By Compiled from Times wires
Published August 12, 2003
JACKSONVILLE - With 24 practices down and 12 to go in training camp, quarterback Byron Leftwich has yet to show up for the Jaguars.
The first-round draft pick is involved in contract negotiations that appear to be going nowhere. His holdout is at 18 days, the longest for a rookie in team history.
"We continue to talk," Leftwich's agent, Tom Condon, said Monday. "I'm sure we'll talk again this week. Other than that, I don't know how to characterize it."
The Leftwich pick raised some eyebrows around the league - with Mark Brunell and second-year QB David Garrard already on the roster, the Jaguars certainly had bigger needs than another quarterback. Now that Leftwich has missed more than half of camp, his already slim chances of contributing this season have grown even slimmer.
"Obviously, the opportunities of training camp go by with each practice," said Paul Vance, senior vice president for football operations.
Jaguars management put first-year coach Jack Del Rio in an awkward situation when they drafted Leftwich and declined to extend Brunell's contract. It essentially made the veteran a lame duck and invited questions about whether Brunell would even be the starter. Del Rio won't concede to being frustrated, but his answers about the impasse are growing increasingly terse.
"I don't have anything to add to the story. No juice," he said.
In other Jaguars news, Fred Taylor can't even jog, let alone practice. Still, the running back insists his left knee is not seriously injured.
"I'm fine," he said after sitting out of practice for the ninth straight day. "I've been fine. If it were Sept. 7, I'd play."
Taylor is out with what the team is calling a bone bruise. Del Rio said doctors are being extremely cautious with the sixth-year veteran out of Florida, who stayed healthy all of last season for the first time and ran for 1,314 yards.
INJURIES FOR DOLPHINS: Miami left tackle Mark Dixon had surgery on his injured right ankle, and linebacker Eddie Moore, the team's second-round draft pick, is expected to miss the entire season with a foot injury.
Dixon's return date is unknown, but coach Dave Wannstedt hopes he can return by the Sept. 7 opener to protect quarterback Jay Fiedler's blind side. The surgery was to clean out the ankle and stabilize a stress fracture.
Moore visited a foot specialist in North Carolina and had surgery to stabilize an injury to his left foot that he suffered in the Dolphins' preseason game against the Bucs on Friday.
"I'm disappointed that Eddie will miss the season," Wannstedt said. "He was working hard and showed the reason why he was our first pick in the draft."
REDSKINS RUMBLE: The players took out their dreadful Saturday performance on themselves in an intense practice punctuated by the biggest fight so far in camp, a vicious hit by Jeremiah Trotter and a call from linebacker Jessie Armstead to "put up or shut up."
"It all boils down to toughness," Armstead said. "We've got to be a tougher team. It's time to put up or shut up."
Coach Steve Spurrier, embarrassed by Saturday's 20-0 loss at Carolina, opened practice with a lengthy message to his team. He wanted a tougher practice, and he got it.
Running back Chad Morton got fed up by an extra shove from Armstead and attacked the linebacker, leading to a huge scrum that included linebacker LaVar Arrington flailing at receiver Rod Gardner.
On the next play, Trotter drove running back Sultan McCullough into the ground with a bone-crunching tackle. Defensive coordinator George Edwards erupted at Trotter, who was ordered off the field for the rest of the series.
Eagles topple Saints
NEW ORLEANS - If their first preseason game is any indication, the Philadelphia Eagles are ready to forget their loss in the 2002 NFC Championship Game against the Bucs and challenge for a third straight East title.
Philadelphia beat the Saints 27-17 in the preseason opener for both teams.
The Saints looked much like the same team that missed last season's playoffs after losing their final three games and five of their last seven.
Quarterback Donovan McNabb spent just more than three minutes on the field, taking the Eagles 75 yards to score on the opening series. He was 5-for-5 passing for 58 yards. He hit Freddie Mitchell with a 29-yard TD pass. "It felt good to get something going early," McNabb said.
Philadelphia was without running back Duce Staley, who has been a training camp holdout. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Staley would be fined an additional $5,000 for missing the preseason opener. As of Sunday, Staley's fine total was $70,000 for missing 14 days of camp. He's scheduled to make $2.2-million this year.
Former UF standout Lito Sheppard had an 88-yard punt return for a touchdown for Philly.
BILLS: First-round pick Willis McGahee out of Miami could sign as early as today. The running back's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, said there still are important issues to work out but added, "I'm confident we can get a deal done (Tuesday)." Rosenhaus told McGahee to be ready to leave for camp at a moment's notice. ... Safety Ainsley Battles left camp, less than two weeks after signing as a free agent. During his three seasons, two with Pittsburgh and one with Jacksonville, he played in 45 games, starting 17. "He left camp, his decision. Anything else, you'd have to ask him," coach Gregg Williams said.
BROWNS: Coach Butch Davis brought the Stanley Cup to training camp in hopes it would inspire his team to win a different trophy. Brunswick native Mike Rupp, who scored the winning goal for the New Jersey Devils in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final, arrived with the cup after the afternoon practice.
COLTS: Rookie free agent Montrell Lowe was re-signed, two months after he was released by the team as it searched for depth at running back.
COWBOYS: Offensive lineman Larry Allen missed practice because of a swollen right ankle, another possible setback for the seven-time Pro Bowl player who played five games last season. "I don't think that he has an ankle problem, but I am concerned about him," coach Bill Parcells said.
PACKERS: The team is trying to lure Dan Wilkinson after losing run-stuffer Gilbert Brown to a season-ending and career-threatening arm injury. Wilkinson, released July 29 by the Redskins after he refused to take a cut in his team-high $3.5-million salary, was scheduled to arrive in Green Bay late Monday for a two-day visit.
He is also being pursued by New England and Detroit, and the Redskins would like him back, too.
SEAHAWKS: Linebacker Chad Brown is back on the field for the first time since breaking his right foot in the middle of last season. But he took it slow and didn't participate in contact drills.
STEELERS: Right guard Kendall Simmons, sidelined the past two weeks after being diagnosed with diabetes, returned to practice.
HALL CHANGES: The Pro Football Hall of Fame has reduced the maximum number of candidates elected in any one year to six. The drop from a maximum of seven is part of several procedural changes.
