Wednesday’s Sports In Brief
NFL
HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — The Raiders will start Jarrett Stidham the final two games at quarterback in place of Derek Carr, Las Vegas coach Josh McDaniels said.
McDaniels cited the struggles of the offense over the past month as the reason for the switch.
“I couldn’t be more complimentary of (Carr) or the way he handled it,” McDaniels said of how the quarterback took the news.
Carr will be inactive the final two games and that Chase Garbers will be the backup QB.
McDaniels also said defensive lineman Chandler Jones (elbow) and linebacker Denzel Perryman (shoulder) were placed on season-ending injured reserve.
The Raiders host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers already has played through a broken thumb and injured ribs this season.
Now he’s dealing with a knee issue as he attempts to keep the Packers in playoff contention.
Rodgers didn’t practice because of the knee problem but says he has no worries about his availability for Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings (12-3).
Rodgers said he expects to practice later this week and considered Wednesday more of a veteran rest day.
The four-time MVP appeared to hurt his left knee while getting sacked by Eric Rowe late in the second quarter of the Packers’ 26-20 Christmas Day victory at Miami.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire has a new six-year contract with a raise after leading the Red Raiders to their first winning Big 12 record since 2009 in his debut.
The $26.6 million, six-year deal has annual $100,000 increases that peak at $4.6 million in the final season in 2028. That doesn’t include performance bonuses.
The contract was revealed the day Texas Tech played Mississippi in the Texas Bowl. It’s worth roughly $1 million more than the deal McGuire signed a year ago.
The Red Raiders went 7-5 in the regular season and 5-4 in the Big 12, their first winning mark since going 5-3 in 2009, their final season under the late Mike Leach. McGuire, a first-time college head coach, is the fourth Texas Tech coach since Leach.
NBA
WASHINGTON (AP) — Phoenix Suns All-Star guard Devin Booker will miss at least four weeks with a left groin strain.
The team confirmed Booker’s injury and said he’ll be re-evaluated after the four weeks.
The 26-year-old Booker has missed six of the last nine games because of hamstring and groin ailments. He tried to return for the team’s Christmas Day matchup against the Denver Nuggets, but played just four minutes before having to leave the game.
He returned to Phoenix for further evaluation while the team continued its six-game trip.
SOCCER
PARIS (AP) — Neymar was sent off in Paris Saint-Germain’s 2-1 win against Strasbourg after the Brazil forward’s second-half dive in the penalty area in his first match since the World Cup.
Neymar picked up his first yellow card in the 61st minute for catching Strasbourg midfielder Adrien Thomasson in the face with his hand and then a second caution one minute later for diving.
The forward remonstrated face to face with referee Clement Turpin but to no avail.
It was Neymar’s fifth red card since joining PSG for a world record fee of 222 million euros ($236 million) in 2017, and he will be suspended for Sunday’s game at second-place Lens.
No other player has been sent off more often in the French league since the 2017-2018 season.
HOCKEY
MONCTON, New Brunswick (AP) — Dalibor Dvorsky, Robert Baco and Filip Mesar scored in a 3:19 span in the second period and Slovakia beat the United States 6-3 in the world junior championship.
Libor Nemec, Peter Repcik and Alex Ciernik also scored for Slovakia and captain Simon Nemec — the No. 2 overall NHL pick by New Jersey this year, had three assists in the Group B game.
In Group A in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada bounced back from an opening loss to rout Germany 11-2 in the night game.
Adam Gajan made 33 saves to help Slovakia rebound from an opening 5-2 loss to Finland on Tuesday.