After Big Win, Bates Interviews With Dolphins

Interim coach Jim Bates is expected to interview today for the Miami Dolphins' coaching job, but all indications continue to point to LSU Coach Nick Saban accepting the position this week.

Bates will become the third candidate known to have interviewed for the job, following Saban and former Oakland Raiders coach Art Shell. Bates's interview comes on the heels of Monday night's shocking, 29-28 upset of the New England Patriots at Pro Player Stadium.

Shell interviewed Monday, satisfying the league's requirement that at least one minority candidate be interviewed. Still, it appears that Saban remains the clear front-runner, and he seems to be leaning strongly toward accepting the job. He likely would sign a contract worth about $4 million per season and assume total control over the Dolphins' football operations.

He might keep Bates, with whom he coached in Cleveland, as his defensive coordinator. And there have been rumblings that he might bring aboard a former Houston Oilers coaching cohort, Floyd Reese, in the Dolphins' front office. Reese is the general manager of the Tennessee Titans but apparently has had his differences recently with Coach Jeff Fisher.

There have been reports that the Dolphins were readying a contract offer to Saban even before meeting with Shell. Leaders of the Fritz Pollard Alliance, the group formed to promote minority hiring at all levels of the NFL, wrote a letter Monday to Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney, the head of the league's workplace diversity committee, questioning whether the Dolphins are giving legitimate consideration to any minority candidates.

Harry Carson -- executive director of the Fritz Pollard Alliance, named for the NFL's first African-American coach -- met Friday in New York with Rooney and NFL Executive Vice President Jeff Pash, the league's chief administrative officer and counsel, to discuss the group's concerns. Rooney said Monday that the diversity committee will review the Dolphins' search process, and those of any other teams looking for a new coach. But Carson conceded during a telephone interview that, while the league can require each club conducting a coaching search to interview at least one minority candidate, it probably can't legislate that such candidates be seriously considered.

Dolphins spokesman Harvey Greene said the team's search will comply with all league rules, including the diversity requirements, and will be conducted with integrity.

League representatives and Dolphins officials say the club shouldn't be judged before the search is complete. All the details of the search, they said, might not be public. Dolphins officials said that, as of early Monday night, they hadn't had any contract negotiations with Saban, and the Fritz Pollard Alliance's objections are based on media reports that might not necessarily be accurate.

One of the problems facing the Dolphins is that they can't interview candidates under contract to other teams until after the regular season ends Jan. 2. They can't hire a candidate from a playoff club until that coach's team is eliminated from the postseason. And that could leave one top minority candidate, Patriots defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel, off the market until after the Super Bowl, (if New England gets that far), although the Dolphins would be permitted to interview Crennel once during the playoffs.

Saban's contract at LSU reportedly allows him to interview with NFL teams only before Jan. 1. He reportedly wants to conclude his deliberations with the Dolphins, one way or the other, within the next week or so. So the ever-increasing competitiveness in the coaching market now threatens to leave teams that wait until the end of the season to fire their coaches in jeopardy of losing out on top candidates to clubs that have ousted their coaches earlier.

If Saban gets the Miami job, one prospective beneficiary is embattled New Orleans Saints coach Jim Haslett. If Saban is not available, the Saints perhaps would be more inclined to retain Haslett, rather than firing him and making a run at hiring a local favorite like Saban.

Diversity Also at Issue in Browns' GM Search

The Fritz Pollard Alliance made a push a year ago to get the minority hiring rule extended to teams' searches for key front-office jobs, like general manager and club president. The effort was supported by at least one member of the diversity committee, Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen. The committee discussed the issue but didn't enact any changes, and the leaders of the Fritz Pollard Alliance said they'd see if the league would make good on its pledge to help promote minority hiring for such positions even without the rule being broadened.

The Browns plan to launch a GM search after the season, and Carson said Monday he's hopeful that minority candidates will receive serious consideration for that and any other key front-office jobs around the league that are filled this offseason.

