Chicago Sun-Times: “After backing Rex Grossman since the day he got his job, Smith finally has been backed against the wall himself. No longer did he use the well-worn line ‘Rex is our quarterback,’ and an announcement is expected Wednesday that Brian Griese is taking over.”

NFL Rumor provided by
Robert from: IL, USA

The Cardinals’ no-huddle offense won’t resemble the Colts’ any time soon. Quarterback Kurt Warner won’t turn into an orchestra conductor like Peyton Manning, who points, waves and gestures as he calls plays in a language only a few understand.

But Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt plans to use the no-huddle, featuring Warner, throughout the season. Warner envisions the scheme growing in size and complexity.

NFL Rumor provided by
Charlie from: CR, CR

Michael Strahan likely will inform the Giants this week that he’s returning to play this season and could rejoin the team as early as Saturday, when the Giants play the Jets in a preseason game at Giants Stadium, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.

The person, who requested anonymity, said that Tony Agnone, Strahan’s Baltimore-based agent, met with Giants general manager Jerry Reese yesterday and indications were that Strahan, who has missed all 24 days of training camp and accrued fines totaling $342,912 to date, would be ready to end his holdout and thoughts of retirement and join the team for the final two weeks of the preseason.

Reese declined to comment last night. Agnone, who attended last night’s game, said that Strahan still had no timetable to make his decision, nor had he made one yet.

“It could be this week, it could be next week, it could be the week after,” Agnone said.

Agnone did say that Strahan — whose family is urging him to retire, according to an NBC report last night — knows he needs to inform the Giants sooner rather than later about his plans, particularly if Strahan decides to play.

“He does want to get his work in and be ready for the season, if that’s what he chooses to do,” Agnone said.

Strahan has been working out on his own in Southern California since July 27, when he was supposed to report to Albany for camp.

The person with knowledge of the situation said the Giants were unlikely to force Strahan, who is due to earn $4 million this season, to pay the entire amount of the fine, which would reach $400,064 by Thursday. “They’re not looking to embarrass him,” the person said. “He’s meant too much to the organization.”

Reese said last week that if Strahan were going to play this season, he needed to get back on the field and start learning a new defense.

“You just can’t show up and play in the National Football League,” Reese said. “If he decides to come, I think he will be here soon, but it’s still his decision and we’ll see what happens in the next few days.”

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick agreed on Monday to plead guilty in a dog-fighting case that threatens to wreck the career of one of U.S. football’s most dynamic stars.A strong-armed quarterback and breakaway runner, the 27-year-old Vick is accused of helping to run an interstate dog-fighting enterprise known as “Bad Newz Kennels” from 2001 through April 2007.

Dogfighting, in which two dogs bred to fight are placed in a pit to attack each other for spectators’ entertainment and gambling, is illegal in the United States.

Prosecutors charged that dogs sometimes fought to the death and some losing or underperforming dogs had been shot, drowned, hanged, electrocuted or killed by being slammed to the ground.

Vick had initially denied direct involvement in pit bull fights that an indictment said took place on his property in Virginia. He accepted the deal after associates agreed to cooperate with prosecutors under their own plea deals.

“Mr. Vick will be entering a plea of guilty next Monday at 10:30,” U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson told a group of some 20 reporters at the federal courthouse in Richmond.

“No details of the plea agreement are publicly available at this time,” added Judge Hudson, who did not answer questions. Mr. Vick was not present, and the judge said the player would appear at the courthouse for the hearing next week.

Mr. Vick, one of the NFL’s highest-paid players, could go to jail. Without a deal, the quarterback was likely to face a new indictment with more charges, legal sources had said.

Mr. Vick, the top pick in the 2001 NFL draft out of Virginia Tech, faced up to six years in prison and $350,000 in fines if convicted on all of the initial charges.

He was indicted by a federal grand jury on July 17. The NFL, its season due to start next month, barred the three-time Pro Bowl selection from training camp after the indictment.

In a statement issued on Monday, Vick’s lead attorney, Billy Martin, said “Mr. Vick has agreed to enter a plea of guilty to those charges and to accept full responsibility for his actions and the mistakes he has made.

“Michael wishes to apologize again to everyone who has been hurt by this matter.”

The NFL on Monday condemned Vick’s conduct as outlined in the charges and said it was conducting its own review. The league has the right to add a further suspension beyond any jail time Vick may have to serve.

Purnell Peace, 35, and Quanis Phillips, 28, pleaded guilty last week before Judge Hudson to one count involving the dog-fighting ring, which prosecutors say was run from Vick’s property in Virginia.

The judge set sentencing for the two men on Nov. 30.

The only other defendant, Tony Taylor, 34, pleaded guilty late last month and also agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in the case against Vick.

Mr. Vick, a rare talent who threw for 20 touchdowns and ran for more than 1,000 yards last season for the Falcons, lost major endorsements following his indictment. Nike suspended the release of a new Michael Vick shoe that had been set to hit stores this month and Reebok stopped selling his jerseys.

He has been heavily criticized in the media and by animal rights groups.

“We totally condemn the conduct outlined in the charges, which is inconsistent with what Michael Vick previously told both our office and the Falcons. We will conclude our own review under the league’s personal conduct policy as soon as possible,” the NFL said in a statement.

“In the meantime, we have asked the Falcons to continue to refrain from taking action pending a decision by the (NFL) commissioner.”

(Additional reporting by Andy Sullivan in Washington, Mark Lamport-Stokes in Los Angeles, and Larry Fine in New York)