Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was a limited participant in practice Wednesday for the first time since he suffered a concussion in Week 16, clearing the way for him to start this weekend in an NFC wild-card playoff game.

Barring setbacks, Hurts is expected to return for Sunday’s home game against the Green Bay Packers.

The Eagles (14-3) had said nothing until Wednesday about Hurts’ health since he suffered a concussion and left a Dec. 22 game early against Washington. He missed the final two games — where backups Kenny Pickett and Tanner McKee led the Eagles to victories — and coach Nick Sirianni had said only that Hurts remained in the NFL concussion protocol.

Hurts was 20 of 34 for 278 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions and led the Eagles to a 34-29 victory over the Packers in the season opener.

Hurts, who played late in the season with a broken finger on his non-throwing hand, threw for 2,903 yards this season with 18 touchdowns and five interceptions. He threw only one interception after the NFC East champion Eagles returned from their Week 5 bye.

The San Francisco 49ers fired defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen after just one disappointing season, multiple sources reported.

The Niners are making significant changes to their coaching staff after going 6-11 this season and missing playoffs. Special teams coordinator Brian Schneider also was fired on Tuesday, reports said.

This is the third straight offseason that San Francisco will change defensive coordinators, starting when DeMeco Ryans left following the 2022 season to take over as head coach for Houston.

The Carolina Panthers bean to make changes to their defensive staff after giving up the most points in NFL history this season.

The team fired secondary coach Bert Watts, outside linebackers coach Tem Lukabu and quality control coach Bobby Maffei, multiple sources reported.

Doping

The U.S. government did not pay the more than $3.6 million due to the World Anti-Doping Agency in 2024, making good on a long-running threat anchored in unhappiness with the global watchdog’s handling of cases involving Chinese swimmers and others.

Those funds, normally distributed by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, represent about 6% of WADA’s annual budget.

WADA statutes say representatives of countries that don’t pay are not eligible to sit on the agency’s top decision-making panels. U.S. drug czar Rahul Gupta is listed as a member of the WADA executive committee.

Gupta said the ONDCP was “evaluating all our options,” and did not rule out eventually sending the money to WADA.

“WADA must take concrete actions to restore trust in the world antidoping system and provide athletes the full confidence they deserve,” he said. “When U.S. taxpayer dollars are allocated, we must ensure full accountability and it is our responsibility to ensure those funds are used appropriately.”

In 2022, when Gupta held out, then eventually directed his office to send the balance of its yearly contribution, he did so with reservations, along with a letter saying the U.S. absence at the time from key policymaking positions was “a sorry state of affairs.”

Half of WADA’s budget is covered by the International Olympic Committee, with the other half covered by governments across the world, which receive 50% of the spots on key WADA governing committees.

The U.S. contribution is double that of Canada, the home country for WADA that puts in the second most money among the more than 180 countries that contribute.

The funding fight has been going on for at least the last six years, with the talking points not much different between the Trump and Biden administrations.

Dissatisfied over the handling of the Russian doping scandal, the first Trump White House started asking for reforms with the potential of tying them to its annual payment. More recently, WADA’s handling of cases involving 23 Chinese swimmers has been a focal point of criticism.

A government study that came out in 2020 concluded Americans didn’t get their money’s worth from the contribution. Shortly after, Congress gave the ONDCP discretion to withhold future funding.

In between, tensions have grown between WADA and the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, which runs the drug-fighting program in the United States.

“Unfortunately, the current WADA leaders left the U.S. with no other option after failing to deliver on several very reasonable requests, such as an independent audit of WADA’s operations” in the wake of the Chinese doping saga, USADA CEO Travis Tygart said.

MLB

Infielder Amed Rosario and the Washington Nationals agreed to a $2 million, one-year contract.

Rosario, 29, hit .280 with 18 doubles, 3 triples, 3 home runs, 32 RBIs, 13 stolen bases and 29 runs over 103 games last season with Tampa Bay, Cincinnati and the Dodgers.

The Chicago White Sox added Martín Pérez to their rotation, agreeing to a one-year contract with the left-hander, multiple sources reported. Pérez, 33, played for Pittsburgh and San Diego last season, going 5-6 with a 4.53 ERA in 26 starts.

DEATHS

Brian Matusz, the left-handed pitcher who spent eight seasons in the major leagues, mostly with the Baltimore Orioles as they returned to prominence a decade ago, has died. He was 37.

The Orioles and the University of San Diego announced Matusz’s death Tuesday night. They did not announce a cause of death.