Pacific Airshow takes flight for 10th anniversary in Huntington Beach

• October 3, 2026

The clear blue sky was a welcome background on Friday for the first day of the 10th annual Pacific Airshow as civilian and military pilots performed overhead in Huntington Beach.

The United States Air Force Thunderbirds crisscrossed the skies above in tight formations; the Royal Air Force Falcons parachute team whirled in a choreographed performance as members floated to the ground; and civilian planes looped and dove, doing aerial acrobatics as audience members on the ground craned their necks to watch.

The US Air Force Thunderbirds and Canadian Forces Snowbirds are headlining this year’s air show, which repeats its lineup Saturday and Sunday, but the Air Force F-22 Raptor demo team, the NASA F-5 Formation Team, US Marines MV-22 Osprey and several more military craft are on the schedule, along with civilians flying crafts such as a MIG-17, a Subsonex Microjet, historical planes and more.

​ Orange County Register 

Tennessee’s handling of the death penalty is again questioned after failed execution

• October 3, 2026

By ANNA WILDER, JOHN HANNA and SAFIYAH RIDDLE

Christa Pike’s failed execution followed other death penalty miscues in Tennessee, which performs just a fraction of the nation’s executions but is now halting them for a second time since 2022, reigniting questions over the state’s handling of capital punishment.

Pike, 50, remained on a ventilator and unconscious at a Nashville-area hospital on Friday, according to her attorneys, who say she was poked with needles at least seven times in the state’s death chamber and then hospitalized with burned and blistered arms after being given two doses of lethal drugs.

The unsuccessful attempt was the second failed execution in four months in Tennessee. Since 2022, the state has carried out just four of the more than 140 executions that have taken place nationwide, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

Republican Gov. Bill Lee paused executions in the state following the unsuccessful attempt to put Pike to death and ordered an independent investigation into what went wrong, as both critics and supporters of the death penalty called for changes.

“Number one, I think we need to get better people that are doing these executions because I don’t know that they’re trained well enough to be doing this on difficult patients,” said Republican state Sen. Joey Hensley, a family physician, adding that he suspects the IV line was not properly inserted.

Pike’s attorneys say executioners failed to properly set IV lines

Days after the attempt to execute Pike, who received two lethal doses of pentobarbital, she had blisters on her arms from the bleach-like, caustic substance that was injected into her body, her attorneys wrote in an emergency court filing on Friday.

Pike’s attorneys said they believed problems with the IV lines caused the pentobarbital to flow into her body instead of her bloodstream.

“Apparently at no point did any member of the execution team realize that the IV lines were not correctly placed or that the veins had blown and that the pentobarbital was, in whole or in part, entering Ms. Pike’s body,” they wrote.

They wrote that instead of “remedying this failure” prison officials prepared and administered a backup set of pentobarbital syringes.

Tennessee has come under fire before

Pike’s case is not the first time Tennessee’s execution practices have drawn criticism.

Earlier this year, Tennessee stopped the execution of Tony Carruthers after medical workers placed an IV into his right arm but couldn’t get a secondary IV line, proceeding to attempt to place one into his other arm, his left hand and his left foot, then finally failing to establish a central line.

Lee ordered officials to wait at least a year before trying to execute Carruthers again.

Four years before that, the governor ordered an independent review into capital punishment after abruptly stopping the April 2022 execution of Oscar Smith in the 11th hour when officials became aware of a mishandling of the drugs. Lee paused all executions over a week later after acknowledging the state had failed to ensure its lethal injection drugs were properly tested.

The report he ordered, released in late December 2022, found that the state hadn’t complied with its own lethal injection process since it was revised in 2018.

In that time period, Tennessee put seven inmates to death — two by injection and five in the electric chair. The report said that in none of those, nor in the execution Lee halted, did the pharmacy conduct the required test for endotoxins, and in one of the lethal injections, the drug midazolam was not tested for potency.

