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From Jeff Miller: His most recent start came against the Eagles.
The Eastern Washington Eagles.
In January 2019.
On Thursday night, Easton Stick will face the Las Vegas Raiders in his first NFL start, replacing Justin Herbert after the Chargers lost their franchise quarterback for the remainder of the season because of broken finger.
“Ultimately, it’s football,” Stick said Tuesday. “Look, I understand North Dakota State is not the National Football League, but I’m used to winning. I only know one way. This is a production business, and I understand that.”
The Chargers drafted Stick in the fifth round in 2019, after he won 49 games as a starter and four national titles for the Bison.
He was primarily the team’s third quarterback until being promoted to backup this year.
Before taking over late in the second quarter Sunday against Denver following Herbert’s injury, Stick had played only two regular-season snaps.
“No nerves,” he said. “Maybe on Thursday. It’s kind of standard for everybody before you go out there.”
Herbert underwent surgery on his broken right index finger Tuesday. He was put on injured reserve, meaning he’ll sit out the last four games of the regular season.
He finished with 3,134 passing yards, 20 touchdowns and seven interceptions as the Chargers went an underwhelming 5-8, slipping to 12th in the AFC and edging toward elimination from playoff contention.
Herbert’s injury is just the latest blow in what has turned into a frustrating year for the franchise. His loss — teammate Derwin James Jr. called Herbert the Chargers’ “heartbeat” — underscores a lost season.
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RAMS
From Gary Klein: Rams wide receiver Tutu Atwell is in concussion protocol and tight end Hunter Long will undergo season-ending knee injury, coach Sean McVay said Monday.
Atwell and Long were injured during the Rams’ 37-31 overtime defeat to the Ravens on Sunday in Baltimore.
Right tackle Rob Havenstein also suffered a groin injury, and long snapper Alex Ward was being evaluated for a neck injury, McVay said during a video conference.
The Rams (6-7) play the Washington Commanders (4-9) on Sunday at SoFi Stadium.
Veteran receiver Demarcus Robinson is expected to start if Atwell is not cleared to play against the Commanders.
Rams cut kicker Mason Crosby one week after signing him
NFL roundtable: Rams prove they can battle for playoffs even after loss; not Chargers
DODGERS
From Jack Harris: Thanks to the extreme deferrals in their stunning new contract, the Dodgers won’t be paying Shohei Ohtani his full $700 million over the next 10 years.
But the team won’t be on the hook for only $20 million in that span, either.
As more clarity has come in the wake of Monday’s news that Ohtani would defer a whopping $680 million of his contract until after its completion, the full financial ramifications for the Dodgers have also come into focus.
Yes, the team will pay Ohtani just $2 million in direct salary during each of the 10 seasons he plays for them.
And yes, Ohtani will receive $68 million payouts annually from 2034 to 2043.
But in between then, the Dodgers will have to front some money for those future payments, bringing their annual Ohtani-related financial commitments to about $48 million for most (but not all) of the next 10 years.
All of our Shohei Ohtani to Dodgers coverage
Julio Urías police investigation complete, L.A. County D.A.’s office reviewing for charges
OHTANI POLL
Are you happy about this Ohtani deal? Vote here in our informal survey.
LAKERS
From Dan Woike: The championship was celebrated, the Lakers’ early season goal accomplished last weekend in Las Vegas.
The in-season tournament served as the catalyst for the Lakers’ turnaround, a competition that showed the Lakers that they could dominate big games and that they had the kind of elite defensive capabilities that give their hopes for the main championship credibility.
But with that all over, the experience ending with a future banner in the rafters and a cash injection into their bank accounts, the Lakers have to get back to regular old basketball.
So, there was always going to be a little bit of “Now what?” to Tuesday’s game against the Dallas Mavericks.
After a slow start during which their defensive intensity didn’t approach necessary levels, the Lakers fought back before losing 127-125 to the short-handed Mavericks to start a three-game stretch in Texas.
Dallas, playing on the second night of a back-to-back without starters Kyrie Irving and Derrick Jones Jr. and key reserve Josh Green, handed the ball fully to Luka Doncic. And in Tim Hardaway Jr., Doncic had a partner more than willing to step into the void and take those available shots.
