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Justin Herbert and Bo Nix have long admired one another's gridiron feats

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Justin Herbert and Bo Nix have long admired one another's gridiron feats

He was a record-breaking quarterback at Oregon. A first-round draft pick to an AFC West team mired in mediocrity. He’s playing for a coach in his first year with the franchise.

Bo Nix knows Justin Herbert’s path.

“He’s one of those guys you look up to playing at Oregon,” Nix, the Denver Broncos quarterback, told reporters Wednesday before the former Oregon Ducks stars face each other in a critical AFC West game Sunday in Denver.

Before becoming the Chargers’ No. 5 pick, Herbert capped off a decorated Oregon career with a Pac-12 championship and Rose Bowl victory in 2019. The same year, Nix was the first true freshman in Auburn history to start a season-opener. He faced Herbert’s Ducks, throwing the game-winning touchdown with nine seconds left.

Nix transferred to Oregon after three years at Auburn and played with Herbert’s younger brother Patrick, a tight end. In 2023, Nix was a Heisman finalist, threw for a school-record 4,508 yards in 2023 and set the single-season NCAA record for completion percentage at 77.4%.

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The whole time, Herbert watched from afar.

“It was awesome to see their success at Oregon, and especially his,” Herbert said of Nix. “So I got nothing but respect for him.”

With an off week to nurse his injured right ankle, Herbert said Wednesday he’s as healthy as he’s been since he suffered the injury initially on Sept. 15. He played with a brace against the Kansas City Chiefs two weeks ago and expects to keep the protection going forward, at least through Sunday’s matchup that will feature two of the league’s best defenses.

The Chargers (2-2) lead the league in points allowed per game (12.5) with the Broncos tied for second at 14.6. The defense, led by cornerback Pat Surtain II, has buoyed the team struggling to find its footing with a rookie quarterback.

Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert tries to break free from a sack attempt by Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Felix Anudike-Uzomah on Sept. 29 at SoFi Stadium.

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(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Nix has had an inconsistent start since the Broncos (3-2) took him 12th overall. His 102 completions through five games are third-most for a rookie quarterback in franchise history. But he averages just 5.3 yards per pass attempt, which ranks 30th in the league. He had four passes intercepted in the first two games, both losses.

But Nix has eliminated the turnovers in the past three games, becoming the first Broncos rookie quarterback with a three-game winning streak. Nix, Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels and Chicago’s No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams have combined for 10 wins, the second-most by rookie quarterbacks in the first five weeks of the season since 1970, trailing 12 wins in 1987.

Many of the league’s current rookies benefited from additional years of college eligibility gained during the pandemic, giving them extra game experience before making the transition to the NFL. Nix is the NCAA leader in games started for a quarterback at 61. Daniels, between Arizona State and Louisiana State, played in 55 college games before the No. 2 overall pick catapulted the Commanders to a 4-1 start.

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“Going through it and seeing all the defenses and the different coverages that teams can play against you, I think it’s only going to help,” said Herbert, whose 42 starts at Oregon are a school record for a quarterback. “They’ve seen a lot of football, they’ve been through a lot of offenses, and you’re only going to get better with that.”

Nix is coming off the best game of his young career, completing 70.4% of his passes (19-for-27) for 206 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions against the Raiders. He also rushed for a touchdown, jumping over the pile and reaching the ball over the goal line for a one-yard score.

Nix, whose 14 rushing touchdowns in 2022 were the second-most for an Oregon quarterback in a single season, is already tied for the second-most rushing touchdowns by a Broncos rookie quarterback with three.

“He’s a lot more mobile than people give him credit for,” Chargers defensive lineman Morgan Fox said. “You got to be able to pressure him, but pressure him smart.”

Etc.

Offensive tackles Rashawn Slater (pectoral) and Joe Alt (knee) participated in practice together for the first time since they were both injured on Sept. 22. They were both listed as limited participants on the team’s injury report. … RB Gus Edwards appeared on the injury report for the first time this season with an ankle injury. He has missed two practices this week. … S Derwin James Jr. did not practice because of personal reasons. … OLB Joey Bosa (hip), defensive backs Ja’Sir Taylor (fibula), Deane Leonard (hamstring) and Kristian Fulton (knee) did not practice.

