Up to 500 schools across France will be partially or totally closed on Monday after clashes between riot police and student protesters in recent days, the French education minister said on Sunday.
Lessons will be “totally or partly suspended” in some “400 to 500” high schools as security conditions “have not been fulfilled”, Édouard Geffray said.
He also said 24 schools had been “burned or ransacked” since the start of the protests.
Thousands of students have been demonstrating over education standards and the protests, which started last week, have spread from Paris to other cities, including Montpellier, Nantes and Marseille.
High school pupils and others have objected to a lack of teachers, overcrowded classrooms and run-down buildings.
On Friday, French Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin said 735 of France’s 3,700 schools had been affected “one way or another” by violent protests.
The education minister warned the number of schools potentially affected on Monday could be comparable to Friday’s figure but promised a “partial, progressive return to lessons”.
“There are activists – particularly from the far-left – who have infiltrated the high school student movement, hijacked it from the students themselves, and engaged in extreme violence,” Édouard Geffray claimed.
“Clearly, this poses a risk to both our staff and our students,” he said. Geffray added that 78 staff members in education had been wounded, which he described as “something we have never seen before”.
On Friday 1,747 people were arrested, according to French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez.
As if the six-team Trinity League wasn’t good enough in the first five weeks of the high school football season, here come the sit-out period players who become eligible on Monday after using their one-time transfer without moving.
St. John Bosco is the big winner. Offensive tackle Elisha Mueller, a transfer from Servite and one of the top prospects from the class of 2028, will make an immediate impact, helping both the passing and running games. Also becoming eligible for the Braves is sophomore defensive back Kingston Fatu, a transfer from Tustin who should be beneficial for a secondary that has given up big plays this season.
Santa Margarita will be adding 6-foot-3, 285-pound sophomore transfer Karras Vandermade, a defensive lineman. Servite has six players who could compete for major roles, with four on defense that will add much needed depth. Orange Lutheran gains 6-5 tight end Hudson Ploog and linebacker Jamaal Fay, who started for two years at Leuzinger.
JSerra adds 6-7, 315-pound offensive lineman Wyatt Martin and tight end/defensive end Blake Dunn.
The sit-out players have been practicing with teams. They just haven’t been allowed to play in a real game, so coaches know what they are capable of adding to the team.
They become eligible as teams begin Trinity League play next Friday. Five of the six teams are off this week, with only Servite playing Damien in a nonleague game.
The opening league games next week have Santa Margarita playing Mater Dei at Saddleback College, St. John Bosco hosting JSerra and Servite playing Orange Lutheran at Orange Coast College.
Did it make you doubt the veracity of the Rams’ championship claim?
Were you among the dummies who, as Davante Adams put it, were “freaking out”?
“You’re a fool if you think that that’s what it’s going to look like every single week,” a confident Adams said before putting on a cape and a show in the Rams’ 28-6 victory over the New York Giants on Monday at SoFi Stadium.
The 33-year-old receiver was confident because, for one, the Rams are never again going to fly 16 hours, hop off a plane and play NFL football.
Also, the Rams are very good.
And anybody — or “everybody,” per Adams — who doubts these Rams, does so at their own peril.
Because this is a team with so many weapons they seem sometimes to almost forget about one of them — Adams.
Prime-time ’Tae, the six-time Pro Bowler, three-time All-Pro first-teamer and future Hall of Famer.
A 13th-year professional scorer who, on Monday, passed Art Monk (12,721) to enter the top 25 on the NFL’s all-time receiving yards list. Adams also passed Antonio Brown, Calvin Johnson, Brandon Marshall and Jimmy Smith (46) and tied Torry Holt and Michael Irvin (47) for the ninth-most games in NFL history with 100-plus receiving yards.
With star receiver Puka Nacua out nursing a hip injury, all eyes were on Adams — and hopefully you didn’t blink.
In Adams’ best game as a Ram, he caught eight passes for two touchdowns and 195 yards — 13 more than the Giants’ yardage total. And just 11 yards fewer than his career high.
Among his snags Monday was a leaping, two-handed grab off a sidearm sling from quarterback Matthew Stafford on the Rams’ second possession. Adams brought that down and sashayed in for a 31-yard touchdown that opened the scoring.
Then Stafford hit him in stride for a 64-yard monster gain on the Rams’ third drive, which set up Kyren Williams’ 10-yard touchdown reception.