CLIPPERS
From Broderick Turner: The Clippers are starting to find their stride , and the talented threesome of Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and James Harden are more in tune with each other now more than at any other time since they came together .
They have won a season-high five straight games, the latest a 119-98 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena.
They built a 30-point lead in the first half, showing signs of a team that is getting more and more comfortable since the rocky start when Harden was acquired and the Clippers were mired in a losing streak that reached six after he joined the team in November.
They increased the lead to 33 in the third quarter, another sign of developing chemistry.
Clippers coach Ty Lue preached patience. His players listened.
WOMEN’S SOCCER
From Kevin Baxter: Takumi Jeannin remembers a time, not so long ago, when being an agent for women’s soccer players was a little like being a telemarketer. No one would take his calls and no one wanted to pay for what he was selling.
“It was crazy. We had to almost harass some clubs,” said Jeannin, an agent with A&V Sports Group. “I would send them like 10 emails hoping to get one answer. We had to chase much more to get people interested in what our players had to offer.”
Those days are long gone.
In the last 11 months alone Jeannin, working with just one club and representing teenagers who sleep in the same bedroom, has negotiated two contracts worth more than $1.6 million combined. The most recent came less than two weeks ago when Gisele Thompson, a senior at Harvard-Westlake, agreed to a three-year contract to join her sister Alyssa at Angel City.
NHL
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1942 — The Washington Redskins win the NFL Championship with a 14-6 victory over the Chicago Bears.
1983 — Detroit beats Denver 186-184 in triple overtime in the highest-scoring game in NBA history. Isiah Thomas scores 47 and John Long adds 41 for the Pistons. Denver’s Kiki Vandeweghe had 51 points.
1992 — Manon Rheaume becomes the first woman to play in a regular-season professional game when she appears in the Atlanta Knights’ 4-1 loss to Salt Lake City in the International Hockey League.
1995 — Detroit’s Paul Coffey becomes the first NHL defenseman to reach 1,000 career assists, setting up Igor Larionov’s first-period goal in the Red Wings’ 3-1 victory over Chicago.
1997 — Michigan’s Charles Woodson is the first predominantly defensive player to receive the Heisman Trophy in the 63 years of the award. Woodson and the Wolverines go on to defeat Washington State in the 1998 Rose Bowl, claiming a perfect 12-0 season and a share of the National Championship.
1998 — Gary Anderson kicks six field goals, setting the NFL record with 34 straight without a miss, in Minnesota’s 38-28 victory over Baltimore.
2003 — Mount Union breaks its own NCAA record by winning its 55th consecutive game, beating Bridgewater 66-0 in the NCAA Division III semifinals.
2004 — In Sestriere, Italy, World Cup leader Bode Miller wins a slalom to join Marc Girardelli as the only men to win races in all four disciplines in a season. Miller has won slalom, giant slalom, super-G and downhill races in a span of 16 days.
2007 — Major League Baseball’s Mitchell Report is released, identifying 85 names to differing degrees in the 409-page document. The biggest name linked by former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell to illegal use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs is seven-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens.
2010 — Minnesota quarterback Brett Favre, 41, is sidelined by a throwing shoulder too damaged for even him to overcome. The injury ends of one of the greatest individual streaks in all of sports. Favre had made 297 consecutive starts over 19 seasons.
2014 — Marcus Mariota wins the Heisman Trophy, becoming the first Oregon player to earn college football’s top individual honor. Mariota accounts for a Pac-12-record 53 touchdowns (38 passing, 14 rushing and one receiving) while directing the Ducks’ warp-speed spread offense, and leading Oregon to a spot in the first College Football Playoff.
2018 — Dirk Nowitzki takes the court for his record 21st NBA season with the Dallas Mavericks, surpassing Kobe Bryant’s 20 seasons with the Lakers.
2022 — Washington Capitals center Alex Ovechkin scores a hat trick in 7-3 away win over Chicago Blackhawks to join Wayne Gretzky and Gordie Howe as the only players in NHL history to score 800 goals.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at [email protected], and follow me on Twitter at @latimeshouston. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.