Now, we wait to hear Steelers head coach Bill Cowher’s decision.

We know Raiders owner Al Davis will take his time deciding Art Shell’s fate.

Until he asks for a salary increase, we’ll take Nick Saban at his word that he’s staying with the Dolphins.

The obvious happened this morning, with both Arizona and Atlanta firing their respective head coaches.

The Cardinals were an under-achieving football team, one that never recovered from a second-half meltdown against the Chicago Bears in Week 6. Jim Mora is a good coach, but Michael Vick -- his quarterback -- turned his back on him and owner Arthur Blank simply didn’t understand his flippant radio remarks about wanting to the coach the U. of Washington. Mora would be a great choice at the U. of Alabama.

Both franchises will check out the same candidates, although Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops supposedly is high on Atlanta’s wish list. Former head coaches Steve Mariucci and Mike Martz, who transformed Jon Kitna into a 4,200-yard passer, should be considered simply for their past successes and Martz for his offensive brilliance. Of course, Martz can’t afford to ask for total control and definitely needs a talented defensive coordinator in order to be successful.

Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz and USC’s Pete Carroll are on every owner’s wish lists. Ferentz seems reluctant to leave Iowa for any job other than Penn State’s. Carroll has denied that he has spoken with Arizona officials. Carroll would want too much money and power for either franchise at the moment. Plus, his USC team next year is believed to be a solid candidate to win the national championship.

The hot minority candidates will be Minnesota defensive coordinator Mike Tomlin, San Francisco linebackers coach Mike Singletary and Chicago defensive coordinator Ron Rivera. You can bet that Rivera is definitely on Arizona’s radar screen if Rod Graves remains employed there. San Diego offensive coordinator Cam Cameron and Pittsburgh offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt, who played for the Falcons and Georgia Tech, should be a candidate in Atlanta if he doesn’t replace Cowher.

With Joe Gibbs announcing he will return and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones believing that Bill Parcells may stick around for 2007, this could turn out to be a below-average season for head coaching changes.

Yes, Arizona looks like it will fire Denny Green and Pittsburgh believes Bill Cowher may retire. But Tennessee will pick up the $5.4 million option on Jeff Fisher, and probably is leaning toward giving him total control of personnel, too.

Another guy who appears to be safe is Giants head coach Tom Coughlin. And, if the Giants make the playoffs as a wild card, Coughlin may even get a one- or two-year extension. Coughlin is currently signed through next season.

Coughlin is only in jeopardy if the Giants don’t make the playoffs. But it isn’t a certainty that he will be fired if that happens, either. Remember, the Giants aren’t a knee-jerk reaction outfit. Coughlin won the division last season and his team has been wracked by injuries, too.

Of course, Coughlin may be asked to make some offensive coaching changes because of Eli Manning’s roller-coaster development.

Do Coaches Fib?

Recently, I was discussing this very subject with Jimmy Johnson. In my business, where I want to be able to trust people, Johnson made the point that since I’m in the gossip business that coaches -- or anyone for that matter -- may take advantage of not telling me the truth, especially if the little fib suits their interests.

This thought brings us to Miami coach Nick Saban and his response to Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga, who asked him point blank about all these Alabama rumors after last Sunday’s 24-10 loss to Jacksonville.

Saban told Huizenga that he wasn’t going anywhere, let alone Alabama, and that he hadn’t finished his job in Miami. Right now, Saban is 14-14 with the Dolphins. He made a huge mistake on his starting quarterback, choosing Daunte Culpepper over potential 2006 MVP Drew Brees. Now, he’s stuck with Joey Harrington, who is no Brees, either.

Huizenga may be one of the best owners in the NFL and he worked extremely hard to lure Saban from LSU almost two years ago. I mean, he waited and waited in Baton Rouge for more than a day while Saban made up his mind about his offer. Not too many NFL owners would have had that kind of patience to stick around and wait on some football coach.

But until Alabama announces that it has hired a head coach to replace Mike Shula, we still believe the top choice in Tuscaloosa is Saban.