At the time, the state’s lethal injections were performed through a three-drug series of midazolam, vecuronium bromide and potassium chloride. The state later switched to using just pentobarbital.

The report, conducted by former U.S. Attorney Ed Stanton, also found that the state’s unidentified executioner had no formal healthcare training and learned the role mainly through on-the-job experience.

After the release of the report, the Tennessee Department of Correction fired its longtime top attorney and another employee.

One of Pike’s attorneys, Steve Ferrell, was skeptical of the progress made since those revelations, saying the investigation resulted in “a less detailed protocol and more secrecy.”

Executioners often have little medical training, expert says

It’s not uncommon for executioners to have minimal medical training, according to Corinna Lain, a law professor at the University of Richmond and author of a book on lethal injections.

Lain said lethal injection has become more popular because it is considered less gruesome and hides the violence of state killing. But she said that, even when states follow protocol, the method still poses risks. A number of attorneys have echoed those concerns in lawsuits, arguing that the method is unconstitutional.

Lain said she has only found about 10 medically licensed doctors in the entire country who work with states on executions. Doctors she interviewed told her that they believed executions to be contrary to their oath to take care of people.

In many ways, executions are shrouded in secrecy. The identity of execution team members, the details about where and how lethal drugs are procured, and in some states even what happens in the death chamber is hidden from public view.

“Tennessee has botched executions so badly that two people this year have survived their own executions,” Lain said. “That’s quite something.”

Still, experts like Jordan Steiker, the co-director of the Capital Punishment Center at the University of Texas, say that the method is likely to continue to be an option for states with the death penalty.

That is in large part, Steiker said, because of a deferential judicial approach to the execution process, which has consistently empowered states to carry out executions.

“I think it gives states confidence that even if they take shortcuts, it’s unlikely that the courts will intervene in their ability to carry out executions,” Steiker said.

​ Orange County Register 

Santa Anita consensus picks for Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026

• October 3, 2026

The consensus box of Santa Anita horse racing picks comes from handicappers Bob Mieszerski, Eddie Wilson, Kevin Modesti and Mark Ratzky. Here are the picks for thoroughbred races on Saturday, October 3, 2026.

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​ Orange County Register 

Social Distortion roars through Hollywood homecoming at the Palladium

• October 3, 2026

Social Distortion was born in Orange County in 1978, but as its founder Mike Ness reminded the sold-out crowd inside the Hollywood Palladium on Thursday, Oct. 1, it quickly found a second home in the now-gentrified neighborhoods outside the venue.

“Social Distortion cut their teeth in Hollywood,” the singer-guitarist said halfway through the first of two nights at the Palladium. “Just underage kids hanging out in the clubs and bars and basements, underground clubs, as we watched a scene flourish.

“There were no rules,” Ness continued. “There was no Flock cameras, I’ll tell you that. And there were no ICE … either.”

As fans cheered, Social Distortion jumped into “The Way Things Were” as images of punk rock kids and handmade gig flyers flashed on the video screens behind the band.

Social Distortion has played regularly around Southern California for years, often with extended runs in Los Angeles and Orange County. But the current Born To Kill tour is different in one key way.

This time, the band has a new studio album to take on the road, “Born To Kill,” its first in 15 years. Maybe we’re imagining things, but the new songs, which fit seamlessly alongside the classics, seemed to come together for a particularly fierce performance on Thursday of 17 songs over 90 minutes.

The title track of “Born To Kill” kicked off the show, its lyrical nods to David Bowie, Lou Reed and Iggy Pop underscored by the recording of Bowie’s “Rebel Rebel” that brought the band to the stage. “Ring of Fire,” which Social Distortion covered on its 1990 self-titled album and has played regularly ever since, had the crowd singing along loudly for the first of many times in the night.

That set the template for the rest of the night. New songs “Tonight” and “No Way” were followed by “The Creeps” and “Mommy’s Little Monster” from Social D’s 1983 debut “Mommy’s Little Monster.”