"I'm very hopeful that will be the case," said Carson, a former New York Giants linebacker. "The league is making an effort. The commissioner and Dan Rooney have expressed how they feel about diversity. We're working with the league to accomplish that."

Eagles Must Adapt

They don't have a running back who's likely to reach 1,000 rushing yards this season. The wide receivers have combined for one touchdown catch. The quarterback probably will have to change his style of play 14 games into the season.

Meet the Terrell Owens-less Philadelphia Eagles.

Still think the Super Bowl is a lock?

Owens does.

"I feel overwhelmingly confident they can win the two playoff games," the four-time Pro Bowl wideout said during a conference call with reporters Monday, shortly after the Eagles revealed that the injury he suffered to his right ankle during Sunday's win over the Dallas Cowboys at Lincoln Financial Field probably will end his season.

Owens called himself a quick healer, but made no promises about returning to the lineup this season. Eagles officials said he will have an outside shot of playing in the Super Bowl if the club reaches the Feb. 6 game in Jacksonville, Fla. To accomplish that, the Eagles would have to win two playoff games at home, beginning with an NFC semifinal on Jan. 15 or 16.

They have lost the last three NFC title games, and Owens was acquired to be the difference-maker who would allow them to clear that hurdle and reach the Super Bowl. But Owens said: "They'll be fine. . . . It doesn't stop with me, just like it didn't stop with guys who went down early in the season. . . . There's no reason for the city of Philadelphia to get down because I'm not there. Obviously my presence will be missed, but we have the guys to get it done."

Owens said he will do his best to rehabilitate as quickly as he can, but indicated he won't do anything stupid in terms of returning too soon and risking a more serious injury with long-term effects. He acknowledged that it will be difficult for him to watch the team that he was supposed to lead to the Super Bowl try to get there without him.

"They'll probably put me in a straitjacket," Owens said.

The Eagles likely will revert to the spread-the-wealth approach in their passing game that they employed before Owens's arrival. The problem is, they traded their leading receiver from last season, James Thrash, to the Washington Redskins in the offseason after adding Owens.

That leaves Todd Pinkston taking over as the top receiver. He's averaged 18.8 yards per reception this season. But he is wildly inconsistent and often disappears from games, and he has benefited greatly from the defensive attention that Owens receives.

Former first-round draft choice Freddie Mitchell must take on a more prominent role. He is best known for making the catch on the fourth-and-26 miracle that the Eagles converted against the Green Bay Packers during last season's playoffs en route to a game-tying field goal at the end of regulation and, eventually, an overtime triumph. But he has only 14 catches this season and has complained publicly about the lack of throws that have come his way.

"Freddie, there shouldn't be any more excuses why he's not getting the ball," Owens said.

Mitchell said in the postgame locker room Sunday, even before the extent of Owens's injury was known: "I'm going to step up. I'm definitely going to step up and take advantage of my opportunity."

Greg Lewis moves into position for extensive playing time. Either Lewis or Mitchell probably will start at the wide receiver spot opposite Pinkston, and Billy McMullen becomes the fourth option. The Eagles dropped a half-dozen passes during the Dallas game, and will need their remaining receivers to play far better the rest of the way.

"I have plenty of guys that have been through plenty of things similar to this where they've stepped up and done a heck of a job," Coach Andy Reid said Monday. "So I'd expect the same thing to happen."

Tailback Brian Westbrook has averaged 4.6 yards per carry this season, but has not demonstrated the durability during his career to be the sort of runner who can shoulder a heavy workload week after week. He's a better receiver than runner, anyway, and could be split out at wide receiver more often with Owens out of the lineup. Dorsey Levens could receive more playing time at tailback if Westbrook gets more action at receiver.

And quarterback Donovan McNabb probably will have to play more like he did Sunday, when he had two crucial scrambles on the winning drive against the Cowboys, than like he has for most the season, when he usually has stayed in the pocket and focused on being more of an accurate passer than a runner and improvisational play-maker. The Eagles will have to lean heavily on McNabb, Westbrook and their defense now to get where they want to go.

