Sports
Tre’Davious White inspires remodeled Rams secondary before even playing a game
Cornerback Tre’Davious White did not need much convincing that the Rams were the right team to sign with last spring.
Former Buffalo Bills teammates Von Miller, Taylor Rapp and Leonard Floyd and former Louisiana State teammate Odell Beckham Jr. sung the praises of Rams coach Sean McVay.
But White, a seven-year veteran recovering from Achilles surgery, still needed to speak with the Rams medical staff and McVay personally.
So when he visited the Rams and sat down with McVay in March, he anticipated a short meet-and-greet conversation.
“We look up — and it’s three hours later,” White said, laughing. “That just threw off my whole schedule for the whole visit.
“But it was worth it, man. It’s the time that we had together that just gave me all the clarity I needed that this was the place that would be best for me.”
White, 29, signed a one-year contract that includes $3.25 million in guarantees, according to Overthecap.com. The value increases to $8.5 million if White plays 60% of the defensive snaps, and could max out at $10 million.
White said in April that former Rams running back Cam Akers’ successful return from Achilles surgery influenced his decision to join the Rams. So did the fact that Dr. Neal ElAttrache, the Rams’ team physician who performed Akers’ surgery, had also done White’s surgery after he was injured while playing for the Bills last October.
White and the Rams agreed that he should take all the time necessary before easing into full workouts.
He worked mainly with trainers on the sideline during organized-team activities. But during training camp, White has been a near full participant.
“I want to push the gas pedal to see where I’m at,” White said after a practice at Loyola Marymount. “If it’s not where I need it to be, I can go back to the drawing board and go back to building myself back up.”
Rams cornerback Tre’Davious White (27) tries to hold wide receiver Tutu Atwell (5) during training camp on July 27.
(Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press)
White, a two-time Pro Bowl selection, is one of several new players in a remodeled secondary.
Cornerback Darious Williams, who helped the Rams win Super Bowl LVI before playing two seasons for the Jacksonville Jaguars, will start opposite White. Williams is nursing a hamstring injury but is expected to be ready for the Sept. 8 opener at Detroit.
The Rams also recently signed cornerback Jerry Jacobs to replace Derion Kendrick, a rotational player who suffered a season-ending knee injury during the first training camp workout.
Third-year pro Cobie Durant, second-year pro Tre Tomlinson and undrafted free agents Josh Wallace and Charles Woods are other cornerbacks in a secondary that also includes new safety Kamren Curl, veterans Quentin Lake, John Johnson III and Russ Yeast, rookie Kamren Kinchens and second-year pro Jason Taylor II.
White has intercepted 18 passes, including a career-best six in 2019 when he was voted All-Pro.
The favorable recommendations White received from former Rams players who played for the Bills were exceeded only by the glowing reports the players gave the Rams about White.
“The NFL is a small fraternity,” new defensive coordinator Chris Shula said, “and when all of those people say those things about him, usually that’s the way it turns out, and it has.”
Said McVay: “This is a guy that’s passionate about a lot of the things we’re passionate about. … He had a lot of options, a lot of teams that saw what we did — and he’s getting more and more comfortable.”
The sage White made an impact from the moment he arrived, defensive backs coach Aubrey Pleasant said.
“If Tre’Davious White never took one snap for this organization, he’s already improved the L.A. Rams because of his attention to detail, his professionalism, his work ethic, his practice habits and the empathy he has for his teammates,” Pleasant said. “It’s not only his communication when he plays — it’s how hard he works.”
Durant wasted no time seeking the benefit of White’s counsel.
In position-group meetings during offseason workouts, Durant sat in the seat in front of White. Durant constantly leaned back to ask White what he saw on film, and how he would handle different situations.
“Just certain little things to add to my bag to apply on the field,” Durant said. “And it’s been working.”
Receivers Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua said they are benefiting from Williams’ and White’s experience and feedback.
White’s intelligence, and his ability to recognize alignments and motions before the snap makes him a tough matchup, Nacua said.
“I know my strengths and they don’t really work against him because he’s thinking [about] the mental game before I ever get to be a physical player with him,” Nacua said. “So, it’s been super fun because now I get to work on some of the different tools that me and Coop are working on.”
White said he would continue to push himself to play at full speed, whenever that might be.
“Just to be out here practicing is a blessing for me,” he said. “Just to stretch with the team is a blessing for me. So it’s been great.
“I’ve got a ways to go, for sure, but so far, so good.”
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The 2026 NBA Draft finally saw the top college prospects get chosen along with some friendly fire among ESPN and basketball analysts on Tuesday night.
Jay Williams, Richard Jefferson and Kenny Smith were among those covering the draft and offering their analysis during the event. One exchange among the three former NBA players went awry and led to an awkward moment.
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Jay Williams of the Chicago Bulls and Tony Parker of the San Antonio Spurs share a laugh during the 2003 got milk? Rookie Challenge Game at Phillips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, on Feb. 8, 2003. (Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE)
ESPN recalled the moments each former player was drafted. Smith went No. 6 overall in 1987 to the Sacramento Kings, Richard Jefferson was selected at No. 13 by the Houston Rockets before being traded to the New Jersey Nets in 2001 and Williams was chosen No. 2 overall by the Chicago Bulls in 2001. Williams’ career was cut short due to a motorcycle crash.
