GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Packers running back Jamaal Williams was taken off the field on a gurney after taking a hard hit during the first quarter of Thursday night's 34-27 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

The third-year pro was immediately transported via ambulance to a local hospital, where he was being evaluated for head and neck injuries, ESPN's Michele Steele reported. The Packers announced that Williams had movement and feeling in all of his extremities.

Williams was injured on the Packers' first play of the game, a screen pass, when he was immediately met at the line of scrimmage by linebacker Nigel Bradham. With his forward momentum stopped, Williams took a big hit by Eagles defensive end Derek Barnett.

Barnett was penalized for unnecessary roughness on the play.

Williams raised his left arm and gave the thumbs-up sign as he was taken off the field by three members of the Packers' medical team.

Williams, who started the game in the backfield alongside fellow running back Aaron Jones, was listed on the injury report this week because of a neck injury, but he was a full participant in Wednesday's practice.

Jones capped the first drive with a 3-yard touchdown to give the Packers a 7-0 lead on a drive that featured the Packers' longest offensive play of the season -- a 58-yard pass from Aaron Rodgers to Davante Adams.

Packers right tackle Bryan Bulaga suffered a shoulder injury in the first half and was questionable to return. He remained out to begin the second half and was replaced by Alex Light.

Los Angeles Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma is out indefinitely with a stress reaction in his foot, an injury he suffered while he was working with Team USA this summer, the Lakers announced.

Kuzma, 24, has not been cleared for full practice or game participation and will miss at least the first three weeks of training camp, the team said. Kuzma averaged 18.7 points and 5.5 rebounds per game for the Lakers last season.

Camp opens Saturday for the Lakers, who are traveling to China in October to take part in two preseason games against the Brooklyn Nets as part of the league's international preseason games. They will play on Oct. 10 in Shanghai and Oct. 12 in Shenzhen.

The Lakers open the regular season Oct. 22 against the LA Clippers.

Kuzma will travel with the Lakers to China and is scheduled for an MRI when the team returns. A status update will be given at that time.

The Lakers also announced that rookie guard Talen Horton-Tucker continues to receive treatment for a stress reaction in his right foot and will have limited participation in training camp.

Rookie forward Jordan Caroline underwent successful surgery on his fifth metatarsal on Sept. 6, the Lakers said. He is expected to miss 10 to 12 weeks.

PITTSBURGH -- The Chicago Cubs will have a say in the NL Central race after all -- albeit as spoilers only.

The Cubs finish their regular season this weekend in St. Louis, where the first-place Cardinals are holding on to a one-game lead on the surging Milwaukee Brewers.

Already eliminated from the postseason this week, Cubs manager Joe Maddon was asked if he'll play his regular lineup against the Cards.

"We're going to put a good team out there, but of course they're going to bitch," Maddon said with a laugh. "Of course they are. I get it. But quite frankly, there are certain things I don't give a s--- about. And that would be one of them."

Cubs pitchers Kyle Hendricks and Yu Darvish have been shut down, and stars Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo and Javier Baez are all nursing injuries. Righty Alec Mills will start Friday's series opener against Dakota Hudson, and Cole Hamels is slated to pitch a few innings Saturday against Cards starter Miles Mikolas. Hamels has been out with a sore shoulder and is only pitching to prove he's healthy entering free agency.

"This is the first time I'm going into free agency and I don't want that in the back of team's heads," Hamels said.

The Cubs haven't announced a starter for Sunday and could just go with a "bullpen game." Maddon says his team will still compete; it just won't be with many of the regulars.

"I will put out the guys that I think are the appropriate guys to play based on what's good for our people, not for their people," he said. "But we're going to put a good team out there, regardless."

The Brewers complete their regular season in Colorado, having already clinched at least a wild-card spot. The Cardinals, who swept a four-game series against the Cubs last weekend, also have locked up at least a wild card.

After Thursday's 9-5 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago has now lost nine straight games.

Mike Minor's 200th strikeout of the season for the Texas Rangers came with some controversy Thursday.

With one out in the ninth inning and Minor a strikeout away from reaching the mark for the first time in his career, the left-hander got the Boston Red Sox's Chris Owings to pop up a 1-2 pitch into foul territory. Minor, catcher Jose Trevino and first baseman Ronald Guzman converged on the ball, but Guzman let it drop in front of him, allowing Owings' at-bat to continue.

