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Titans cautious with White
The Tennessee Titans want to make sure Reggie White's 38-year-old back is stout enough to last a season. They want to make sure his salary demands aren't outlandish. If both issues can be resolved to Tennessee's satisfaction within a week, look for coach Jeff Fisher to add White to his defensive line rotation. Fisher, just back from his Montana vacation cabin this week, has already started to figure out ways to use White on a spot basis. He told me they'd use him 20 or 25 plays a game, mostly on second-and-long and third-down passing situations. Fisher said not only would he line him up at left end, where he got 16 sacks for the Packers in his last season two years ago, but also he could envision White playing over center, like he did in the Eagles' old 46 defense when Fisher was defensive coordinator and White a superstar. The Titans' move is a great idea -- as long as they don't try to make White an every-down player. Said Fisher: "He really, really wants to come back and play. He told me he misses football and wants a shot at another ring."
Brown out in ClevelandCleveland continues to be depressed about the condition of right tackle Orlando Brown's right eye, damaged by a thrown penalty flag last December. Although Brown rode a bike last week in his first exercise since the injury occurred, he can still do no more for fear of pressure building in the eye. "The doctors told us improvement could take between 6-8 months," coach Chris Palmer told me. "It's been seven months now, and not much has changed." The Browns, who gave up an AFC-worst 60 sacks last year, will head into this season, in all likelihood, with untested free agent Steve Zahurski replacing Brown, who was one of football's best right tackles before the accident. As camp opened, Brown was placed on the physically-unable-to-perform list. This bought the team more time to figure out what to do. The Browns now have until Week 6 of the season to determine whether or not to activate him this year.
Nervous times for PackersIn Green Bay, the Packers are worried about more than the state of their shaky defense. The publicly-owned franchise is desperate for extra cash flow that would allow it to keep up with the Jerry Joneses . There's a Sept. 12 vote in Brown County, home of the Packers, to raise the local sales tax a half-percent to fund $160 million of a $295 million Lambeau Field renovation. Last spring, the outcome seemed assured. One poll had 62 percent of the populace favoring the tax. Then came Mark Chmura's sexual-assault arrest -- and disaster. Add five other Packer arrests in the last eight months, and a more recent poll showed but 49 percent support for the tax increase. General manager Ron Wolf says the Pack will turn into a member of the pack if a yes vote on the sales tax -- which would give Green Bay enough cash to compete with the big boys in the signing-bonus department -- isn't forthcoming.
Kicking away troubleAnd finally, the Raiders are optimistic that bad-boy rookie kicker Sebastian Janikowski will be available to them this season, despite his latest arrest on possession of the date-rape drug in Florida. If Janikowski either beats the rap or gets probation --the more likely outcome --look for the Raiders to babysit the kid constantly this year. Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King covers the NFL beat for the magazine and appears each Sunday on CNN's NFL Preview.
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