Rams wide receiver Davante Adams, right, celebrates with wide receiver Xavier Smith after catching a touchdown pass in the first quarter Monday against the Giants.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Stafford and Adams also had one of their patented over-the-shoulder touchdown connections in the corner of the end zone, which made it 21-3 in the third quarter.
“We’ve done that quite a few times on that route in particular,” Adams said, with a grin. “They did double-team it, but just tried to hide it a little too much. And if you’re going to double, you better get over there — because we’re going.”
And if you’re someone who thought the Rams play things too cool, well, Monday was too cool: “Our O-line did a great job protecting, to allow Matthew and Davante to have a bunch of cool connections,” coach Sean McVay said. “Anytime you go eight for 195, it’s a pretty special deal.”
Adams made high-degree-of-difficulty catches look elementary, like foregone conclusions. He was clinical, smooth with his body control.
“It’s a blessing, man,” Adams said. “Games like this. … I think you guys know what I’m capable of. I certainly do.”
But maybe Monday’s performance was a reminder not just of the Rams’ super-upside, but for the Rams themselves: As obvious a target as Nacua is, Adams remains a special talent. They ought to feed him more.
“He’s Wide Receiver 1 to me,” McVay said. “He ain’t a 2 … and I’m really happy for him. I thought he made some great plays, but you could see there’s a lot of trust that he and Matthew have. They were able to get a lot of work together this offseason, and it’s only going to continue to build.”
That investment in time and trust might have all been for naught had the Rams traded Adams — who previously was released by the New York Jets in March 2025 — when the Philadelphia Eagles were shopping A.J. Brown in the offseason.
The Rams didn’t hide that fact from Adams, McVay said: “I did want to acknowledge it. He’s a grown man, and I think he understood that this is a part of this business.”
And Adams didn’t take umbrage, he said at the start of training camp: “It’s just the way that this business goes … ultimately I’m still a Ram and I’m here and I’m happy to be here.”
Here, in L.A., still pursuing the elusive, ultimate goal — a Super Bowl title.
Rams wide receiver Davante Adams celebrates after catching a touchdown pass against the Giants.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Last season, Adams lost in the NFC championship for the fifth time when the Rams were ousted 31-27 by the eventual Super Bowl-champion Seahawks.
And now, despite the debacle Down Under, the Rams remain the favorites to win the Super Bowl this year.
Monday’s victory — imperfect but convincing — reinforced those assumptions.
And proved Adams’ point.
“We’ve still got another level we can tap into,” he said. “This team, we got to the confidence level we’re at because of the work we put in. … We’re trying to be great and be a Super Bowl-caliber team, you gotta hold yourself to a high standard.
“This is definitely on track with what we’re capable of.”
Texas quarterback Arch Manning has apologized for his public reaction to a video that was altered by AI to show Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian slapping ESPN reporter Holly Rowe and knocking her to the ground.
Talking to reporters on Monday, Manning brought up the video, then laughed about it and called it “a good one” and “hilarious.”
The next day, the grandson of Archie Manning and nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning posted an apology on his Instagram Story.
“In my press conference yesterday, I made an insensitive comment about an AI video,” Manning wrote. “There is nothing funny about it. It’s easy to say I didn’t mean it, but I know my words and actions were hurtful to a lot of people. I do not take that lightly and am deeply sorry for that.
“I specifically want to apologize to Holly Rowe for what she has personally had to deal with because of my comments. I have a ton of respect for her and appreciate her showing me grace in this moment. I need to do better and will be more thoughtful going forward.”
Rowe posted Manning’s apology on X and indicated she’s not holding a grudge.
“Thank you Arch. I appreciate our conversation about this — which will remain private,” Rowe wrote. “Apology accepted. We move forward with respect and kindness for one another.”
On Saturday, Manning rallied the then-No. 4 Longhorns from a 20-point deficit in the fourth quarter to defeat top-ranked Ohio State 24-23. In the real video of Rowe attempting to interview Sarkisian, the coach yelled a few Texas cheers before rushing away from the veteran sideline reporter to join his team’s celebration.
NEW YORK — A last-ditch Trump administration effort to hunt for noncitizen voters ahead of November’s elections is requiring federal employees to misrepresent themselves on voter lookup tools in a way that likely violates state laws, according to a federal whistleblower’s statement released Monday.
