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On Monday night, the Washington Redskins issued on behalf of running back Clinton Portis a terse statement, in which Portis said that he has not been involved in dog fighting, and that he does not condone dog fighting.

The statement was issued in response to a television interview in which Portis seemed to plainly and clearly condone the potential involvement of Falcons quarterback Mike Vick in dog fighting. The nonchalance that Portis displayed on the topic prompted many (including us) to suspect that Portis has been to a dog fight or two himself.

Now, the team has issued a statement of its own: "The Washington Redskins, as an organization, obviously would never condone anything related to animal cruelty. The team takes the recent comments of Clinton Portis very seriously and apologizes to everyone that was offended."

Wait a minute. Why hasn't Portis apologized? If he was made to offer up a "clarification" of his televised remarks (which more fairly should have been labeled a "contradiction"), Portis also should have been compelled to say that he's sorry.

Unless, of course, he isn't. Or, more specifically, if he refused to attach his name to an apology.

The storm of criticism that the remarks of Portis sparked is just a hint of the furor that will erupt if/when Vick is ever charged with dog fighting. The pressure on the league and on the Falcons to take swift and decisive action will be intense, and animal rights groups and NFL fans will undoubtedly begin lobbying the league's sponsors to join in the chorus.

Anyone who thinks that such an approach would not be effective should give Don Imus a call.

A league source tells us that Browns receiver Braylon Edwards missed Tuesday's voluntary OTA practice because he was attending a speaking engagement in connection with his recent pledge of up to $1 million to assist Cleveland-area students.

If true, why didn't the team say so when questioned about his absence? If the team didn't know, why didn't Edwards tell them?

It makes no sense to us, and it's the kind of miscommunication that can drive a wedge between a player and a team.

As Michael David Smith noted in his Tuesday Morning One-Liners, Vikings cornerback Antoine Winfield is not attending the team's Organized Training Activities.

Coach Brad Childress says that, to his knowledge, Winfield has not requested a trade out of town. But it wouldn't surprise us if he does (or if he already has and Childress is simply lying about it).

Winfield sounded off about the defense in 2005, and about the offense in 2006. It's also possible that Winfield believes that his coverage skills (but not his supreme tackling abilities) are wasted in the Vikings' Tampa 2 defensive scheme.

When the Viking signed Winfield three years ago, they gave him a large roster bonus in lieu of a signing bonus. As a practical matter, then, a trade of Winfield would not result in a major cap hit. Also, under the new CBA, the Vikings arguably would have no ability to attack any of the bonus money that Winfield was paid if he decides not to show up for any non-voluntary drills.

For the second time in a matter of days, a member of the Washington Redskins has run his mouth about a topic that is better left ignored.

On Friday, running back Clinton Portis sounded off about dog fighting, claiming that it's no big deal if Falcons quarterback Mike Vick has been involved in such activities. Roughly 99 percent of our readers who have submitted e-mails on the topic believe that Portis came off as a doofis.

On Monday, offensive lineman Todd Wade admitted that the team's offseason training program, which is supposed to be free from contact, has plenty of it.

Said Wade, according to the Washington Times: "You say that OTAs are noncontact, but I'm going as hard as I can and so is the guy on the other side of the ball. Everyone's pretty bruised up. I'm not hitting with my helmet, but I'm hitting as hard as I would with my hands."

It's the worst-kept offseason secret in the NFL. There is contact in the offseason. Especially on the line, where the hitting is often "live," but without pads.

In fact, we've heard in the past that linemen would prefer to have pads on for the offseason workouts, in order to protect themselves from inadvertent blows from helmets and knees.

Two years ago, the Redskins got in trouble after posting video on their web site of contact drills in offseason practices. It remains to be seen whether the NFLPA will take action when the evidence isn't so gift-wrapped.

Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that Browns receiver Braylon Edwards was a no-show for the first day of the team's voluntary Organized Training Activities.

All other players on the team were present, with the exception of center LeCharles Bentley, who is slated to have yet another surgery to address complications of his torn patella tendon from the first practice of training camp in 2006.

"Braylon was not here today,'' coach Romeo Crennel said. "He contacted us early this morning and said he wasn't going to be here. He should be here [Wednesday]. This is a voluntary camp. They don't have to be here."

Crennel said that Edwards didn't give a reason for skipping the 90-minute session.

It could be that Edwards is chafed about rumors that the Browns were floating his name in pre-draft trade discussions. But Edwards said last week that he was turning over a new leaf, in conjunction with a pledge to donate $1 million to Cleveland students.

Robert Comer uttered that rallying cry with a smile on his face. The smile faded until he passed out and expired.

We're not sure how we feel about all of this. We're generally against the notion of capital punishment, but would be inclined to reconsider our position (swiftly) if the underlying crime was committed against a member of our family.

If nothing else, this story is further proof of how strongly many people feel about their favorite football teams. And it makes us even more convinced that the league's current efforts to export the NFL to other countries could give the other kind of football a real run for its money as the most popular sport in the world.

Steelers spokesman Dave Lockett confirmed reports of the inappropriate message, but did not disclose any of the names involved. "The sending of inappropriate e-mail messages is against club and league policy, and the sender has been warned about the policy violation. The sender has issued an apology to all of the recipients," Lockett said.

Lockett said that no other team executives will be addressing the matter, and head coach Mike Tomlin was not available to address the matter after Tuesday's launch of the team's Organized Training Activities.

Bouchette writes that the team is not expected to punish either offensive line coach Larry Zierlein (who sent the message to the league's "All General Managers" distribution list, which includes many high-level club and league office employees and their secretaries) or pro personnel director Doug Whaley, who received the message from an external sender and forwarded it to Zierlein.

Though we don't believe that either man should be disciplined severely for the violation of the rules, some league insiders were surprised by the outcome. Said one executive from another team: "When the e-mail came to us we figured they would be fired by the end of the day."

Said another source: "I saw the e-mail. It was brutal. . . . I feel bad for Whaley, a little. He's a good dude, works hard, handles himself very professionally. He's going to have that follow him around for a long time. Zierlein's irrelevant. He's older. This would be his last job probably anyways."

We're also told that the topic of what is and is not appropriate to send via league-provided e-mail accounts was a hot topic in multiple team headquarters on Tuesday.

Here's the best advice to anyone who works for an NFL team -- set up a separate e-mail account through Yahoo! or AOL or Google or MSN, and use that address for receiving and sending things that could get you in trouble.

Meanwhile, this episode does little to clarify the application of the new personal conduct policy to non-players. The fact that there will be no discipline imposed on Zierlein or Whaley should not be interpreted (in our view) as evidence that no sanction will arise if things like this happen in the future.

Then again, we also think that the specific job that a non-player holds will have a significant influence on the question of whether the employee gets a firing, a finger-wagging, or something in between.

The Dallas Cowboys' new stadium in North Texas doesn't have a name yet and won't open for two years, but it already has the country's top sporting event lined up. The NFL has chosen it as the host stadium for Super Bowl XLV on February 6, 2011.

North Texas beat out Indianapolis and Glendale, Ariz., in a vote of the owners at the league meeting in Nashville today. The Cowboys' stadium, which will have a retractable roof, is scheduled to be ready to open at the beginning of the 2009 regular season.

After the announcement, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones thanked former Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach for serving as chairman of the committee that lobbied owners to give the Super Bowl to North Texas.

"We're really going to have the best bid," Staubach said before the vote. "I really believe that based on the resources we have to be able to deliver the bid."

Arizona will host next year's Super Bowl, followed by Tampa in 2009, and South Florida in 2010.

We've received a lot of e-mails about the story of Broncos receiver David Kircus, who's been charged with felony assault after a fight early Sunday morning. But by far the most interesting fact we've learned about Kircus is that his brother, Anthony Kircus, is serving a 19-year prison sentence after being convicted of murder in the killing of his wife in Arizona in 2003.

The Macomb (Michigan) Daily reported two years ago that Anthony Kircus was sentenced on February 25, 2003, by Judge Jeffrey Cates of Maricopa County Superior Court after pleading guilty to the second-degree murder of Catherine Alexandrowicz, whom he had married a week earlier.

Per the Macomb Daily, Anthony Kircus told the judge at his sentencing that he and his wife both were drunk when he killed her. He said he and Alexandrowicz were drawn together because "we accepted each other's drinking."

None of this has any bearing on whether David Kircus is guilty or innocent of felony assault charges. It's simply a part of the life of an NFL player, and with that player in the news, it's a part worth mentioning.

According to the Associated Press, the restraining order bars Kircus from drinking or possessing alcohol. Kircus' lawyer, Harvey Steinberg, argued against that provision, but the judge let it stand and said it could be challenged again Friday, when Kircus is due back in court.

Broncos coach Mike Shanahan says he's going to wait until the legal case is resolved before taking any actions against Kircus, but NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell could impose league discipline before resolution of the legal case.

Two interesting details in the AP account are worth mentioning. The first is that Kircus spent a year away from football working in a fast food shop before the Broncos signed him last year. This should be a lesson to all the NFL players out there: When all you have to fall back on is flipping burgers, you need to try really, really hard to stay out of trouble.

The other odd aspect is that the AP story today says of the victim, "His condition and the extent of his injuries were not available, and his name was not released." But several news articles have said he was hospitalized for facial injuries and needed minor surgery and identified the victim as the host of the party, Jeff Krieger. News outlets often choose not to identify the victims of crimes, but once Krieger's name was reported extensively, it's bizarre that the AP would say his name wasn't released.

When the Patriots acquired running back Corey Dillon from the Bengals in 2004, there was a lot of talk that even though Dillon had talent, his attitude made him too big a headache to bother with. As it turned out, Dillon was a good fit in New England, and looking back on his time in Cincinnati, a lot of the problems he had can be traced to the fact that he was sick of playing for an incompetent franchise.

