Giants won't hold back Manning in return from injury
New York Giants: Eli Manning is set to return to Giants practice Tuesday, without any restrictions on his right elbow, the New York Daily News reported Monday.
Manning, who has been cautious with the elbow over the past two weeks, throwing only on the sidelines since being injured Aug. 20, has just four practices left before the Giants' season opener against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.
"The regular season is here now so you don't have time to worry about none of that anyway," receiver Plaxico Burress told the paper. "You've just got to go out and you've got to make it right. You can't sit back and say 'Oh, we've got time.'"
Giants coach Tom Coughlin has said Manning will get all the work his sprained elbow can handle this week.
"We'll have a count in the back of our head about how many throws per day, but I don't see it as any build up," Coughlin told the paper. "I mean, we've got to go. We have to get ready."
Manning told the paper he expects to throw about 100 passes per day starting with Tuesday's practice.
Manning threw just 17 passes in preseason action, but his teammates -- including his main targets of Jeremy Shockey, Burress and Amani Toomer -- are confident he'll be ready to start the season.
"[The time off] was probably a blessing in disguise," Shockey told the Daily News. "He got his arm rested. He got to step back and watch like he did his first year. So it's not like he was out of it completely. He's on the same page with us."
Green Bay Packers: Quarterback Brett Favre
skipped practice to rest his slightly sprained left
ankle.
Favre was hurt in Green Bay's preseason finale Friday night at Tennessee.
"He's fine. I was planning on resting him today anyway and with the ankle being slightly sprained the other day, it gave me another reason to, but he'll be fine," coach Mike Sherman said.
Favre will return to practice Wednesday to prepare for the opener at Detroit.
Linebacker Na'il Diggs, who missed much of training camp with a knee injury, returned to practice and Sherman said there's a chance he'll be able to play against the Lions.
Also, linebacker Robert Thomas, acquired from St. Louis on Sunday in exchange for cornerback Chris Johnson, practiced with the team for the first time.
The Packers re-signed five players to their practice squad after they failed to make the final 53-man roster, including rookie receiver Craig Bragg from UCLA. Cornerback Patrick Dendy also was re-signed along with fullback Vonta Leach, receiver Chad Lucas and linebacker Zac Woodfin. The Packers also signed cornerback Therrian Fontenot, who was waived by the Buffalo Bills.
Tennessee Titans: The Titans agreed to terms
with running back Jarrett Payton, son of the late Walter Payton, to
join their practice squad for a second consecutive season.
Payton was left out when the Titans chose to keep draft pick Damien Nash of Missouri on the roster with Chris Brown, Travis Henry and fullback Troy Fleming. He had rushed 40 times for 123 yards in the preseason.
The Titans also added fullback Robert Douglas, who spent all of preseason healing from a broken left fibula. The rest of the practice squad includes defensive tackle Marcus White, safety Marcus Randall, defensive end Otis Leverette, receiver Andrae Thurman and linebacker David Bergeron.
Leverette was in camp with Seattle and has been with Miami, Washington, San Diego and San Francisco after originally being drafted by the Dolphins in the 2001 draft.
Thurman spent last season on Green Bay's practice squad, while Bergeron was a seventh-round draft pick by Philadelphia this year.
New York Jets: After spending his entire 10-year career with New England,
Ty Law will start at cornerback for the Jets in Kansas City on Sunday.
Coach Herman Edwards announced the decision Monday. He also said rookie Kerry Rhodes, a fourth-round draft pick, will join Law in the secondary.
"It's going to be baptism by fire, huh?" Rhodes said. "I just have to make the best of it.
Law, who injured his foot and missed the second half of last season with the Patriots, was signed by the Jets last month after being pursued by a number of teams.
Minnesota Vikings: Chris Kluwe was navigating through
Seattle on Sunday, headed toward the apartment he was ready to call
home to make a down payment. But the rookie punter from UCLA never
made it, as a phone call en route changed his destination to
Minnesota.
"[Seattle] was going to have me on the practice squad," Kluwe said. "But I got the phone call and thought, 'I guess I won't be staying here much longer.' It's a great opportunity."
Great -- and short. After the Vikings claimed Kluwe off of waivers Sunday, coach Mike Tice said Kluwe would have a couple practices to prove himself. Tice reiterated the sentiment on Monday, saying a decision on who Minnesota's punter will be on Sunday in the season opener versus Tampa Bay would be made Wednesday evening.
Kluwe is currently the only punter on the roster, as Travis Dorsch was waived on Saturday and incumbent Darren Bennett was released when the Vikings were awarded Kluwe. But Tice said a few more kickers would be brought in for workouts on Tuesday. Among the veterans currently available are Chris Mohr, Tom Rouen, Sean Landeta and Micah Knorr.
Cleveland Browns: Rookie Charlie Frye has won the backup quarterback job for
Cleveland ahead of journeyman Doug Johnson.