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Trevor Bauer throws no-hitter for Long Island Ducks in just second US start since 2021

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Trevor Bauer throws no-hitter for Long Island Ducks in just second US start since 2021

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Trevor Bauer, the former Cy Young Award winner and MLB All-Star, tossed a no-hitter for the independent Long Island Ducks in a 13-0 win over the Lancaster Stormers on Sunday afternoon at Penn Medicine Park in Pennsylvania.

It was just Bauer’s second start in the United States since 2021, and he faced just one batter over the minimum in a scheduled seven-inning game of a doubleheader against the Stormers.

Bauer threw 84 pitches, striking out seven hitters and walking just one to lose out on the perfect game.

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Trevor Bauer smiles after pitching no-hitter for Long Island Ducks on Sunday, April 26, 2026. (Jordan McGregor)

But Bauer unleashed a roar on the mound after a called strike three to notch the third no-hitter in Ducks history.

Combined with his first outing for the Ducks on April 21, Bauer has a strong 1.64 ERA to start the season in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB), which is a “Professional Partner League” of MLB.

Fans might have been supporting the opposing Stormers, but they understood what was at stake as Bauer was mowing down hitters throughout his start. They were even heard chanting his name at one point, hoping he could keep his hitless streak alive.

After the game, Bauer returned the favor for those at the Pennsylvania ballpark, signing autographs and taking pictures with fans after entering his name into the Ducks’ record books.

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TREVOR BAUER SIGNS WITH PRO BASEBALL TEAM IN UNITED STATES AMID MLB RETURN HOPES

“I’m looking forward to competing in front of U.S. fans again this season,” said Bauer when he signed with the Ducks earlier this month. “The Ducks have had some incredible players come through their organization, and I’m excited to be part of that tradition.”

Ex-MLB stars like Dontrelle Willis, Daniel Murphy, Rich Hill and Eric Gagne have played for the Ducks in the past. New York Mets legends Gary Carter and Bud Harrelson both managed the team, with the latter also being a part-owner.

Bauer’s first start for the Ducks impressed an AL team scout in attendance, saying he was pretty impressed by Bauer’s arsenal on the bump.

“He showed flashes of the guy he used to be and a guy who can help a club,” the scout told the New York Post. “He went out and handled himself well. He showed flashes of the breaking ball he had in the past. Certainly the velocity is not what it once was, but it’s still solid, mostly 92-94. He didn’t throw the ball particularly well on the inside part of the plate with his fastball, but I think it was a really good first outing. You’d expected him to get sharper and probably tick up in velocity.

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Trevor Bauer and catcher high-five after finish inning for Long Island Ducks in no-hit bid on Sunday April 26, 2026. (Jordan McGregor)

“You’re talking about a guy who was at the top of the game. Is he back there? No, but he looked like a guy who could go out and compete.”

Bauer pitched in Japan in both 2023 and 2025, while a stint in Mexico came in 2024. He pitched to a 2.59 ERA and 9.2 K/9 in Japan in 2023, and in Mexico, those numbers improved to 2.48 and 13.0. Last year in Japan, though, his ERA shot up to 4.41, and he struck out just 8.2 batters per nine innings.

This June will mark five years since Bauer, as the reigning Cy Young Award winner, last appeared in an MLB game. On June 28 of that year, he tossed six innings of two-run ball while striking out eight batters, recording the win.

Two days later, Bauer was hit with sexual assault allegations, which eventually led to a 324-game suspension (the equivalent of two seasons). It was eventually reduced to 184 games for violating the league’s Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy.

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Bauer has maintained his innocence, settling with one accuser while another is facing 16 years in prison after being charged with fraud for faking a pregnancy and asking Bauer for money for an abortion.