The Eagles have two remaining regular season games to rehearse their new approach before the games begin to matter for them again. They already have wrapped up home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.

The first major beneficiary of Owens's injury will be the St. Louis Rams, who are fighting to get into the playoffs and face the Eagles in St. Louis on Monday night. But the biggest beneficiary of all could be the Atlanta Falcons, the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs who have been widely disparaged as a Super Bowl pretender because of their season-long inconsistencies that have included lopsided road defeats at Kansas City and Tampa Bay. All of a sudden, they look more and more like last season's Carolina Panthers, whose improbable ride to the Super Bowl included a road win at Philadelphia in the NFC championship game.

The Medical Explanation

Owens has a syndesmotic, or "high," ankle sprain, defined as a tearing of the syndesmotic ligaments of the tibia and fibula, the two major bones of the lower leg. It results from an outward turning of the ankle, rather than the inward turning that results in a typical sprain. It is more severe and takes longer to heal than a typical sprain and requires surgery when there is significant displacement of the bones.

Owens had a high ankle sprain earlier in his career, and he said he was told that might have been a factor in this injury. Eagles head trainer Rick Burkholder said that an MRI exam taken of Owens's ankle Monday also showed a deltoid ligament sprain.

Burkholder said during a news conference Monday afternoon that Owens initially showed no signs Sunday of having a high ankle sprain, and X-rays showed no fracture. But he had significant swelling, so the team's medical staff placed his foot in a boot and put him on crutches. Owens was scheduled to undergo an MRI on Monday morning.

When Owens showed up for his 8:30 a.m. MRI, he had pain in the middle of his lower leg as well as in his ankle. So the Eagles' medical staff had the MRI taken of his entire leg. The test revealed the sprain of the deltoid ligament, but there still were no signs of the sort of ligament damage typical to a high ankle sprain. However, the tests also showed a fracture of the fibula 10 centimeters below the knee, and Burkholder said the Eagles' medical staff, including team physician Peter DeLuca, decided immediately to send Owens to an ankle specialist in Baltimore, Mark S. Myerson.

"Any time you see a sign like that, you see this fracture . . . we know that he had some unbelievable force at his ankle that transmitted up through his fibula and fractured it," Burkholder said. " . . . When we saw that, we knew something else was going on in his ankle other than this deltoid sprain, and so that was our red flag to get him into the hands of an ankle specialist."

In Baltimore, Burkholder said, doctors put Owens under general anesthesia and rotated his ankle to simulate the motion that occurred when he was hurt, checking for a widening of the bones that would indicate a high ankle sprain. The bones did widen, and the decision was made to schedule surgery for Wednesday to place a syndesmotic screw in his tibia and fibula to stabilize the ankle.

The higher fracture to the fibula will heal without surgery, Burkholder said. According to the trainer, Owens might even have been able to play with that injury if not for the ankle injury.

The Eagles will test Owens's ankle after three weeks, the trainer said, and then send him back to Baltimore to be examined by Myerson. If all goes well, Owens might be able to run after five weeks and perhaps play after seven weeks -- with the Super Bowl set for Feb. 6.

"There are a lot of hurdles that have to be taken on before he can ever get to that point," Burkholder said. "Right now the first thing is we need to get him stabilized on Wednesday, and hopefully everything will go well. He will be in rehab with us. We will take it . . . week by week and just hope for the best. . . . The scenario I painted is the best-case scenario, but it is realistic. . . . This is the purest, cleanest athlete that you know. The guy is meticulous about his body and in other cases that he's had injuries, he's healed up very quickly". . . . So we're holding out this hope that he will do it.

" . . . With us, he's meticulous about everything that he does. If anybody has a chance to do it, T.O. has that chance."

