Detroit Lions 10/27/2007 12:49 PMESPNâs Len Pasquarelli reports seeking to recover more than $10 million in bonuses paid to WR Charles Rogers, the Detroit Lions on Wednesday will present their case to an arbitrator in a grievance against their former first-round draft choice. The second player selected overall in the 2003 draft, Rogers was released last year by the Lions after three seasons marked by injuries, inconsistency and a four-game suspension in 2005 for a repeat violation of the league's substance abuse policy.Read more
San Francisco 49ers 10/27/2007 12:46 PMAP reports former San Francisco WR Antonio Bryant filed a motion Friday asking a federal judge to stop the NFL from disciplining him for allegedly violating the league's substance abuse policy. Last week, Bryant filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court against the NFL seeking to stop the league from requiring him to submit to drug testing, arguing the league's policy doesn't apply to him anymore because he is not currently a player.Read more
Dallas Cowboys 10/27/2007 12:30 PMThe Star-Telegram reports Cowboys coach Wade Phillips won't admit to Marion Barber's emergence as the team's primary runner. He tactfully says Barber and Julius Jones are key to the team's success. However, that Barber, with his hard-running style, is the workhorse back in the fourth quarter is no coincidence, Phillips says. Barber rushed 11 times for 67 yards in the fourth against Minnesota on Sunday, giving him 32 carries for 232 yards in fourth quarters this season. Julius Jones has 74 fourth-quarter yards on 20 carries. Barber is "a powerful inside runner, and you want to hammer it inside as much as you can late in the game," Phillips said. "He's the type of guy, if the team is worn down a little bit, he can punish them."Read more
Philadelphia Eagles 10/27/2007 12:27 PMThe Trenton Times reports the better S Brian Dawkins feels, the more frustrated he gets. "It's beyond frustration," the Eagles' star free safety said with a sad smile in a rare conversation with reporters in the locker room on Thursday. "Beyond frustration." On the one hand, Dawkins is pain-free every Monday morning from "not beating people up" the day before. On the other, he clearly misses the pain. Throughout his slow and mysterious recovery from a stinger and nerve damage in his neck, Dawkins has kept his public exposure to a minimum, choosing to cancel his weekly press conferences and mostly declining to speak to reporters about his injury status.Read more