Trevor Bauer pitches for Long Island Ducks during no-hitter on Sunday, April 26, 2026. (Jordan McGregor)

Bauer and Lindsey Hill, who accused the pitcher of beating and sexually abusing her in 2021, settled their case in late 2023. Bauer revealed texts from Hill, who said that Bauer would be her “next victim,” among other damning messages. Hill has since said that MLB has more evidence of Bauer’s alleged misconduct.

Last June, Hill was ordered to pay Bauer more than $300,000 for violating settlement terms. Hill breached their settlement agreement with each other by discussing Bauer on podcasts and in public appearances, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Nearly two years ago, Bauer said he “may have no other choice” but to sue Major League Baseball “if I continue being kept out” of the league. Bauer has said he’d “play for the league minimum,” but he has yet to sign with an MLB team.

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“Anyone that’s willing to sit down with me and listen: I’d like to play the second half of my career in a better way than I played the first half,” Bauer told Fox News Digital in January 2024. “I’d like to be an example that you can make mistakes, recognize them, adjust and then be better in the future. I think that’s something us as humans have to do and should be doing constantly.”

Long Island Ducks pitcher Trevor Bauer throws against the Hagerstown Flying Boxcars at Fairfield Properties Ballpark in Central Islip, N.Y., on April 21, 2026. (Thomas A. Ferrara/Newsday RM/Getty Images)

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Bauer has since called out MLB after Pete Rose and other deceased former players were taken off the league’s permanently ineligible list.

“So, since Pete is welcome back now, does that go for everyone who has been blackballed?” Bauer asked on X. “Or do you actually have to be guilty of something to qualify for that?”

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Bauer was performing well for the Dodgers at the time of the allegations, pitching to a 2.59 ERA.

Fox News’ Ryan Morik contributed to this report.

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

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Anze Kopitar’s stellar NHL career comes to an end in Kings’ playoff loss to Avalanche

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Anze Kopitar’s stellar NHL career comes to an end in Kings’ playoff loss to Avalanche

Seven times in the past 12 seasons the Kings have advanced to the Stanley Cup playoffs, only to leave after the first round.

They’ve changed coaches five times, general managers twice, even the team captains have changed over that span. But the results have not.

The latest flameout came Sunday when the Colorado Avalanche rode two goals from Nathan MacKinnon and goals from Cale Makar, Nicolas Roy and Devon Toews to a 5-1 win and a four-game sweep of the best-of-seven series.

The Kings will begin the offseason for the first time in two decades without Anze Kopitar, who played the final game of his Hall of Fame career Sunday.

Kings captain Anze Kopitar acknowledges the crowd after playing in his final NHL game Sunday.

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Fans at Crypto.com Arena chanted “Thank you, Kopi!” in the final minute of the game, giving him a standing ovation. Kopitar received another standing ovation after the team handshakes, acknowledging the cheers from the crowd.

Joel Edmundson had the lone score for the Kings.

If anything, the Kings are heading backward because they won at least one game in their last five playoffs appearances. Against the Avalanche they not only failed to win, they led just once, for three minutes and 24 seconds late in Game 2.

Colorado, the best team in the NHL during the regular season, was clearly the best team in this series as well, going ahead to stay Sunday on MacKinnon’s power-play goal with less than seven minutes left in the first period. That spoiled what had been the Kings’ special-teams advantage in the series.

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The Kings, who had a power-play goal in each of the first three games of the series, were shut out with the man advantage twice in the first 12 minutes of Game 4. Then their penalty kill was beaten for the first time in 10 tries when MacKinnon lined home a slap shot in from the center of the left circle 16 seconds after Kings defenseman Brian Dumoulin was sent off for interference.

For MacKinnon, who led the NHL with 53 goals during the regular season, the score was his first of the postseason.

And those weren’t the only penalties in the opening 20 minutes. Just more than two minutes before the first intermission, the physical nature of the series boiled over in a series of scuffles that ended with referee Graham Skilliter meeting with the captains of both teams.

Kings center Anze Kopitar warms up before Game 4 against the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday at Crypto.com Arena.

Kings center Anze Kopitar warms up before Game 4 against the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday at Crypto.com Arena.