Minor struck him out on the next pitch for his ninth strikeout of the game and 200th of his season.

"We were yelling, telling [Guzman] to drop it because there's going to be two strikes," Minor said. "He dropped it, and then he looked at me like, 'What? Why?' And then everybody started booing or whatever. I had to thank him for that, because [the fans] didn't understand."

"Everybody was yelling. ... I heard a lot of 'Drop it!' So I had to drop it," Guzman said.

It was Minor's 126th pitch of the afternoon, and Rangers manager Chris Woodward then took him out for Jose Leclerc, who got the final out of a 7-5 Rangers home victory.

"I didn't love the idea that we dropped the popup at the end," Woodward said. "But on the other side of that, they swung at three pitches in a row in the eighth inning down by two. If they have any beef with that, obviously I'm pretty sure [Red Sox manager Alex] Cora did, they chose to not try and win the game as well. They were trying to keep him from striking a guy out."

Asked what he was thinking when Guzman let the popup drop in, Woodward said: "He better strike [Owings] out."

"I would have taken him out [if he didn't]," Woodward said. "It was borderline crossing the line."

Asked about the play, Cora -- who remained in the Boston dugout for several minutes after the game, staring out toward the field -- didn't comment on it specifically, only saying: "I'm just happy our guys are playing the right way."

The 126 pitches are the most Minor has thrown in a single game in his career and are tied for third-most in a game this season in the majors.

Minor (14-10) struck out six of his first 11 batters. He got another in the fifth but didn't get his eighth until Sam Travis ended the seventh on Minor's 117th pitch, which matched his career high.

When Minor walked the batter before Travis, Woodward took a step out of the dugout toward the mound before getting waved back by the 31-year-old.

"I told him that I couldn't give him too many pitches," Woodward said. "From a number standpoint, I know it's just a number [200 strikeouts], but it's a big deal. This guy has been our best pitcher all year. ... All year he's just been unbelievable. I felt I owed it to him."

Boston went 1-2-3 in the eighth on three pitches, two groundouts and a popout. So Minor came back out for the ninth. Sandy Leon flied out before the Owings at-bat.

"It's just an accomplishment that I was looking at this past offseason of wanting to improve on this year," Minor said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Houston Astros shortstop Carlos Correa will sit out the final four games of the regular season to rest his ailing back, but the team is hopeful he will be ready for Game 1 of the American League Division Series next week.

Correa saw a doctor in Los Angeles on Thursday and nothing serious was found with his back, manager AJ Hinch said before Thursday night's series opener against the Los Angeles Angels.

Correa was a late scratch from Tuesday's game in Seattle after a long flight from Houston. He was expected to be ready for Wednesday but was unable to play.

Felix Hernandez took the mound for his last start of the season on Thursday, and likely his last start for the Seattle Mariners, serenaded by tens of thousands of yellow-shirted fans chanting his name.

His teammates stayed in the dugout, so King Felix was alone on the mound, raising his hands, tipping his cap and pumping his fist to the fans before signaling the rest of the Mariners to come out.

The Mariners were calling it "Felix Day," and several hours before the game, every Mariner on the field was wearing a bright yellow King Felix shirt during warm-ups. Retired Mariners icon Ichiro Suzuki joined them for batting practice in one of the shirts. Hernandez's rooting section, the "King's Court," was expanded for the game.

Long live the King. #HappyFélixDay? pic.twitter.com/EhGPOdBHIE

— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) September 27, 2019

Hernandez threw a season-high 106 pitches in the game, allowing three earned runs and striking out three in 5 1/3 innings pitched. Seattle trailed 3-1 when he was pulled.

Hernandez, 33, was the face of the franchise for many of his 15 years with the team. He's the Mariners' all-time leader in wins with 169 and strikeouts with 2,521. But Hernandez's contract with the Mariners expires after the season and he isn't likely to be re-signed. He is 1-7 in 14 starts this season with a 6.51 ERA, and hasn't won more than 10 games since 2016.

So a career that began in the Pacific Northwest in 2005 when Hernandez was just 19 is expected to come to an end, in a game against the playoff-contending Oakland Athletics.

Hernandez had a special relationship with the fans, and will always be a Mariners icon. He was arguably the best pitcher in the American League for a large part of his time in Seattle, where he created excitement and helped make the Mariners relevant. He brought them a Cy Young Award and arguably should have won a second. He also delivered a perfect game, one of 23 in baseball history.