A miraculous recovery perhaps could leave Owens available for the NFC championship game Jan. 23, Burkholder said, but added: "That's really stretching it." And even if Owens feels he's ready to play on a limited basis in the Super Bowl, the Eagles would have to make certain that he's ready and wouldn't be risking further damage that could affect him next season and beyond.

"You never know until he has the surgery and goes through the rehab," Burkholder said. "Anybody that's ever hurt always has that chance that things don't go well. That's certainly something that this organization will weigh in a decision with him playing. We want to make sure that he's right before we let him play."

If the rehabilitation doesn't go quickly and smoothly, Burkholder said, the screw probably would be left in Owens's ankle for about three months before being removed, which would be followed by a recovery period of four to six weeks. "We anticipate a good return for him [by next season] either way," Burkholder said.

Steelers Nearing Top Seed

The Patriots' loss in Miami all but wrapped up home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs for the Steelers. They have a record of 13-1, to the Patriots' 12-2. It's essentially a two-game lead with two games to play because the Steelers hold the tie-breaker advantage, based on their win over the Patriots at Heinz Field in October. The Steelers, though, do close the regular season with a pair of tough games, at home against the Baltimore Ravens and at Buffalo.

The Patriots suddenly have some work to do to ensure themselves of a first-round playoff bye. They're only a game ahead of the Indianapolis Colts and San Diego Chargers, each of whom is 11-3. The Patriots have a rugged game Sunday against the New York Jets at Giants Stadium before closing the regular season at home against San Francisco. . . .

Veteran New England wide receiver Troy Brown is tied for the team lead with three interceptions while serving as an emergency cornerback this season in the Patriots' injury-ravaged secondary. But he was beaten for the winning touchdown Monday night, a 21-yard completion from Miami quarterback A.J. Feeley to wideout Derrius Thompson on a fourth-and-10 play with 1 minute 23 seconds left. . . .

The loss was only the Patriots' second in 29 games, counting the postseason. . . .

The defeat was the second this season to an "outsider" by one of the league's "Big Three" teams" -- the Steelers, Patriots and Eagles. The Steelers beat both the Patriots and Eagles. Pittsburgh's lone defeat came to the Ravens in Week 2, the game before rookie Ben Roethlisberger took over as the Steelers' starting quarterback. . . .

By accepting Notre Dame's head-coaching job but staying on as the Patriots' offensive coordinator for the remainder of the season, Charlie Weis set himself up as the potential scapegoat if the team fails to capture what would be its third Super Bowl title in four years. The scrutiny on Weis is sure to intensify this week, after he reportedly spent two days on the Notre Dame campus last week and participated in recruiting, then watched quarterback Tom Brady throw four interceptions Monday night -- including two in the final two minutes. The Patriots squandered an 11-point lead with less than four minutes to play, and Brady's gaffes played a major role.

But, in truth, the biggest breakdowns have come on the defense overseen by Coach Bill Belichick and Crennel. In the two games since Weis was hired by Notre Dame, the Patriots have scored 63 points, but have surrendered 57.

Volek on a Roll

The Titans held off the Falcons and other interested teams to re-sign backup quarterback Billy Volek when he was a free agent last offseason, and they're happy they did. With Steve McNair shut down for the season because of his recurring sternum injury, Volek is proving to be the real deal.

Volek has started the Titans' last three games and has completed 90 of 138 passes for 1,187 yards and 11 touchdowns over that eye-catching span, with three interceptions. Tennessee, alas, is 0-3 in those games. Volek has topped 425 passing yards in each of the past two games, getting 492 yards in last Sunday's 40-for-60, four-touchdown, one-interception outing in a 40-35 defeat at Oakland. His 918 passing yards over a two-game span are the second-most in league history, to the 945 by Phil Simms over a two-game stretch in 1985.

Volek is showing that he can be a capable starter after McNair's tenure in Tennessee ends. McNair has talked about contemplating retirement in the offseason, but indicated that he'd like to play next season when the decision was made Friday to end his 2004 season early and have him undergo surgery to try to strengthen his sternum with a bone graft. . . .