“The Way Things Were” from the new record slipped into “Lude Boy,” one of the band’s earliest releases as part of the 1981 punk compilation “Hell Comes to Your House.”

“I’m not gonna lie,” Ness said by way of introducing the latter number. “I don’t want to be a bad example for the youngsters here tonight because at the time I wrote this, it was about the glorification of the use of drugs. But I’m here to tell you, almost 41 years later, without a drug or alcohol or anything, that that life was not all what it was cracked up to be, people.

“There was nothing but misery, and this is a song that kind of comes with a warning,” he continued in his trademark raspy drawl. “Much like a cigarette pack, it says you might get cancer with smoking.

“Here’s the deal: what you didn’t want to do is take a couple Quaaludes, take six or seven beers, and run into your arch enemy,” Ness said. “You take a great big risk, people, of getting your left ear bit off in a parking lot.”

[If that sounds like a particularly specific example of the dangers of Quaaludes, youngsters, it’s because it actually happened to Ness in a fight outside Cuckoo’s Nest in Costa Mesa in the early ’80s.]

After another pair of new songs that sound so much like classic Social D, you might not notice their recent vintage, the back run of the main set focused on fan favorites.

“Ball and Chain” had the audience singing loudly as Ness and guitarist Jonny “2 Bags” Wickersham traded guitar riffs. [Like Ness and Wickersham, bassist Brent Harding, drummer David Hidalgo Jr., and touring keyboardist David Kalish were terrific on Thursday.]

After “Through These Eyes,” Ness paused to thank fans for getting out of the house on a weeknight to come to the show.

“I realize you could have stayed at home on your couch watching back-to-back episodes of ‘Judge Judy,’” he said before slipping into an introduction of the main-set closer.

“Musicians are kind of like reporters,” Ness said. “They see things, they observe things, and then they write it down on paper and bring it to you.

“We’re like the evening press,” he added, and then kicked off “Story of My Life,” with its reportage from the front lines of Mike Ness’s many journeys.

After the break, Social Distortion returned for a trio of songs in the encore, opening with “Reach For the Sky” and “Bad Luck,” two more rowdy singalongs.

“Don’t Drag Me Down,” a song Ness has said reflects his anger at racism and discrimination of all kinds, and the ignorance that allows it to persist.

“We believe that it’s immigrants that make the country,” he said by way of introducing this final number. “And I’ve got to be honest. If I lived in a [bleeped]-up country, with corruption, poverty, violence, terror, and I had a chance to sneak into a country to make a better life for my family? If I had a chance to do that, I’d [bleepin’] do it in a heartbeat.”

Earlier, the Descendents blazed through about 25 songs in 50 minutes. The band formed in Manhattan Beach at the end of the ’70s is one of the few true peers of Social Distortion still going. And their fandoms seem to overlap closely as well, the same faces singing along to both bands’ sets, and in some cases, crowd surfing during both sets, too.

Songs such as “Everything Sux” which opened Descendents set, and “I Don’t Want to Grow Up,” which followed soon after, have a bratty, fun Southern California punk attitude that contrasts nicely with Social Distortion’s more serious sound. Highlights included ” ‘Merica,” “Coolidge,” and “I’m The One.”

Before Descendents, the young Australian band the Chats played a 30-minute set of their entertaining brand of garage punk, with fans again moshing and crowd surfing throughout a run of songs that wrapped up with “Smoko” and “Pub Feed,” two of their best-known songs here thanks to the goofy fun of the music videos.

​ Orange County Register 

Yankees turn to Gerrit Cole for ALDS opener against Rays

• October 2, 2026

By ROB MAADDI AP Sports Writer

The Tampa Bay Rays got new owners, a deal for a “forever home” stadium and finished with the best record in the American League.

That’s quite a year already. Now the real fun begins.

October baseball has arrived and a matchup against the big, bad New York Yankees is next for the Rays.

It’s David vs. Goliath in terms of payroll – the Yankees opened the season with MLB’s third-highest payroll at $302.8 million vs. the Rays ranking 27th at $90.5 million.