Kings captain Anze Kopitar stands on the ice during the national anthem before Game 4 against the Colorado Avalanche.

Kings captain Anze Kopitar stands on the ice during the national anthem before Game 4 against the Colorado Avalanche.

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Skilliter then handed out four penalties, a two-minute misconduct to Colorado’s Jack Drury while the Kings’ Samuel Helenius received a two-minute roughing and a 10-minute misconduct and teammate Jeff Malott got a two-minute roughing.

And with that, D.J. Smith’s game plan went out the window.

“We have to be disciplined,” the Kings interim coach had said before the game. “Two [penalties] or less.”

The Kings doubled that total in the first 18 minutes.

Kings defenseman Mikey Anderson, left, battles Colorado Avalanche left wing Gabriel Landeskog.

Kings defenseman Mikey Anderson, left, battles Colorado forward Gabriel Landeskog for the puck in Game 4 of their first-round playoff series Sunday at Crypto.com Arena.

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Speaking of doubling, Makar gave Colorado a 2-0 lead 5:48 into the second period, collecting a bouncing puck at the blue line, then skating around Kings’ forward Taylor Ward to score on a wrist shot from the edge of the right circle.

But the Kings, less than 35 minutes away from the end of their season, refused to quit with Edmundson cutting the deficit in half about eight minutes later, sending a wrister from the top of the left circle on goal. Colorado goalie Scott Wedgewood appeared to stop the puck, only to have it fall to the ice and trickle across the goal line.

Roy got that one back for Colorado 3:13 into the final period, banging the rebound of an Artturi Lehkonen shot between the pads of Kings goalie Anton Forsberg. When Toews scored less than three minutes later, the Avalanche had the biggest lead of the series and the rout was on.

Kings captain Anze Kopitar plays his final NHL shift in Game 4 against the Colorado Avalanche.

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MacKinnon added the final score into an empty net.

And with that another disappointing postseason ended for the Kings and another long offseason began, one the team and general manager Ken Holland will enter with more questions than answers, beginning with the status of his interim coach and the aging core of his roster.

Kings captain Anze Kopitar raises the Stanley Cup as he floats across Lake Bled in Slovenia with family and friends in 2012.

Kings captain Anze Kopitar raises the Stanley Cup as he floats across Lake Bled in Slovenia with family and friends in 2012.

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UFC fighter Tim Means arrested on child abuse charge in New Mexico

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UFC fighter Tim Means arrested on child abuse charge in New Mexico

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UFC fighter Tim Means was arrested earlier in the week on a child abuse charge in New Mexico, according to online court records.

Means was arrested on Wednesday and booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center in Albuquerque. He didn’t appear to have an attorney listed. Fox News Digital reached out to the UFC for comment.

ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON’T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW!

Tim Means reacts after his TKO victory over Andre Fialho of Portugal in a welterweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nev., on Sept. 23, 2023. (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC/Getty Images)

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The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call about a physical altercation at a Tijeras home, the Albuquerque Journal reported, citing a criminal complaint. The alleged victim, a teenager, reportedly told dispatchers that the two had been in a spat over chores when he headbutted her.

Means was accused of grabbing the teen in a “strangulation matter.” The mixed martial artist allegedly got angrier, threw a potato at the alleged victim and punched her in the face, according to the paper.

Thiago Alves fights Tim Means during UFC Fight Night at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 7, 2019. (Amber Searls/USA TODAY Sports)

“Let it be known that there were visible hand and red marks on (the teen’s) neck, indicating she was strangled,” according to the complaint. “There was blood on and in her nose where she was head-butted and several red marks indicated she was hit in the face and on her cheek.”

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Means, 42, started his MMA career in 2004 and has appeared in King of the Cage, Legacy FC and UFC. He last fought in UFC in 2024, losing to Court McGee via submission at UFC 307.

Tim Means reacts after a loss to Alex Morono in a welterweight bout during UFC Fight Night at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C., on May 13, 2023. (Jim Dedmon/USA TODAY Sports)

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He’s set for a status hearing on May 26.

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