The Department of Homeland Security probe known as the “Unlawful Voter Initiative” also asks employees to create federal law enforcement records about voters based on unreliable data, the account warns. That could potentially wrongly implicate U.S. citizens in official documentation that could spur further investigation.
The anonymous, nearly 30-page disclosure was published Monday by Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla of California, the ranking member of a Senate committee overseeing federal elections.
It features screenshots and transcripts of a DHS training for a group of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services staffers, who it says were forced in late August to drop their other work, complete a less than two-hour training session and begin running DHS-provided lists of individuals through state voter registration systems to find “unlawful voters.”
The whistleblower contends that agents have been asked to review 40 individuals per day, giving them about 12 minutes to determine whether each person is a legal voter and create federal records of anyone who is not.
Padilla and Schumer said Monday the initiative was an example of President Trump attempting to interfere in elections and the short timelines would impede officials from conducting proper investigations. They noted that the data DHS has on voters can be unreliable and differ from state records, making any federal findings based on that data potentially problematic.
“We just got more proof of Trump’s vile schemes to rig our elections,” Schumer told reporters in a news conference. “The lengths Trump will go to cheat, lie and steal in this upcoming election are simply beyond the pale.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Trump administration has been targeting noncitizen voting to allege it could be a source of significant fraud during the midterm elections, even as research shows voting by people who are not citizens is extremely rare. Trump has been pushing for the U.S. Postal Service to send mail ballots only to voters verified as U.S. citizens, and his Justice Department has sued to force the release of detailed voter data in 30 states and the District of Columbia, though it has not yet succeeded in those cases.
The whistleblower report details an effort by the federal government to work around a lack of data from the states by directing Citizenship and Immigration Services employees to pose as individual voters to access their state voter records.
Some states, such as Virginia, explicitly limit their voter lookup tools to individuals who attest under penalty of law that they are looking up their own records. In other states, like California, personally identifiable information such as a driver’s license number or partial Social Security number is needed to look up individual voter records.
The whistleblower said that when officers raised concerns about liability for searching the tools against state guidance, agency leaders told them to proceed with the searches anyway.
Schumer and Padilla on Sunday sent a letter to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin requesting more information about the initiative and demanding that it be stopped.
Asked about the whistleblower report, a DHS spokesperson said it is “laser focused on prosecuting and removing aliens who vote and preventing the dilution of the votes of U.S. citizens.”
“The department accessed publicly available data from states’ voter rolls and cross referenced them with known aliens in our systems,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “It’s not rocket science; it’s an easy step to secure our elections.”
In response to complaints about the timing, limited training and quotas for agents, the spokesperson said that “far from being rushed or untrained, these investigative efforts are conducted diligently and professionally.”
The New York Times first reported on the DHS initiative in early September.
The whistleblower account released Monday was produced by the watchdog group Democracy Defenders Fund. The group, which said it represents the whistleblower as a client, said the person is anonymous because of “an extreme fear of retaliation but they feel an obligation to speak up about the misconduct and gross mismanagement they have witnessed.”
CINCINNATI — The Dodgers celebrated clinching a postseason berth with a champagne toast. Simple. Restrained. Leaving room for larger celebrations to come.
“The message was, ‘We haven’t come close to playing our best baseball yet,’” manager Dave Roberts said after the Dodgers’ 4-1 win over the Reds on Monday. “And here we are with 12 games left, getting a ticket to the postseason. And that says a lot about this entire organization. And just to finish strong.”
It marked the Dodgers’ 14th straight playoff berth, tying a record set by the Atlanta Braves from 1991 to 2005.
“It’s different than anything I’ve experienced, for sure,” Tarik Skubal said of the understated celebration. “But I think it just speaks to the people in this room and what they expect out of this team. That was cool. A little toast and move on. Forget it happened. We’ve got more to accomplish.”
Most teams don ski goggles to celebrate with champagne and beer showers. The Dodgers will save the messier celebration for clinching the division. Their win over the Reds (70-80) trimmed that magic number to three.
It was fitting that Skubal, the Dodgers’ big trade-deadline acquisition, was on the mound for the clincher. He’s progressively improved in his eight starts with the Dodgers. And on Monday, he breezed through seven shutout innings, allowing just four baserunners (three singles and a walk).
“I think a lot of the struggles have been me versus me,” Skubal said. “Thinking too much out there, not competing the way I know how to compete. Just thinking too much about pitch selection at times and trying to be too fine and not challenging guys.”