But that didn’t stop Tampa Bay from winning the AL East.

“They do a lot of things really well,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of the Rays. “It’s been impressive what they’ve been able to do from the start of the year to the finish. They haven’t had many lulls in the season, and those handful of weeks where they’ve struggled a little bit, they’ve answered it really well. So it’s a confident group, an athletic group, and we obviously have to be at our best to have a chance to win.”

Former UCLA and Orange Lutheran standout Gerrit Cole will start for the Yankees against Drew Rasmussen and the Rays in Saturday’s AL Division Series opener (3:30 p.m. PT, TBS, truTV). Aaron Judge’s status is uncertain due to a calf injury but there’s plenty of star power in both dugouts.

From Ben Rice, Cody Bellinger and Luis Garcia Jr. for New York to AL MVP candidate Junior Caminero, Yandy Diaz and Jonathan Aranda for Tampa Bay, both lineups are littered with talent.

“With our two organizations, there are no secrets,” said Rasmussen, who has had success against the Yankees. “They know who I am. They know how I operate. But on the flip side, like I said, I’m a pretty big believer it’s me versus execution, not me versus the New York Yankees. And so, we’re going to have a game plan going in, and we’re going to do our best to execute it to the best of our abilities. And if we have to tweak some things or change on the fly, I’ve got the best pitching coach in baseball, so that makes life a lot easier.”

The Rays, who were 28th in home attendance this season, have even removed upper deck tarps and sold out Tropicana Field for Game 1, though many fans will be wearing navy and rooting for the Yankees whose spring training home is across the bay in Tampa.

No team had a better home record than the Rays’ 55-26 mark in 2026.

“There was no doubt at certain points of the season there was genuine excitement to get back to the Trop, get back to playing in front of our fans,” Cash said. “I don’t think necessarily the ballpark does anything to help our style of play, but there is an energy that the fans bring in, and we’re looking forward to kind of witnessing that energy.”

Bring on the cowbells.

“We worked really hard to get the bye and to start the series here at the Trop means a lot to us,” said Caminero, who hit .276 with 42 home runs and 101 RBIs.

STARTERS MATCHUP

Cole was set to start Game 3 of the Wild Card Series against Boston on Thursday, but the Yankees swept their longtime division rival. The 36-year-old right-hander, a six-time All-Star, was 10-9 with a 3.61 ERA in 22 starts this season after recovering from Tommy John surgery that caused him to miss the 2025 season.

Rasmussen was 16-5 with a 2.67 ERA for the Rays and made the All-Star team for the second straight season. The 31-year-old right-hander twice had surgery for a torn ligament in his elbow in college and needed an internal brace procedure in July 2023 that forced him to miss more than a year.

He is 5-2 with a 1.81 ERA in 10 starts and one relief appearance against the Yankees, striking out 70 in 59⅔ innings.

ROSTER DECISIONS

Judge, a three-time AL MVP who hasn’t played since Sept. 16 because of a calf injury, took live batting practice on Thursday at Yankee Stadium and worked out Friday at the team’s spring training ballpark in Tampa. New York must submit its 26-man roster to Major League Baseball by Saturday at 10 a.m. ET, 8-9 hours before the opener.

Cash said outfielder Chandler Simpson (foot), right-hander Garrett Cleavinger (forearm) and right-hander Tyler Wells (forearm) should be ready to play.

FRIENDLY RIVALRY

When the Rays had no place to play home games in 2025 following damage to the Trop caused by Hurricane Milton on Oct. 9, 2024, the Yankees welcomed them into their spring training stadium at Steinbrenner Field.

The teams have only met once in the postseason, when Tampa Bay beat the Yankees 3-2 in a 2020 ALDS and won the franchise’s second pennant.

CHASING A RING

The Rays have never won the World Series, losing to the Phillies in 2008 and the Dodgers in 2020. They haven’t won a postseason series since 2020 and were eliminated in their first series each year from 2021-23.

