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Tuesday Roundup Browns' Johnson may miss game with injured hamstring
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Cleveland Browns receiver Kevin Johnson may miss Saturday's game against the Chicago Bears due to a reinjured right hamstring. Johnson sat out of two days of practice last week due to pain in his hamstring and was sidelined again Monday after the discomfort returned. He now is day to day. David Patten and rookie Dennis Northcutt have been filling in at the position. Johnson said he is worried how long the injury will affect him. "I've never had anything like this and it's scary because you don't know to react to something like this," he said. "A hamstring injury is funny. You think it's better and actually it's not." Coach Chris Palmer said the team's medical staff didn't classify the injury as serious. Linebacker Jamir Miller is scheduled to have his bottom wisdom teeth removed Wednesday. He will miss practice the rest of the week and Saturday's game. Miller will resume action with the team after his stitches are removed, Palmer said. Lenoy Jones will start in Miller's place. Panthers' Peter will suit up for Steelers gameSPARTANBURG, S.C. (AP) -- Jason Peter will be back in uniform Thursday night for the Carolina Panthers, but whether the injury-prone defensive end will play against the Pittsburgh Steelers remains undecided. "My gut right now says not to [play him], but let me see how he is when we get up there [to Pittsburgh]," Panthers head coach George Seifert said. Peter, one of only three remaining first-round draft picks still with the team, has been plagued by a series of injuries since joining the team in April 1998. He's twice undergone shoulder surgery, strained his right bicep and broke his hand while intentionally hitting a teammate in the helmet during practice. In two seasons, Peter has missed nine games and numerous practices due to injuries. This summer, he's been relatively invisible at training camp, spending most of the last two weeks recovering from a hamstring pull before returning to practice Monday. "It's frustrating and disappointing, but I've gotten used to it by now," said Peter, a standout at Nebraska. "I've just got to deal with it, keep my head up and look forward to the opportunity to get on the field." As Peter slowly works his way back into playing form, he finds himself looking over his surgically repaired shoulder. Jay Williams, a free agent acquisition from St. Louis, has practiced well and is looking to steal Peter's spot as the team's starting left defensive end. Reggie White, the NFL's all-time sack leader, figures to take many of the Peter's reps away on third downs. "If two guys are close and one is working and the other isn't, it's certainly to the advantage of the one that's working," coach George Seifert said. "At the same time, that's the way it worked out. I know Jason would like to be out there. I know he's a competitive guy. I imagine when he gets out there he'll get back into his competitive mood. The thing he has to do is make sure he doesn't overdo it. He has to be smart on how he competes." If Peter doesn't play Thursday night, he should ready for the next preseason game Aug. 18 game against Baltimore, Seifert said. The Panthers can certainly use some healthy bodies. They were missing 18 players in last Friday night's 34-14 preseason loss to Jacksonville, and could be without as many as 20 players Thursday night. Seifert said he's leaning toward keeping Pro Bowl quarterback Steve Beuerlein out of action again this week and using the same quarterback rotation of Jeff Lewis, Damayune Craig and Matt Lytle that he used last week. Defensive linemen Sean Gilbert, Chuck Smith, Eric Swann and White, as well as Pro Bowl tight end Wesley Walls and wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad, will not play this week. Saints' Glover misses the partner he never hadTHIBODAUX, La. (AP) -- Cam Cleeland suffered the season-ending Achilles' tendon injury last week, but fellow tight end Andrew Glover shared the pain. Glover, a 6-foot-6, 252-pounder, was expected to team with the 6-4, 272-pound Cleeland this season to provide additional blocking for the running game and form perhaps the largest tight end duo in the NFL this season. But they never played a down together in a game. Glover, who played at Grambling, was sidelined with soreness in his knee when Cleeland tore his Achilles' tendon while blocking downfield for quarterback Jeff Blake in the Saints' exhibition opener. Cleeland underwent surgery last week and is lost for the season. "It's a really, really big disappointment for me," said Glover, a 10-year veteran who signed with the Saints this offseason after he was released by the Minnesota Vikings for salary cap purposes. "Cam worked hard and I worked hard all through the offseason, so it's real disappointing that this happened to him." The Saints planned to use a lot of two tight end sets in their version of the West Coast offense. That would have made Cleeland and Glover big targets for Blake and provided extra blockers for running back Ricky Williams. With Cleeland gone, Glover will have to be the main man at tight end -- at least for now. Behind Glover are four inexperienced players, which means the Saints will be watching the waiver wire when rosters are trimmed on Aug. 22 and Aug. 27.
Giants' Mitchell may return early in seasonALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- Pete Mitchell of the New York Giants had surgery on his left knee Tuesday and there is a chance the starting tight end might be ready to play by the second week of the season. Mitchell did not tear any ligaments in the knee but did stretch one, Dr. Russell Warren told coach Jim Fassel after the surgery at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. "He did have a bone bruise but a safe target is four weeks," Fassel said. "He'll be out the first game and maybe we'll have him after that. The news was about as good as we could have." Mitchell was hurt catching a pass in Saturday night's 20-8 loss to the Chicago Bears in the preseason opener. He had 58 receptions last season, the most by a Giants tight end since Mark Bavaro had 66 in 1986.