He has grown more comfortable with the pitching coaches and his catchers, and it has brought out a better version of him. Skubal seems to be peaking at the right time — just as Roberts hoped for the team as a whole.
Even after clinching the division likely this week, the Dodgers (91-59) will be playing for seeding, aiming for at least a first-round bye.
“It’s always helpful in the sense of giving your guys a break to reset,” Roberts said. “But given all the tax and where our guys are health-wise, to get that week would be huge. So we’ve still got to play well to finish out the season to get to that point.”
The position-player group has been hit the hardest down the stretch.
Designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (right biceps and left knee), center fielder Andy Pages (left hand fracture) and backup catcher Dalton Rushing (sprained right elbow) are on the IL. First baseman Freddie Freeman was out of the lineup Monday managing right knee soreness, and second baseman Miguel Rojas was playing through shoulder soreness after aggravating a longstanding partial tear in a labrum.
“You’ve got to give credit to the front office,” said Teoscar Hernández, who hit a two-run homer Monday. “They put together a really good team, [a] deep team that has a little bit of too much of everything. A lot of pitchers, a lot of position players here, players that can play all over the field. We’re one of the oldest teams. We know [injuries] are going to happen throughout the season. So, we’ve just gotta be ready, and the team has to be ready, and everybody else.”
Here are more specific injury updates provided by Roberts:
— Ohtani is set to hit off a tee Tuesday. Up until this point, he’s been working out, lifting and undergoing treatment.
— Pages hit softer balls Monday and will advance to hitting baseballs in the cage Tuesday. “He’s trending really well,” Roberts said.
— Freeman is expected to return to the lineup Tuesday, but Roberts will continue to keep a close eye on him. “Where we’re at in the season, an IL is not an option in the sense of — I personally don’t think we have a better option,” Roberts said. “So I don’t think it needs to be 10 days. But could it be more than one? That’s a fair question. And I’ve got to talk to the training staff, Freddie, and ultimately make that decision. But I don’t think IL would make sense at all.”
— Rojas did not receive a cortisone injection as he had initially predicted when he hurt his shoulder Sunday. But he said it’s still a possibility as he manages pain in his shoulder. The Reds have left-handed starters scheduled for two of the four games, making Rojas’ right-handed bat valuable.
“Right now it’s front of mind, it’s not great,” Roberts said of the Dodgers’ injury situation. “But I will say this: Once you get to October, athletes have a magical way of feeling better. It happens every single year, where there’s that extra adrenaline that athletes get when you get to the postseason.”
Sean McVay and the Rams thought the situation was under control, or at least manageable.
Star edge rusher Myles Garrett first experienced knee discomfort and swelling during training camp, a condition that caused him to sit out the majority of team workouts throughout the weeks leading up to the season opener.
But Garrett failed to record a tackle, and was clearly not himself, in an embarrassing defeat by the San Francisco 49ers on Friday in Australia.
On Monday, Garrett was scheduled to have surgery, and he will sit out at least the next four games on injured reserve.
“Our job is to put our players and our team in positions to have successful outcomes,” McVay said Monday during a videoconference with reporters. “Thought we would take an approach where he’d be feeling good enough to go, contribute positive change and be the player that he’s capable of.
“But that wasn’t the case, and so the next right thing for us is to be able to get this thing fixed.”
Garrett, 30, will miss next Monday’s home game against the New York Giants, road games at Denver and Philadelphia and home game against the Buffalo Bills before he is eligible to return.
McVay did not have a timeline for his return.
“It’s all contingent on how do things go [Monday],” McVay said. “But I think it would be unfair to him, without having the totality of all the information, to put any sort of timeline on it.”
Garrett, a two-time NFL defensive player of the year, played only 40 of 65 snaps against the 49ers. McVay said the decision to pursue surgery was made after consulting with Garrett immediately after the game.
“We thought we were doing the right thing,” McVay said of the Rams’ attempt to manage the situation. “In hindsight, you’ll always be able to learn from it. I’ll never hang onto whether you want to say it was a mistake or just different things to be able to kind of change course.”
With Garrett out, the Rams could use a spark for a defense that gave up three touchdown passes and 174 rushing yards against the 49ers.
Will lineman Aaron Donald, who has returned from a two-year retirement, make his season debut against the Giants?
Aaron Donald practices for the Rams in August.
