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Posted by Will Brinson

Will Witherspoon left Tennessee Titans' practice early this week following the death of his mother at the age of 56.

"He's going through a really tough time," Titans coach Jeff Fisher told reporters. "He lost his mom Tuesday, and … it was sudden. It was unexpected so we got him to the airport Tuesday afternoon and communicated with him last night. As you can understand, it's very, very difficult."

Fisher indicated that he still hoped Witherspoon could play this Sunday for the Titans and, frankly, that would be an amazing accomplishment given what he's dealing with right now.

Certainly our thoughts and prayers go out to Witherspoon and his family in this tough time.

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Posted by Andy Benoit

Filling you in on some of the noteworthy midweek injury news...

Some truly great news for the Giant: strong safety Kenny Phillips will be in the starting lineup against the Panthers Sunday. Phillips is coming off microfracture knee surgery. If healthy, he’s one of the most electrifying safeties in the game.

The Cowboys also got their safety, Gerald Sensabaugh, back. He’s been out with a foot injury.

The Cowboys, Giants and Eagles all have injury news along their offensive line . The Cowboys will likely be without right tackle Marc Colombo (knee) and left guard Kyle Kosier (knee). The Eagles are getting center Jamaal Jackson back. (ACL) The Giants are getting center Shaun O’Hara back (Achilles). 

Lions safety Louis Delmas missed practice Wednesday. So did middle linebacker DeAndre Levy. Both have strained groin muscles . These are the two best athletes on Detroit’s iffy defense (not counting Ndamukong Suh). Delmas’s presence is especially crucial given the ineptitude of the Lions secondary.

Bears rookie Major Wright has returned to practice three weeks after having surgery to repair a fractured finger. Wright was drafted to start immediately at free safety, though it’s likely he’ll come off the bench in Week 1. If he does, then Danieal Manning should start in centerfield. (Chris Harris will be the strong safety.)

Cardinals running back Beanie Wells did not practice Wednesday due to a knee injury . Wells is expected to play against the Rams on Sunday though.

Larry Fitzgerald should be good to go after taking a knee to the helmet against the Texans a few weeks ago.

Rams safety James Butler is sidelined with a knee injury. The Rams ultimately need Butler, though they’re confident that Craig Dahl, despite his limited range, can hold down the strong safety duties in the short term.

San Francisco’s best pass-rusher, outside linebacker Ahmed Brooks, has not yet recovered from a lacerated kidney (doesn’t that injury just sound awful)? He’s out this week.

Either Chester Pitts or Tyler Polumbus will start at left tackle for Seattle’s injured first-round rookie Russell Okung (high ankle sprain).

For the Panthers, Geoff Schwartz will almost certainly start for injured right tackle Jeff Otah (ankle).

Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman missed practice Wednesday because of his fractured right thumb , but he’s apparently long been scheduled to miss that particular practice anyway. Freeman will still be under center against the Browns Sunday.

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Posted by Andy Benoit

Q. What do you get when you combine a rough economy with an ever-improving home television viewing experience?

A. Blackouts. An alarming number of blackouts.

Sean Leahy of USA Today recently shed some light on the potential blackout problem NFL teams are facing in 2010. Last season, 22 regular season games (8.6 percent of games) were blacked out, which was a five-year high for the league. Five teams had home games blacked out: Detroit, Jacksonville, Kansas City, St. Louis and Oakland.

This season, 11 teams, including ’09 playoff clubs San Diego, Cincinnati and Arizona, could be facing blackouts. Tampa Bay is expected to lead the league in ’10 blackouts; their first could come in the Season Opener against Cleveland. Leahy writes, “Last year the Buccaneers took advantage of blackout loophole by which teams can buy back unsold tickets at a reduced rate in order for the game to air locally. This season, (Bucs spokesman) Jonathan Grella said the team won't do that.

For games to be on TV, Grella said, "people need to understand that it's not a given."