Bears kicking woes continue with Jaeger injuryPLATTEVILLE, Wis. (AP) -- Jeff Jaeger's comeback attempt is on hold. The veteran Chicago Bears kicker will be sidelined for at least two weeks after suffering a muscle strain near his left rib cage Tuesday. The injury, which occurred during warm-ups, is unrelated to the hip injury that kept him out most of last year. "It was a disappointment," Bears coach Dick Jauron said. "Certainly he was disappointed. I felt really badly for him on the field. We'll see how it is tomorrow and we'll go from there." The Bears released veteran Michael Husted on Monday to make room for Jaeger, who ranks ninth among active NFL players in scoring with 1,008 points. He made better than 80 percent of his field-goal attempts for the Bears from 1996-98. Jaeger's injury leaves rookie Paul Edinger and second-year pro Jaret Holmes to compete for the kicking job, the team's Achilles' heel a year ago. In 1999, the Bears missed the most field goals (15) and had the worst field-goal percentage (.559) in the NFL. "The guys kicked well Saturday night, which was hopeful," special teams coach Keith Armstrong said. "When you get into situations like this, you have to keep looking ahead and keep moving." Edinger had a 43-yard field goal and Holmes a 24-yarder in last Saturday's 20-8 win over the New York Giants. Both did well on kickoffs. Edinger also had a 51-yard field goal negated by a penalty. "It's just one game," said Edinger, a sixth-round draft pick out of Michigan State. "You start over the next week and go from there. You have to stay focused, be calm and relaxed." The Bears are concerned that the 35-year-old Jaeger, a 13-year veteran, may not be able to bounce back from the injury in time to factor into the kicking equation. Last year, Jaeger missed the entire preseason and 13 regular-season games. He spent the last 11 games on injured reserve. "I hope it's nothing serious," said Holmes, who was one of four Bears kickers last year. "We didn't even know what happened to him. We looked up and he was gone."
Broncos WR Cooper recovering from migraine headacheGREELEY, Colo. (AP) -- When the turbulence at 30,000 feet roused Andre Cooper from his first-class seat, it felt like someone was repeatedly pounding his head with a sledgehammer. Things didn't improve upon landing at Denver International Airport, prompting the Denver Broncos wide receiver to put his head in his hands and pray for the pain to stop. "It's indescribable," Cooper said. "It's just scary." An acute migraine headache blindsided Cooper on Friday and continued through Tuesday morning, when he finally awoke with a clear head and the prospect of practicing pain-free. "I was in a fog like Friday, Saturday, Sunday," he said Tuesday. "[Monday] I started to come out of it, but today I feel really normal." Cooper, a second-year pro from Florida State, has no history of migraine headaches and was relieved by the diagnosis from doctors after he landed in Denver on Sunday. "I was scared because when I went to the hospital, they were talking about an aneurism and all that kind of stuff," he said. "I was happy to hear it was just a migraine." Despite blurred vision and the throbbing pain in his head, Cooper played Saturday against the Arizona Cardinals. Fighting for a job as one of Denver's backup receivers, he felt like he had no other choice. "You know how it is in training camp. How would I look if I went out there and said, 'You know what, coach, I've got a headache. I can't play.' I'm not in that position," Cooper, 25, said. Cooper's temporary handicap was apparent against Arizona as he dropped what looked to be an easy touchdown pass in the second quarter. More concerning than his gaffe was the uncertain source of the pain. "We didn't know anything about it until during the game," Broncos trainer Steve Antonopulos said. "He was pretty anxiety-ridden about it because he didn't know what was happening." The symptoms eventually subsided with the aid of a medication used by Denver running back Terrell Davis, who sat out part of the 1998 Super Bowl because of a migraine. Though he could give Cooper little advice, Davis understood his teammate's plight. "He said something about his vision, and I can relate to that" Davis said. "Normally you have a history of it. You generally have migraines when you're a kid. I don't think he had that. It's a unique situation." Cooper, who said his mother and sister have battled migraines, remained blurry-eyed and groggy Monday but survived Denver's longest practice of the season. His absence would have left the Broncos will only five receivers. Starter Rod Smith left camp to attend a disciplinary hearing in New York, and Chris Doering and Muneer Moore are out for the season with injuries. Remaining were Chris Cole, Ed McCaffrey, Travis McGriff, Andre Reed and Bashir Yamini. "With all the guys being out and Rod having to leave early, I didn't want to leave the rest of the guys out there having to do the whole load," Cooper said. "I felt it was in my best interests to practice." Persistence appears be the best path if Cooper is to earn another season on the 53-man roster. He spent 1998 on the team's practice squad and caught nine passes for 98 yards last year. "Hopefully I'll get my opportunity, if not this year then next year," he said. "You look at Rod and Ed and nobody ever gave those guys anything and they fought and fought and fought and then finally got there. Whenever it may be, I'm going to be ready for the opportunity."
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