(Greg Beacham / Associated Press)
“We haven’t decided that yet,” McVay said. “He’s going to continue to work his process and we’ll see what that looks like.”
McVay said Donald’s situation is “totally separate” and “totally independent” of Garrett’s.
“It’s more about Aaron and how he can contribute to the collective,” McVay said. “What does that feel like with how he’s feeling to be able to resume 11-on-11 and being able to play and do the things that he’s capable of.”
In the meantime, the Rams will look to fill the void of Garrett’s absence with Josaiah Stewart, Desjuan Johnson and rookie Wesley Bailey.
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The Rams lose to the San Francisco 49ers 27-7 in the 2026 season opener at Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia on Friday.
Stewart, a second-year pro from Michigan, made six tackles and had one of the Rams’ two hits on 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy.
“He’ll be asked to step up,” McVay said, “as will everybody in that group.”
McVay speaks often about how adversity during a season is bound to come.
But for the Super Bowl-favorite Rams, it came early.
“I don’t have a crystal ball,” McVay said of anticipating when adversity will come. “I just know this: that these are the opportunities to really separate yourself with how you handle ‘em.”
The 49ers, the Seattle Seahawks and the Arizona Cardinals all won their openers, putting the Rams in last place in the NFC West.
It’s still early, of course, but the road to a spot in Super Bowl LXI at SoFi Stadium suddenly appears more challenging.
“That is over with,” McVay said of the loss to the 49ers. “That’s in our rearview mirror. We’re all eyes moving forward.”
Etc.
Linebacker Omar Speights suffered a hip pointer against the 49ers, McVay said. “We’ll kind of manage him throughout the week, but he’s feeling better than we anticipated,” McVay said. Linebacker Nate Landman sustained shoulder and thumb injuries, but McVay said he is expected to play against the Giants.
A man was arrested this week near Kris Jenner’s home in Calabasas on suspicion of stalking. It wasn’t the reality TV star’s first brush with the alleged stalker.
Officers with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department on Monday arrested the man, identified as 25-year-old Zenwilliam Robson, after he was detained by Jenner’s security in her neighborhood, The Times confirmed.
It was not clear whether Jenner was at home at the time of Robson’s arrest.
Robson was booked Monday evening and charged with one misdemeanor count of trespassing and refusing to leave private property, according to court records.
He is currently jailed at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in downtown Los Angeles and is set to appear in court on Sept. 22. A representative for Robson could not immediately be reached for comment.
A representative for the “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” star declined to comment. But according to a source familiar with the case who was not authorized to speak publicly, Jenner’s team is aware of Robson and that he tried to contact the 70-year-old reality TV personality and businesswoman in the past.
When it comes to Shohei Ohtani‘s injury management, it’s tempting to dwell on the what-ifs.
What if the Dodgers forced him to give up pitching duties in July, when he needed a lubricant injection to alleviate irritation in his left knee?
It was clear by then that Ohtani was playing through multiple injuries. A right biceps problem popped up for the second time on July 3 — the last time he pitched in a game. The Dodgers said his knee inflammation was only aggravated by pitching and the biceps tightness was tied to hitting. And yet, they were confident that the MLB All-Star break would give Ohtani enough time to bounce back.
If the Dodgers had been more proactive, instead of starting and stopping Ohtani’s throwing program until his injuries forced a shutdown, would he be in the lineup Friday against the Miami Marlins instead of the 15-day injured list?
Maybe.
Or maybe one or both injuries were far enough along by then that they would have affected him down the stretch regardless. Maybe seeing if he could return to the mound was worth the risk.
Maybe not.
“Anyone can do that, and say, ‘What could you have done better or different?’” manager Dave Roberts said earlier this week when asked if he had any regrets about Ohtani’s injury management. “That’s something going forward we’re going to look at, absolutely. But, it’s certainly not a blame-game thing. It’s learning from what happened and getting better.”
Parsing through the alternative outcomes from decisions made months ago could take time. But the fallout from this past week is clearer.
What if instead of resting Ohtani four days, and bringing him back Monday, the Dodgers had put him on the IL right away?
“I think if we look right now, here today, I would love to go back and put him on the IL,” Roberts said. “But at that moment in time, we all felt that giving him four days was sufficient. He was agreeable. Getting him out there on Monday with the hope that he would be able to play [again Wednesday]. But where we’re at right now, sure.”
Two weeks without Ohtani is hard to swallow. As a two-way player, he’s eligible for the 15-day IL instead of the 10-day for position players.
