LSU Good To Go For Saturday in Tiger Stadium

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP)—LSU has scheduled its return to Tiger Stadium on Saturday night to host North Texas, one week after postponing its game with Troy because of Hurricane Gustav.

LSU officials say they are confident that Tiger Stadium will ready by the weekend, but wanted to make sure the area would not be threatened by Hurricane Ike.

On Wednesday, Ike appeared to be headed for the Texas coast.

Hurricane Gustav had caused damage to the campus in Baton Rouge, forcing the postponement against Troy.

Saints WR Marques Colston Out 4-6 Weeks With Thumb Injury

NEW ORLEANS (AP)—Marques Colston, the New Orleans Saints’ top receiver during the past two seasons, had surgery on his left thumb and will miss four to six weeks.

Colston said he had a torn ligament resulting from a play Sunday when he reached forward to make a catch while taking a helmet-first hit to his hands from Ronde Barber.

“I don’t know if my thumb just got caught in an awkward position. It just bent all the way backward,” said Colston, who was wearing a cast over his left hand. “I guess the only silver lining is that I’m going to have a chance to come back and play a good portion of the season and hopefully be back in time for that playoff push.”

Colston tried to continue playing with the injury during the Saints’ 24-20 victory over Tampa Bay, but finished with only three catches for 26 yards. He made one catch after the injury.

Colston was a seventh-round draft choice out of Hofstra in 2006. At 6-foot-5, 225 pounds, he provides quarterback Drew Brees a big target and emerged as one of Brees’ favorite receivers during his rookie year. Colston went on to compile 2,241 yards receiving for 19 touchdowns in his first two seasons.

His 168 catches are more than any NFL receiver has had through only two seasons. During the summer, Colston agreed to a three-year contract extension that could keep him in New Orleans through the 2011 season.

“It’s tough, especially when you lose a guy as productive as him,” Brees said after Wednesday’s practice. “But there’s always an opportunity for a younger guy to step up or guys that might not get as much playing time ordinarily to step up and contribute even more.

“I’m confident with all our guys. However we piece it together, whoever is on the field knows what to do and they know they’ll get their opportunities.”

Most of Brees’ 343 yards and all three of his touchdown passes in the victory over Tampa Bay involved receivers other than Colston.

How much tougher it is for other receivers to get open without Colston drawing double coverage remains to be seen. But the Saints also have a new receiving threat in tight end Jeremy Shockey, who made his debut last Sunday with six catches for 54 yards, including a drive-extending 10-yard catch on third down that set up a field goal.

“It was good for him to come out and play as many snaps as he did and make six catches, some of them very big, and third-down conversions,” Brees said. “Certainly, he’s a guy I’m not going to shy away from for any reason even if we haven’t gotten as much time together as we hoped we would have through training camp, the preseason and such.”

Colston’s absence is expected to open the way for Robert Meachem to dress for a regular-season game for the first time since being drafted in the first round a year ago. New Orleans visits Washington on Sunday.

“You see the smile on my face? It’s a dream come true,” Meachem said. “I’ll do whatever it takes to make my teammates and coaches proud and so my family back home can hold their heads high.”

Meachem, who had a solid preseason that included a 60-yard touchdown and a 49-yard catch, was not sure why he was left off the active roster in the opener. The active receivers in the game were Colston, David Patten, Lance Moore, Devery Henderson and Terrance Copper. Copper and Moore both also play on special teams.

“Coach, he felt comfortable with the five guys who were at receiver. He’s been in the league a long time, so he knows what he’s doing. I didn’t second-guess that,” Meachem said. “Being a competitor, I wanted to be out there. It hurt not being out there, but we got the victory.”

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=AlM6xYAp1U9lujw6gVNg1_05nYcB?slug=ap-saints-colstonout&prov=ap&type=lgns

Tom Brady Out For Season

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP)—The New England Patriots have come back from injuries before, winning three Super Bowls and reaching a fourth despite losing Rodney Harrison, Richard Seymour, Junior Seau and Drew Bledsoe.

Now they will try to do it without Tom Brady.

The 2007 NFL Most Valuable Player will miss the entire ‘08 season with a left knee injury that needs surgery, the team said Monday. That leaves the Patriots without one of the game’s great quarterbacks and severely damages their hopes of a return trip to the Super Bowl.

Coach Bill Belichick would not say what the injury is, but the play, Brady’s reaction and the prognosis all point toward a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

“As a team we all just have to do our jobs. That really doesn’t change,” Belichick said Monday, a day after Brady’s knee collapsed under him when he was hit by Chiefs safety Bernard Pollard in a 17-10 victory over Kansas City. “He played one position, he played it very well. We have somebody else playing that position now.”