Reading Jamison Hensley's report in the Baltimore Sun about former Bills running back Willis McGahee's first practices with the Ravens, I got a similar feeling. Hensley writes that last year, McGahee was criticized for being the only Bills veteran to skip voluntary off-season workouts, but this year McGahee is showing up in Baltimore.

"The vibe in the air is totally different," McGahee said of the Ravens' practices. "These guys know what they want, and they know what they need to do. The coaches treat you like men. Everybody is making sure everybody is on top of their game."

There may be one major difference between McGahee and Dillon, though. When Dillon joined the Patriots, he had already proven that he could be a top-flight NFL running back. McGahee hasn't done that. McGahee has yet to crack an average of four yards per carry in any of his three seasons in the NFL; Dillon was over 4.0 in five of his seven seasons in Cincinnati and was never below 3.9.

So while McGahee is talking a good game in Baltimore, we won't know if he was worth the investment the Ravens made until he plays a good game. He didn't do enough of the latter in Buffalo, and that -- not skipping voluntary off-season minicamps -- was the problem.

It's hard to believe that it was only three years ago, in the 2004 NFL draft, when Iowa tackle Robert Gallery was almost universally considered the best prospect on the board. The Raiders took him second overall, after Ole Miss quarterback Eli Manning, and everyone agreed that Oakland could pencil Gallery in as the starting left tackle for a decade or so.

And now Gallery is universally considered a bust. Manning hasn't set the world on fire with the Giants, but when people talk about the 2004 draft, Gallery is cited as the biggest disappointment.

But as my friend Adam Rank of the Raiders FanHouse points out, the Raiders' coaching staff hasn't done Gallery many favors. Last year he had two different offensive line coaches and a head coach whose specialty is the offensive line, all giving him instructions on how to fit into an offense designed by a bed and breakfast manager. That can't be easy on anyone.

Gallery is only 26 years old, and he's still the 6-foot-7, 325-pound athlete who made scouts drool three years ago. There's every reason to believe that a good coach can still get something out of him.

Rookie Miami FB Reagan Mauia lost 100 pounds by cutting out sugar and carbohydrates. (And by chopping off one leg above the kneecap.)

The Steelers have changed their audibling system; moving forward, QB Ben Roethlisberger is responsible for all changes at the line of scrimmage.

We noted on May 16 that the Cleveland Browns' front office is in turmoil, with one camp wanting to oust director of player personnel Bill Rees, and one camp wanting to keep the guy whom G.M. Phil Savage hired two years ago.

We'd believe it but for the fact that many employees who get forced out of an organization also get an opportunity to propagate a reason for leaving that makes somewhat plausible the notion that the employee was not pushed.

By giving cover to the persons who aren't leaving voluntarily, questions unfairly are raised when someone really does leave an organization for legitimately voluntary reasons. So why can't we just be honest when something like this happens?

"Jane apparently prefers sitting at home and eating Twinkies, so we've decided that she should do it on a full-time basis."

"Ralph is going to collect unemployment for a few months, and then he might begin searching for another job. If he can find his shoes."

In this case, it's currently unclear whether Rees was indeed forced out, but in light of what we've been hearing, we're skeptical of the stated reason, to say the least.

The problem partially arose from the fact that Rees spent much time on the road throughout the year, scouting players. As one source recently explained to us, this reality can in some cities prompt those who are in the office on a regular basis to develop resentment and mistrust toward the person they rarely see. And if, as in the case of the Browns, the team isn't doing too well, it's easier to blame the guy who isn't around to defend himself.

In our view, the departure of Rees only increases the pressure on Savage. It's fair to conclude based on the fact that Phil's right-hand man is gone that the next target for an in-house coup will be another high-ranking official who spends a lot of time on the road.

Over the past few weeks, we've had the good fortune of getting periodic assistance from Michael David Smith, a regular contributor to FootballOutsiders.com and AOL's FanHouse. He has done a great job. So, today, he gets the keys to the car.

The Poobah is heading out for some law stuff and will be out of pocket until the late afternoon. In the past, there simply would have been no updates during the workday (and all of your supervisors likely appreciated that).

But no more. We're ready to turn MDS loose. So check back throughout the day to sample his handiwork. If you want to interact with him directly, have at it. We only ask that you refrain from sending him (or any NFL General Managers) pornographic videos.

In comments from last week that finally were noticed by the "real" media on Monday, Redskins running back Clinton Portis shrugged at the possibility that Falcons quarterback Mike Vick has been involved in dog fighting.

"I don't know if he was fighting dogs or not, but it's his property, it's his dog," Portis told WAVY-TV. "If that's what he wants to do, do it."

On Monday night, the Redskins issued a release containing a one-sentence quote from Portis. It was hardly an apology for the smug, cavalier attitude Portis displayed, and it has the feel of something that the team forced Portis to say.

"In the recent interview I gave concerning dog fighting, I want to make it clear I do not take part in dog fighting or condone dog fighting in any manner," Portis said (or, perhaps more accurately, someone said on his behalf).

It's waaaaaay too late to put the genie back in the toothpaste tube on this one. It's obvious from the video that Portis condones dog fighting. It's so clear that he condones dog fighting that he (or whoever wrote the statement) was compelled to point out that Portis doesn't take part in it himself.

Here's a lesson to Portis and any other player who might be inclined to chime in on this one -- shut the f--k up. You'll only make it worse for Vick, and you'll prompt a lot of people to think you are ignorant or arrogant. Or both.

Patrick Terpstra of WVEC-TV reports that federal authorities are now involved in the ongoing investigation regarding evidence of dog-fighting found last month on the property of Michael Vick in Virginia.

Surry County Sheriff Harold Brown told WVEC that an investigator from the U.S. Department of Agriculture was present for Monday's two-hour meeting between local law enforcement officials and Surry County prosecutor Gerald Poindexter.

No decision has been made as to whether charges will be pursued, but Vick likewise has not been cleared. The question as to who will be charged, if anyone, is due to be resolved in a matter of weeks, not months.

To Michael Irvin's chagrin, the game of "poker" had different rules at his charity tournament over the weekend than it did during his White House days.

Last month's discovery of dog-fighting evidence on Michael Vick's property in Virginia was triggered by a search for drugs in the possible possession of Vick's cousin. But the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that a warrant was thereafter obtained to search the property for evidence of dog fighting.

The warrant authorized a search for evidence "showing ownership of pitbull [sic] terrier dogs or other fighting dogs including bills of sale, pedigrees, breeding records and veterinary records; any dog fighting records including name and telephone numbers lists of person suspected of being dog fighters."

The AJC obtained the warrant and an inventory of the items seized through a request under the Freedom of Information Act. And the AJC reports that included among the evidence were three envelopes addressed to "M. Vick."

The contents of the envelopes have not been disclosed. But it is the first proof of a concrete link between Vick and the dogs and other items taken from the property that he owns but claims he never visits.

Authorities also recovered dogs with old and fresh scarring, and most of the dogs had no water or very dirty water in bowls coated with algae.

We've given this matter due consideration. We've pondered. We've deliberated. We've (thanks in advance, Tiki) excogitated.

And we've received more than 600 e-mails from readers in little more than two hours on the topic.

We've decided to disclose the names of the persons involved in the Friday e-mail fiasco.

Here's why. In announcing the new Personal Conduct Policy last month, the NFL pointed out that non-players would be held to an even higher standard than those who wear the uniform: "The standard of socially responsible conduct for NFL employees will be higher. Club and league employees will be held to a higher standard than players. Conduct that undermines or puts at risk the integrity and reputation of the NFL will be subject to discipline, even if not criminal in nature." (Emphasis added.)

It's not for us to decide whether the underlying actions in this case (i.e., the forwarding of a "very hard-core," as one league source described it, pornographic video clip via a team's e-mail system) justifies punishment. But how will the personal conduct policy as applied to non-players have any meaning at all if the issue is ignored?

So in the interests of breaking from an apparent effort by the "real" media to brush this one under the rug in the hopes of scoring points with a new coaching regime, we believe it's fair and appropriate to disclose that (via at least three NFL sources) the e-mail in question was inadvertently sent to multiple high-level team employees and their secretaries by offensive line coach Larry Zierlein of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The e-mail message had been forwarded to him by Doug Whaley, the Steelers director of personnel. Whaley had received the video from someone outside of the organization, and Whaley forwarded it to multiple other persons, including Zierlein.

Again, it's not for us to decide whether this behavior runs afoul of the new personal conduct policy as applied to coaches and front office personnel. Assuming, however, that the NFL has a written policy regarding the use of company computer equipment for personal endeavors, the use of the steelers.com domain to forward the video in question surely was a violation.

There's also a strong strategic aspect at work here. As one source observed, if the ticket manager had done this, he'd already be out the door. With NFL-level offensive line coaches not readily available to be hired in late May, Zierlein will likely get a pass. Ditto for Whaley, a respected personnel exec and a key contributor to the success of the franchise over the past several years.

And we don't think it's a terminable offense, even though we're certain that other employers in other industries wouldn't think twice about firing someone for this.

With all that said, the case provides an excellent opportunity for the league to educate its employees as to what does (and what does not) amount to a violation of the revised conduct policy. If action is taken, then the conduct was over the line. If no action is taken, then this isn't the kind of stuff that falls within the scope of the murky standard of overall personal behavior.

Broncos receiver David Kircus has been charged with second-degree assault. The allegations arise from a Sunday morning fight that occurred at a party Kircus was attending.

Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said that Kircus will be released from the team if he is found guilty of the charges. But the team has no authority to impose such discipline on its own, and any such move could prompt a non-injury grievance.

