Los Angeles Times - 02.10.2019

D6 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2019 LATIMES.COM/SPORTS

It was only his ninth catch

in 52 games, so Derek Watt

wasn’t going to go down eas-

ily.

Instead, the Chargers full-

back dropped his shoulders

and plowed into Miami cor-

nerbackEric Rowe.

“Anytime you get the ball

in your hands, you have to try

to make a play,” Watt said.

“He was standing in my way,

so I tried to make a play.”

The result Sunday was a

21-yard gain, the third-long-

est career reception for Watt,

on a drive that ended with a

touchdown en route to the

Chargers’ 30-10 victory.

As a bonus, Rowe was pe-

nalized for lowering his head

to initiate contact, even

though he was the one who

clearly absorbed the worst of

the collision.

“I didn’t necessarily know

what they called at the time,”

Watt said. “Watching it on

film, there was not much he

could do, really. It wasn’t a

dirty play by any means. It’s

football. It’s tough. Techni-

cally, by rule, it’s a penalty.”

Watt is the classic throw-

back at his position and

proud of it. He even owns a

baseball cap that reads

“Make Fullbacks Great

Again.”

As such, he’s typically em-

ployed as a blocker, which

makes any yardage he can

produce an unexpected sur-

prise.

Before the game against

the Dolphins was over, he

contributed in another way

that no one foresaw — as a

tight end.

After Sean Culkin suf-

fered a season-ending torn

Achilles tendon, Watt lined

up for a few plays in the va-

cated spot, starting from a

two-point stance just off the

line of scrimmage.

“It looks very similar to

what I do at fullback, so it’s

not a big change,” Watt said.

“There’s a lot of carryover.

They called plays where I

could go in there and do what

had to be done without think-

ing too much about it.”

The Chargers have been

stressing position versatility,

particularly since the start of

their most recent offseason

program. Having more play-

ers who can line up at more

positions is one way to com-

bat injuries.

The team has suffered sig-

nificant injuries and finished

the game Sunday with only

one healthy tight end. That

was Lance Kendricks, who

wasn’t even a Charger until

two weeks ago.

“Derek has done a nice job

of playing fullback and tight

end,” coach Anthony Lynn

said. “I tell him all the time,

‘You’re going to be our Dallas

Clark.’ He can block on the

line of scrimmage. He’s a

good receiver out of the back-

field.”

In recent weeks, Watt has

been playing some tight end

in practice, including work-

ing on the scout team. The

idea was to prepare him for

situations exactly like the one

in Miami.

“The coaches have said

they trust me to do it,” Watt

said. “I’ve tried to continue to

earn that trust. First and

foremost, I have to do my

[fullback] job. From there, if I

can expand my role, I’m defi-

nitely going to try to do it.”

The Chargers lost start-

ing tight end Hunter Henry

to a knee injury after the sea-

son opener. Virgil Green

moved into the lineup but sat

out the Miami game because

of a groin injury.

Culkin and Kendricks

were splitting time Sunday

until Culkin was injured after

making a 12-yard reception

early in the fourth quarter.

The Chargers placed him on

injured reserve Tuesday and

promoted Stephen Ander-

sonfrom the practice squad.

The 6-foot-3 Anderson

has appeared in 28 NFL

games, making five starts for

Houston in 2017. He has 36 re-

ceptions for 435 yards and

two touchdowns.

“It’s crazy,” Watt said of

the pieces the Chargers are

without. “It’s obviously a

physical game. But we’ve had

some weird injuries and some

really unfortunate ones.”

The Chargers brought

back Antonio Gatesjust be-

fore the start of last season

because of an injury to Henry.

Even though Gates had pub-

licly talked about wanting to

continue playing, the team

decided during the offseason

to move on in 2019 from the 39-

year-old franchise icon.

Davis is emerging

The mounting injuries

have given some Chargers re-

serves opportunities, and re-

ceiver Geremy Daviscapi-

talized Sunday by catching

two passes, doubling his ca-

reer total.

Davis has emerged over

the last two seasons as a de-

pendable special-teams play-

er but has had few chances on

offense. His most recent re-

ception had come Oct. 11, 2 015,

with the New York Giants.

“Geremy is another guy

who works hard on this foot-

ball team,” Lynn said. “These

guys are out there every day.

Geremy, I gotta kick him out

of the building sometimes.”

Sharing the load

The Chargers worked in

linebackers Drue Tranquill

andJatavis Brownon de-

fense against Miami.