The Patriots issued a one-paragraph statement that the two-time Super Bowl MVP will have surgery and be placed on injured reserve. That leaves them in the hands of a backup who’s barely been tested—in part because of Brady’s 128-game starting streak that was the third-longest for a quarterback in NFL history.

Matt Cassel, who guided New England to its 20th consecutive regular-season victory after Brady was hurt, will start Sunday at the New York Jets. It will be the first meaningful start since high school for Cassel, who backed up Heisman Trophy winners Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart at Southern Cal and spent the last three years holding a clipboard for Brady.

“I’m not trying to be Tom Brady. I’m just trying to be Matt Cassel,” he said when subbing for Brady on his regular weekly radio show. “I don’t know where that’s going to take us.”

Brady took the Patriots to three NFL titles since 2001 and led them to a perfect record in the regular season last year before a loss in the Super Bowl to the New York Giants deprived them of a fourth championship and an unprecedented 19-0 season. They had been favored to return—before Brady’s injury.

“We’re not going to tank it the rest of the season. That’s not going to happen,” defensive lineman Richard Seymour said in a somber and nearly empty Patriots locker room. Seymour was across from where Brady’s locker remained stocked with equipment and personal items. “There’s always a way to win. We’re not going to have a lot of excuses about it.”

Even without Brady, the Patriots remain a team stocked with veterans in a mediocre division, and with one of the most successful coaches in NFL history.

“The leadership on this team will take care of itself,” offensive lineman Matt Light said. “I expect (Cassel) to do his job, and that’s the same thing he expects from each one of us. There’s nobody on this team that we don’t have confidence in. You can’t have a better mentor than Tom Brady.”

The Patriots have just two quarterbacks on the roster: Cassel and rookie Kevin O’Connell. Matt Gutierrez, who signed as an undrafted free agent before the 2007 season and has thrown one career pass, was released in the final cutdowns before the season.

But Belichick denied media reports that out-of-work quarterbacks Chris Simms and Tim Rattay were headed to Foxborough to take physicals or to audition.

“In spite of what some people are putting out there, we haven’t worked out anybody,” he said. “We had a lot of people call us, I can tell you that.”

For now, Cassel is his starter.

“I’m happy for his opportunity to have a chance to play,” said Leinart, who, ironically, is now a backup with the Arizona Cardinals. “I’m bummed for Tom. You just hope he can heal as well as he can and get back out there as soon as he can. But Matt will step up. I think he’ll be all right.”

Pollard, who apologized to Brady immediately after the play, said Monday that it was a normal play and prayed for Brady’s speedy recovery.

“I can’t change what happened,” he said. “As soon as the play happened, I said, `Oh, man.’ When I heard him scream, I knew it was serious.”

While not calling Pollard’s play dirty, Belichick said his players are taught to hit quarterbacks between the knees and shoulders. Patriots defensive lineman Vince Wilfork complained that he was penalized and fined for a hit similar to Pollard’s, but league spokesman Greg Aiello said supervisor of officials Mike Pereira determined it was legal.

“It is not a foul because the defensive player was coming off and affected by a block by the offense,” Aiello said.

A former fourth-stringer who was the 199th overall selection in the 2000 draft, Brady himself took over at quarterback when Bledsoe sustained a life-threatening chest injury in a 2001 game against the New York Jets. Brady led the Patriots to their first NFL title that year, another in 2003 and another in 2004.

Belichick said comparing this season to 2001 was like comparing “apples to grapefruit.”

But Patriots players cited that experience as proof they could do it again.

“Everybody here understands that things like this happen; they’ve happened before,” Light said. “I feel good about this football team.”

Brady missed the entire preseason with an unspecified foot injury, then left the season opener 7:33 into the first quarter. After being tended to on the field, Brady walked off, limping, between two trainers. He went to the locker room and wasn’t seen on the sideline again.

“We feel badly for Tom about the injury,” Belichick said Monday. “You hate to see anyone go down. No one has worked harder or done more for this team than Tom has.”

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=Agb7JDsC4XKJM9DUiCA3gC05nYcB?slug=ap-patriots-bradyout&prov=ap&type=lgns

UFC 88: Breakthrough Results

- Ryo Chonan def. Roan Carneiro via Split Decision (3rd round)
- Jason MacDonald def. Jason Lambert via submission (rear naked choke, 1:20 of 2nd round)
- Tim Boetsch def. Michael Patt via TKO (strikes, 2:03 of 1st round)
- Kurt Pallegrino def. Thiago Tavares via Unanimous Decision (3rd round)
- Dong Hyun Kim def. Matt Brown via Split Decision (3rd round)
- Nate Marquardt def. Martin Kampmann via KO (strikes, 1:22 of 2nd round)
- Dan Henderson def. Rousimar Palhares via Unanimous Decision (3rd round)
- Rich Franklin def. Matt Hamill via KO (body kick, 0:39 of 3rd round)
- Rashad Evans def. Chuck Liddell via KO (punch, 1:49 of 1st round)

NFL Opening Day News

Branch out for Seattle, Locklear unlikely to Play

RENTON, Wash. (AP)—The return of Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Deion Branch is going to wait at least a week.