Per the police report, Kircus was attending a party at the home of Jeff Krieger, 26. Kircus had been invited there by a female acquaintance. Kircus and the woman argued, and Krieger repeatedly asked Kircus to leave. While discussing the matter in a driveway, Kircus allegedly struck Krieger and left in a black truck.

Shanahan said that Kircus told him "a much different story from what came across from the other person."

Krieger was released from a local hospital on Monday morning after surgery to repair multiple broken bones in his face.

Most importantly, the "days without an arrest" counter will be set back to "00" after climbing all the way to "01," which followed a spike to "02." And the Broncos will get six more points in Turd Watch.

The Cincinnati Bengals have cut linebacker A.J. Nicholson, only three days after he was arrested for allegedly punching a woman in the eye.

If the decision to release Nicholson was a result of the arrest, the Bengals will be exposed to a potential non-injury grievance. Under the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NFL and the union, individual teams are not permitted to dump a player as discipline for any on-field or off-field action. The team's official web site acknowledges this point, and then attempts in half-hearted fashion to argue that the decision was based on talent.

The move came after the alleged victim tried to recant her claim that Nicholson had punched her. She now says that she hit herself in the eye with a cell phone after grabbing it from Nicholson.

"I was very emotional and I was mad at A.J.," said Victoria Johnson. "Like a lot of other couples, we had been arguing. But I am to blame here. I exaggerated the situation. The police officer misinterpreted my upset and emotional demeanor."

Sorry, but we're always skeptical when the non-football-playing member of a "couple" tries to claim after passions cool that nothing occurred that might derail the gravy train. The desperation to keep the money coming in is so strong that it can even get a victim to claim that she lied to the police.

In this specific case, it's too late. Nicholson has lost his job, and we doubt that anyone else in the NFL will sign him.

A league source has shared with us some more information regarding the pornographic e-mail message that was sent to a whole host of high-level team employees.

For starters, the message wasn't sent only to all General Managers -- it was sent to everyone who has been added to the league's "All General Managers" e-mail distribution list. And that list includes everyone that the teams chose to put on the list.

We're also told that the sender attempted several times to recall the message, but was unsuccessful. We're also told that the sender later circulated an apology.

And here's where the situation gets potentially more intriguing. The assistant coach who sent the e-mail had been forwarded the message by a member of the team's front office.

We have confirmed the identify of the coach who sent the message, and of the front office employee who had sent it to him. And we're currently wrestling with whether or not we should disclose the names.

WKRC-TV reports that there's now a chance that Bengals receiver Chris Henry has not tested positive for opiates.

Garry Edmondson, a prosecutor in Kenton County, Kentucky, said earlier on Monday that Henry had tested positive. But now Edmondson is singing a different song.

He now says that one result was negative (which is positive) and the other result is pending.

Arash Markazi of SI.com reports that Falcons quarterback Mike Vick was greeted by fans who were barking and chanting "Who let the dogs out?" when Vick participated in the NFL Quarterback Challenge on Saturday in the Cayman Islands.

But Vick apparently didn't mind the razzing. "They were awesome," said Vick. "They were into it. They were just having a great time."

(It's good that Vick wasn't bothered, because we have a feeling that it will be a common theme in every stadium in which he plays this year -- and possibly from time to time on his home turf at the Georgia Dome.)

Vick again refused to address the burgeoning (thanks, Tiki) controversy surrounding the evidence of dog fighting found last month at his property in Virginia. "I'm just excited just to get out there and start playing and put everything else behind me," Vick said. "We had just a horrible season last year and now I'm just getting ready to get back out there and do it all over again with a new coaching staff and some new players. I think everything's going to be all right.

"I'm just focusing on football right now. I've been practicing as hard as ever. I'm spending a lot of time in the film room and I'm expecting a big season."

WKRC-TV in Cincinnati reports that Bengals receiver Chris Henry has failed a court-imposed drug test. Per the report, Kenton County (Kentucky) prosecutor Garry Edmondson says that the test was for opiates.

Unless Henry has been scarfing down poppy seed muffins, he's pretty much screwed.

The positive result means that Henry will be spending up to 88 days in jail on charges to which he pleaded guilty earlier in the year and spent two days behind bars. It also could give rise to legal issues in Florida, where Henry is on probation due to charges resulting from the incident we mentioned earlier in the day, when Henry was wearing his jersey while wielding a gun.

If (as we assume) Henry's past misconduct has landed him in the league's substance-abuse program, the positive test also could be deemed to be a violation of Henry's treatment program, which could result in (or push Henry closer to) a suspension.

Henry already has been suspended for the first eight games of the 2007 season for violating the league's Personal Conduct Policy.

One of the best-kept secrets over the past couple of weeks is the identity of the person who purchased the house and surrounding land in Surry County, Virginia where police found evidence of a dog-fighting operation.

To this date, no one knows who bought the house from Falcons quarterback Mike Vick for less than half of its assessed value.

According to the Washington Times, a local business owner said that "heads will turn" when the name of the buyer is disclosed.

Heads will turn? Did Vick sell the place to Arthur Blank, the owner of the team for which Vick plays? To coach Bobby Petrino? To former teammate Ray Buchanan? To Vick's little brother Marcus? To Surry County prosecutor Gerald Poindexter? To the actor who played Newman on Seinfeld?

Regardless of who the next owner will be, it's hard to understand why the name has not yet been revealed. At some point, the sale will close and the names on the deed will be changed. Since the deed is a public record, it'll be impossible at that point for the name to be concealed.

The Denver Post has more details regarding the altercation that could result in the arrest of Broncos receiver David Kircus.

The fight occurred at a party, and the person who threw the punches identified himself as Kircus. Since Kircus hasn't achieved the kind of NFL success that might tempt others to claim that they are him, we doubt that it wasn't.

A photo lineup will be used to confirm that it was Kircus who was involved in the fight. (This all would have been a lot easier if Kircus had merely worn his jersey during the commission of the alleged crime, a la Chris Henry in January 2006.) The victim suffered multiple broken facial bones.

Packers LB A.J. Hawk is pissed that those wedding pictures hit the Intergoogle last week. (Hey, A.J., at least the package of pics didn't include the one taken right after you'd gotten out of a pool of cold water.)

Texans DT Amobi Okoye is slated to start next to Travis Johnson, Jeff Zgonina, or Anthony Maddox.

With 10,000 more seats, the new stadium in Dallas might have the edge over the new venue in Indy.

Woody Paige's Monday column apparently comes from the "stuff to fill space when I got nothing interesting to write about" file.

The fates of Trent Green and Daunte Culpepper are still linked -- and still hanging in limbo.

The Rocky Mountain News reports that Broncos receiver David Kircus is under investigation for a Sunday morning fight in a residential area.

But no arrests have been made, and a photo lineup will be conducted as early as Monday.

A 26-year-old man suffered facial injuries in the altercation, and needed minor surgery. The photo lineup will occur once his condition has improved and when he is not under "significant" medication.

"There's an ongoing investigation and that's all I know at this point," said lawyer Harvey Steinberg, who represents Kircus. "I'm representing David and he'll do what I tell him; that's where we're at."

A league source tells us that an assistant coach with an NFL team attempted on Friday to forward a pornographic e-mail.

If his goal was to send it to every General Manager in the league, he was successful.

We know who the coach is, but we're not going to reveal the name until we get confirmation from one more source as to the coach's identity.

Said the source: "I'm really shocked it hasn't hit the papers. Someone is doing a great job covering it up. But the whole league knows about it."

According to police, Miller was swinging his fist at a man, but the man ducked. So Miller's fist struck a woman, who has a laceration on her face and pain and swelling in her knee.

Said the Jets in a statement: "We expect our players to adhere to the highest standards of conduct off the field and take any allegation of personal misconduct very seriously. We are in the process of gathering information, and have notified the commissioner -- in light of the NFL's new conduct policy. Until we've had an opportunity to review all the facts we will refrain from further comment."

Said Miller, in what hardly constitutes a denial of wrongdoing: "I want to apologize to everyone for this situation, including my family, my teammates, the Jets organization, our fans and the entire NFL. I understand that serving in the NFL is an honor and that I have an obligation to behave in a manner that reflects the privilege I have been given."

The arrest means that the Jets get three points in Turd Watch. Previously, the Jets were one of 11 teams with zero points. Now, there are only ten.

As it turns out, free-agent receiver Keyshawn Johnson has helped several NFL owners save money on plane flights, a meal or two, and perhaps a hotel room. Johnson has also helped to conserve the valuable time of members of the teams' coaching staffs and front offices.

How, you ask? By making it clear that anyone who planned to offer him "only" $2.5 million for 2007 shouldn't bother to talk to him.

A league source tells us that at least one G.M. reacted to the news with gratitude, since now he knows not to continue to explore the possibility of signing Johnson.

It's unknown whether other potentially interested teams feel the same way, but it wouldn't surprise us at all to learn that multiple other franchises were turned off by Johnson's remarks. Already dogged by a reputation for being selfish and egocentric, Johnson has likely limited the market for his services by trying to set the bar at something above $2.5 million for the coming season.

And that, in turn, will limit his leverage with any of the teams who remain interested in him. The Titans, for example, might have paid more than planned if they feared that a team like the Jaguars were poised to get him.

For a guy who fancies himself to be a shrewd businessman, it really was a stoopid move. He has now backed himself into a corner, and you can bet that if he eventually takes $2.5 million or less for 2007, he'll be reminded of his recent vow.

A league insider with knowledge of and experience with disability policies like those currently at issue in a lawsuit recently filed by Jets running back Curtis Martin against Lloyd's of London tells us that the primary issue in the dispute likely will be whether Martin can show that he became disabled as a result of a single traumatic event, as opposed to a degenerative condition.