"He's been such a big part of this organization for so long that you want him to go out on a high note," manager Scott Servais said before the game. "I know he'll be fired up tonight and give us a great effort, like he always does, and compete as well as he can."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

IAAF president Sebastian Coe awards honour to magazine in Doha for its long-standing contribution to athletics

The AW team were given cause for celebration on the eve of the IAAF World Championships after Sebastian Coe finished his pre-event press conference in Doha by announcing that the magazine has been awarded an IAAF Heritage Plaque.

The Plaque is awarded for “an outstanding contribution to the worldwide history and development of the sport of track & field athletics and of out of stadia athletics disciplines such as cross country, mountain, road, trail and ultra-running, and race walking”.

AW first came into being in 1945 and will celebrate its 75th anniversary in 2020. It has evolved throughout the years, being given a fresh new look just earlier this summer, but its aim has stayed the same – to provide comprehensive coverage of athletics. That dedication and the magazine’s contribution to the sport has been recognised by the global governing body in the Culture category, alongside six other prominent athletics publications.

“IAAF Heritage was something that I felt very strongly that I wanted to create because if you don’t respect your history then frankly you can’t find any sensible road map for future engagement,” said Coe. “It’s very important that young people understand the history and heritage of our sport.  I’m delighted these (publications) are now ensconced in our history,”

AW publisher and 1984 Olympic silver medallist Wendy Sly said: “What I love is that athletes who make it on to the cover still have that same feeling which I had – the pride of being on the front of the magazine that represents the sport in the UK and increasingly around the world. It means something.

“Thanks to all the amazing athletes who have given us something to write about for almost 75 years.”

The British marathon champion has been running in heat chambers and out in Dubai to get ready for the IAAF World Championships in Doha

Charlotte Purdue admits that the conditions she faced at the Great Britain holding camp in Dubai were a lot more challenging than she expected but the 28-year-old adds that running there, and undertaking heat chamber sessions, has left her feeling as prepared as possible for the IAAF World Championships marathon on Friday night.

The marathon and race walk events at the championships are being held at night to avoid the worst of the heat out on the roads of Doha, but temperatures are still expected to be over 30C, with humidity forecast at 60%.

Purdue has pushed her days back in preparation for the start time of one minute to midnight, but says the real challenge will be the humidity.

“I’m glad I came out to Dubai because the conditions are a lot more challenging than I first thought,” Purdue explained as she sat down with AW at the team preparation camp in the UAE. “I didn’t really think the humidity would be as high as it has been out here, which has taken a bit of getting used to, but every day I feel better running.

“If I didn’t come to Dubai and flew straight in I think it would have been a lot tougher,” added the Nic Bideau-coached runner, who moved to third on the UK all-time marathon rankings with her PB of 2:25:38 to win the British title in London in April. “I’m feeling good about the race and it’s going to be the same conditions for everyone, so I’ve just got to give it my all.

“I’ve been running in the heat chamber at St Mary’s (University) twice a week, doing my easy runs in there. It was hot in there but not the humidity. In the heat chamber I actually thought ‘this is hard but I can deal with it’ and then when I came out here I was like ‘oh my gosh, it’s something completely different’. I’m so glad I did come here because it’s really tough, but it’s the same for everyone. I’ve been adapting every day here, trying to run in the evenings as well, so I can get some idea of what it’s going to be like in the race.”

Purdue further proved her fine current form by clocking a half-marathon PB of 68:08 at the SimplyHealth Great North Run earlier this month and now hopes to improve on her 13th-place finish at the 2017 world championships when she races on the loop course along Doha’s Corniche waterfront promenade.

“I always want to win, so I still want to win even though it’s a world champs,” she said. “Obviously I’d like to finish as high up as I can. Two years ago I was 13th so I’d love to improve on that – top 10, top eight, and then you just never know.”

Also getting ready to race in Doha is Purdue’s team-mate Dominic King, who will contest the 50km race walk, and the Olympian emphasised how important it will be to respect the conditions.

“I’m probably apprehensive as to what’s coming but at the same time I know that I have done all the preparation that I possibly can in getting to the start line as fit as possible. Experiencing the heat out in Dubai has been really worthwhile for me,” he said.