Branch was ruled out of Seattle’s season opener at Buffalo by coach Mike Holmgren on Friday. Branch was trying to get back in time for the opener just seven months after having major reconstructive surgery on his left knee.

But Branch was very limited in practice this week, only participating in a few snaps of team drills on Friday and did not appear close to full speed.

“The process there is getting him to feel good about where he is at,” Holmgren said before the team departed for Buffalo.

Branch tore the ACL in his left knee during January’s NFC divisional playoff loss in Green Bay. He was hurt running a routine route early in the Seahawks’ 42-20 loss.

Typical recovery time for that type of injury is a minimum of nine months. Had Branch been able to play on Sunday, it would have been seven months to the day of his surgery.

“Next week (he can try) a little bit more and maybe get him into some competitive things,” Holmgren said. “At some point he has to do that just so he knows he can do that. That’s the big hurdle now.”

The sooner Branch can return, the better for Seattle’s thin, inexperienced receiving group. Bobby Engram could be out into October with a broken shoulder. Nate Burleson (50 catches last season) and Courtney Taylor (five catches) will start against the Bills with Logan Payne and Jordan Kent—both practice squad players last year—the Nos. 3 and 4 receivers in Holmgren’s offense. Holmgren has also said using backup quarterback Seneca Wallace is an option if needed.

“I’m expecting a lot of the young guys. It’s very, very important that they play well,” Holmgren said. “It’s as unusual a situation at that position as I have ever had.”

Holmgren also said it’s unlikely that starting right tackle Sean Locklear will play. Locklear is listed as doubtful for the game and has been bothered by a left knee injury for a few weeks. Ray Willis would start in Locklear’s place.

The Seahawks were also preparing special arrangements for left guard Mike Wahle to make the game in Buffalo. His wife gave birth to the couple’s second child Friday morning—a boy named Maddox—and Wahle joined his teammates for the final few minutes of practice. Wahle was greeted by an ovation and handshakes from his fellow offensive linemen, and Holmgren believed he would be traveling with the team Friday afternoon.

“I didn’t expect him to come to practice,” Holmgren said.

Terrance Newman Questionable For Dallas

IRVING, Texas (AP)—Dallas Cowboys cornerback Terence Newman is listed as questionable for the season opener at Cleveland.

Newman’s uncertain status on Friday’s injury report was another sign that Adam Jones may make his Dallas debut as a starter on Sunday. It will be Jones’ first NFL game since the 2006 season.

Cowboys coach Wade Phillips said this week that Jones would start if Newman wasn’t in the lineup.

Newman missed nearly all of training camp, and the entire preseason, while dealing with a slightly torn groin muscle. He returned to practice last week and was listed as limited participation going through drills Friday.

49ers QB Alex Smith Doubtful

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP)—The San Francisco 49ers added quarterback Alex Smith to their injury report Saturday, listing him as doubtful for Sunday’s game against Arizona with another problem in his surgically repaired right shoulder.

Shaun Hill will be the backup against the Cardinals.

The 49ers didn’t specify what was wrong with Smith, only saying the injury occurred without contact during practice Friday. Smith, the former No. 1 overall draft pick, was expected to back up J.T. O’Sullivan, who beat out Smith for the starting job in training camp.

“He will be consulting with his surgeon in Birmingham for treatment recommendations,” coach Mike Nolan said in a statement. “At this time there are no specifics to the injury or a timetable.”

Dr. James Andrews performed surgery on Smith in Alabama in December, about 2 1/2 months after Smith’s shoulder was separated on a sack by Seattle’s Rocky Bernard. Smith attempted to play through the injury but struggled and eventually went on injured reserve in mid-November while trading public jabs with Nolan about the severity of his injury.

Running back Michael Robinson, the former Penn State quarterback, is likely to be the No. 3 quarterback.

OT Jason Peters Ends Holdouts Joins Bills

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP)—Buffalo Bills Pro Bowl left tackle Jason Peters has ended his holdout and reported to the team.

Bills spokesman Scott Berchtold said Peters reported Saturday and that questions about his physical and roster status won’t be answered until after Sunday’s home game against Seattle. Peters won’t play against the Seahawks.

Peters declined to talk to reporters. He had offseason surgery to repair a sports hernia and is required to pass a team physical. He has three years left on his contract but began his holdout this spring in an attempt to force the Bills into restructuring his deal.

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