Disability policies for professional athletes are meant to protect against one on-field (or off-field) occurrence that prevents the player from continuing with his career. Kellen Winslow's motorcycle accident, Steve Foley's bang-bang-vroom-vroom episode, and LeCharles Bentley's blown patella tendon are all examples of the kinds of discrete incidents that could trigger coverage.

If a player is unable to continue his career because over time he has lost all of the cartilage in his knee, the resulting disability is typically not covered.

In this specific case, the source predicts that the litigation will turn on whether Martin can show, via evidence like game films, medical records, and expert testimony, that one single play ended his career. The insurance company will counter with evidence of every knee injury Martin ever suffered, along with MRI images of the knee taken at various times in his career and testimony from its own expert that Martin did not suffer a Willis McGahee-type blow that brought his football career to an end.

The source also explains that the fact that Martin remained on the Jets' payroll in 2007 does not matter. A player can still pursue benefits even if he continues to get paid by his team; the key is whether he plays in at least four more games after the onset of the disability.

While it could be that Martin is facing an uphill climb, the fight is worth his time, since $5 million is hanging in the balance. But unless he can show that there was one collision that transformed him from a guy who could play pro football into a guy who could not, he might never see that money.

We neglected to include the defending NFC champs in our Saturday roundup of this weekend's two active mandatory minicamps.

Anyway, here's the stuff, along with an update on Saturday in Green Bay and Indy.

Indianapolis: WR Reggie Wayne will head back to Miami after spending a few days in the team's voluntary workouts. . . . LB Freddy Keiaho, a second-round pick in 2006, says that the weakside spot vacated by Cato June is Keiaho's to lose. . . . WR Anthony Gonzalez made an impression on QB Peyton Manning at rookie minicamp.

Here's confirmation of our report that the Lions moved their minicamp so that WR Calvin Johnson could attend.

Chiefs coach Herm Edwards says that changes have been made because the "team got old."

Ravens LB Bart Scott doesn't like the fact that the new Commish is being so aggressive about off-field behavior: "It's bull, man, it's bull," he said. "We've got a guy trying to make a name for himself. He's trying to put a stamp on [his tenure], and trying to do it early. He's trying to get a legacy." (Yeah, Bart -- it has nothing at all to do with the fact that the league is populated with an alarming number of criminals.)

The New York Daily News reports that Jets running back Curtis Martin has sued Lloyd's of London for failing to pay him $5 million under a disability policy that Martin purchased in 2005.

Martin claims in the lawsuit that he became permanently disabled on or about December 14, 2005, due to a hit to his knee. He had purchased $5 million in coverage, at a premium of more than $178,000, under a policy that applied from August 1, 2005 through August 1, 2006.

Though most folks generally are skeptical of insurance companies, who have a reputation in some circles of loving to take money in and hating to pay it out, the fact that Martin was paid $810,000 in salary last season might contradict the notion that Martin was "disabled" within the scope of the language of the policy.

The reality is that the Jets likely knew that Martin couldn't play, but weren't inclined to cut one of the most productive backs in league history, especially after he took a $1.7 million pay cut. So by agreeing to the lower salary in the hopes of maintaining the relationship with the team, and earning an NFL salary for the 2006 season, Martin might have unwittingly disqualified himself from claiming that he became "disabled" during the term of the policy.

It all comes down to the specific definition of the word "disabled," and we've got a feeling that Martin's effort to get paid by the Jets -- and later to get paid by the insurance company -- might make it hard for him to get the money.

We'd have to see the policy before commenting further. But, at a minimum, any payment should be reduced by the money Martin received from the Jets after being disabled, or Martin should refund to the Jets his 2006 salary.

Regardless of what the policy says, it doesn't seem fair for Martin to be able to get $5 million for a disability that nevertheless allowed him to continue to receive a paycheck.

Though Fins coach Cam Cameron hasn't specifically said that he wouldn't bring back RB Ricky Williams, it's not looking good.

QB Donovan McNabb is trying to come off as a "regular guy". (Here's a suggestion -- take a job working in a factory and complain about how much money pro athletes make.)

From the "NFL Owners Still Don't Hire Head Coaches Who Clog Toilets" file, Ravens defensive coordinator Rex Ryan has lost 60 pounds.

If Bengals coach Marvin Lewis is interested in community service, he could start by trying to not sign or draft guys who might be inclined to serve knuckle sandwiches to members of the community.

The Fins gave Florida governor Charlie Crist a jersey with the number 12 on it, but only after Hall-of-Famer Bob Griese agreed to allow the retired digits to be used.

Scheffler, a second-round pick of the team in 2006, will have surgery on Monday and is expected to be out for two months.

It's a blow to the Broncos, but not a huge one. The team signed Daniel Graham in the offseason, and has several other tight ends on the roster.

Our newest colleague, Michael David Smith, also writes for FootballOutsiders.com, an independent site that has always been good to us.

MDS, along with about 76 of our readers, have pointed out to us an item on FootballOutsiders raising a curious question regarding whether Gil Brandt of NFL.com lifted research and/or content from FootballOutsiders without attribution.

The issue is set forth right here, and we find it compelling to say the least. The real question is whether NFL.com or Brandt will acknowledge the matter, and whether NFL.com will take any action because of it.

Several months ago, proof of similar pilfering became the undoing of Ron Borges of the Boston Globe. Apparently, Brandt wasn't paying attention. Or maybe Brandt just assumed no one would notice it or, possibly, that no one would care.

In fairness to Brandt, we also can't rule out the possibility that Brandt suggested to his editor(s) that credit should be given to FootballOutsiders.com, and that the editor opted not to drive traffic away from NFL.com by mentioning the name of the site.

To the extent that anyone cares, a reader in the Cayman Islands tells us that Raiders quarterback Josh McCown won the 2007 Quarterback Challenge, which was conducted today at the Cayman Islands International School Park.

McCown was traded to Oakland from Detroit, where he signed as a free agent after his rookie contract with the Cardinals expired. He has 22 career starts in five years.

He might be the starter with the Raiders when the 2007 season begins, but he likely won't be when it ends, given that the team selected JaMarcus Russell with the No. 1 overall pick in the draft.

But, hey, no one can take away from McCown the fact that he won a meaningless event that won't be televised until August.

In an apparent effort to reverse the unexpected damage to his overall reputation that resulted from last weekend's one-two punch of pissng and moaning about the failure of the team to acquire receiver Randy Moss and reportedly asking to be traded, Packers quarterback Brett Favre has publicly denied requesting a trade.

First of all, an industry source told us on Friday that multiple members of the team's front office have confirmed privately that a trade was requested.

Second, a source with knowledge of the situation tells us that Favre privately justified his denial by explaining (tongue-partially-in-cheek), "I didn't ask for a trade, my agent did."

Our guess is that someone close to Favre, but nevertheless capable of being objective about the situation, explained to him within the past few days that he is jeopardizing his legacy by whining about things that don't fall within his job description. For the first time, it seemed that public sentiment among Packers fans was turning against Favre, possibly because he has spent nearly five years toying with them via the never-ending "will he or won't he retire" routine.

And if Favre plans to parlay his football success into a television gig, he can't spend the final stages of his playing career looking and sounding like a grumpy old fart who feels neglected and unloved.

It's that time of week again. Minicamps are unfolding in several NFL cities. Here's a quick rundown of a couple of them.

In his first comments to the media since being released from jail and then meeting face-to-face with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, Bears defensive tackle Tank Johnson declared that "whatever sanction [Goodell] imposes, I am man enough to take it."

On the surface, this suggests that Johnson won't appeal the suspension that Goodell is expected to impose on Johnson, regardless of its duration. But we heard similar words from Pacman Jones last month -- and for Jones "taking it like a man" meant "whining after the fact about it."

So it remains to be seen what Johnson will do. But if he's really serious about changing his life, step one will be to take the punishment and move on. (And not appeal it.)

We're still not sure why the folks at FOX Sports Radio keep asking us to do spots at 4:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday afternoons. But we're not complaining.

Radio appearances are our primary tool for getting the word out about the site to as many people as possible. So whenever we get a chance to talk football on a radio network that stretches all over the country, we do it.

Every Tuesday night at 10:25 p.m. in the East, we visit with Todd Wright of Sporting News Radio, which was the first national outfit to take a chance on us, way back in 2003.

The weekly slate of PFT radio appearances can be found right here. Many of the stations now feature online streaming.

Though the NFL is sufficiently popular and powerful to, for example, dictate programming decisions by a company that pays the league $1.1 billion per year, pro football (and every other major league sport) gets uncomfortable whenever Congress decides to take an interest in an issue that is percolating through the game.

In the recent past, Congress has poked around regarding steroids and the limited access of regular-season games on NFL Network. Now, one member of the primary legislative body in the United States is sticking his nose into the Michael Vick situation.

Representative Tom Lantos (D-Calif.) has urged NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to "act swiftly and forcefully" if Vick was involved in dog fighting that was occurring on property Vick owned in Virginia.

"I am outraged that one of the National Football League's superstars is affiliated with such a heinous enterprise," Lantos said in the letter.

"The level of cruelty involved in exploiting animals to the point that 60 malnourished and injured dogs were removed from Mr. Vick's property is mind boggling," Lantos said. "I will view anything less than the strongest repudiation of Mr. Vick's involvement as tacit support for this atrocious activity."

The league has sent mixed signals regarding whether Vick will be investigated and (if appropriate) disciplined under the recently beefed-up Personal Conduct Policy. On one hand, the NFL has said it is investigating the case; on the other hand, NFL Network's Adam Schefter reported this week that Vick would not be disciplined unless he is first convicted of, or pleads guilty to, criminal charges.

We think that the league can and should investigate the matter on its own, especially if the prosecutor in Surry County, Virginia chooses not to proceed with charges. There is already enough evidence publicly available to support a conclusion that Vick knew what was happening on his property and/or was involved in it. If the goal is to prevent conduct that is detrimental to the interests of, or public confidence in, the game of professional football, a decision by the NFL not to look into this one regardless of whether Vick is charged could be, in and of itself, conduct detrimental to the interests of, or public confidence in, the game.

