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Packers cornerback Al Harris said Wednesday he will be back on the field with Green Bay this year after major knee injury abruptly ended last season.

In his first comments in the Packers locker room since the injury, Harris said he never thought about calling it quits.

“There’s no doubt in my mind. If there were, then I wouldn’t be here, standing here now,” the 13-year veteran said after the second of four public organized team activities this offseason.

Harris tore a ligament in his left knee on Nov. 22 against the 49ers while defending San Francisco wide receiver Michael Crabtree. He needed season-ending surgery and there had been questions whether the veteran would return.

Harris said it was tough to watch Green Bay lose to the Arizona Cardinals in the first round of the playoffs in January.

“That was hard, the bits and pieces that I did watch,” he said. “It’s still hard to watch, even watching practice. But that’s a part of it, and that fuels you, to watch the guys go out there and work, to watch your friends play cohesive as a group.

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

The Pittsburgh Steelers are working closely with troubled quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to make sure he turns his life around, although coach Mike Tomlin didn’t offer any specifics Wednesday about what the team is doing.

Tomlin said he talks regularly with Roethlisberger, who recently underwent a behavioral evaluation as part of the six-game suspension handed down April 21 by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for violating the league’s personal conduct policy.

“He has a commitment to being what we desire for him to be and what his team needs him to be and that’s my focus,” Tomlin said. “I’ve seen Ben quite a bit and communicated with him quite a bit throughout all of this.”

Roethlisberger was suspended after a 20-year-old Georgia college student accused him of sexual assault in March. No charges were filed.

Roethlisberger is also being sued by a woman who claims he sexually assaulted her at a Lake Tahoe hotel in 2008 but faces no charges.

Click here to read the full article – By of ESPN.com

Minnesota head coach Brad Childress said Wednesday he is not concerned with the trash-talking Twitter tussle going on between Vikings tight end Visanthe Shiancoe and New Orleans Saints safety Darren Sharper.

Shiancoe and Sharper have been sniping back and forth with tweets for the better part of two weeks, a feud that started when Sharper implied New Orleans would go after Brett Favre’s surgically repaired ankle in the season opener in September.

The latest exchange happened when some Vikings visited the Minnesota National Guard on Tuesday. Shiancoe posted a photo of a target used for shooting practice. The target had a picture of Osama Bin Laden saying, “I’m Darren Sharper,” with Sharper’s No. 42 on his chest.

“Before target practice a soldier suggested a custom target for me,” Shiancoe tweeted before posting the picture. “Guess he wanted to start my engine early for the SAINTS game!”

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

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Let’s be honest. Nobody really cares about football too much in May. But here are some recent headlines to get you caught up. And no, this article will not contain any Brett Favre “news”.

It looks like Brian Westbrook is close to becoming a Denver Bronco. He recently worked out the Redskins, but with Clinton Portis, Larry Johnson, and Willie Parker under contract, Washington hardly has room for Westbrook’s services. According to various sources, it looks like Westbrook will be headed to Denver, where Tim Tebow can pitch the ball to him. Westbrook would join former teammates Correll Buckhalter and Brian Dawkins. Although he has had a great career, Westbrook’s best days are clearly behind him. Between injuries and competing for the toughest position in football, Westbrook could be looking for a completely new line of work in a few years.

In Westbrook’s old division, New York Giants tight end Kevin Boss will have surgery on his ankle. He is expected to miss 4-6 weeks, but should be back in time for the beginning of training camp. After getting knocked around a lot this past season, Boss could use the time off.

Sticking to the NFC East, Patrick Crayton skipped the OTA’s for the second straight weeks. The disgruntled Dallas Cowboys wide receiver has made it known for the past few weeks that he wants to be traded. With the team already having Miles Austin, Roy Williams, and Dez Bryant on the roster, Crayton will be the #4 receiver at best. For a player who has never been able to back up his trash talking, it is not surprising that no teams are showing serious interest at this time.

by David at the Sports Fan Blog Network

The Chicago Bears announced Wednesday that safety Danieal Manning signed his restricted free-agent tender of $1.176 million.