Tranquill, a fourth-round

draft pick in April, had played

only on special teams. Brown,

in his fourth year, had the

start of his season delayed

because of an ankle injury.

Veteran Thomas Davis,

who is tied for seventh in the

NFL in tackles, sat out 11

snaps Sunday. He played ev-

ery defensive snap through

the first three games.

“We want him for the long

haul,” Lynn said. “You’re talk-

ing about a 36-year-old line-

backer. He’s a good one. We

want him for all 16 games.

Whenever we can share his

load with someone else, we’ll

do it.”

Etc.

The Chargers made a

number of practice squad

moves, adding defensive

back Quenton Meeks, tight

end Matt Sokoland defen-

sive end Jeff Holland, and re-

leasing offensive lineman

Chris Brown and safety

Adarius Pickett. ... The

Chargers are looking to add a

kicker, with rookie free agent

Chase McLaughlinthe likely

choice.

DEREK WATTof the Chargers is picking up extra work as a tight end. “It looks

very similar to what I do at fullback, so it’s not a big change,” he says.

Lynne SladkyAssociated Press

CHARGERS REPORT

Fullback Watt is liking

budding role at tight end

By Jeff Miller

Jonquel Jones scored 32
points and grabbed 18 re-
bounds, and the Connecti-
cut Sun took advantage of
Elena Delle Donne’searly
exit to beat the Washington
Mystics 99-87 in Game 2 of
the WNBA Finals on Tues-
day and even the series.
Alyssa Thomas added 21
points and 12 rebounds, and
Courtney Williamshad 22
points for the Sun, who
dominated the paint after
the 6-foot-5 Delle Donne de-
parted in the first quarter
with back spasms.
“She’s such a big part of
what they do. You don’t
want to wish injury on any-
one, but we knew it was a

chance to steal one here,”

Jones said.

Connecticut outre-

bounded Washington 41-27

overall and 17-6 on the offen-

sive glass. Jones, who didn’t

have an offensive board in

the first game, had a Finals-

record nine.

“I was disappointed in

Game 1,” Jones said. “Disap-

pointed with my lack of get-

ting offensive boards, I had

to make a change.”

Emma Meeseman had 22

points off the bench for

Washington after spelling

Delle Donne and Tianna

Hawkins added 16. Washing-

ton’s bench outscored Con-

necticut’s 52-9.

Mystics coach Mike

Thibault said that his star

would get an MRI on her

back Wednesday.

“It didn’t look good. We’ll

see what the MRI says,” he

said. “Only good thing, I

didn’t look forward to having

four days between games

until right now. We’ll see

what happens. We won’t

have anything for a couple

days until we see what the

tests show.”

ETC.

Female fighters

on Hall ballot

Laila Ali is among the

first female fighters to make

the ballot for the Interna-

tional Boxing Hall of Fame.

The daughter of Muham-

mad Ali was joined by 11

other women on the 2020

ballot, including former

champions Holly Holm and

Christy Martin. Pomona

native Shane Mosley, In-

land Empire product Timo-

thy Bradley, Bernard Hop-

kins and Juan Manuel

Marquez are among the for-

mer men’s champions.

Balloting results will be

announced in December. In-

duction is June 14 in Canas-

tota, N.Y.

Five-star point guard

recruit Caleb Love commit-

ted to North Carolina. ... For-

mer NBA executive Rod

Thorn was hired by the

Washington Wizards as an

advisor to general manager

Tommy Sheppard.

San Jose Sharks forward

Evander Kane was sus-

pended for the first three

games of the season for

abuse of an official, after his

run-in with Vegas’ Deryk

Engelland led to contact

with linesman Kiel Murchi-

son during an exhibition

game Sunday. ... Lee Stemp-

niak retired from the NHL

after playing for 10 teams in

14 seasons. The durable

winger finished with 203

goals and 266 assists in 911

games. ... Minnesota de-

fenseman Greg Pateryn had

surgery on his midsection

and will be out about six

more weeks.

Novak Djokovic stepped

up his comeback from injury

and made amends for his

doubles exit at the Japan

Open by advancing to the

second round of the singles

tournament. ... Top-ranked

Ashleigh Barty advanced to

the third round of the China

Open with a 6-4, 6-2 victory

over Yulia Putintseva. John

Isner and Andy Murray

were among the men who

advanced to the second

round.

FIFA imposed a life ban

for bribery on Enrique Sanz,

the former general secretary

of North American soccer

body CONCACAF. Sanz was

suspended by FIFA’s ethics

committee when a sprawling

American investigation was

unsealed in May 2015, and he

was fired by CONCACAF

weeks later.