The Yankees are seeking a 28th World Series trophy but haven’t won it since defeating Philadelphia in 2009.

​ Orange County Register 

Protesters walk 96 miles – from desert to L.A. – to denounce ICE

• October 2, 2026

For these protesters, a week-long, 96-mile pilgrimage on foot through Southern California’s desert, forest, mountainous and urban terrain is nothing compared to what they call deplorable conditions and deaths at immigration detention centers.

It is, those who call themselves “pilgrims” said, a sacred journey.

“A pilgrimage is a sacred practice in many faith traditions,” said the Rev. Jennifer Gutierrez, a Los Angeles-based United Methodist Church minister walking the Clear the Road to Freedom pilgrimage that began earlier this week outside the Adelanto immigration detention center. “That’s what this pilgrimage is for us. You physically walk or journey to a sacred site, but it’s also a spiritual journey, closer to God.”

Gutierrez is executive director of Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, which organized the first-ever pilgrimage along with interfaith and immigration advocates from around the region. Protesters aim to draw attention to and “call for an end to cruel immigration policy, and a close to all detention centers,” a news release states.

On Thursday, Oct. 1, an ICE spokesperson denounced the protesters’ claims as false.

The water at the Adelanto facility is “accessible 24/7,” tested regularly in “state-certificated, third-party laboratories,” and is the same used by residents and businesses in the city, an unnamed spokesperson wrote in an email.

The spokesperson also said that ICE facilities provide “safe, secure, and humane” conditions for prisoners, plus three nutritious meals a day that accommodate special diets, which is “consistent” with national detention centers. The centers offer medical, dental and mental health services to detainees, including 24-hour emergency care.

“All detainees are provided with proper meals, water, medical treatment, and have opportunities to communicate with their family members and lawyers,” the statement said. “ICE has higher detention standards than most U.S. prisons that hold actual U.S. citizens. It is a longstanding practice to provide comprehensive medical care from the moment an alien enters ICE custody. This is the best healthcare than many aliens have received in their entire lives.”

The spokesperson added that: “While detention is not a destination resort, ICE remains committed to maintaining appropriate conditions of confinement, and rejects baseless allegations regarding the treatment of those in its care. Facility staff treat all detainees equally, respectfully and with dignity … detention is a choice.”

The protest journey began Tuesday, Sept. 29, at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in the High Desert in San Bernardino County. It is traveling through parts of the Inland Empire and San Gabriel Valley, before reaching its endpoint at the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday, Oct. 6.

The faithful denounced the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign, which since 2025 has called for ramped-up Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations and thousands of detained immigrants at federal centers nationwide.

“We reflect on what is keeping us from God, what are we doing here?” Gutierrez said. “I would argue that the treatment of our immigrant neighbors is what’s keeping us from the community that God wants us to be and create together. How can we as a community come together to really protect our neighbors, honor their humanity, being children of God?”

Immigrants detained at Adelanto — including the families of several detainees who have died inside — have alleged inhumane conditions such as spoiled or inadequate food, dirty water or lack of medical care.

The pilgrims say they have heard enough from ICE and many said they hope to protest for those for whom it is not safe to speak out.

The walk is also raising money for a detained immigrant bond fund run by Gutierrez’s organization. Since its launch in June 2025, the fund has raised about $2 million and helped pay the bonds of at least 190 detained immigrants, officials said.

At least 15 people from different faith traditions — including Christian pastors, Jewish rabbis, and laypersons  — are walking the entire east-to-west route, putting in eight to 10 hours a day. The trek includes stops in Hesperia, the Cajon Pass, Lytle Creek, Fontana, La Verne, Monrovia and Alhambra on the way to L.A.

The journey started with a prayer vigil in front of the Adelanto detention center on Tuesday. Hundreds of immigration advocates joined as the pilgrimage departed, with more joining along the way or supporting from afar, Gutierrez said.

