.

It's been a breakout year after throwing just 27 passing touchdowns in his first two seasons combined, totaling an 88.8 passer rating in that span.

The Dolphins have Skylar Thompson and Teddy Bridgewater behind Tagovailoa on the depth chart, but the offense could suffer a setback without the starting quarterback, especially as Miami (8-7) fights for a postseason berth.

A national title isn't the only thing Ohio State star C.J. Stroud has to play for this bowl season.

The MMQB's Albert Breer spoke with an NFC executive who compared Stroud favorably to Chicago Bears star Justin Fields but didn't rank him as the No. 1 quarterback in the 2023 NFL draft class.

"I like him better than I did Fields," the executive said. "But he's still third in the group [behind Alabama's Bryce Young and Kentucky's Will Levis] for me."

Stroud has thrown for 3,340 yards, more than 1,000 fewer than in 2021, along with 37 touchdowns and six interceptions this season.

The third-year signal-caller is still on track to be a Day 1 pick this spring, but he might have ceded some ground to the competition. He's the No. 9 overall player and No. 2 quarterback beyond Young on Bleacher Report's 2023 big board.

The postseason was a great showcase for Stroud in 2021. He went 37-of-46 for 573 yards, six touchdows and one interception in Ohio State's Rose Bowl victory over Utah.

A similar showing against Georgia in the Peach Bowl on Saturday is bound to get noticed by NFL talent evaluators.