Throwing the fade pass

Carolina quarterback Jake Delhomme should know better. But Delhomme heaved an ill-advised fade pass to Keyshawn Johnson at the end of the game in Philadelphia even though Eagles cornerback Lito Sheppard had deep inside position on the receiver.

There were two other prime examples this weekend when this pass should be and not be thrown. Tampa Bay rookie Bruce Gradkowksi was intercepted on the same play in his loss to the Steelers. But Eli Manning wasn’t when he was prepared to throw a fade to Plaxico Burress and didn’t. Say what?

Well, when a quarterback has a receiver like Burress, and the cornerback is over-playing to the inside anticipating the fade, the best thing to do is throw a rocket to the receiver’s inside. The receiver can then use his size and position to shield the defender from the ball. Basically, it’s like stealing. If you witnessed the Manning touchdown pass to Burress, you know what I’m writing about.

Delhomme had the same advantage with Keyshawn, who like Burress has size and strength over most cornerbacks. If Delhomme would have thrown a hard, inside fastball to Johnson, he would have had a touchdown and won the game. With experienced players like those two, it should have been an automatic throw. Football is a simple game, but both Delhomme and Gradkowski failed to read the defenders and looked miserable being intercepted.

Favre will decide early

Packers coach Mike McCarthy is confident that by the end of this brutal season in Green Bay that quarterback Brett Favre will tell him and the franchise well before the Super Bowl about his intentions to play or not play next season.

Phil Simms knows better. And, by now, so should Chris Simms.

Does Phil really want his son playing for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers next season? And why would the Bucs want Chris? He’s proven to be a very average West Coast quarterback and he needs to find a team with an offense like the one Norv Turner is operating in San Francisco. Chris needs a solid running game to allow him to throw deep off of play action.

Simms won’t under throw Joey Galloway like rookie Bruce Gradkowski did last Thursday in Texas Stadium. But he also can’t escape from pressure like Bucs coach Jon Gruden has pointed out repeatedly like Gradkowski.

I thought everyone named Simms was upset with the Bucs regarding how Chris ruptured against the Carolina Panthers and then needed four blood transfusions while doctors removed his spleen afterward. The critical situation was touch and go for Chris.

In his last six starts, Simms averaged 195 yards passing a game and was a 58 percent passer while throwing five touchdowns with nine interceptions.

“The bottom line in what happened in that game,” said a NFC general manager, “is that Chris got hurt in the first quarter and kept playing on. Out of it, I know two things. That no one should ever dare call Chris not tough and that Jon Gruden will want to be involved in trying to get (Notre Dame’s) Brady Quinn.”

Cowher & Wolfpack?

The next rumor we are going to hear is that Steelers coach Bill Cowher will be the head coach at North Carolina State next season. Heck, it makes sense because Cowher’s family is already living near campus in Raleigh, N.C.

Now, Cowher knows that coaching in college is a LOT easier than dealing with professional players. But I can’t see him doing that. I can seem him retiring and relaxing for a season or two, waiting for Joe Gibbs to retire in Washington or for the some other rich owner to offer him what Mike Holmgren collects in Seattle.

Proehl Makes Sense

Ricky Proehl makes a lot of sense for the Indianapolis Colts because he is a realiable receiver who probably runs closer to a tight end than a speedy wide receiver these days.

The Colts could be minus Dallas Clark for more than a few games and Proehl could fill that void. If the Colts ever get Brandon Stokley back (high ankle sprain), Peyton Manning will have more than enough weapons to keep on winning.

One head case for another

Cowboys coach Bill Parcells is stepping out onto a pretty thin branch with the acquisition of Martin Gramatica.

We all know what a head case Mike Vanderjagt had become, but Gramatica lost his job in Tampa Bay because he was no more reliable than Vanderjagt was for the Cowboys. Gramatica missed six attempts between 30 and 39 yards in 12 attempts and even one attempt inside 30 yards. He was a 60 percent kicker in his last two seasons with Tampa Bay after winning a Super Bowl.

And here’s hoping Gramatica doesn’t pull a hamstring celebrating a game-winning kick for Parcells like he did for Jon Gruden.

Mooch to Arizona?

Phoenix isn’t California, but it’s only a short Southwest flight away.