That statement could become even more true if Santos decides to use his position on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee to squeeze the league on the issue of performance-enhancing drugs. It's classic Washington politics, where no one issue stands alone but multiple topics intertwine (thanks, Tiki).

"Your strong rebuke of dog fighting -- and those who promote it -- will send the message that this all-too-prevalent practice has no place in a civilized society," Lantos wrote. "I also suggest you educate your players on the illegality and cruelty of dog fighting to prevent this from happening again. It is my hope that the issue of animal fighting will not require us to further investigate the behavior of your athletes."

So what will Goodell do? Our guess is that the first order of business will be to determine whether Lantos has any real juice in the House of Representatives, and whether others in either chamber of Congress share his views. Then, the Commish might subtly take the pulse of those federal legislators who are supporters of the NFL as to whether they'll have the league's back if Santos tries to take action.

Or Goodell could fully investigate the Vick situation, impose punishment if appropriate, and take steps to detect and end the involvement of other NFL players in dog fighting.

A league source tells us that newly-hired Raiders front office exec Rich Snead previously had an offer to join the team. But we're told that Snead declined because owner Al Davis didn't want to give him a contract. Since Snead at the time had a contract with the Titans, he opted to stay put.

But with Snead's contract in Tennessee expiring and the Titans not inclined to renew it, Snead's options were a little different.

He could either work without a contract, or he could not work without a contract.

Working without a contract is a two-edged sword. The employee can leave at any time, but the employee likewise has no security.

Redskins running back Clinton Portis and left tackle Chris Samuels have spoken out in support of Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, who currently is caught up in a dog-fighting investigation.

But they're not saying that Vick is innocent. Per Portis, it's no big deal if Vick is guilty.

"I don't know if he was fighting dogs or not, but it's his property, it's his dog," Portis told WAVY-TV. "If that's what he wants to do, do it."

As Portis spoke, Samuels started laughing, and at one point raised his eyebrows with (as we interpret it) an "oh sh-t I can't believe he's saying this" look on his face.

In response to the question of whether dog-fighting is prevalent in the NFL and the NBA, Portis said, "I mean it's prevalent in life. . . . I'm from Laurel, Mississippi. I know a lot of back roads that got the dog fight if you want to go see it."

Um, we're not licensed to practice law in Virginia, but we don't think that the Commonwealth has formally recognized the defenses of "everybody does it" or "if it's behind closed doors, it's okay."

And if we didn't know better (and, actually, we don't), we'd be inclined to wonder whether Portis has been to a few of those dog fights in Laurel, Mississippi.

And Clinton's comments provide even more reason to believe that Ray Buchanan said what Chris Landry said he said about Vick and dog fighting. The lesson here is that current and former NFL players look out for each other, no matter how ridiculous they look or sound when doing so.

Need more evidence that Portis should be ignored on this point? He refers to Vick as a "positive role model." We need to know whether Clinton gave Mike this label for giving the middle finger to the home fans (including kids) or giving the STD to the ex-girlfriend. Or maybe he's referring to the water bottle thing. There are just so many positive things from which to choose.

Long-time Boston Globe reporter and columnist Ron Borges has retired, only days after completing a two-month suspension for plagiarism.

"I've enjoyed using the forum the Globe has provided me over two decades, but I am excited to step back from the demands of daily sportswriting to try my hand at longer-range projects and other forums,'' Borges said.

The cynics out there will assume that this had something to do with the work Borges performed on behalf of Oscar De La Hoya during Borges' suspension. Borges claimed that he worked for free; it could be that the Globe was able to prove otherwise and decided to work out some type of an arrangement by which Borges gets: (1) a severance package; and (2) the hell out of the building.

After a quiet couple of months (relatively speaking) in Cincinnati, one of the team's recidivist turds has gotten on the wrong side of the law, again.

The charge is only a misdemeanor, but Nicholson currently is on probation after pleading no contest in March to burglary and grand theft. If/when a finding is made that Nicholson violated the terms of his probation as a result of the latest arrest, he could be facing real jail time as to the felony charges arising from the removal of electronics equipment from an apartment.

A league source tells us that Bills scout Marc Ross will be the new Director of College Scouting with the New York Giants.

As a practical matter, Ross will be replacing Jerry Reese, who was promoted to General Manager after the retirement of Ernie Accorsi. Even though Reese was the V.P. of Player Personnel with the Giants, Reese was performing the duties of college scouting director -- and the person who held the title, Jerry Shay, was operating as the head scout.

Moving forward, the duties will be the same, but the titles will change to better reflect the actual jobs.

UPDATE: The Giants have officially announced the addition of Ross. Shay is the Assistant Director of College Scouting, which is a demotion in title but does not change his duties in any way.

Many league insiders presumed that the replacement for Jerry Reese in New York's front office would be Bears Director of College Scouting Greg Gabriel. The Bears have drafted well during Gabriel's tenure, and he has more than 15 years of experience with the Giants organization.

Gabriel's contract with the Bears expires at the end of May, and there are now rumors making the rounds that the Bears haven't even made him an offer. Whether or not that's true remains to be seen, but if Gabriel leaves the Bears as of June 1, it won't be because he's got a job with the Giants.

Like former Bears defensive coordinator Ron Rivera, who upon expiration of his contract was unceremoniously dumped by coach Lovie Smith after making the rounds for a head-coaching job elsewhere, Gabriel could soon be unattached. And like the Chargers, who landed Rivera as a defensive assistant, one of the other 31 teams might get a chance to add a veteran scout with a recent track record of success at a time when no one really expected him to be available.

Browns C LeCharles Bentley is scheduled to have yet another surgery on his patella tendon on June 4; if he goes through with it, he will miss all of 2007.

A league source tells us that the Green Bay Packers could have moved the dates of this weekend's mandatory minicamp after it became clear that there was a conflict this weekend with the 2007 Rookie Premier Photo Shoot -- and that the L.A. event for 35 hand-picked incoming players is a rock and the minicamp is scissors.

Instead, the camp stayed put as originally scheduled, and second-round draft pick Brandon Jackson (the possible season-opening starter at tailback) won't be able to participate.

Per the source, other teams moved their camps once the issue became obvious several weeks ago. The Lions, for example, convened on Tuesday through Thursday, even though (as we understand it) they were initially slated to have a full-squad camp over the weekend.

And maybe that's why the Packers have deferred all comment on the issue to Jackson and his agent; there's nothing that the Packers can really say about this one, because by all appearances it's a problem that could have been avoided with better planning.

Redskins running back Clinton Portis has tendinitis in his knee. The diagnosis was made by Dr. James Andrews on Thursday.

"It cropped up at the end of last week," coach Joe Gibbs said, according to the Washington Times. "He had some soreness in the knee, but he described that he could run and work out on it and it would be fine the next day. This week it bothered him after the workout day so we decided to have it looked at."

Portis has been running only, due to shoulder surgery and hand surgery resulting from injuries suffered in 2006. There is no timetable for the resumption of his workouts.

"The main thing is to get it taken care of now," Gibbs said. "What we don't want are things to be [a problem] when we get to camp. . . . Hopefully, it will be something that goes away."

The rash of health conditions experienced by Portis has some wondering whether he is frag-ee-lay. Gibbs thinks otherwise.

"He's actually a really young guy and hasn't had many injuries, just a shoulder in high school and a shoulder [and hand] last year," Gibbs said. "His legs have always been in good shape. I don't anticipate a problem there, and I don't think he has any injuries that we're worried about."

If Portis is limited in any way once the season rolls around, backup Ladell Betts will be called upon to carry the load. Betts decided in 2006 to re-sign under what many consider to be a below-market deal to serve as the No. 2 guy in D.C., even though he probably could have cashed in on the open market to be a starter somewhere else.

Apparently, Betts isn't interested in being the No. 1 guy. At the rate Portis currently is going, however, Betts might get the position by default.

The Green Bay Packers lost starting tailback Ahman Green to free agency. The Green Bay Packers have done nothing via free agency to replace him. Instead, the Green Bay Packers picked Nebraska running back Brandon Jackson in the second round of the draft, and Jackson could have the inside track to the top of the depth chart in 2007.

But with much work to be done and only two months or so until training camp opens, Jackson won't be attending this weekend's full-squad minicamp.

The problem? Jackson must attend the 2007 Reebok Rookie Premier photo shoot, at which the trading card companies take pictures of 35 hand-picked first-year NFL players.

Earlier this week, the NFL Management Council ruled that players invited to the event cannot attend practice instead.

"They literally locked him out of camp," Jackson's agent, Gary Wichard, told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. "The team is not allowed to have him. I think it's ridiculous."

Coach Mike McCarthy has said that he expects to see every player at this weekend's camp. But since the Management Council has spoken, there's nothing that McCarthy or any other member of the organization can do about it.

Of course, there is something that the team could have done. The Packers could have scheduled the mandatory minicamp for another weekend.

Only the Packers, Colts, and Bears [Editor's note: We inadvertently left out Chicago from the prior version of this item; we apologize for the error] are conducting full-squad mandatory minicamps this weekend. And we have a feeling that some other organizations had the foresight to check the NFL calendar in picking the dates for the full-squad camp.

According to the Indianapolis Star, Ohio State's Anthony Gonzalez is facing the same problem.

"Gonzo is distraught,'' agent Mike McCartney said. "He wants to play football.''

