Dispatches

You can't overstate how much the Browns will be hurt by the loss of outside linebacker Jamir Miller, who suffered a season-ending right Achilles tear in the preseason opener at Minnesota last Saturday. With 13 sacks and 114 tackles, Miller was one of the best at his position last season and the only consistent pass-rush threat that Cleveland has had since returning to the league in 1999....

It will be stunning if Danny Wuerffel (24 completions in 36 attempts, 369 yards, four touchdowns, no interceptions in two preseason games) doesn't win the Redskins' quarterback job....

The only thing keeping Jonathan Wells, a 6'1", 243-pound fourth-round draft pick, from the Texans' starting tailback job is his tentative running inside. That might be attributed to his lack of college experience; he started only 15 games at Ohio State. Otherwise, with his straight-up running style, Wells looks like a mini- Eddie George. "I'm fresh," Wells says. "There's no reason I can't be an every-down back."

...When Broncos running back Terrell Davis scratched himself from last Saturday night's game against the Bears because of swelling in his left knee (twice operated on over a six-month period), he sounded like a man on the brink of retirement. "I'm tired," said Davis, who has missed 32 of Denver's last 49 regular-season and playoff games with leg injuries....

The Lions are trying to settle on a quarterback, but the health of their wide receivers isn't helping them make a decision. Az Hakim, the team's $15 million free-agent acquisition, has missed parts of the off-season program and training camp with hamstring injuries. Germaine Crowell has been slow to recover from knee surgery late last year, and Bill Schroeder, another free-agent pickup, is battling a right groin strain.