I’m positive that’s what former head coach Steve Mariucci is thinking should the Arizona Cardinals come a calling. Mooch, who is a pregame analyst with the NFL Network, still is being paid by the Detroit Lions, but the Arizona job might lure him out of retirement.

Granted, the Cardinals have their hearts set on USC’s Pete Carroll, but I simply don’t see Carroll leaving the Trojans where he’s close to $4 million a season. Carroll has been through the NFL and he knows he probably has the best job in college football.

Nothing against Columbus, Ohio, but there is better weather and more to do in Los Angeles than Ohio.

The Cowboys have no choice but to stick with Tony Romo. They proved Monday night that they can’t protect Drew Bledsoe, plus the 14-year veteran proved that he’s still capable of making rookie-like mistakes like his silly interception to Sam Madison when Terry Glenn was never open at the end of the first half.

The other shocking revelation about the Cowboys is that they sure look like frauds on defense. In training camp, the defense looked awesome. Coach Bill Parcells believed his defense would be dominant. In fact, good enough to overcome Bledsoe’s miscues from game to game.

But Parcells was also aware that Romo was more athletic and definitely had an NFL arm. The worry since March was that Dallas didn’t have the offensive line to protect Bledsoe. Well, that theory has definitely come to fruition. The O-line proved that in the opening-season loss in Jacksonville. Remember, Bledsoe’s middle name is Statue.

Perhaps, that’s when Parcells should have made the switch to Romo. Yes, after the loss to the Jaguars. Conversely, it sure looked like a panicky move at halftime, down only five points to the Giants, on Monday night. Parcells was looking for a spark and instead Romo threw three interceptions, two of them mistakes that some playing-time experience could cure. Like Parcells said, Romo played careless with the football at times.

The Cowboys are up against it now in the NFC East. The Giants are now in control, plus Dallas has also lost to Philadelphia.

Does anyone think Bledsoe can survive Carolina’s pass rush on Sunday night? Romo can buy some time with his feet. But he needs all the practice repetitions this week and Bledsoe needs to stick around – don’t take his football and go home – and quit talking about retiring because he was benched.

Pretty weak argument

When the NFL realized a couple seasons ago that players were purchasing store-bought supplements that resulted in positive tests for performance-enhancing substances, the league did a generous thing and gave players a free pass on ephedrine and other dietary supplements for a year. They worked in conjunction with the Players Association on safe and legal supplements that anyone can buy in their local GNC stores. Those products have the league’s stamp of approval on them.

Players being players still buy bottles of supplements that aren’t approved. In those cases, all the player has to do is bring the product to their team trainers. The trainers can either check the list of ingredients or have the supplement tested for illegal substances. It’s pretty simple. I mean, who wouldn’t have something checked before ingesting a bunch of pills or mixing an unknown powdery substance if it meant losing your job or paychecks in the hundreds of thousands of dollars?

 The Chargers’ Shawne Merriman was caught with nandrolone, a banned steroid substance, in his system. He and David Cornwell, his attorney, claim it came from a tainted over-the-counter supplement. Merriman’s argument is “why would I do anything wrong? I’m already in the spotlight?”

Give me a break.

What I would like to hear Merriman say is this: “Yes, I made a mistake. I took something I shouldn’t have. I should have had it tested. Heck, I’m a millionaire. I could have hired my own pharmacist to make sure I wasn’t taking nandrolone or anything else that is banned.”

Big Ben should play

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has said that he suffered a concussion when knocked out in the Atlanta game on Sunday. The Steelers and Coach Bill Cowher have listed their star quarterback, who returned to the sidelines after the hit and seemed fine to a lot of players, as questionable for Sunday’s game in Oakland.

Granted, the Steelers may be able to beat the Raiders without Roethlisberger, but there are people close to the team who believe Ben can play if he wants to. A lot of his teammates will be keeping a close watch on what Ben decides to do.

Another interesting tidbit is that the NFL office didn’t believe that the Falcons’ Chauncey Davis’ tackle of Roethlisberger wasn’t a helmet-to-helmet hit based on a New York Times report. Falcons Coach Jim Mora believes Davis will not be fined for lowering his head and decking Roethlisberger.