“He’s just glad it’s done,” Manning’s agent Russel Hicks told ESPNChicago.com. “This was never a big distraction because Danieal chose to go in awhile ago and be part of the team. All he wants to do now is move forward and be part of a Super Bowl contender. That’s all he’s worried about.”

A former second-round pick, Manning has started 40 of 61 games for the Bears at free safety, cornerback, nickel, and strong safety. Manning skipped the start of offseason voluntary workouts, but rejoined the team just prior to the draft.

A four-year veteran, Manning has posted 286 tackles, six interceptions, six forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries, in addition to 14 pass breakups and two sacks.

Click here to read the full article – By Michael C. Wright of ESPNChicago.com

The New England Patriots released cornerback Shawn Springs on Tuesday but haven’t ruled out re-signing him, a league source told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter.

For now, though, the team and 35-year-old player are going their separate ways, the source said.

“I’ll have teams calling me, and they won’t be [bad] teams,” Springs told The Boston Globe. “I’m cool. I would come back to New England. I wish them the best. I’m going to miss those guys.”

Springs told the Globe that he had arthroscopic knee surgery in January, though he stressed that the injury was not the reason why he was released.

“It’s not a knee issue,” he told the newspaper.

Click here to read the full article – By of ESPN.com

First, Thomas Jones, then Alan Faneca. Will Shaun Ellis be the next over-30 veteran dumped by the Jets? He wonders.

Ellis, a defensive end, told the Associated Press Thursday his request for a contract extension was rejected by the Jets, leading him to believe he might not be with the team for the upcoming season. Ellis, 32, may have been dangled in trade talks before last month’s draft but is now not in danger of being jettisoned, according to a person familiar with the team’s thinking.

“I don’t know,” Ellis said. “I think so. Well, I hope so. You never know what they’re thinking up there. You’ve just got to roll with it. We try to control our own fate, but we really can’t.”

The Jets’ longest-tenured player, Ellis is due to make $3.35 million in the final year of his contract. He recorded 6½ sacks last season, bringing his career total to 68 and made the Pro Bowl as an alternate. Ellis has a troublesome knee, but the Jets are hoping to squeeze one more season out of him, especially with depth concerns at defensive end.

Click here to read the full article – By Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com

Houston Texans linebacker Brian Cushing said Thursday he never used any banned substances even though he tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug.

Cushing was suspended for four games without pay last week for violating the NFL’s drug policy. His appeal was denied.

Cushing confirmed he tested positive for HCG, a fertility drug that is on the league’s banned substance list.

“The question of how it got into my body is still unclear,” he said. “It’s something that I’m very personally concerned about, just the fact that how it’s there and what’s going to determine it from happening again, and that’s something we’re going to have to medically investigate.”

He said that after failing the test, he was told HCG can get in your body from injecting it or because of tumors. He said this information led him to believe he had tumors. He did not say what kind of tumors.

“I personally know I’m not injecting myself with anything,” he said. “I played the whole season thinking this could not only be my last season, but my last year.”

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

Quarterback Tom Brady reiterated Wednesday that he thought last year’s New England Patriots team was not mentally tough and, looking back, indicated there was a “lack of trust, lack of confidence” within the team.

The Patriots’ struggles in the second half of games in 2009 were well chronicled. Of their six losses, they were leading at the half in four of them and tied in another. The Patriots were outscored 94-38 in the second half of their six losses. In addition to their second-half struggles, the Patriots were just 2-6 on the road.

“When it comes down to it, games that we lose in the fourth quarter, games that we lose in the second half, or losing on the road like we did, that can be lack of trust, lack of confidence,” Brady said in an interview on Boston sports radio station WEEI on Wednesday morning. “There are a lot of issues you have when that repeats itself time and time again over the course of the season.”

The Patriots’ up-and-down 2009 season was punctuated by a 33-14 blowout loss to the Ravens in the divisional playoffs. Brady threw four interceptions in the game and the Patriots fell behind 24-0 in the first quarter.

Click here to read the full article – By Mike Reiss of ESPNBoston.com