“Two people who had been inside talked about how it impacted them, and one guy said the hardest part — aside from the rotten food, water, etc. — was being away from his family, his kids,” Gutierrez said. “Now that he’s back home, sometimes in the middle of the night his kids will wake up afraid, and check just to make sure he’s not gone … that really got me.”

“It’s now been over a year since these raids have started, so there are people who have been in detention for over a year, experiencing those conditions,” Gutierrez said. “At what point does that person forget that they’re a valued human being, that people outside miss them?”

The pilgrims start each day with a morning prayer circle, in which people talk about their intentions for the day. They end with nightly reflections from people who have been affected by ICE who share their testimony.

When the protesters reach downtown L.A. on Tuesday, they plan to join the midday prayer gathering of mothers and godmothers “of the disappeared,” which for over a year have been protesting weekly on Tuesdays outside the federal detention center, demanding the release of those detained or arrested by immigration officers. The Tuesday afternoon protests are open to the public.

All people of faith are invited to join in the pilgrimage, Gutierrez said, whether by walking the route or spiritually through prayer.

“It’s hardening our resolve. Our bodies are on fire, after all the walking, but also we have more resolve to continue the journey, praying each step is a step in the name of justice.”

​ Orange County Register 

Anaheim woman charged with felony animal cruelty after allegedly killing puppy by driving her van over it

• October 2, 2026

A 75-year-old Anaheim woman is facing felony animal cruelty and abuse charges after prosecutors allege she used dog food to lure her 9-month-old puppy under her van and then ran over and killed the pup.

Hanh Minh Nguyen is also facing a felony enhancement for using her vehicle as a weapon to kill Blackey, her black and white pit bull mix, an alleged animal killing that was caught on surveillance video.

Nguyen has not yet entered a plea, and it was unclear from court records whether she has hired or been appointed an attorney.

After her arrest, Nguyen was released on $20,000 bail, prosecutors say. She is scheduled to appear in court in early November.

At around 9 a.m. on Sept. 8, animal services officers responded to reports of a dead puppy in Santa Ana that appeared to have been run over. They found the dog’s head crushed, and dog food on the street near where it appeared the puppy had been run over, according to an Orange County District Attorney’s Office statement.

Prosecutors say surveillance footage from a nearby home showed Nguyen take the puppy out of her green Honda Odyssey minivan before placing it under the vehicle.

Nguyen placed dog food near her driver’s side door, prosecutors said, then moved the minivan forward slowly as the puppy approached the food. Nguyen drove over the puppy’s head with the minivan’s rear tire before driving off, prosecutors added.

Automated license plate reader technology identified the minivan from the video footage and led investigators to Nguyen, prosecutors said.

Santa Ana police officers found the minivan in Nguyen’s garage on Oct. 1 and arrested her. She admitted to owning and abandoning the dog, police previously alleged, but did not acknowledge purposely running over the puppy.

Police previously said that Nguyen’s boyfriend was annoyed at the puppy for chewing his shoes, leading Nguyen to allegedly decide to abandon the dog at a park. The boyfriend told police that Nguyen told him the dog had been run over, police previously said. But the boyfriend allegedly added that Nguyen didn’t tell him that she had run over the dog, and he was apparently surprised when she was arrested.

“This act of violence not only ended the life of an innocent puppy, but it also inflicted trauma on every single person who came across the video footage of the murder of an animal,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a statement. “Violence is not a singular act. It inflicts pain and suffering on those who are subjected to it and on those who witness it…

“As the elected District Attorney of Orange County, I refuse to accept a society in which violence of any kind is acceptable, and those who engage in violence, whether it is against human beings or animals, will be prosecuted to the fullest extent,” Spitzer added.

The charges against Nguyen represent the latest in several recent high-profile animal cruelty cases in Orange County.

In July, Irvine dog trainer Kwong “Tony” Chun Sit was sentenced to 11 years and 10 months behind bars for the deaths of 11 dogs in his care, while a woman he worked with, Tingeng Liu, received three years for helping Sit try to dispose of the bodies of the dogs.