But, unless the NFL has changed its rule regarding practice participation of players whose schools have not yet conducted graduation ceremonies, Gonzo would be gone this weekend, anyway. As of last year at this time, the rule was that a rookie could attend one minicamp before graduation at the university he attended. Because Gonzo attended the rookie camp two weeks ago, he couldn't be there this weekend even if he hadn't been invited to attend the L.A. event. It's one of the basic realities of drafting a player from Ohio State or one of the other schools with June graduations.

Free-agent receiver Keyshawn Johnson will visit the Tennessee Titans this weekend. The Titans are one of six teams who reportedly are interested in his services.

"I'm not in rental mode. You're not going to rent me for six months because someone with my career warrants more than that," Johnson said. "I just laugh when I read that stuff. All those editors should save their ink for another day. I keep seeing people say that I'm going to sit around and wait for a receiver to get hurt in training camp.

"I don't need to do that. I'm not playing for $750,000, $850,000, $1 million or $2.5 million. You can write that down."

But who'll pay him more than $2.5 million for the 2007 season? Unless he has learned to play guard or cornerback, the market (in our view) doesn't bear paying that much money to an aging receiver with a propensity to run his mouth.

And as to the possibility that Johnson will wait for a receiver to get hurt in training camp, Johnson apparently doesn't realize the concept of leverage. Teams with greater need at the position will be more likely to overpay for Johnson's services. And if a guy like Javon Walker or Chad Johnson or Deion Branch is lost for the year, desperation could quickly take root in Denver or Cincinnati or Seattle.

Besides, while the Titans currently have a significant need at receiver, and despite the existence of a solid relationship between Johnson and coach Jeff Fisher, does it really make sense for the Titans to expose second-year quarterback Vince Young to a guy who might be inclined to strut onto the field and tell Uncle Rico what to do and how to do it? We can already hear Johnson going public with his concerns that Young pulled the ball down and ran with it at a time when Johnson thought he was wide open.

The other thing that Johnson needs to keep in mind is the amount of money that someone will pay him in 2007 to do something other than play football. With all of the broadcasting jobs taken, it's unlikely that he'd get a TV gig for the coming season. Even if somwthing were available, he wouldn't see much more than the NFL veteran minimum for his first year in the broadcasting business.

SPRINT, ABC TEAMING UP

Every week, there's another reason to get a Sprint phone. This time around, ABC and Sprint have partnered to provide shows like Lost, Grey's Anatomy, and Desperate Housewives on Sprint handsets.

Those programs and other ABC and Disney programming will be available on an on-demand basis on Sprint phones. The content is being added at no charge to Sprint customers who have purchased an existing data pack that costs $20 per month (which is roughly equivalent to 2.75 gallons of gas in Sacramento).

"You won't need to buy episodes individually or sync up to your PC to access this kind of content," said John Burris, Sprint's Vice President for Wireless Data Services.

And Sprint is in discussions with other networks to provide even more shows -- and thus more content -- to folks who have Sprint phones and to those who'll soon be getting them.

You know the rest of the drill. Sprint and Nextel are the official telecommunications sponsors of ProFootballTalk.com. Sprint's commitment allows us to provide you with our unique brand of NFL information and analysis, so we're hopeful that you'll make a similar commitment to Sprint. If you haven't already.

With deals like the new arrangement with ABC, there are more and more reasons to do so.

Terry McCormick of the Nashville City Paper reports that there is apparent mutual interest between receiver Keyshawn Johnson and the Tennessee Titans.

On Wednesday, Titans coach Jeff Fisher tried to downplay the situation. "That's news to me," Fisher said when asked whether Johnson would be visiting the team. "I have not talked to Keyshawn in a few weeks."

On Thursday, Fisher admitted that the team has an interest in Johnson, and vice-versa. "There's mutual interest right now I'd say on both parties' part. I think we'll probably look into the possibility of pursuing things. Where that goes, I can't tell you," Fisher said.

From Johnson's perspective, there's no rush to sign with anyone. Once under contract, he'll be required to attend any remaining mandatory minicamps, and he'll be expected to show up for voluntary drills. Also, he'll report for training camp and participate in preseason games.

But if he sits back and waits, he can skip a lot of the stuff that players don't get paid much to do. And his leverage could increase if the No. 1 or No. 2 receiver in another city tears an ACL.

Johnson has been linked to the Raiders and the Titans. The Eagles could be a possibility. There have been recent reports suggesting that he is interested in joining the Patriots, who have acquired since the start of free agency Wes Welker, Donte' Stallworth, Kelly Washington, and Randy Moss. Holdovers include Jabar Gaffney, Reche Caldwell, and 2006 second-round draft pick Chad Jackson. And Troy Brown's name still appears in his locker.

We've picked up some more intriguing bits and pieces from the meetings conducted this week in Dallas for front-office personnel.

In one session, former Texans G.M. Charley Casserly talked about media relations. Said one attendee: "Listen to whatever Charley says, and do the opposite."

That Constanza-esque approach could apply to other portions of the meetings. We previously mentioned that Kevin Warren of the Vikings spoke about background checks, roughly a year after the team blundered the pre-employment review of Fran Foley. We've also been told that a discussion on how to build championship teams included Cardinals V.P. of football operations Rod Graves.

Um, the Cardinals have won only one postseason game since the Truman administration. Maybe the schedule of events inadvertently omitted the word "not" from the title of Graves' segment.

Adam Schefter of NFL Network reports that the Oakland Raiders have hired Titans director of player personnel Rich Snead "to help replace" former senior personnel executive Mike Lombardi.

But 49ers director of pro personnel Tom Gamble won't be one of the guys hired. A league source tells us that Gamble and the Raiders were unable to come to a meeting of the minds regarding Gamble's terms of employment.

The National Football League is adopting a new policy regarding content on non-NFL web sites.

Such non-NFL sites may post no NFL-related video or audio of longer than 45 seconds. And the video or audio may be archived for no more than 24 hours. And the pages on which the video or audio appears must link both to NFL.com and to the official site of the team in question.

The change only applies to sites that incorporate video and/or audio of practices, press conferences, interviews etc. Since we do none of that, it doesn't affect us at all. In fact, by limiting the sites that would otherwise go beyond the terms of the new policy, the revision indirectly helps us by giving those sites one less feature that would make those sites more attractive than sites like PFT.

The move will cause many in the media to conclude that this is the next step in the league's efforts to control not only the game but the coverage of it. There is already much resentment in the industry regarding the perception that the league is spoon-feeding news and information to NFL.com and NFL Network. With the new limitations on audio and video, fans will have to rely more and more on NFL.com and the official team web sites.

As we see it, thems the breaks. The media can either cry about it, or we can go find the cheese. Frankly, there will always be a market for publications that are truly objective in their coverage of the league, regardless of whether said publications can play more than 45 seconds of audio or video. Even if the NFL were to cultivate in-house journalists and analysts who were truly independent and free to speak their minds, there would still be the perception that there are lines that can't be crossed and topics that can't be broached.

So what we're basically saying is that, after you go to the team-owned and league-owned sources of information, come to sites like this one for insights and analysis that are certain to be unaffected by concerns that one or more of the 32 folks who own NFL teams might not like what we have to say.

We recently reported that several candidates are being considered to become the next Director of College Scouting with the New York Giants. Multiple readers have tried to tell us that the Giants are actually filling the position of V.P. of Player Personnel, which is the job that new G.M. Jerry Reese previously occupied.

However, multiple sources have confirmed that, despite the titles, Reese was as a practical matter the Director of College Scouting in New York, and that the guy who had that title (Jerry Shay) was as a practical matter the head scout.

We're also told that, moving forward, the titles will be adjusted to reflect the duties. So the person hired to replace Reese will be the Director of College Scouting, and Shay will be the head scout. Even though it might appear to be a demotion for Shay, it isn't.

And the job of V.P. of Player Personnel will be vacant. As a practical matter, it always was. Which makes us wonder why in the hell they didn't get the titles right in the first place.

As reported elsewhere, Greg Gabriel of the Bears interviewed for the job on Wednesday. His contract in Chicago expires at the end of the month.

One of the names to which we (and, specifically, our in-house photo guy and Intergoogle sleuth Taco Bill) have been paying attention lately is Quanis Phillips, a long-time friend of Falcons quarterback Mike Vick. Phillips, who played high school football with Vick, is named as the contact person on the Vick's K-9 Kennels web site. Also, Phillips was with Vick during the infamous Rolex watch episode.

Phillips was arrested for possession of stolen property in 1997, and he pleaded guilty in 1999 to possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.

His name has yet to be mentioned in connection with "real" media reports regarding the apparent dog-fighting compound found on Vick's Virginia property, but we think that Phillips eventually should be asked some tough questions about Vick's hobby of breeding pit bulls -- and any other hobbies Vick and/or Phillips might have relating to the use of said animals.

As Taco Bill has discovered, Phillips was sentenced to jail on May 7, 2007 for a "motor vehicle violation" by a judge in Gwinnett County, Georgia. It appears that Phillips was released the same day. It also appears that Phillips is living with Vick in Duluth, Georgia; Taco Bill believes based on his Intergoogling that the address provided by Phillips to police is the address to Vick's residence.

Though it's highly unlikely that Phillips would ever intentionally say or do anything to harm the interests of his friend and/or meal ticket, we think that Phillips needs to be put under a hot light and asked some tough questions about the whole "woof woof" situation. Who knows? Maybe investigators will learn that Phillips is possibly guilty of something for which he could receive immunity in exchange for telling the truth about what was happening in Virginia, and what Vick really knew about it.

"We're just trying to see what's out there," Brown told Adam Schein and Solomon Wilcots of Sirius NFL Radio. "That's what we're trying to do. It's not the Bears. They don't want to get rid of me. It's just that I want to see what else is out there. I think I'm a very good guy. It's just sometimes you kind of want to test to see if there's something else out there for you."

