training

Rams star receiver Puka Nacua remains sidelined because of groin soreness and his status for Sunday’s game against the Denver Broncos is unclear, coach Sean McVay said Wednesday.

Nacua was not scheduled to participate in a light team jog-through. Asked if he expected Nacua to play against the Broncos, McVay said, “I’m not sure.”

Will Nacua practice this week?

“I would say it’s more likely than not, but we’ll see,” McVay said.

Nacua, the NFL’s receptions leader in 2025, sat out the Rams’ victory over the New York Giants on Monday night.

Are the Rams concerned that Nacua’s injury could be a longer-term issue?

“I don’t think so,” McVay said, adding. “When you’re a skill player and you’re really trying to hit high-speed yards and really open up… it’s like some of the things that can almost be pre-hernia is kind of what he’s feeling.

“You err on the side of caution. Usually time is the best thing that allows that thing to heal.”

McVay said Nacua does not have a hernia, and that the team’s training and medical staff did not feel the issue was “any type of long term threat.”

“I just know that he’s frustrated,” McVay said, “and we all want him to be able to be out there. But we want him to be able to return to performance, not just be able to just kind of gut through it.”

Quarterback Matthew Stafford said Nacua is an “unbelievable” player and loves having him on the field. But he trusts in all Rams receivers.

“Certain things that he does at a high level that maybe move down the list a little bit on things that we might run,” Stafford said. “But once the play’s called and things that we do, I trust all those guys to go out there and execute at a high level.”

Etc.

Running back Ronnie Rivers, who is also a key special teams player, was placed on injured reserve because of a “freak” calf injury suffered when he jumped to loosen up during the game against the Giants, McVay said. Running backs Dean Connors or Jordan Waters could be promoted to the roster for the game against the Broncos. The Rams signed safety Maximus Pulley to the roster.

Premier League winger Sorba Thomas has been involved in a car crash close to Hull City’s training ground, the club has confirmed.

The 27-year-old walked away from the crash, which happened on Millhouse Woods Lane in Cottingham on Friday morning. His vehicle, a grey Land Rover Defender, was pictured on its roof, with broken windows.

Humberside Police said emergency services remain at the scene, as investigations take place and asked people to avoid the area.

In a statement, the club said it was “relieved” to hear its player, who joined the Tigers from Championship side Stoke earlier this month, was unharmed.

The club added: “The club is aware of images of Sorba’s car circulating on social media and can reassure supporters that he has sustained no injuries and emerged from his vehicle completely unscathed.”

Retail employees in Los Angeles working irregular schedules, called in for shifts with just a few hours’ notice, got some relief years ago in the form of a city law requiring large retailers to give them notice of their schedules at least two weeks in advance.

Now, that 2024 law could be expanded to encompass the city’s fast-food industry, whose precarious workforce — largely women from immigrant communities — has long raised concerns over unstable schedules that they say make it difficult to plan their finances, child care, medical appointments and other obligations.

The L.A. City Council’s economic development and jobs committee late last month approved the ordinance, which also would establish a mandatory six-hour paid training to educate workers on minimum wage laws and other labor protections. It goes to the full council for a vote on Tuesday.

The proposal is backed by a statewide union of fast-food workers — established in 2024 — that is affiliated with the Service Employees International Union, which for years has helped organize fast-food employee walkouts over wage theft, safety and pay.

The California Fast Food Workers Union‘s organizing director, Maria Maldonado, said workers often are unaware of their rights regarding heat exposure and other risky conditions common in kitchens. The training, she said, would show them they have recourse and city support for reporting employers when conditions are unsafe.

“If you know there is support to enforce the law, we are going to see a difference in the industry,” Maldonado said.

City Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez first introduced the ordinance in 2024.

Although worker-friendly proposals usually are ultimately backed by the L.A. City Council, the process often is lengthy, with business interests lobbying against such measures.

The California Restaurant Assn. wrote in a letter to the council that the ordinance would greatly increase costs in a state that already is expensive to operate in and that it unfairly singles out an industry that has long served as a successful pathway to business ownership for minority entrepreneurs.

In the letter, business groups took issue with third parties administering worker training, arguing that labor groups could use them to prime the workforce for union campaigns.

The ordinance would “not only duplicate existing law but also force neighborhood restaurants to pay thousands of dollars so groups with ulterior motives can hold team members as a captive audience,” the letter said.

The group also argued that training would create third-party access to workers’ data even as many immigrant workers are fearful of heightened immigration enforcement, noting that the training might “require employers to disclose sensitive information to outside entities, creating serious privacy risks.”

A report commissioned by McDonald’s, compiled by the firm Beacon Economics and Pepperdine University, surveyed some 1,200 workers in L.A. County and found that a majority, about 70.6%, opposed the proposed paid training, while 29.4% said they would want such training, the survey said.

California’s fast-food industry employs more than 750,000 people and is a growing sector, according to state data. The state fast-food union has argued that local and state protections are crucial.