Weeks later, Priscilla Martin — a 33-year-old homeless woman who claimed to run an animal rescue operation — was arrested after more than a dozen dogs were rescued from her locked, sun-baked car in Newport Beach on the Fourth of July. Martin has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

​ Orange County Register 

Chargers could be hurting at wide receiver vs. Seahawks

• October 2, 2026

EL SEGUNDO — The Chargers ruled out rookie wide receiver Brenen Thompson for Sunday’s game against the Seattle Seahawks because of an injured quadricep muscle, the second consecutive game he’s been sidelined. They also listed wide receiver Ladd McConkey as questionable to play because of a foot ailment.

McConkey also dealt with a rib injury earlier this season.

Tight end Charlie Kolar was ruled out after undergoing surgery last week on his forearm. The Chargers didn’t place him on injured reserve after he was hurt in their loss in Week 2 to the Las Vegas Raiders, believing he could be sound enough to avoid having to sit out the mandatory four-week window while on IR.

Thompson did not participate in practice Friday. He hasn’t played since Week 2 against the Raiders when he recorded his first NFL reception. McConkey and Kolar were said to be limited in their participation Friday, which was an improvement from Thursday, when neither joined teammates for practice.

So, going into Sunday’s game against the Super Bowl champion Seahawks, the Chargers’ are hurting at two key positions. Facing the Seahawks and their standout defense at anything but full strength likely leaves the Chargers’ sputtering offense in a vulnerable position Sunday.

Coach Jim Harbaugh couldn’t or wouldn’t say Friday whether McConkey was injured during practice this week or during the Chargers’ 24-16 loss this past Sunday to the Buffalo Bills. McConkey is the Chargers’ leading receiver with 12 catches for 183 yards, an average gain of 15.3 yards, and one touchdown.

If the Chargers are forced to play without McConkey on Sunday, wide receiver Tre’ Harris could become the top target for quarterback Justin Herbert. Harris caught a team-leading six passes for 76 yards against the Bills. McConkey caught four passes for 66 yards.

Wide receiver Quentin Johnston hasn’t emerged as a key threat in Mike McDaniel’s offense this season. He has six receptions for 64 yards, and he had one dropped pass on a key third-down play Sunday against Buffalo. Herbert targeted him six times against the Bills.

Asked if still had confidence in Johnston, Herbert said, “Absolutely. He’ll make the next play. He’s done such a good job of bouncing back and it’s unfortunate the way it went. I could have given him a better ball. We’d love to have those plays back, and it’s something I can get next time.”

INJURIES (PART 2)

In addition to Kolar and Thompson, left guard Kayode Awosika (fibula) and defensive lineman Dalvin Tomlinson (hamstring) will not play Sunday. They were injured in the Chargers’ 26-14 loss to the Raiders on Sept. 27 at SoFi Stadium, and there isn’t a timetable for their return.

Safety Derwin James Jr. (hamstring) is questionable to play as are cornerback Donte Jackson (concussion), backup quarterback Trey Lance (groin) and safety Elijah Molden (hamstring). Jackson could exit the NFL’s concussion protocol and play Sunday only if he clears specific benchmarks. Molden was a full participant in practice this week.

SMITH IMPRESSES

James, a five-time Pro Bowl selection, has been impressed by rookie safety Genesis Smith since the spring practices. James’ praise for Smith’s play grew exponentially after Smith intercepted Bills quarterback Josh Allen, the NFL’s MVP in 2024, not once but twice Sunday.

“Oh, I told him, ‘You can go make a pick on Josh Allen, for them to be your first two picks, bro, you should have all the confidence in the world,’” James said. “He doesn’t lack confidence, man. He’s humble, but he’s a guy who works hard. I love having him as a brother, as a teammate. I’m happy he’s having the success he’s having.”

A fourth-round draft pick out of Arizona in April, Smith has played an enhanced role while Molden has been sidelined for the past two games.

​ Orange County Register