Brown said the Bears told him they don't want to trade him, but realistically, they must at least be thinking about it. The Bears' depth chart is loaded at defensive end, with Adewale Ogunleye holding onto one starting spot, Mark Anderson coming off a rookie year in which he led the team in sacks as a part-time player, and the front office raving about second-round pick Dan Bazuin.

The Bears have already shown that they won't hesitate to trade a veteran and replace him with a younger player, sending running back Thomas Jones to the Jets this year, which made Cedric Benson the starter.

Still, the most likely scenario is that Brown will be in the Bears' starting lineup in September. Brown still has three years left on the five-year, $15 million contract extension that he signed prior to the 2005 season, and he understands that he's bound by that contract: "I love playing football and I just can't see myself sitting down or sitting out or something like that because of a contract," Brown said.

Former Vikings LB Sam Cowart is being sued by a woman claiming to be an ex-mistress, saying he gave her permission to use his credit card and then reported it stolen. (He also gave her his ATM card but wouldn't tell her his password was "bosco.")

When asked about rumors that WR Keyshawn Johnson could visit the Titans, coach Jeff Fisher said, "That's news to me. I have not talked to Keyshawn in a few weeks."

The Bengals are negotiating with Georgetown College in Kentucky about extending the team's agreement to hold training camp at the school.

LB Kailee Wong has been a no-show at the Texans' facilities, and may be retiring.

Giants DE Michael Strahan participated in a charity bachelor auction, and the highest bids were placed by two men. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.)

Raiders coach Lane Kiffin likes the way QB JaMarcus Russell calls plays in the huddle and at the line of scrimmage. (Plus, it's a much easier procedure than last season's sticks-and-stones protocol that Tom Walsh used.)

There are reports that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is pondering the possibility of shortening the amount of time that teams have to make their draft picks.

Per Len Pasquarelli of ESPN.com, Goodell is expected to raise the issue when the NFL owners meet next week in Nashville. The move could reduce the first-round allotment of 15 minutes to 10 minutes, and chop the second-round time from 10 minutes to seven.

And in light of a recent report from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the move to speed up the draft could be a precursor to shifting round one of the annual incoming player selection proceedings from Saturday to Friday night, in prime time. This would drive up the ratings and, in turn, increase the advertising revenues.

It also might help the league get NFL Network into more homes, especially since NFLN's draft coverage is much better (in our opinion) than the same-old "talk loud, say little" approach from ESPN. (With the exception of Jamie Dukes of NFLN, who often employs the "talk loud, say nothing" strategy.)

Technically, the Commish can impose new rules on the draft without a vote from ownership. But the unilateral use of such power could cause feathers to ruffle, so Goodell wisely is running the idea up the proverbial (or, if you went to school at Pitt, perverbial) flagpole.

If we were calling the shots on this one (and football fans everywhere should be glad we aren't), we'd leave the time limits as they are and move the first half of round one to Friday night. Even by cutting the per-pick time in round one to ten minutes, the first round could still chew up more than five full hours. And this means that the league would have to strike the difficult balance between starting the draft too early in the Pacific time zone, and finishing round one too late in the East.

With only 16 picks, the maximum duration would be four hours. But that's still a little too long.

So how about a hybrid approach? By cutting the time limits for round one to 12 minutes and picking half of the first round on Friday night, the NFL would end up with a maximum production of 192 minutes -- or about the same time that it takes to play a prime-time game.

Moving only half of round one to Friday night also would spawn all sorts of catchy sayings for the sock puppets; the players taken would be dubbed the NFL's "Sweet Sixteen," and there would be breathless conversation in the run up to the draft as to whether a given player is good enough to be a "Friday night pick." Also, the Brady Quinns and Aaron Rodgerseses of future drafts, who fall out of the top 16 and who are forced to wait until Saturday to be selected, would generate even more interest for the resumption of the process.

So we think the NFL is on the right track with this. But we don't want the Saturday afternoon phase of the draft to lose too much of its appeal -- and we don't want to have to stay up until 2:00 a.m. on Saturday morning to find out the name of the last guy taken in round one.

One name that has been conspicuously absent from press accounts regarding the still-growing Michael Vick dog-fighting fiasco is Falcons G.M. Rich McKay.

McKay is smarter than we realized. He knows that, like a guy who broke wind in church, his best move is to stand still and act natural and hope that no one asks any questions about the cloud of rancid air that he is doing his best to ignore.

One of the reasons that the Falcons are handcuffed regarding Vick is that he has a $130 million contract that paid him a $37 million signing bonus. Cutting or trading Vick would trigger a significant cap hit. Keeping Vick requires the team to pay him $6 million more in salary this season.

But, like former Bills G.M. Tom Donahoe, former Giants G.M. Ernie Accorsi, and former Texans G.M. Charley Casserly, McKay knows how to play the media so well that, when McKay periodically lets one rip, they never smell it.

Sure, Falcons owner Arthur Blank is ultimately responsible for inexplicably giving Vick such a huge deal before he ever really did anything to merit it, but McKay should have done something to get Blank not to make such a crippling investment in one player. McKay is the guy with the lifetime of experience in the business, and we doubt that Blank wouldn't have listed to him if McKay had opted to sound the alarm.

Then there's the whole Jim Mora fiasco. He made it only three years as head coach, in part because he refused to install an offense suited to Vick's strengths, and geared toward concealing his flaws.

"McKay's first major task in the retooling of the Falcons involved hiring the right head coach and he did that when he and Blank selected former San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Jim Mora to become Atlanta's head coach. 'We felt like we had a solid core of players and coaches already in place at the time,' McKay. 'We all agreed that after spending a few hours with Jim that he was the right person to lead our franchise because of his attention to detail, his competitiveness, his unbelievable organizational skills, and the way he gets the players ready to play. All of those components went into the decision to hire Jim, and I can tell you that we like the direction we are headed.'"

While we're at it, let's consider some of the free-agent moves that the team has made over the past couple of years. Linebacker Edgerton Hartwell? He got an $8 million signing bonus in March 2005. He was dumped two seasons later.

The big offseason acquisition in 2006 was defensive end John Abraham, for whom the Falcons gave up the No. 15 overall pick in the draft -- along with a $14.5 million signing bonus. In his first season with the Falcons, the guy with a history of missing games due to injury started only seven times.

How about the draft? Michael Jenkins? Roddy White? Sure, McKay drafted DeAngelo Hall. But Hall was clearly the best player on the board when the Falcons used that No. 8 overall pick in 2004.

Then there's arguably the biggest blunder of the McKay era -- the decision to dump backup quarterback Matt Schaub. Though we're certain that the Falcons wouldn't have pulled the trigger on the trade with the Texans after the dog-fighting story broke, the fact that McKay lacked the foresight to realize that Schaub, and not Vick, might be the long-term answer at the position is troubling. It didn't take a rocket surgeon to realize that Vick's career is at a crossroads, even before all of those pit bulls were found on his property. Indeed, the signs of an on-field and/or off-field implosion had been there for a while, and it was foolish to the point of reckless to use Schaub as bait for a couple of draft picks.

Bottom line -- to the extent that Blank deserves blame for enabling Michael Vick, McKay deserves just as much blame for enabling the enabling. And for not doing all that great of a job otherwise.

Surry County, Virginia prosecutor Gerald Poindexter previously sounded like a man who was prepared to look the other way regarding the question of whether Falcons quarterback Mike Vick knew about or was involved in dog fighting that apparently was happening on his property.

On Wednesday, Poindexter told the Associated Press that he is certain that dog fighting was happening behind Vick's former home, and that as many as six to ten people may be involved.

"I'm convinced from what I saw that dog fighting has occurred down there, but who was involved in it I don't know at this point," Poindexter said. "We're going to find out."

Poindexter also pointed out that he saw what looked like blood spatters in a room over a garage, which he said were the "most suggestive evidence of dog fighting."

"[S]omebody would have to explain to me how you draw blood in the normal training of pit bulls," Poindexter said.

And Poindexter apparently has heard the growing whispers that his recent words and demeanor suggested that he was trying to find a way to give Vick a pass. "I am not defending Mr. Vick at all, but I don't want to see us rush into a case prematurely," Poindexter said. "We are in the process of collecting evidence as best we can."

Poindexter will meet with investigators on Monday to review the evidence. A special grand jury could be called to consider potential charges in the case.

"If [Vick is] implicated in any way -- and I'm not saying he isn't, I would think that he is -- there are about 10 other people who, from what we know, have a much more regular contact with the property and the animals," Poindexter said.

But even if others had more regular contact with the property and the animals, Mike is likely the only person in the circle rich enough to finance the operation. And if reports of one or more informants who can put Vick at dog fights are true, then he'd better get ready to start signing "bow wow wow yippee yo yippee yay" in the prison shower room.

The Minnesota Vikings announced on Wednesday that rookie running back Adrian Peterson, the No. 7 overall pick in the draft, will not need surgery to repair a collarbone that he broke during the 2006 regular season and re-injured in the Fiesta Bowl.

"It was felt that now it would be best to let it heal and progress in a natural way," Dr. Joel Boyd said. "The healing shows enough progression that, at this point in time, we are not overly concerned that it's not going to heal in a normal way."

Though reports prior to the draft were that Peterson would be able to participate in training camp even with surgery, the Vikings said that surgery would have sidelined the former Oklahoma Sooner for 3-6 months.

"I haven't had any pain in it," Peterson said, "so it seemed like everything was normal. But this was good news."

With all that said, plenty of Vikings fans will be holding their breath every time Peterson gets popped this year. Even with a special attachment on his shoulder pads, there will be fear that the bone can go again.

It appears that the recent temper tantrum attributed to Packers quarterback Brett Favre could have been the first step in getting his previously loyal-to-a-fault teammates to begin thinking more critically about their cranky signal-caller.