There were several bad penalties called against the Steelers in that game, including a dubious false start penalty on the final play that cost Pittsburgh a chance to attempt a game-winning field goal.

“These officials should be ashamed of themselves," Steelers chairman Dan Rooney said. “That last call, you don't call that kind of call.”

What do Cardinals do?

OK, Denny Green is probably safe for the rest of the season. But Green does admit that he has talented personnel and that the Arizona Cardinals shouldn’t be 1-6. This is what the boss’s son, Michael Bidwill, believes, too.

The Bidwills have this habit of preferring not to pay an expensive head coach for not working. But at the end of the season, Green’s fate will be sealed by how the Cardinals perform in the final nine games. If the losing continues, you can bet Bidwill will make a run at USC head coach Pete Carroll. There are no guarantees that Carroll will ever leave USC. He’s well paid and his program, based on his recruiting skills, will probably always rank in the top five nationally.

But the Cardinals can easily offer Carroll total control of the football operations. And wouldn’t it be interesting having him coach his former Heisman quarterback Matt Leinart once again?

Despite what Charles Barkley said on ESPN last night, Denny Green's career in Arizona moved to earthquake status in the shaky-ground department after the Cardinals' collapse to the unbeaten Chicago Bears. Barkley is right that Green had put a positive face on the franchise for the first time in awhile, but he obviously hasn't fixed whatever curse is lurking over his offensive line.

The Cardinals have this brand new stadium in Glendale, Arizona and actually had a full house and a crowd giving them home-field advantage for the first time ever and they still couldn't protect a 20-0 lead? This is weird stuff, quoting Edgerrin James, befalling the Cardinals.

Not only did the O-line not give rookie quarterback Matt Leinart enough protection at times, but rarely did James have room to run. Then kicker Neil Rackers, who was virtually automatic last season, still hasn't made a game-winning kick in two seasons. He missed poorly on a 41-yarder that would have won last night's game and he also missed a 51-yarder the week before that would have sent the Chiefs game in overtime.

Green was right about one thing. The Bears were never going to score an offensive touchdown. Rex Grossman played poorly, accounting for six turnovers. Chicago won, though, because linebacker Brian Urlacher and the defense scored two touchdowns and then Devin Hester returned a punt for a touchdown. Hester was another great draft pick by GM Jerry Angelo.

Green was definitely right about switching to Leinart at quarterback. The Hollywood Kid has a bright future and whenever Larry Fitzgerald returns, the Cardinals will be very scary on offense.

End of a friendship

This usually happens in sports when you hire an unemployed friend.

Ravens coach Brian Billick, who is fighting for his own job in Baltimore, tossed his former good friend, Jim Fassel, under the bus today, firing his offensive coordinator with two years left on his contract. In Billick's case, it is always easier to point fingers at someone else when the offense isn't working.

Such a firing could prove to be the end of Fassel's NFL career. I mean, how many teams or coaches will be willing to hire a guy who was dumped by a close friend?

The interesting thing is that Fassel saved the job of quarterbacks coach Rich Neuheisal in the off-season.

Reid admits to problems

 

 

Eagles coach Andy Reid admitted that he has had problems communicating play calls into quarterback Donovan McNabb in the past and also last Sunday in the Superdome that basically cost his team two timeouts, preventing it from saving some time at the end of the game prior to John Carney's game-winning field goal. The Eagles had to stand around helplessly in the final two minutes and simply watch the Saints run off the time before Carney's kick won it.

 

Reid had this same problem during the Super Bowl loss to the Patriots. He took way too much time in the fourth quarter when the Eagles should have been in a hurry-up mode. The Saints might be for real, but the Reid and the Eagles blew a game they should have won. Or, at least, should have had a chance to win had Reid simply saved his timeouts.

 

Bengals upset

 

 

How would you like to watch NFL games with all the best quarterbacks sitting on the sidelines? I wouldn't and that's why I am in referee Mike Carey's corner on the Justin Smith sack of rookie Bruce Gradkowski last Sunday.