Wideout Drew Bennett is Volek's favorite target, with eight touchdown receptions in the last three games. In the past two games, Bennett has 25 catches for 393 yards and five touchdowns.

The Titans are 4-10 but have two 1,000-yard receivers (Bennett and Derrick Mason) and a 1,000-yard rusher (Chris Brown) in the same season for the first time in franchise history. Mason had nine catches for 121 yards and a touchdown against the Raiders. . . .

The Chiefs have become the first team in NFL history to have three different running backs rush for at least 150 yards in a game in the same season. Second-year pro Larry Johnson joined the group during last Sunday's triumph over the Broncos by running for 151 yards and two touchdowns on 30 carries. Priest Holmes and Derrick Blaylock previously had 150-plus-yard games for Kansas City this season.

With Holmes on the shelf because of a knee injury, Johnson has topped 100 rushing yards in each of the last three games after clashing with Coach Dick Vermeil earlier in the season about his lack of playing time. The former first-round draft pick could be trade bait in the offseason if the Chiefs are convinced that Holmes will be healthy next season. . . .

The Seattle Seahawks expect quarterback Matt Hasselbeck to play this week despite the elbow injury that knocked him out of last Sunday's loss to the Jets. . . .

The Rams hope to have quarterback Marc Bulger back in the lineup Monday night against the Eagles. He has missed two games because of an ailing shoulder. Veteran Chris Chandler has thrown seven interceptions as the fill-in starter during the two losses, and was benched by Coach Mike Martz in favor of Jamie Martin early in last Sunday's defeat at Arizona. . . .

Cincinnati should have quarterback Carson Palmer back in its lineup this week after he sat out last Sunday's loss to Buffalo because of a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee. . . . Jacksonville tailback Fred Taylor underwent an MRI on his left knee Monday, and the Jaguars expect to have the results today. . . .

The Giants placed linebacker Barrett Green and defensive end on the injured reserve list and promoted defensive end Raheem Orr and offensive lineman Jason Hilliard from the practice squad to the 53-man roster. Green underwent knee surgery late last week, and Upshaw has a broken hand. . . .

Coach Bill Parcells left open the possibility of Dallas making a starting-quarterback switch this week from veteran Vinny Testaverde to one of the team's two youngsters, Tony Romo or Drew Henson. But it seems unlikely, given Parcells's penchant for wanting to stick with experience at the position and the Cowboys' still-flickering NFC playoff hopes. . . .

San Diego reinstated fullback Andrew Pinnock after his four-game suspension for violating the league's steroid policy, and waived cornerback Jerrell Pippens. . . .

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that the Falcons likely will take a cautious approach with nagging injuries to quarterback Michael Vick and tight end Alge Crumpler and keep them out of Sunday's game at New Orleans. Vick has a sprained throwing shoulder and Crumpler has a sprained knee. If Vick sits, rookie quarterback Matt Schaub would get his first NFL start.

Darius Fined $75,000

The NFL today fined Jacksonville safety Donovin Darius $75,000 for his forearm hit Sunday on Green Bay wide receiver Robert Ferguson, the league announced.

Gene Washington, the league's director of football operations, wrote in a letter to Darius that "you violently and unnecessarily struck your opponent in the neck and head area with your forearm,'' according to the league.

Darius was not suspended, the league said, because he had no history of serious on-field infractions. He was ejected from the Jaguars' win over the Packers at Lambeau Field for the hit, which left Ferguson temporarily paralyzed below the waist. Ferguson later regained feeling in his legs but was hospitalized the last two nights. He was expected to be released today.

Packers Coach Mike Sherman said Monday the early indications were that Ferguson will make a complete recovery with no lasting effects from the injury, now being called a sprained neck, but it was too soon to know for certain. Sherman indicated that Ferguson will not play in Friday's game at Minnesota.