ESPN’s Kevin Negandhi asked why Williams received a big ovation. Williams explained that most people who had gone to Duke were from the New York or New Jersey area.
“They also didn’t see the future coming, so they were cheering,” Jefferson said.
Williams responded, “Wow.”
TNT basketball analyst Kenny Smith appears on air before the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Final Four semifinal game between the Purdue Boilermakers and the North Carolina State Wolfpack at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., on April 6, 2024. (Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
Smith admitted that Williams was an “unbelievable talent” but “his career trajectory would’ve been a lot different if he didn’t like motorcycles.”
Williams tried to brush it off, saying all of what Smith was saying was “on record” and that he “wrote a book about it.”
“I guess everybody that goes to Duke isn’t that smart,” Jefferson quipped. “What? He wrote a book about it. I’m agreeing with him.”
The awkwardness filled the air after that as the Toronto Raptors were getting ready to make a selection.
Williams’ incident occurred in June 2003. He suffered a fractured pelvis, three torn ligaments in his knee and he severed a nerve in his leg. Williams violated the terms of his contract by riding the motorcycle in the first place.
Referee Richard Jefferson watches the game between the New York Knicks and Portland Trail Blazers during the 2022 Las Vegas Summer League at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nev., on July 11, 2022. (Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images)
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He tried to make his way back into the NBA through the G League but never got there. He played 75 games for the Bulls in his rookie season and averaged 9.5 points per game.
Major League Baseball says it has no concerns about Dodgers and Rams head team physician Dr. Neal ElAttrache working with players.
ElAttrache was questioned by MLB on June 12 following a detailed report by the New York Times that the renowned surgeon and sports medicine expert supported the therapeutic use of performance-enhancing drugs by UFC star Conor McGregor.
“MLB took our responsibility to conduct due diligence in this matter seriously. We interviewed Dr. Neal ElAttrache last week, covering multiple topics, and he answered our questions thoroughly,” MLB said in a statement obtained by The Times Tuesday night.
“Based on our interview, the review of relevant records, Dr. ElAttrache’s long history of support for and cooperation with the Joint Drug Program and the fact that no Therapeutic Use Exemption requests of this nature have been submitted by Dr. ElAttrache or anyone else, we do not have any concerns regarding Dr. ElAttrache’s treatment of MLB players, or his adherence to the Joint Drug Programs and related rules.
“We consider this matter closed.”
ElAttrache performed surgery on McGregor in July 2021, inserting a rod, plates and screws into his left leg after the fighter broke his tibia and fibula during a mixed martial arts bout against Dustin Poirier in Las Vegas.
McGregor’s recovery was lengthy and arduous. ElAttrache told the New York Times that while he did not prescribe steroids for McGregor, he referred him to a specialist who did. Furthermore, ElAttrache wrote a letter supporting McGregor’s request for a therapeutic use exemption from UFC drug policies.
“I felt it would be appropriate to consult other physicians with expertise in bone healing/bone metabolism,” ElAttrache told the New York Times via text. “I recommended the consultations but not the course of treatment.”
ElAttrache said he told McGregor to check with UFC drug testers about prescriptions the consultant gave him. “I purposely wasn’t involved with his evaluation by the consultant nor with prescribing medication,” ElAttrache said.
The exemption request was denied by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, the drug testing organization the UFC used at the time, triggering a split between the two organizations. McGregor withdrew from the UFC anti-doping program shortly thereafter and no longer was required to undergo testing for banned substances.
The report prompted MLB to talk with ElAttrache about his approach to treating players.
ElAttrache, operating primarily out of the Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic in Los Angeles, has performed elbow or shoulder surgeries on prominent Dodgers past and present, including Shohei Ohtani, Clayton Kershaw, Tony Gonsolin and Walker Buehler as well as former Rams stars Cooper Kupp and Cam Akers.
Among the hundreds of surgeries performed over three decades by ElAttrache, his patients include the four 2024 MLB most valuable player and Cy Young Award winners — Ohtani, Aaron Judge, Chris Sale and Tarik Skubal. ElAttrache’s patients include 18 of 29 players who won the MVP or Cy Young awards over the past 10 years.
“I have spoken with MLB and I am very comfortable with the process that the league and I will complete to assure the public that I have followed every rule and regulation in my medical treatment of athletes without exception,” ElAttrache said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times earlier this month. “My record is completely clean, including in this case.”
Times staff writers Steve Henson, Bill Shaikin, Sam Farmer and Gary Klein contributed to this report.
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As expected, the Washington Wizards have begun the 2026 NBA Draft by selecting BYU’s AJ Dybantsa with the first overall pick.
In a draft class loaded with “cant-miss prospects,” Dybantsa stood out above the rest, as the 6-foot-9, 217-pound forward put on a show with the Cougars in his one and only collegiate season.
Dybantsa averaged 25.6 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.1 steals per game, while shooting 51% from the field for BYU. He became the fifth Division-1 player in the last 40 seasons to average at least 25 points while shooting 50% from the field in a single season.
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