 

Gradkowski fumbled when sacked by Smith and the Bengals recovered. Had the play stood, the Bengals probably wouldn't have been upset by the Buccaneers. But when Smith hit Gradkowski, the quarterback's head did get smashed into the ground. Carey called roughing the quarterback, negating the fumble.

 

Hey, quarterbacks need protection back there. To some, Carey erred on the call. But I don't think so because Carey thought the tackle was unnecessary.

 

Granted, fans like to see quarterbacks get blown up, but pro football would really be awful to watch if the best quarterbacks were always hurt. I know the battle cry that this is football – Hall of Famer Jack Lambert said it best when he famously suggested quarterbacks wear skirts – but the NFL has crossed the line and the game is also entertainment. That's why fans are paying over $100 or more every Sunday to watch in person.

 

Compare it to attending a Broadway play. Nobody likes to pay good money and then end up watching the understudy instead of the marquee star.

Although the Bucs keep insisting that quarterback Chris Simms probably ruptured his spleen in the second half, most NFL observers believe Simms was injured in the first quarter when sandwiched by the Panthers’ defensive tackle Kris Jenkins and linebacker Thomas Davis.

Simms, who had his spleen removed Sunday night, hasn’t said when he thought he was injured. The Bucs have been making a case against the Panthers’ Al Wallace, who has been upset over the accusation that his fourth-quarter tackle caused the injury. The NFL has fined Wallace $7,500 after revealing that he should have been penalized for roughing the passer on the play in question.

Panthers GM Marty Hurney said that his team left Tampa without knowing the severity of the injury.

“The only thing I know,” Hurney said, “is that no one will ever again accuse Simms of not being tough. That was a courageous performance against us. You could tell how much he was hurting.”

Wallace thought he sacked Simms on the bootleg pass. “He had fooled me earlier on that play, but this time I read it right,” Wallace said. “I thought I sacked him until I heard the crowd noise.” Simms completed a pass to Mike Alstott on the play.

Jenkins said that Simms started holding his side after his first quarter tackle.

“I don’t know if that was the play or not,” Jenkins said. “I just know he started holding his side a lot in the first quarter. To score a touchdown like he did and play almost the entire game, well, that shows a lot of guts on his part especially if he got hurt early in the game."

The Bucs sound like they are going to become the 11th NFL team to have only two healthy quarterbacks on their 53-man roster. Rookie Bruce Gradkowski will get his first start next week in New Orleans and the team expects Luke McNown (torn ACL last spring) to be activated from the physically unable to perform list on Oct. 17. Tim Rattay is the backup. The Bucs have a bye this week and haven’t placed Simms on injured-reserve. They have only two games (Saints and Bengals) before McCown returns.

The bigger question in Tampa is whether or not the team will offer Simms a long-term contract or if he’s possibly played his last game for the Bucs. If Tampa Bay continues to lose and slip out of playoff contention, why would Simms even consider playing in December when he’s possibly cleared to play again?

Home, sweet home

When he was a teenager, Jacksonville quarterback Byron Leftwich used to sneak into old RFK Stadium to watch the Redskins. This Sunday’s game in Washington will be Leftwich’s first in his hometown.

“I knew the man who took tickets at one of the gates,” Leftwich said this week. “He told me that if I ran past him, there was no way he could catch me. And so I ran.”

Leftwich is mindful that he’s going against Mark Brunell, who is still a favorite with some fans in Jacksonville. It was Leftwich’s arrival and club’s unwillingness to assume a huge Brunell contract that led to him landing in Washington.

“I know if I lose this game,” Leftwich said, “those Brunell fans will let me hear it.”

Getting ugly

The situation in Tennessee is getting somewhat ugly for respected head coach Jeff Fisher. There is now a FireCoachFisher.com site where you can visit and purchase a T-shirt asking owner Bud Adams to do exactly that.

The Titans are off to an 0-3 start and rookie Vince Young is probably a few games away from starting. Adams, to his credit, installed chief operating officer Steve Underwood in Nashville, to serve as a middle man between Fisher and GM Floyd Reese. Many believe that Underwood has Fisher’s back on most issues.

Reese is in the final year of his contract and the speculation persists that despite a potentially horrible final record on the field this season that Fisher will return and Reese will not.

