This is an article version of the CBS Sports HQ AM Newsletter, the ultimate guide to every day in sports. You can sign up to get it in your inbox every weekday morning here.
🤕 Five things to know Thursday
- The 49ers have ruled out Brock Purdy for Thursday night’s game vs. the Rams. After aggravating his toe injury in last week’s loss to the Jaguars, Purdy will be unavailable tonight for a divisional matchup against the Rams. Unfortunately for the 49ers, that’s just the start of a lengthy injury list. Wide receivers Jauan Jennings and Ricky Pearsall have also been ruled out, and tight end George Kittle remains on IR. Hopefully Christian McCaffrey has been hitting the cold tubs often this week.
- Three teams forced a winner-take-all Game 3 in the MLB Wild Card round. The Guardians, Padres and Yankees all kept their respective seasons alive with Game 2 wins — some a bit more dramatic than others. That means baseball fans will get a triple-header of do-or-die action later today. The only team to finish the job Wednesday was the Dodgers, who beat the Reds to reach the NLDS.
- Brian Snitker has stepped down as manager of the Braves. Snitker served as the Braves’ manager for seven seasons after taking over as the interim in 2016, and he led the team to six straight NL East titles and the 2021 World Series. Snitker will move into an advisory role next season, his 50th with the team in one way or another. See where the Braves’ managerial opening ranks among the eight vacancies across the league.
- Former All-Pro DB Xavien Howard announced his sudden retirement. Just four games into the 2025 season, Howard has decided to call it a career. After sitting out the 2024 season, Howard signed with the Colts back in August, and he cited his experience during that year off as a major reason for his decision. A second-round pick in 2016, Howard led the NFL in interceptions twice, was named a first-team All-Pro in 2020 and earned four Pro Bowl nods throughout his career.
- The Big Ten is contemplating a $2 billion private equity deal. Like it or not — and I do not — private equity firms are circling college athletics. The Big Ten is reportedly mulling over a deal that could climb upward of $2 billion and extend its grant of rights until 2046. While the thought of big(ger) money infiltrating college football makes my purist stomach churn, the silver lining is that the deal may stave off the formation of one super league for the time being.
⚾ Do not miss this: Yankees force Game 3 vs. Red Sox
Getty Images
After dropping Game 1 at home, the Yankees responded with a huge win over the Red Sox to force Game 3 in the Bronx on Thursday night. With New York in need of some clutch performances, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Ben Rice came up big for the boys in pinstripes.
Rice got the party started in the bottom of the first inning when he took Red Sox starter Brayan Bello deep for a two-run homer. Boston wouldn’t go away, however, but Chisholm’s lightning speed dealt the final blow when he scored from first base on an Austin Wells‘ two-out single in the bottom of the eighth.
Perhaps the most impressive part of the performances from Rice and Chisholm was that neither player got the start in Game 1. Now, as Mike Axisa writes, it will be very hard for manager Aaron Boone to keep either player out of the lineup tonight.
- Axisa: “Whatever the lineup is going to be in Game 3 is whatever the lineup is going to be in Game 3. We’ll find out Thursday. In Game 2 though, two players who were not trusted enough to be in the Game 1 lineup made impact plays. Rice opened the scoring with his homer and Chisholm saved a run with his glove and created a run with his legs. They gave the Yankees the shot in the arm they lacked Tuesday.”
On the other side, the Red Sox had a plan to end the series in two games. It didn’t work out, and now Boston will have to navigate a tricky bullpen situation in order to take the series.
Game 3 will be another chapter in the Red Sox vs. Yankees rivalry and the sixth winner-take-all game in their storied history. The starting pitchers will be rather green with rookie Connelly Early going for the Red Sox and fellow rookie Cam Schlittler going for the Yankees. It’s just the second time ever two rookies will go head-to-head in a winner-take-all playoff game.
🏈 Ranking (every) Browns starting QBs since 1999
Imagn Images
Our own Matt Zenitz reported that Browns coach Kevin Stefanski informed the team that rookie Dillon Gabriel will get the start against the Lions on Sunday. That gives Gabriel the distinction of becoming the 41st starting quarterback for Cleveland since 1999. Before that happens, Cody Benjamin decided to rank the 40 that came before Gabriel.
The list of quarterbacks the Browns have started since Y2K was sweeping the nation is extensive, and to put it rather kindly, unremarkable. Bruce Gradkowski. Ty Detmer. Jake Delhomme. Kelly Holcomb. The list is a veritable who’s who of, “Remember this guy?!” To give you an idea of just how bleak the situation has been, Joe Flacco, the quarterback who just got benched for Gabriel comes in at No. 4.
- Benjamin: “Flacco, who was just benched in his second stint with the club, has only logged nine combined starts with the Browns. But the ex-Ravens stalwart and Super Bowl champion provided much-needed stability as a last-minute injury replacement in 2023, opening up the downfield passing game en route to a surprise playoff appearance.”
Given the relative strength (or lack thereof) of the AFC North, as well as Stefanski’s offensive acumen, Gabriel won’t have to do much to make the Browns the best team in the division. There’s some hope, Browns fans!
So, where does this move leave Shedeur Sanders, who literally didn’t anything to say when asked about Gabriel getting the Week 5 start? Well, our own Jonathan Jones reports that Sanders will remain the third-string quarterback for now.
⚽ PSG comes back to beat Barcelona
Getty Images
In Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League matchup, Barcelona jumped out to an early 1-0 lead before Paris Saint-Germain came storming back for a 2-1 victory. Senny Mayulu leveled the match for PSG before Goncalo Ramos broke the tie in the 90th minute.
Roughly a year ago, Bayern Munich star Harry Kane scored a meaningless goal against Barcelona in a 4-1 loss. Well, it was meaningless until Wednesday, when it helped Ramos take down Barcelona. After the match, Ramos said he remebered Kane’s goal, and he saw a similar opportunity himself.
“I think a lot about beating a high line,” Ramos said. “For me, personally, it’s my favorite place. I just went there, and we have very fast players coming from behind, and even against Barcelona, they have a video of Harry Kane, I think two years ago, and he did something like I did on the goal, and he scored.”
Through two matches in Champions League play, PSG is one of only six clubs to remain perfect a 2-0-0 with six points in its back pocket.
👍👎 The best (and not-so-best) of the rest
📺 What we’re watching Thursday
Catch all the UEFA Europa League and Conference League action on Paramount+
⚽ AS Roma at Lille, 12:45 p.m. on CBS Sports Network
⚾ Game 3: Tigers at Guardians, 3 p.m. on ABC
⚾ Game 3: Padres at Cubs, 5 p.m. on ESPN
⚾ Game 3: Red Sox at Yankees, 8 p.m. on ESPN
🏈 49ers at Rams, 8:15 p.m. on Prime Video
⚾ Sam Houston at New Mexico State, 9 p.m. on CBS Sports Network