The Dodgers tried to avoid it. But when he returned to the lineup Monday, he “didn’t feel great” on a swing, Roberts revealed.
So now the Dodgers can only backdate Ohtani’s IL stint to Tuesday, rather than Sept. 3. At minimum, Ohtani will be out until the final five games of the regular season.
“The most important thing is him being as healthy as possible, not compromising his swing, and kind of bet on that,” Roberts said.
He acknowledged that Ohtani wouldn’t be back to “100%” even with the two weeks off.
But plenty of players push through injuries in the playoffs. October becomes a test of pain tolerance before addressing ailments in the offseason.
“I want to make sure that when I look back [on] this season,” Ohtani said Monday through interpreter Will Ireton, “that I used this as an experience, a learning experience and make sure that I use that as something to improve upon for next season.”
So, does that mean Ohtani feels like he could be more up-front with the team about his physical well-being, regardless of whether he thinks he can play through aches and pains?
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani celebrates with teammates after a win over the Reds at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
“It’s hard to say now with the season still going on,” Ohtani said. “It’s something that I’m going to reflect back on during the offseason. I’m just making sure that I’m focusing on the now and finishing strong.”
The Dodgers, for the first time navigating what was expected to be a full season of two-way play from Ohtani, leaned on his expertise while managing his workload. In retrospect, they might have put too much stock in his self-evaluations.
Baseball has a long tradition of players downplaying injuries, out of a desire to play and a belief in their own perseverance.
“What can I learn?” Roberts said this week. “I think that sometimes, potentially trying to get ahead of managing his workload — it always feels good to run him out there offensively as a DH. Always feels good when you pencil him in as a starter — for me, it’s just really trying to be mindful of the long season.
“And I guess it’s under the thing of, ‘you don’t know until you know,’ and it’s important to learn from experiences. And I think it’s good for all of us to kind of appreciate that he’s not supernatural, as much as we think he might be at times.”
Roberts said he didn’t learn until Tuesday night, after giving Ohtani a day off for the fifth time in six games, that a swing on Monday had bothered him.
So, Ohtani didn’t return to the lineup Wednesday as planned. And the team arranged for No. 1 prospect Josue De Paula to meet the team in Miami, called up straight from double-A for his MLB debut on Friday.
“It was more just really huddling up and saying, ‘Hey, how are you going to feel on Friday? How are you going to feel on Saturday, talking to the doctors and training staff?’” Roberts said. “There was not much certainty that he’d be in a much better place. With that, just taking it off the table seemed like the best course of action.”
De Paula wasn’t otherwise guaranteed to debut this season, although the Dodgers would have needed to eventually put him on the 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft.
The Dodgers see him as a major-league ready hitter, but he still has work to do on the defensive side for the team to feel comfortable playing him in the outfield regularly. An early taste of the big leagues, even with his playing time expected to come mostly in the DH spot, could be beneficial for the 21-year-old’s development.
For Ohtani, the ramp from the IL to postseason play will be short. But his recent offensive struggles emphasized the importance of having a healthier version of him in the lineup come October.
If anyone can make it work, it’s Ohtani. He may not be supernatural, but he also isn’t just any player. And if he performs in the postseason, that will drown out any lingering what-ifs.
Times staff writer Kevin Baxter contributed to this report.
Defensive lineman Aaron Donald will not travel with the Rams to Melbourne to play in their season opener against the San Francisco 49ers, coach Sean McVay said Tuesday.
Donald, who rejoined the Rams last month after a two-year retirement, wouldn’t confirm if he was planning to play in the season opener when asked multiple times by reporters on Monday, only saying he was “feeling really good. Feeling great.”
The development isn’t surprising considering McVay and his assistants weren’t pushing Donald to play. Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula said Monday that the team was taking a “day-to-day” approach regarding Donald’s status.
“I think he’ll be ready to go sooner rather than later, but we’re making a decision that we think is best for him and for our team,” McVay said. “He’s attacked this the right way, but it would have been a really quick turnaround.”
One person who might be surprised about Donald not playing is 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan. He told reporters Sunday he “definitely” expected Donald to play.
Rams players and staff are scheduled to leave Los Angeles for Melbourne on Tuesday night, arriving in Australia on Thursday morning. The game will take place on Friday at 10:35 a.m. local time (5:35 p.m. PDT Thursday), with the Rams planning to fly back to L.A. soon afterward.
