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NFL

Bolts' Verrett tears Achilles in conditioning test

COSTA MESA, Calif. — Los Angeles Chargers cornerback Jason Verrett was diagnosed with a torn Achilles tendon on Friday.

Verrett was injured while running during a conditioning test Friday morning. The team said Verrett will undergo more testing on his Achilles on Saturday, but it is expected that he will miss the season.

The 27-year-old Verrett has dealt with the frustration of a left ACL injury suffered during a Week 3 contest in 2016 that never fully healed, requiring a second procedure in September of last year.

However, Verrett had worked without a brace this offseason and was fully cleared for the first time in nearly two years, with the hope of returning to Pro Bowl form in 2018.

Including the 2018 season, Verrett will have missed 55 of a possible 80 games in five seasons with the Chargers. He was a first-round pick out of TCU in 2014 and played in the Pro Bowl after the 2015 season.

Third-year pro Trevor Williams played well in place of Verrett last season and likely will be tasked with doing the same thing in 2018.

Verrett is in the final year of his rookie contract after the Chargers picked up his fifth-year option. He is scheduled to make $8.526 million in 2018.

Soccer

Klopp: Ramos was ruthless, brutal in Champions League final

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp scolded Sergio Ramos for injuring Mohamed Salah in the Champions League final – and the referee for his inaction.

Ramos left Salah with a dislocated shoulder and goalkeeper Loris Karius with a concussion in Kyiv. Karius, who proceeded to make two calamitous errors, eventually required medical assistance in the United States.

The controversial center-back pleaded innocence in the days and months after Real Madrid’s 3-1 win, but again faced criticism Friday.

“We are opening that bottle again? It is action-reaction-action-reaction and I don’t like that but – if you watch it back and you are not with Real Madrid – then you think it is ruthless and brutal,” Klopp told reporters, per Reuters. “I saw the ref taking charge of big games at the World Cup and nobody really thinks about that later. But in a situation like that somebody needs to judge it better.

“If VAR is coming then it is a situation where you have to look again. Not to give a red card but to look and say, ‘What is that?’ It was ruthless.”

Klopp – who was asked about the incident Saturday before an International Champions Cup exhibition against Manchester United – emphasized that he wasn’t trying to make excuses for the defeat.

But he made no qualms about Ramos using dirty tricks to influence the outcome.

“I’m not sure it is an experience we will have again – go there and put an elbow to the goalkeeper, put their goalscorer down like a wrestler in midfield and then you win the game,” Klopp added. “That was the story of the game.”