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.

One of the worst teams I saw this summer was the New Orleans Saints. Personnel people around the league concurred with me.

Now, that the Saints are 3-0 and heading toward a showdown game with the Carolina Panthers this Sunday, there are two theories: 1.) preseason games definitely don't reveal a team's true identity or 2.) new head coach Sean Payton and his defensive coordinator Gary Gibbs have this team playing well above their heads.

Granted, the Saints played with enormous emotion Monday night in the franchise's return to the Superdome, but they also stuffed the potent Atlanta rushing game and Drew Brees directed a wide-open offense.

Payton has done a masterful job with Reggie Bush, who may not have huge numbers but truly scares defensive coordinators. The Falcons made an effort to account for Bush and in the process it opened up other areas on the field for Deuce McAlister and rookie receiver Marques Colston. In August, the Saints' offensive line looked like it had major holes, but that hasn't been the case with Payton's aggressive play-calling.

Give Payton another huge pat on the back for realizing early in training camp that Colston, a mere seventh-rounder from Hofstra, might be a big-time receiver. Payton's confidence in Colston (15 catches for 204 yards) allowed the Saints to trade away Donte Stallworth to the Eagles.

Anybody notice that Stallworth is injured again?

Some truth to Shockey

It had been written for a week or more that Seattle head coach Mike Holmgren was seriously considering a lot of four-wide receiver formations prior to the New York game because he had to get newcomer Deion Branch on the field. Holmgren even admitted to possibly using the formation at least 10 times a game.

Well, the New York Giants apparently can't read.

They looked totally unprepared to deal with the four-wide look on Sunday as Holmgren used it extensively, helping Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck to a career day. Hasselbeck threw four of his five touchdown passes in the first half as Seattle built a 35-3 lead. In most cases, receivers were wide open. There wasn't a Giant within 10 yards of tight end Will Heller when he caught his fourth career touchdown.

The formation prevented the Giants' pass rushers from getting to Hasselbeck because with a receiver always open, Hasselbeck was getting rid of the ball before anyone got near him. It was a frustrating day for players like Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyiora.

Ponder these numbers

- Everything you hear out of Detroit is that the Lions finally have the right head coach in Rod Marinelli. And still the Lions are off to a 0-3 start and GM Matt Millen is now 21-62.

- Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger doesn't have a quarterback rating over 31.0 in his last three starts, which includes the Super Bowl. The "great" Hines Ward has nine catches for 99 yards. Where are the big plays?

- The Raiders are in their must-win mode this week. But just remember they lost to the Browns last season at home on three Phil Dawson field goals, 9-7.

- Minnesota's offense has gone 10 quarters now without a touchdown.

Good move

Packers head coach Mike McCarthy opted for a lot more shotgun formations last Sunday in order to give Brett Favre time to see downfield. With young offensive linemen learning a new zone-blocking system, it made a lot of sense and Favre delivered with three touchdown (402 in his career) passes. McCarthy figures to do more of the same because Green Bay will be in a lot of high-scoring games this season.

Wait a week on Leinart

Arizona coach Denny Green is leaning towards starting rookie Matt Leinart over Kurt Warner this Sunday in Atlanta. But wouldn't it be better, considering the Georgia Dome might be pretty hostile this weekend, to wait a week and allow Leinart to get his first start at home against the Kansas City Chiefs?

Of the rookie quarterbacks, Leinart was always considered the one most ready to play this season. Mentally, he knows the playbook. He possesses big-game poise, too. But there's nothing wrong in waiting because Green really doesn't want him to fail and there's really no sense in turning back to Warner once the coach makes the switch.

The NFL has been listening to the complaints, but no way is it going to fully support New England’s tampering charges against the New York Jets on the Deion Branch case. Even when the Pats had Branch virtually traded to Seattle, they were complaining last Friday that the Jets had tampered with Branch.

“When you allow a player to seek a trade and allow his agent to do the same, while working on a contract, how can you prove any blame on any team interested in that player,” a top NFL official told me on Saturday, when the tampering charges were revealed. “I just don’t know why they won’t let that go. It makes no sense and seems groundless to me.”

“It just sounds like sour grapes to me,” one GM told me Tuesday afternoon. “For some reason, they really thought no one would go after him for a lot of money.”

Rudderless Raiders

Raise your hand if you think Jerry Porter would have helped the Raiders’ offense Monday night? Raise your hand if you think nobody, even Joe Montana or Troy Aikman, could have salvaged that offense?

It’s too bad the Raiders didn’t trade Porter to New England and kept Doug Gabriel, who was liked by his Oakland teammates, particularly Randy Moss.

Punk'd?

It did seem like a punk thing to do, when Moss flipped the ball to Chargers placekicker Nate Kaeding, who was standing out-of-bounds. But it didn’t seem like a big-time taunting penalty until reading the rule books. A player isn’t allowed, at any time, to use a football as a prop when dealing with opponents or officials. Moss undoubtedly didn’t know that rule.