'GM didn't want me'

Saints quarterback Drew Brees finally said this week that the only reason he’s not playing in San Diego this season is because Chargers GM A.J. Smith didn’t want him.

“He’s the guy who drafted Phillip (Rivers) and my shoulder injury gave him the excuse to play Phillip this season,” Brees said. “I think Marty Schottenheimer and a lot of players wanted me to stay there, but the general manager didn’t want that.”

Brees said he’s happy to be in New Orleans, but had once figured that he would finish his career in San Diego.

Warner's future in doubt

The good news in Arizona is that Brenda Warner hasn’t made any phone calls to the local radio talk shows. But there’s no question that her husband, Kurt, is dangling in the wind.

Only in the NFL can a quarterback go from being Player of the Week (Warner was after a victory over San Francisco) to being booed by the home crowd after a costly fourth-quarter fumble cost the Cardinals an opportunity to beat his old team, the Rams, last Sunday.

Warner will start Sunday in Atlanta against the Falcons. He’s 6-0 vs. Atlanta.

But it seems certain that head coach Denny Green will start rookie Matt Leinart next week against Kansas City if Warner continues his turnover streak (six in the last two games) against the Falcons.

Happy Hasselbeck

There is no doubt that Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck loves his new four-receiver formation. After using it 10 times in the first two games, coach Mike Holmgren used it 24 times last Sunday against the Giants.

“Most of the places I look with that formation, we have mismatches,” Hasselbeck said. “Sometimes it’s in two or more spots and that makes my job that much easier.

The key Sunday night in Chicago will be whether or not the Bears can rattle Hasselbeck before he finds an open receiver.

Points about penalties

Well, there were 78 false start penalties called last weekend and for the season the total count is 171, by far and away the league’s No. 1 penalty. Offensive holding is a distant second at 116. Mike Carey’s crew has called the most penalties after three weeks, 20.7 penalties per game. The fewest? Walt Coleman’s crew has called only nine penalties per game followed closely by Ron Winter’s crew at 9.7. They are the only crews under double digits.

Here are the highlights of Sunday’s claim day:

Eagles safety Matt Ware had the most claims: by Atlanta, Cincinnati and his assigned team, Arizona.

The Jets put a claim in for failed first-round pick Michael Haynes, a defensive end cut by the Bears, who was assigned to the Saints.

The Saints were assigned five players off claims, including two Cowboys, offensive tackle Rob Petitti and special teams/receiver Terrance Copper. They also got Giants cornerback Curtis Deloatch and Rams defensive back Dejuan Groce.

The Miami Dolphins were the only team to claim Browns running back Lee Suggs and no team put a claim for ex-Packer running Najeh Davenport.

The Steelers claimed Detroit running back Artose Pinner, but lost out on him to Minnesota, the priority team based on last season’s record.

The Packers put safety Michael Hawkins on their injured reserve list after waiving him.

The Saints placed quarterback Adrian McPherson on their injured reserve list after waiving him. McPherson, remember, was injured by the Titans mascot T-Rac, who ran into him on the sidelines with his golf cart.

There is great news within the Dolphins camp.

New quarterback Daunte Culpepper appears to be ahead on his rehabilitation and could be ready for the start of training camp. Maybe he won't be ready to get hit, but Culpepper should be ready to participate in most drills. He looks super. That's the word.

Where's Air?

There is a very good chance that the Titans will lose the hearing regarding quarterback Steve McNair's status, thus forcing them to make a decision. A decision on the hearing is due by June 1. Either they will allow him to return to their practice facility (and cross their fingers regarding him getting hurt, thus being liable for his huge contract) or cut him loose. If McNair wins, the Titans most likely will trade him to Baltimore. He already has a deal done with the Ravens.

Rushton to glory

Ruston Webster, Tampa Bay's director of player personnel, apparently is headed to Seattle to join former Bucs' buddy Tim Ruskell, who is the general manager. Webster was the leading candidate to replace Charlie Armey with the Rams, but the Rams apparently weren't willing to give Webster control of personnel. If he's going to be No. 2, he'd rather work with Ruskell. Besides, the money is always better with billionaire Paul Allen.