It’s worth noting that the blackout problems are generally impacting only the less established teams. Classic organizations like Pittsburgh, Chicago, Dallas, Green Bay, San Francisco, Miami, Washington, etc. have either already sold out all eight games in 2010 or are on the cusp of selling out all eight games. And popular teams like Philadelphia, New England, Indianapolis, Minnesota and Baltimore are selling out, too.

That said, the blackout problem will get worse if changes aren’t eventually made. Think about it: going to a game costs hundreds of dollars. You’re stuck in traffic for hours beforehand and after. You usually wind up committing eight hours of your day to the experience. The game is exciting, except for the frequent commercial breaks where you sit around and look at nothing. If you’re lucky, you’ll have a good view of the field. And, if you’re even luckier, you won’t be sitting next to a noisy moron or drunkard.

On the other side of the equation…for roughly the cost of taking your family to an NFL game, you can order DirecTV’s Sunday Ticket and see every game for the entire season. You watch from home (likely on a big HD screen) and determine the nature of your own environment. You see more than you would have seen at the game live (better view, replays, close-up shots of players and coaches), and it only costs about three hours of your day. No driving home, no facing traffic and no standing in line at the restroom. Better yet, if you’re a hardcore NFL fan, you aren’t limited to watching just one game.
With the Collective Bargaining negotiations on the horizon and owners needin
g to figure out how to distribute revenue, the league needs to take special notice of the blackout markets. If blackouts become the norm for lower-echelon teams (especially lower-echelon teams in newer NFL markets like Tampa, Jacksonville, Charlotte, Phoenix, etc.), the NFL could start to develop its own versions of the Kansas City Royals or Pittsburgh Pirates.

A huge factor in the NFL’s success has been how even its bottom-feeder clubs are relevant. Relevancy is hard to maintain when no one can see the games.

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Posted by Will Brinson

New Raven T.J. Houshmandzadeh is a pretty lucky dude. He's getting paid $7 million for being a Seattle Seahawk, but he doesn't have to actually do any work for the 'Hawks to get that money. Instead, he just gets to chase a title with his former ex-rivals turned teammates in Baltimore.

Don't bother telling him that he lost his job in Seattle though -- as he told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer , he does not feel as if he got "beat out."

"Do I think I got beat out?" Housh asked rhetorically. "Of course not. Of course not."

As delusional as that might be (I mean, he got cut by a team just a year after signing a big-time free agency deal), at least the good news is that he didn't bash Pete Carroll or the Seattle organization.

That's probably because he already understands you don't want to make enemies in this league. I assume he knows that based on all the different people that were recruiting him over the past day or so.

Ray Lewis was the guy that won out, according to USA Today .

"Although I had other options and I was seriously considering those, I just couldn't pass this up," Houshamandzadeh said. "Winning is why we play sports.''

Steven Jackson of the Rams, who couldn't, um, offer the same sort of benefit to Housh, tweeted on Monday night that he recruited the wideout for St. Louis and that he "thought [he] convinced TJ to join" the Rams. Word on the street is that Chad Ochocinco was also calling his old friend about possibly coming back to Cincy as well.

Clearly, though, Baltimore offered the best chance to pile up stats and make a run at a Super Bowl win.

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Posted by Andy Benoit

Busy day with all the cuts, but we’ll take a quick second to get squared away on two pieces of quarterback news:

1. The Rams, as expected, have named Sam Bradford their starter. A.J. Feeley is the backup. Keith Null has been released.
 
2. More unexpected is that the Steelers seem to be learning towards starting Charlie Batch in Week 1. Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is reporting that Batch could go from No. 4 to No. 1 on the depth chart. (How many times in the history of quarterbacking has that happened?)

"You look back, we had three solid guys who were able to go in, step in, if needed," Batch told Bouchette. "Now we're down to two. Over the weekend, they'll determine what's going to happen. Either way, I'll be ready to go.