“It won’t be about times,” he added, with the men’s and women’s 50km race walk events getting under way at 23:30 local time on Saturday night. “I think it’s really important to respect those conditions.

“I’m hoping to take out a few scalps because I feel like I have prepared as best as I possibly can. In the early stages of the race the position might not be where we want to be but I think for the marathon and walks the back end of the races will be where it will be really testing on the preparation and hopefully I can come through the field as best as I can.”

Speaking at a pre-championships press conference, IAAF president Sebastian Coe explained the extra provisions which have been put in place amid concerns over the extreme conditions.

“We have to be mindful all the time of the welfare of the athletes,” he said. “We have a medical team that will monitor those conditions all the time.

“It has given us an opportunity to undertake a lot of work around heat management.

“We do recognise that the road events are the events that we need to watch carefully.

“Humidity is really a challenge. We do have extra precautions, we do have extra stuff out on the course – more medical support, more water. But yes, it is going to be tough.”

Nick Kyrgios has received a suspended 16-week ban and $25,000 (£20,300) fine for "aggravated behaviour", subject to a six-month probationary period.

The Australian smashed two racquets in a bad-tempered Cincinnati Masters defeat by Karen Khachanov in August.

He was later fined $113,000 (£93,254) for five separate offences.

However an ATP investigation determined Kyrgios' "pattern of behaviour" over the past 12 months to be in violation of the governing body's code.

Both fine and suspension will be triggered if the 24-year-old does not comply with certain conditions - including avoiding any further code violations incurring a fine.

"Everyone, I can still play," wrote Kyrgios on social media. "I'm just on probation.

"I just have to keep a lid on my behaviour, that's all."

At the end of August Kyrgios was warned by umpire James Keothavong for his conduct during his US Open first-round match, and later, when asked about his fine in Cincinnati, claimed the ATP was corrupt .

He then clarified those comments, adding it was "not the correct choice of words" - although he believed the ATP was guilty of "double standards".

A second investigation into those comments, allowing for Kyrgios' clarification, found no violation had occurred.

In May, he was fined after he kicked a bottle, threw down his racquet and hurled a chair before defaulting in the final set of a match at the Italian Open.

A month later, he was fined £13,766 for unsportsmanlike behaviour at Queen's.

He previously received an eight-week ban for his behaviour at the Shanghai Masters when his level of effort during a defeat by Mischa Zverev was questioned.

With Thursday's decision, any further verbal or physical abuse, unsportsmanlike conduct or any visible obscenity directed towards an official at an ATP Tour or ATP Challenger Tour event will result in a ban.

He has been given five working days to lodge an appeal.

Analysis

BBC tennis correspondent Russell Fuller

Any suspension served immediately was likely to have had little effect.

Kyrgios has just withdrawn from the remainder of his scheduled events in Asia, and is heading back to Australia for treatment on a collarbone injury, so may barely feature before the end of the season.

That, in turn, will help him to keep his nose clean, as the conditions imposed on him are stringent.

The way Kyrgios treats people, and the lack of respect he shows them, has become a dominant theme.

And so any verbal or physical abuse of umpires, line judges or spectators will see the punishment enforced in full.

Kyrgios will also be banned for 16 weeks if he makes a visible obscenity, or shows unsportsmanlike conduct like spitting towards an official.

The six-month probationary period will not end before 30 March.

Lawn Tennis Association president Martin Corrie has resigned after an investigation found the way a committee he was on dealt with a sexual assault allegation was "not good enough".

An independent investigation criticised Hertfordshire LTA's handling of an allegation made in 2004 by a player against a coach, relating to the 1990s.

Corrie was a member of Hertfordshire's Executive Committee at the time.

He temporarily stood down as LTA president in March 2018.

Corrie, who will not face a full disciplinary hearing after resigning, admitted the matter should have been handled differently at the time.

The LTA "sincerely apologised" for its failings.

The independent investigation found that the communication between the LTA and Hertfordshire LTA was "not good enough" during the 2004-05 investigation into the allegation.

The accused coach was sanctioned and his licence to coach children was revoked following an LTA enquiry in 2005.

"The independent investigation established failings in the way the matter was handled between the LTA and the Hertfordshire LTA Executive Committee, for which we sincerely apologise," said LTA chief executive Scott Lloyd in a statement.

"We will continually work to improve safeguarding standards and provide support to any members of the tennis community with concerns."