THE DAY IN SPORTS

Sun even WNBA Finals after Delle Donne departs

wire reports

DOHA, Qatar — Not a
single runner passing
through the orbit of famed
track coach Alberto Salazar
has been implicated for dop-
ing, so when Donavan Bra-
zier coasted in for a victory
Tuesday in the 800-meter
race at the world champi-
onships, there was no reason
to suspect he would be ei-
ther.
But for Brazier, the 22-
year-old who became the
first American to win a world
championship at this dis-
tance, there was no avoiding
the subject of Salazar.
And for track and field,
there is no avoiding the ever-
present specter of doping.
On a night when American
men won gold in the 200, 800
and pole vault, many of the
questions were about a 61-
year-old coach who was
kicked out of the event earli-
er in the day.
Brazier runs for the Nike
Oregon Project, a 12-person
track team headed by
Salazar. Salazar was ejected
after receiving a four-year
suspension for violations
that involved pushing his
runners to use pills, gels and
infusions in ways designed
to stretch the rules without
quite breaking them.
Brazier says the man who
coaches him for the NOP
isn’t Salazar but an assist-
ant, Pete Julian, who was
present after the finish,
beaming like a proud papa.
In fact, Brazier said he
barely knows Salazar.
It didn’t mean the new
champion, whose time of
1 minute 42.34 seconds set
an American record,
wouldn’t face questions
about his affiliation with the
team Salazar runs — a team
that had been under investi-
gation by the U.S. Anti-Dop-
ing Agency for about six
years before the ban came
down Tuesday.
“I think it would be pretty
ignorant to associate me
with that,” Brazier said. “I
think the investigation
started when I was in high
school, and I had nothing to
do with it.”
Brazier joins distance
runner Sifan Hassan as the
second athlete from the
NOP to win a gold medal at
these championships. Over
the years, Salazar’s most
decorated champion was
Britain’s Mo Farah, the four-
time Olympic gold medalist
who isn’t anywhere near
Doha but felt compelled to

issue a statement distancing

himself from his old coach.

“I left the Nike Oregon

Project in 2017 but as I’ve al-

ways said, I have no toler-

ance for anyone who breaks

the rules or crosses a line,”

Farah said.

Exculpatory doping

statements from non-com-

peting athletes certainly

aren’t what this sport had in

mind when it looked for new

ways to make headlines in

this new era now void of the

sport’s only superstar, the

retired Usain Bolt.

One man who might have

the star power to fill some of

that void is American Noah

Lyles. He won the 200 going

away in 19.83 seconds.

Lyles and 100-meter

champion Christian Cole-

man, another American

caught in a doping saga, are

headed for what could be a

fun showdown at the Tokyo

Olympics next year, when

both are expected to go for

the 100-200 double.

“This gold, overall, was

taken care of,” said Lyles,

who is expected to team with

Coleman on the U.S. 400-me-

ter relay team later this

week. “Now we’re going to

get that double gold, maybe

even triple, for Tokyo.”

In the day’s two field fi-

nals, Australia’s Kelsey-Lee

Barber won the women’s jav-

elin with a 218-foot 4-inch fi-

nal throw and American

Sam Kendricks defended his

pole vault title after clearing

19 feet 7 inches and winning

a tiebreaker over Sweden’s

Armand Duplantis.

But the day’s main topic

was doping. Not Brazier’s

problem, he insisted. The

theme he harped on: He’s

coached by Julian, not

Salazar.

“It’s disappointing,” Bra-

zier said, “that the most cov-

erage we get in track and

field is for bad things like

that.”

Tuesday’s finals at the IAAF world championships at Doha, Qatar

(all race distances in meters):

MEN

200—1. Noah Lyles, U.S., 19.83 seconds. 2. Andre De

Grasse, Canada, 19.95. 3. Alex Quinonez, Ecuador, 19.98. 4.

Adam Gemili, Great Britain, 20.03. 5. Ramil Guliyev, Turkey,

20.07. 6. Aaron Brown, Canada, 20.10. 7. Zhenye Xie, China,

20.14. 8. Kyle Greaux, Trinidad and Tobago, 20.39.

800—1. Donavan Brazier, U.S., 1 minute 42.34 seconds.

2. Amel Tuka, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1:43.47. 3. Ferguson
   Cheruiyot Rotich, Kenya, 1:43.82. 4. Bryce Hoppel, U.S., 1:44.25.