Not so fast

We have written about Arizona rookie quarterback Matt Leinart and his Hollywood friends, from Paris Hilton to Nick Lachey. We can't help that some NFL teams interpreted Leinart's association with the stars as "going Hollywood." However, some national writers have incorrectly mentioned that Leinart should have opted out of USC after his junior season, the year he won the Heisman Trophy. The opinion is that he would have been the first overall choice, ahead of Utah's Alex Smith. What everyone is forgetting is that Leinart needed surgery on his throwing elbow and he never would have been ready for any NFL mini-camps last season. With all that doubt, Leinart likely wouldn't have been the first choice and he made the correct decision in returning to USC. It is this elbow injury that caused some teams to claim that Leinart didn't have the strongest arm anymore.

Run with me

Eagles coach Andy Reid is telling everyone that he plans to run the football more this season. Of course, there are plenty of skeptics when Reid says such things. He has always loved throwing the football despite the fact that Philadelphia plays so many games in cold weather. Two years ago, Reid called 61 percent pass plays and that pass-run percentage increased to 64.4 percent last season. Reid will never have a balanced offense because he doesn't have the big back necessary to run such an offense.

What would the Green Bay Packers do if USC quarterback Matt Leinart were available with the fifth overall choice? Well, we’ve put Maryland tight end Vernon Davis there, but Leinart would be difficult to ignore even with Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers on the roster.

Why? Well, there was a strong rumor last year at this time that 49ers offensive coordinator Mike McCarthy preferred Alex Smith to Rodgers. Well, McCarthy is now the new Green Bay head coach and his backup quarterback is Rodgers. This is why Leinart would be compelling.

Why is Leinart falling?

Well, it seems that Tennessee GM Floyd Reese has the call with the third overall pick and he prefers Texas QB Vince Young to the USC quarterback, who is preferred by the coaching staff. Remember, owner Bud Adams lives in Houston, Young’s hometown. It will be pretty easy for Reese for convince Adams.

Of course, such a pick could force head coach Jeff Fisher to re-think his future in Tennessee. Adams owns options on his contract for 2007 at around $6 million a season. If Fisher doesn’t get Leinart, will he ask Adams for his freedom in 2007?

Leinart as next Namath?

The Jets are actually worried about Hollywood Matt Leinart turning into the off-the-field version of Joe Willie Namath. Old-time New Yorkers would think that’s ridiculous, considering Joe Willie was a lot of fun to watch, on and off the field.

Donald Trump likes Leinart. Then, again, that could be interpreted in Jets’ headquarters as the kiss of death.

Raiders looking at Young

If the Titans pass on Vince Young, everybody in the NFL believes that Raiders owner Al Davis will pick him with the seventh overall choice. The Raiders may need Texas safety Michael Huff, but Davis and head coach Art Shell are thinking long-term.

Lions like Sims

New Lions head coach Rod Marenelli wants a defensive demon and it appears that Florida State linebacker Ernie Sims could be the team's first-round pick. Sims is known for playing at 100 miles per hour and some teams believe he must gauge his speed or he could actually end up hurting himself in the pros.

Bunkley the Bill

The Buffalo Bills are seriously thinking of taking Florida State defensive tackle Brodrick Bunkley with the eighth overall pick, meaning that monster nose tackle Haloti Ngata could be available to the Rams at No. 11. And some teams believe the Dolphins will take Tennessee safety Jason Allen with the 16th overall pick. Safety is a big need for Miami.

Walker on the wild side

If they can get a second-round pick, the Packers will trade unhappy receiver Javon Walker. It’s up to the Saints and Broncos to make the call. Green Bay has decided not to re-work Walker’s contract and the club believes its better to get him out of town.

What about Rodgers and Walker to New Orleans for receiver Donte Stallworth, a second-round pick and a third-round pick?

Bush's eye black

Reggie Bush has all these problems with that free house outside San Diego, but one thing is certain: he won’t be wearing his familiar 619 eye black in the NFL. He will be allowed to wear it during training camp and at practice, but the league doesn’t allow “personal messages” on the field on game days.