FOOTBALL
McVay: WR likely done
Los Angeles Rams receiver Cooper Kupp is likely to miss the rest of the season with his sprained right ankle, Coach Sean McVay said. McVay announced Tuesday that he doesn't expect Kupp to play again this season, although he left open the slightest possibility the 2021 AP Offensive Player of the Year could return. Kupp has missed the past four games for the Rams (4-9), who have four games remaining. "You won't see Cooper this year," McVay said. Kupp was injured Nov. 13 against Arizona when he went down awkwardly while trying to catch a poorly thrown ball from backup quarterback John Wolford. He has missed the Rams' past four games, but the Super Bowl MVP had expressed optimism shortly after his injury about a possible late-season return. Instead, McVay said the Rams expect Kupp to sit out the final four games of the season.
Falcons release Williams
The Atlanta Falcons on Tuesday released running back Damien Williams, the veteran who never returned after a rib injury in his first game with the team. The release of Williams came one day after Coach Arthur Smith announced rookie quarterback Desmond Ridder will start in Sunday's game at New Orleans. Marcus Mariota has been benched, leaving his status for the remainder of the season uncertain. Smith said the switch to Ridder was performance based, but added Mariota is having a chronic knee problem checked out and was expected to be placed on injured reserve. Logan Woodside, who was signed off Tennessee's practice squad, will serve as Ridder's backup against the Saints. Williams was projected to be the top backup to Cordarrelle Patterson, but instead was placed on injured reserve on Sept. 17 with the rib injury suffered in Atlanta's 27-26 season-opening loss to New Orleans. He had only two carries for 2 yards in his only game with Atlanta, never coming off IR. Rookie Tyler Allgeier, Patterson and Caleb Huntley have led Atlanta's balanced running game.
Browns lose another LB
Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah became the fourth Cleveland Browns starting linebacker to sustain a season-ending injury when he hurt his left foot late in Sunday's 23-10 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. Owusu-Koramoah was placed on injured reserve on Tuesday, joining fellow linebackers Anthony Walker Jr. (quadriceps), Jacob Phillips (pectoral) and Sione Takitaki (knee), whose seasons also ended prematurely. A second-round draft pick in 2021 out of Notre Dame, Owusu-Koramoah recorded 70 tackles and forced two fumbles in 11 games this season. He recently missed two games with a knee injury but had been playing well. Owsusu-Koramoah made six tackles against the Bengals before getting hurt. He was carted to the locker room after the game and had an MRI on Monday.
SOCCER
Neymar, family acquitted
A Spanish court on Tuesday acquitted soccer star Neymar and his fellow defendants in a fraud and corruption trial related to the Brazilian's 2013 transfer from Santos to Barcelona. Brazilian company DIS had accused Neymar, his father, and the former presidents of Santos and Barcelona of having intentionally hidden the cost of his transfer to avoid paying DIS what it was due as the partial holder of his player rights. However, the court said in a statement that "it has not been proven that there was a false contract or that DIS was intended to be harmed." The verdict is not a surprise following the decision by Spanish state prosecutors to drop all charges during the trial. That left only the lawyers of DIS to continue arguing their case. DIS had initially sought a five-year prison sentence for the 30-year-old Neymar halved that request following the withdrawal of the state prosecutors. The legal victory for Neymar comes days after he and his Brazil team were eliminated from the World Cup by Croatia on penalties in the quarterfinals. The other defendants declared innocent were Neymar's father, who goes by the same name, his mother, former Santos president Odilio Rodrigues and former Barcelona executives Sandro Rosell and Josep Bartomeu.
BASEBALL
A's reach deals on pair
Aledmys Diaz and Jace Peterson, who both can play the infield and outfield, reached agreements with the Oakland Athletics on two-year contracts through the 2024 season. The A's announced the deals Tuesday, one day after trading away catcher Sean Murphy to the Braves in a three-team swap. Oakland acquired catcher Manny Pina and pitching prospects Kyle Muller, Freddy Tarnok and Royber Salinas from Atlanta and outfield prospect Esteury Ruiz from Milwaukee. Also Tuesday, the A's designated infielders Ernie Clement and Yonny Hernandez for assignment. Diaz started games at six different positions for Houston this year -- 22 in left field, 18 at second base, 16 at shortstop, 8 at third base, 7 at designated hitter and 5 at first base. He batted .243 with 12 home runs and 38 RBI and a .691 OPS in 92 games for the World Series champion Astros. The left-handed-hitting Peterson hit .236 with a career-best 8 homers and 34 RBI played in 113 games for the Brewers in 2022 and like Diaz is versatile: He started 67 games at third, nine in right field, three at first and two in left, three games at second and even pitched once.
Stripling, Giants reach deal
Free agent right-hander Ross Stripling reached agreement on a $25 million, two-year contract with the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday. He expects to be a starter in a rotation featuring Logan Webb, newcomer Sean Manaea, Alex Cobb and Alex Wood. Stripling's contract includes a $5 million signing bonus and allows him to opt out after next season, when he will earn $7.5 million. He has a $12.5 million salary for 2024. Stripling had Giants Manager Gabe Kapler as his minor league coordinator with the Dodgers, San Francisco outfielder Joc Pederson as a roommate in the Los Angeles farm system and Giants executive Farhan Zaidi as general manager. The 32-year-old pitcher had career highs of 10 wins, a 3.01 ERA, 24 starts and 134 1/3 innings with the Blue Jays last season. He went 9-4 with a 2.92 ERA as a starter and also 1-0 with a 4.09 ERA in eight relief outings.
TRACK AND FIELD
U.S. sprinter banned
United States sprinter Randolph Ross has been banned for three years for whereabouts failures and faking an email to anti-doping authorities. The Athletics Integrity Unit announced Tuesday that the back-to-back NCAA champion from North Carolina A&T will be suspended until June 30, 2025, meaning he'll be ineligible for the Paris Olympics in 2024. Ross had been provisionally suspended on the eve of his 400-meter preliminary race at the world track and field championships in Eugene, Ore., on July 16, about a month after officials could not locate him to take a doping test -- his third whereabouts failure in a 12-month period. Ross had provided a copy of an automatic email "allegedly confirming an update made to his whereabouts information for the relevant period," the AIU said. The sprinter "immediately admitted" that he had altered the email when he was questioned by the AIU representatives, the unit said. Ross won his second straight title in the 400 meters at NCAA championships in June. Ross won an Olympic gold medal as part of the 1,600-meter squad at the Tokyo Games in 2021, though he didn't compete in the final. In the 400, he was eliminated in the heats in Tokyo.
Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp runs after a catch during the first half of an NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)