3. Wesley Vazquez, Puerto Rico, 1:44.48. 6. Adrian Ben, Spain,
   1:45.58. 7. Marco Arop, Canada 1:45.78. 8. Clayton Murphy,
   U.S., 1:47.84.
   POLE VAULT—1. Sam Kendricks, U.S., 19 feet, 7.03 inches.


4. Armand Duplantis, Sweden, 19-7.03. 3. Piotr Lisek, Poland,
   19-3.1. 4. Bo Kanda Lita Baehre, Germany, 18-8.41. 5. Thiago
   Braz, Brazil, 18-8.41. 6. Raphael Holzdeppe, Germany, 18-8.41.


5. Valentin Lavillenie, France, 18-8.41. 8. Claudio Michel Stec-
   chi, Italy, 18-8.41. 9. Bokai Huang, China, 18-2.50. 10. Augusto
   Dutra, Brazil, 18-2.50. 11. Cole Walsh, U.S., 18-2.50. 12. Ben
   Broeders, Belgium, 18-2.50.
   WOMEN
   JAVELIN—1. Kelsey-Lee Barber, Australia, 218 feet, 4.4
   inches. 2. Shiying Liu, China, 216-1. 3. Huihui Lyu, China, 214-10.


6. Christin Hussong, Germany, 213-9. 5. Kara Winger, U.S.,
   206-8. 6. Tatsiana Khaladovich, Belarus, 205-2. 7. Sara Kolak,
   Croatia, 204-4. 8. Annu Rani, Indonesia, 200-6. 9. Barboa
   Spotakova, Czech Republic, 196-5. 10. Martina Ratej, Slovenia,
   196-0. 11. Nikola Ogrodnikova, Czech Republic, 187-9. 12. Irena
   Sediva, Czech Republic 183-3.

RESULTS

At track worlds,

subject is Salazar

Coach’s doping ban

overshadows action

on night when three

Americans win gold.

associated press

DONAVAN BRAZIERwon the 800 at the world
championships but faced Alberto Salazar questions.

David J. PhillipAssociated Press

The Carolina Panthers

placed veteran defensive

tackle Kawann Short on

injured reserve, the team

announced Tuesday. Short

will undergo season-ending

shoulder surgery to repair a

partially torn rotator cuff and

will miss the rest of the sea-

son.

Short was injured in the

team’s Week 2 loss to Tampa

Bay and has missed the last

two games. The two-time Pro

Bowl tackle briefly returned

to practice the following week,

but took his pads off midway

through. Short has not prac-

ticed since.

In response to the loss of

Short, the Panthers signed

defensive lineman Bryan Cox

Jr.to the active roster off their

practice squad.

Positive guy

Bradley Chubb is so up-

beat about emerging as a bet-

ter person and player from his

torn knee ligament that he

said he truly welcomes this

season-ending injury.

“I’m happy this actually

happened to me because I feel

like in life I was getting a little

too complacent,” the Denver

Broncos’ rising young star

linebacker said Tuesday,

about 48 hours after tearing

his left ACL, the same one he

ruptured seven years ago in

high school.

“With 12 sacks as a rookie

it’s kind of hard to keep that

same grind,” said Chubb, the

fifth overall pick in the 2018

NFL draft. “So, I’m really

happy that this happened to

me because it’s a humbling ex-

perience and it’s going to get

me back to that same guy that

was hungry to get college of-

fers, the same guy that was

hungry to go out there and

prove everybody wrong. So,

I’m glad to be back in that

same position.”

The choker?

The Baltimore Ravens feel

cornerback Marlon

Humphrey isn’t guilty of

choking Cleveland star re-

ceiver Odell Beckham Jr.

Browns coach Freddie

Kitchens has judged differ-

ently. “Did you see the video?”

he asked.

Defending actions they

feel were warranted, the

Ravens posted a video and

story on their website Tues-

day to dispute that

Humphrey choked Beckham

when the two tangled during

the third quarter of Sunday’s

game.

The slow-motion video

shows the fight between

Humphrey and Beckham,

who after some pushing and

shoving winds up pinned be-

low Baltimore’s defender.

While the clip shows

Humphrey’s hands pushing

Beckham’s jersey up around

his neck, the story insists the

Ravens defensive back did

nothing wrong.

Kitchens was upset that

Humphrey was not ejected

and reached out to the NFL

for clarification about the in-

cident in Cleveland’s 40-25

win. Kitchens did not divulge

any specifics about his con-

versation with the league.

NFL NOTES

Panthers’ tackle Short is done for season

wire services