"I feel good, I really do. Did the reps at training camp happen? No, but we're not in training camp anymore. Right now we're getting ready for Atlanta and we have the weekend and another seven days to get ready for them. At that point, whatever happens, happens. But either way, over this weekend, we'll start the preparation of getting the game plan together. I'll be ready to go either way."

Batch has always been a stable veteran. He’s basically Dennis Dixon minus the athleticism but also minus the callowness.

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Posted by Andy Benoit

A story about two rookie late-round picks getting traded for one another rarely creates a ripple. But when those rookie late-rounders get cut almost immediately after the trade, it’s worth noting. Why? Because when a team cuts a player the same year they drafted that player, that team is required to put 85 percent of the player’s salary into a rookie pool. The money from the pool goes back to rookies early next year based on the number of downs played in 2010.

But when a player is traded and then cut by his new team, no money goes into the pool. In other words, teams circumvent the rule.

This is why the NFLPA is closely examining two recent trades made by the Redskins and Rams. The Redskins sent sixth-round pick Dennis Morris to the Rams for a conditional, undisclosed draft pick. The Rams sent fifth-round pick Hall Davis to the Redskins for a conditional, undisclosed draft pick.

Shanahan said that Morris was traded because he wasn’t going to make the 53-man roster. But, apparently, neither was Davis. The Redskins cut Davis one day after acquiring him. If you don’t believe they were trying to avoid paying 85 percent to the rookie pool, then, by default, you believe that they traded  for a guy and, after just one practice, determined he wasn’t going to make their team.
 Hmmmm…

Morris is still on the Rams roster, but that could change Saturday.

The Cardinals and Eagles also pulled off a similar trade. The Cardinals swapped sixth-round rookie Jorrick Calvin for Philly’s sixth-rounder, Charles Scott. Both are still on their new rosters…for now.

Again, the NFLPA is examining both situations. If it’s determined that these four teams are pulling a fast one (and, honestly, it appears fairly obvious that they are) then it will be interesting to see whether there will be any repercussions. It could just wind up leading to a few more paragraphs in the next Collective Bargaining Agreement.

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Posted by Andy Benoit

Remember Chidi Ahanotu? The Bucs defensive tackle who lined up next to Warren Sapp in the late 90s?

Elaine Silvestrini of the Tampa Tribune has a unique (and, frankly, sad) story on the now-retired athlete. The cliff notes version: he recently squared off in court against his ex-wife in a custody battle and lost. His ex-wife’s legal team says Ahanotu owes them $130,000.
"I don't have $130,000," Ahanotu said. "It's been a long time since I played in the NFL."

Ahanotu says he makes only $36,000 a year in disability and can’t collect NFL pension until he turns 55 (he’ll be 40 in October). To partially satisfy the $130,000, Ahanotu must turn over his NFC Championship ring. This was supposed to take place Thursday.
But, as Silvestrini writes:

Instead of bringing the ring or the money, Ahanotu brought a new lawyer, Melton H. Little, who sought to delay the proceedings.
Hillsborough Circuit Judge Liz Rice would not grant a continuance but scheduled a Wednesday hearing at which Ahanotu will have a few choices: produce the ring; satisfy the judgment; give a good reason for not complying; or go to jail.

Ahanotu did not say where the ring was or whether he intends to produce it. He said it means a lot to him and that he planned to will it to his sons.

Asked outside the courthouse whether he would go to jail rather than turn over the ring, Ahanotu deferred to his attorney, who wouldn't let him respond.

"I want to answer," Ahanotu said, although he didn't.
He said he's not afraid of jail.

"The Lord's on my side."

No one knows the ring's value, although all parties agree it's only a small portion of what is owed.

Thatcher said that if Ahanotu turns over the ring it will be sold at a sheriff's auction.

Ahanotu said he’d rather lose his money than the ring. Problem is, he doesn’t appear to have any money.

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