"Charlie has stepped in, and he has performed and done a nice job," coach Romeo Crennel said. "At this point, he's ahead of Doug. I feel like he's done enough to warrant the No. 2 spot."
The Browns hope the third-round pick from Akron can be their future starter. Veteran Trent Dilfer will start the season at No. 1.
Detroit Lions: For now, rookie Dan Orlovsky is the backup quarterback.
Orlovsky, a fifth-round draft choice from Connecticut, had been preparing to be the third-stringer until Jeff Garcia broke his leg in the final preseason game. He played in all four preseason games, completing 29 of 54 passes for 356 yards. He threw one touchdown pass and was intercepted twice.
Coach Steve Mariucci said any decisions on signing a more experienced QB would depend on additional examinations on Garcia. For now, wide receiver Kevin Johnson, who began his career at Syracuse as a quarterback, will be the emergency QB.
"He's an up-and-coming guy, and if there is a surprise in our draft class, it is Dan," Mariucci said. "The game isn't too fast for him, and we're not writing him off as the backup right now."
Buffalo Bills: Cornerback Nate Clements did not practice Monday because of a
shoulder injury and his status is uncertain for the opener Sunday
against Houston.
Clements was hurt when he and Troy Vincent tackled Lions receiver Roy Williams at the Bills 1 in the second quarter of Buffalo's final preseason game, a 21-7 loss to Detroit on Friday. Clements landed on his shoulder as he tumbled out of bounds.
• Offensive tackle Dylan McFarland, Buffalo's 2004 seventh-round draft pick, was one of eight players signed to the Bills practice squad.
Other notables making the squad were guard Jasen Esposito and defensive end Constantin Ritzmann, who both spent time with the Bills last year and were also among the players cut Saturday.
Rounding out the squad are Bills' undrafted rookie free agents: cornerbacks Rob Lee and Evan Oglesby, fullback Jon Goldsberry, tight end Brad Cieslak and linebacker Liam Ezekiel.
Chicago Bears: Cornerback and kickoff returner Jerry Azumah is expected to play
in the opener at Washington after going through his first full
practice Monday since arthroscopic surgery on his right hip last
month.
"We're definitely comfortable with putting him out there," coach Lovie Smith said. "We don't know exactly how much. We won't rush him back. We don't know yet whether he'll return kickoffs and how much he'll play in nickel coverage. But we feel like he'll play."
Azumah, a Pro Bowl kick returner in 2003, last year missed the preseason and the first four games of the regular season after undergoing neck surgery. But he tied his career-high with four interceptions and averaged 22 yards per kickoff return in 12 games. In 2003, he had four interceptions and averaged 29.0 yards per kickoff return, including 89- and 88-yard touchdowns.
Arizona Cardinals: The Cardinals signed wide receiver
Reggie Swinton, and coach Dennis Green quickly made him
the team's kick returner, a position of need since J.R. Redmond was
placed on injured reserve Aug. 29 and lost for the season.
The acquisition was Arizona's second in two days. On Sunday, defensive tackle Langston Moore was claimed off waivers from Cincinnati on Sunday.
To make room, Arizona waived kick returner J.J. Moses after a six-day trial run, along with defensive end Antonio Smith.
The Cardinals also set up their practice squad, with safeties Aaron Francisco, Jermaine Hardy and Ernest Shazor; wide receivers Carlyle Holiday and Dan Sheldon; defensive tackle Tim Bulman; guard Rolando Cantu, and defensive end Tyler King.
Washington Redskins: Tackle Jon Jansen, coming back strongly from tearing his
Achilles tendon more than a year ago, broke the base of his thumb
in practice Monday. Coach Joe Gibbs said Jansen will play while
wearing a splint and cast in practice and during games.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Fourth-round draft pick Dan Buenning is expected to start at left guard in the Bucs season opener at Minnesota, the St. Petersburg Times reported.
Buenning practiced with the first-team offense on Sunday, lining up next to tackle Anthony Davis. Neither has started an NFL game.
"Yeah, I mean, nothing's in stone," Buenning told the paper. "But absolutely, I love it. I've just got to try to get better and not become complacent with it and keep fighting."
Buenning replaces Matt Stinchcomb, who sat out the first three preseason games with a lower back strain.
"I don't want to come off sounding cocky, but that was my goal the whole time, was to come out and play," said Buenning, a four-year starter at Wisconsin. "I've just got to keep working and make sure that happens. Making the team was never too much of a question in my mind."
Molson Coors is renewing its sponsorship deal with the National Football League in a five-year contract protecting its position as the league's official beer sponsor, according to a report published Monday.
The Sports Business Journal reported the deal, citing unidentified sources.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy did not immediately return a call.
Coors' current four-year, $240 million sponsorship deal will expire after this season.
Coors spokeswoman Kabira Hatland declined to comment, saying the company would first inform its shareholders of any deal.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