Out of character

The thing about Porter laughing at Raiders quarterback Aaron Brooks being sacked on Monday night is that he has had a reputation as being not a team player for quite a long time. He had this reputation prior to his run-in with new head coach Art Shell.

Chief concerns

The Chicago Bears were interested in signing veteran receiver Rod Gardner. But guess what happened? Gardner got a better deal from the Kansas City Chiefs. The good news in Kansas City is that quarterback Trent Green is expected to be released from the hospital Tuesday after that ugly hit by Cincinnati’s Robert Gaethers on Sunday.

Sweet revenge

There is one big reason why Vikings quarterback Brad Johnson was extra excited about beating the Redskins in Washington – owner Daniel Snyder. He knew that Snyder thought he had a pop-gun throwing arm and wanted Jeff George as his quarterback. Johnson also knew what a rough time Snyder gave then head coach Norv Turner, who loved Johnson and supported him to the bitter end.

The right stuff

The Seattle Seahawks made the right move in trading next year’s first-round pick for New England receiver Deion Branch. Seattle’s window of opportunity is now to return to the Super Bowl, plus he gives quarterback Matt Hasselbeck a solid option underneath. The Seahawks would be really scary if they also had guard Steve Hutchinson, who opened some big holes for Chester Taylor on Monday night.

Seattle GM Tim Ruskell didn’t want to surrender his first-rounder, but when his team escaped Detroit with only a 9-6 win, he had no choice. I’m still not sure if it was the right move for New England, losing a talented player. But it really was the only thing the Patriots could do once they knew that Branch was serious about not reporting until the 10th week of the season. The negotiations got ugly and he never would have signed with them.

The thing about this trade is how many players get a chance to repeat as a Super Bowl MVP with another team? Branch took the honor in Jacksonville two years ago and he could end up leading the Seahawks into Miami this season.

Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck may be 2,000 miles away from the World of Terrell Owens in Dallas, but all he knows is that he could have played with the wide receiver.

“I think he’s a great player and I think I could work well with him,” Hasselbeck told me. “But we don’t need him. We have good receivers here. But, yeah, I think he’s gotten a bad rap. Me, I feel we would have a good relationship. From what I hear, he’s usually upset because they don’t throw him the ball. My thing is, he’s probably right.

“If he was my teammate, I would throw him the ball all the time until someone covered him. When he was in San Francisco and Trent Dilfer and I were in Seattle, I stopped him in pregame warm-ups and told him exactly that. He smiled and said, ‘Right on, man.’ I think he’s really a nice guy and a hard worker. That’s the one thing I love about him, how hard he works."

Hasselbeck compared T.O.’s style to how linebacker Ray Lewis operates and is allowed to function in Baltimore.

“In Baltimore, Ray is allowed to be that guy,” Hasselbeck said. “He’s allowed to lead and say, ‘Hey, this is the standard we’re playing at. If you’re not going to be in sync with this standard, I’m going to get it going without you.’ The thing wide receivers are generally not allowed to be that guy. Sometimes people say well, only the quarterback, the center or the tailback can be that guy on offense.

“Where I feel everything went sour for him is when he became that guy to the media,” Hasselbeck said, referring to when Owens would call out teammates for their lack of effort or style of play. “You don’t see Ray doing that with the media. Ray is as loyal to his teammates as they come. But I do know that Ray talks to his teammates. I’ve played against him. I hear what he says to his teammates. Calling them out. But had T.O. been on our team on some point, in the last few years, I think he and I would have jelled nicely.”

Hasselbeck believed that everything unraveled in Philadelphia because too many people were involved in T.O.’s business last season. Agents, executives, assistant coaches, trainers, team doctors, etc.

“Sometimes the basic thing gets lost in the process,” Hasselbeck said. “It’s like going back to high school and working things out with your teammate and the head coach. That’s all that matters. It can be as simple as all that.”

Henson experiment ends

Speaking of Dallas, it should be a shock to no one that coach Bill Parcells ended the Drew Henson experiment. The interesting aspect is that owner Jerry Jones invested so much money and effort into Henson and Parcells was allowed to pull the plug.

The key now is whether or not Tony Romo can actually be the quarterback of the future in Dallas. Romo probably will get a chance to play this season and then we will see how good he is. When he starred against the Seahawks in the first preseason game, Seattle didn’t blitz him once and played a very vanilla defense. A lot of quarterbacks would play very well in such a setting.

Deal upsets some

If you are Rock Cartwright or Ledell Betts in Washington, you have to be upset with the acquisition of Atlanta’s T.J. Duckett. The Redskins are basically telling those players that they can’t step in for Clinton Portis in case he misses games this season due to an injury.

No preseason for T.O.

Speaking of T.O., you don’t know how many people told me before the preseason even started that he wouldn’t play a game in August. That he would miss the entire preseason. I remember asking the Cowboys if there was anything to it. They said there wasn’t. My money is on Owens starting in the opener, though, against the Jaguars even he misses the entire preseason.