Barring any setback, Donald should play Sept. 21 when the Rams face the New York Giants at SoFi Stadium.
One player who is expected to take the field at Melbourne Cricket Ground is Myles Garrett. McVay said the star defensive end will be “ready to go” after a left knee problem kept him out of practice for multiple weeks before he returned Sunday.
“We’ve been smart with Myles … but his impact has been tremendous, his overall vibe, what kind of teammate he’s been,” McVay said. “And so looking forward to getting him out there with the guys and being a great factor for us.”
Garrett did not practice Tuesday, but said he feels “ready” to play.
In addition to Garrett, cornerback Jaylen Watson also appeared on the Rams’ first injury report of the season after not practicing because of a toe injury.
As Shohei Ohtani strode up to the plate Monday, Michael Bublé’s voice crooned over the Dodger Stadium speakers as always. But after four games out of the lineup, the song seemed to be asking fans to believe:
“I’m feeling … good.”
Ohtani at least looked more comfortable in the batter’s box than he did Wednesday, when pain in his biceps had him shaking his right arm. But his performance at the plate still remains in a slump — he went 0 for 3 with a walk in the Dodgers’ 6-3 win over the Cincinnati Reds.
“It’s hard to really feel 100% at any time in the season,” Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton. “So I wouldn’t say I’m there.”
Roberts will continue to closely monitor Ohtani, saying he’ll see how the superstar designated hitter feels Tuesday before finalizing any decisions about playing time.
The Dodgers and Ohtani have all but ruled out his return to the mound this season.
“Disappointing,” Ohtani said. “But I want to make sure that when I look back at this season, that I used this as an experience, a learning experience and make sure that I use that as something to improve upon for next season.”
Roberts said he hoped Ohtani could improve his offensive production by not pitching.
“That’s one part of the thought, to sort of take the pitching off of his plate and really try to let him lock in on being a hitter and get on track,” Roberts said. “Because the last couple of weeks he just hasn’t been himself in the box.”
In the six games before Roberts sat Ohtani because of health concerns, he only had two hits.
“I’m confident that my overall performance should be better moving forward,” Ohtani said. “I think the thing that I was more focused on was making sure that the pitching wouldn’t cause the worst scenario, which was for me to not be able to play at all.”
Teoscar Hernández is showered with sunflower seeds after hitting a three-run home run in the sixth inning Monday against the Reds.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
Ohtani flew out in his first at-bat, and then struck out on a Chase Burns slider below the zone. He struck out again against Brandon Williamson to end the fifth before reaching base in the seventh on a walk.
“It was certainly good to get him back out there, but there was certainly nothing to kind of write home about,” Roberts said. “I think the main thing is that there was nothing alarming from the at-bats. To take four days off, to come out of it feeling good, I think that’s a win in itself.”
The Dodgers (87-57) caught a break with Burns — considered a top-five National League Cy Young candidate — since the Reds (69-75) had him on a pitch limit in an effort to manage his workload.
Burns held the Dodgers hitless through three innings, striking out Ohtani as his last act before handing duties to the bullpen.
Dodgers starter Emmet Sheehan, recalled on Monday as the Dodgers optioned right-hander Bobby Miller, gave up a home run to Elly De La Cruz in the first before outdueling the Reds’ bullpen. He gave up three hits, one run and struck out 10 over 5⅔ innings.
Sheehan will remain in the rotation and is scheduled to start Sunday in Miami, Roberts said.
Against Williamson in the fifth inning, Teoscar Hernández lined a leadoff single into left field. After Alex Call was hit in the right foot with a pitch, Miguel Rojas chopped a grounder to Reds third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes, whose errant throw allowed two runs to score as Rojas dashed to third.
The next inning, Hernández punctuated his recent hot streak by lining a three-run homer into the Dodgers’ bullpen — with the highest exit velocity (112.6 mph) of any ball he’s put in play since 2024, according to Statcast.
Dodgers pitcher Emmet Sheehan delivers during the third inning against the Reds on Monday.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
Though Dodgers relievers Seth Halvorsen and Jack Dreyer each gave up a run, the Dodgers tacked on insurance in the eighth inning with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly from pinch-hitting Will Smith. And the team extended its winning streak to five games.
Ohtani didn’t play a part in any of the Dodgers’ scoring, but at least he was back in the batter’s box.