In response to Favre's recent effort to skip out on a mandatory minicamp in order to prepare for his daughter's high school graduation, a source with knowledge of the situation says that one player mused aloud, "Who does [Favre] think he is, Roger Clemens?"

The talk among the players also is that the front office won't make a run at receiver Keyshawn Johnson, in part because the perception among the troops is that the powers-that-be are "fed up" with Favre.

Usually, a star player's decision to stick around for too long manifests itself in embarrassing performances on the field. In Favre's case, he's still physically fine. But folks appear to be finally growing weary after nearly five years of tiptoeing around the delicate genius as he decides on an annual basis whether to grace the world with his continuing presence on the roster.

Quarterback Trent Green wants out of Kansas City. The Chiefs are ready to move on, too.

But G.M. Carl Peterson wants to get a fourth-round pick from the Dolphins for the guy who no longer will be the starting quarterback of the Chiefs.

Adam Schefter of NFL Network reports that Green will force the issue by reporting for the team's voluntary Organized Training Activities. The risk? If Green suffers a serious injury during the workouts, the Chiefs will owe his full $7.2 million salary for the 2007 season.

The Titans were in the same situation last year with quarterback Steve McNair, and the team opted to prevent him from working out at the facility. McNair filed a grievance, won it, and was eventually traded to the Ravens.

Schefter also reports that the Fins might move off of their offer of a sixth-round pick for Green.

Our guess? Peterson will cave soon, and the teams will meet in the middle for a fifth-round selection.

In a case that has featured new developments on a daily basis, the Virginian-Pilot reports that authorities are aware of an informant who has seen Falcons quarterback Michael Vick at dog fights.

"We have informants that will place him at these dog fights, yes," said Kathy Strouse, a member of the Virginia Animal Fighting Task Force. Strouse helped investigators in the search for evidence of dog fighting at Vick's Virginia property.

The informant has been "100 percent reliable" in the past, according to Mark Kumpf, a past president of the Virginia Animal Control Association and a consultant on the Vick case.

ESPN's Chris Mortensen reports that Packers quarterback Brett Favre will report for this weekend's mandatory minicamp. Favre previously had said that he will skip the minicamp due to his daughter's upcoming high school graduation, and because offseason ankle surgery will prevent him from participating in any of the on-field sessions.

But a team spokesman said earlier this week that coach Mike McCarthy regards the camp as mandatory since, you know, it is. Mandatory, that is.

Per Mort, Brett has had a change of heart, and will make the trek from Missisippi to Wisconsin.

Though the deal is still not officially done, we're hearing stronger and stronger indications that Tom Gamble soon will be hired to join the Raiders, as the replacement for former senior personnel executive Mike Lombardi.

Gamble has been the 49ers pro personnel director since 2005, and has 19 years in the league. In Gamble's two years with the team, the Niners have made good progress, and are regarded as a team on the rise.

If Gamble ultimately gets the job, the decision to pursue a guy with current NFL experience will be much smarter (we think) than a move to hire Fran Foley or Mike Mayock or Pat Kirwan, none of whom have been consistently grinding away in the business of finding football players.

Stay tuned for more. Others are chasing this one and have yet to hit paydirt. But it appears that, like other moves made by the Raiders, there is a shroud of mystery (intentional or otherwise) regarding the direction in which the franchise is heading.

Cowboys linebacker Greg Ellis turns 32 in August, he's signed through 2009 to a contract that pays him $2.5 million this year, and he's playing for a team that just spent a first-round pick on a player at his position.

In other words, he's not in a very good position to renegotiate his contract right now. But Ellis is trying, and he tells Clarence E. Hill, Jr. of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that he considers the fact that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones won't renegotiate "a slap in the face."

"A contract extension says you are our guy and we want you here," Ellis said. "It sets it straight with that guy. It sets it straight with the media. It sets it straight with everybody. I haven't talked to Jerry about it, and I am not going to. But it's understood, and Jerry knows it. I think Jerry should do something."

Jones says he sees no reason to negotiate with a player who's already under contract, but that's somewhat disingenuous. Teams frequently renegotiate with players who are under contract and, as Hill notes, Jones worked out a new deal with wide receiver Terry Glenn last year even though Glenn had a contract in place with the team.

But in Ellis's case, Jones's response is the obvious one. What possible reason could the Cowboys have to give a guy a new deal when he's clearly on the back end of his career, and his replacement is already in place?

Ellis says he signed his current contract in an effort to "be a team guy," but it's surprising that a player like Ellis, who has been around a long time and comes across like an intelligent person, wouldn't understand the nature of the business in the NFL. When a player signs his name on the line that is dotted, he's not leaving many options open if he decides he's not happy with it down the road.

Playmakers all over again? ABC reportedly canceled plans for a fictional TV show about the private lives of football players' wives, but the NFL told parent company Disney the league didn't like the idea.

DT Shaun Rogers says he's happy to be in Detroit and ready to contribute to the Lions defense a year after a season cut short by knee surgery, shoulder surgery, and a four-game suspension.

The Jaguars are planning a new marketing campaign to sell more tickets and avoid TV blackouts. (How about the "not sucking" strategy?)

Bengals coach Marvin Lewis was evasive when asked about the possibility of suspended LB Odell Thurman returning to the team.

Bengals QB Carson Palmer thinks he can have a completion percentage "in the 70s" in Cincinnati this year.

Vikings DT Pat Williams has been losing weight and has just two more pounds to go to get down to 325, where coach Brad Childress wants him.

Though there's currently a love-fest happening between Cowboys players and their new coach Wade Phillips, there also is persistent talk in league circles that Phillips might not last long in the job.

There's a strong belief in some quarters that, if the Cowboys falter in 2007, Phillips will get the heave-ho -- and owner Jerry Jones will then pursue former Steelers coach Bill Cowher.

Whether Cowher and Jones can coexist is a legitimate question, however. Jones presumably has had his fill of hard-headed coaches, with Bill Parcells more recently and Jimmy Johnson a decade ago. But, in the end, Jones wants to win, and Cowher has shown that, despite regular roster changes in Pittsburgh, he can always get his teams ready to compete.

We're also hearing that Jones doesn't care much for the recent sound bites regarding Phillips' reputation for being a "players' coach." The thinking is that being a "players' coach" caused Wade to fail in two prior head-coaching stints, and we're hearing that Jones would prefer that Phillips be a little tougher on the Cowboys than he has been in past NFL stops.

Surry County prosecutor Gerald Poindexter says that he will meet with investigators on Monday to review evidence of dog fighting found last month at Michael Vick's property in Virginia. But there are still indications that Poindexter plans to look the other way as to any evidence linking Vick to the activities occurring on the land that, until last week, he owned.

Specifically, Poindexter says that Vick is being viewed as nothing more than the owner of the property, unless evidence reveals that he was involved in the dog-fighting activities. But Vick already has raised real questions about his involvement by staunchly denying that he ever went to the property, which was followed within days by the disclosure of multiple witnesses who can refute that claim. More recently, media reports have revealed more and more evidence linking Vick to dog fighting.

"I'm not going to be a party to a witch hunt," Poindexter told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "This [process] will not be driven by people who hate Michael Vick, love Michael Vick or people who love animals."

But is it a witch hunt to fully scrutinize Vick, without accepting at face value his self-serving version of the events? These dogs were found on Vick's property. The people who lived at the house were reportedly unemployed. Someone was funding this operation. Hello?

Thus, we're still concerned that Poindexter wants to cram his head into the sand, and we hope that the "real" journalists out there are exploring Poindexter's potential motivation(s) for using his broad prosecutorial discretion to give Vick a pass.

Does Poindexter fear losing a re-election battle by taking on a local legend? Has Vick or those close to him supported Poindexter's past campaigns? Or is Poindexter simply too soft on dog fighting, as evidenced in 2000 when he requested that 33 confiscated dogs be released to an alleged dog fighter?

We don't know the particulars, but we know that there's an odor rising from Surry County. And it's something more than the stench of 66 malnourished and scarred dogs.

Packers quarterback Brett Favre plans to skip this weekend's mandatory minicamp. He won't be able to practice due to offseason ankle surgery, and his daughter is graduating from high school at the end of next week.

Per the Associated Press, team spokesman Jeff Blumb said that, as far as coach Mike McCarthy is concerned, "the camp is mandatory."

The question, then, is what will the Packers do if Favre doesn't show? He could be fined, and the team could pursue 25 percent of any signing bonus allocation applicable to the 2007 season.

At a time when Favre has been popping off about his discontent with the direction of the franchise, the team would be taking a huge risk if it forces him to show up -- or if it punishes him for not coming. And that makes us wonder whether all really is well between the team and its Hall-of-Fame quarterback.

A league source tells us that the Cleveland Browns front office is currently "a mess." Per the source, there are competing camps in the building, and one side wants to force out director of player personnel Bill Rees.

In late 2005, there was similar turmoil involving the efforts of former team president John Collins to push out G.M. Phil Savage. In the end, Savage turned the tables on Collins, who eventually was dumped.

Rees was believed by some to be in line to jump to the Bills as a replacement for assistant G.M. Tom Modrak. But Modrak didn't get fired (as we hear it, coach Dick Jauron stepped in and saved him), so Rees didn't leave voluntarily.

There's talk in league circles that the New York Giants will soon be hiring a new director of college scouting. Two finalists are believed to be national scout Marc Ross of the Bills and national scout Lionel Vital of the Ravens.

But there's also a strong chance, we're hearing, that Bears director of college scouting Greg Gabriel will make the lateral move to New York. Gabriel's contract expires at the end of May, and there are reports that Gabriel will interview for the job on Thursday. Gabriel previously spent 16 seasons with the Giants.

The only problem is that the Giants currently have a director of college scouting, Jerry Shay. The thinking, however, is that Shay is getting nudged out the door.

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