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Colts offense takes another hit with Collie expected to miss several weeks

Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Austin Collie (R) carries the football pursued by Kansas City Chiefs defensive back Eric Berry during the first quarter of their NFL football game in Indianapolis October 10, 2010.  REUTERS/Brent Smith (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT FOOTBALL)

Apparently no hand is safe inside the Indianapolis Colts’ locker room.

A day after reports surfaced that tight end Dallas Clark is out indefinitely with a hand injury, the Indianapolis Star confirms that receiver Austin Collie underwent surgery on his hand earlier this week.

No timetable has been given for Collie’s return, although he’s expected to miss several games. Anthony Gonzalez (ankle) is expected to return to his third receiver role in Week 8 and Blair White will serve as the team’s No. 4 wideout. Peyton Manning has a way of making any receiver look good, but there’s no question Indy’s offense took a huge hit with the losses of Clark and Collie.

Compounding the issue is that leading rusher Joseph Addai’s status for the Colts’ November 1 game with the Texans is uncertain after he suffered nerve damage to his left shoulder last week. He too could miss a couple of games, although it’s too early to draw any assumptions on how long he’ll be out.

The bye week has never looked so good.

Love ‘Em & Leave ‘Em: Week 7

Denver Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton warms up at Invesco Field at Mile High on October 17, 2010 in Denver.     UPI/Gary C. Caskey Photo via Newscom

Every week, I will highlight a few players to start and a few players to sit at each position. I’m a firm believer in starting your studs, so I won’t suggest you bench Drew Brees or Adrian Peterson because they have tough matchups – just go ahead and keep them in your lineup. Instead, I’ll focus on the borderline guys – players you’ll only start under the right circumstances.

As usual, I’ll discuss these players within the context of my weekly positional rankings, so remember — everything is relative.

Forget about the whole ‘Neck Beard’ thing, Kyle Orton (#2) is having a great fantasy season. And with the Raiders coming to town (12 pass TD allowed in six games), Orton should have a very nice day…The Redskins have given up 298 passing yards and 1.5 pass TD per game this season, which is why I have Jay Cutler ranked #8…Matt Cassel (#11) has had his ups and downs this season, but I expect at least 200 yards and 2 TDs against the Jags’ 28th-ranked pass defense…Brett Favre‘s (#12) personal life may be a mess, but the Packers are mediocre against the pass, and as long as his O-line can keep Clay Matthews under control, Favre should have time to find Percy Harvin and Randy Moss for a few big plays. He’ll be very motivated to play well against his old team…Desperate? Sam Bradford (#18) and Bruce Gradkowski (#21), assuming he plays, are both sneaky good starts given their respective matchups with the Bucs (2.0 pass TD allowed per game) and the Broncos (1.5 pass TD allowed).

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Vincent Jackson will sign tender, report to Chargers at the end of month

SAN DIEGO - AUGUST 25:  Wide receiver Vincent Jackson #83 of the San Diego Chargers carries the ball on a 59 yard pass play in the second quarter against the Seattle Seahawks on August 25, 2008 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California, setting up a Chargers touchdown.  (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)

Vincent Jackson and his agent know that if V-Jax doesn’t play in at least six games this season, then he won’t become eligible to sign with another team as an unrestricted free agent after this season.

That’s why it’s no surprise to hear his representative Neil Schwartz say on Thursday that V-Jax will sign what’s left of his prorated $583,000 tender and join the Chargers on October 29.

Jackson still must sit out three games due to his Roster Exempt status, which means he won’t play until Week 12 at the earliest. Given the Chargers’ early-season struggles this year, they can take all the help they can get, when they can get it.

If he’s motivated (which is a big question mark), Jackson is a complete player. He can stretch a field, he’s a weapon in the red zone and he’s arguably the best blocker in the league from the wideout position. He has also reportedly kept in good shape because he was hoping to be traded by this point. He’ll help the Chargers once he reports.

Of course, this isn’t about helping the Chargers for Jackson. It’s about accruing the six games needed so he can become a free agent at the end of the year. Neither he nor his agent want to deal with GM A.J. Smith and go through all of this again next offseason.

Pac-12 divisions announced – California schools will split

California captains' Chris Guarnero, Cameron Jordan, Mike Mohamed and Kevin Riley and USC captains watch referee Jack Folliard tosses a coin before the game against USC at LA Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California. USC defeated California, 48-14. Photo via Newscom

When the Pac-10 officially becomes the Pac-12 next year the conference will have two divisions and the California schools will be split.

UCLA, USC, Arizona, Arizona State and newcomers Utah and Colorado will be in one division, while Stanford, Cal, Oregon, Oregon State, Washington and Washington State will be in the other.

The conference needed the split in order to generate a “lucrative” title game in December, but it won’t make some traditionalists happy. Cal and USC have played every year since 1929, while Cal has played UCLA each season since 1933. Stanford has also played UCLA and USC every year since 1946.

Count USC athletic director Pat Haden as someone who doesn’t like how the new divisions are structured.

“I told [the rest of the athletic directors] my alumni will kill me if we don’t play the Northern California schools,” Haden said a week ago when word of the alignment leaked out.

“I proposed a 5-2-2 model that has us playing the five schools [in our division] every year and then have the Northern California schools as part of our regular two and then rotate the other two. We need to play Stanford and Cal.”

Haden’s proposal is pretty sound and it would satisfy those who were opposed to expansion because it’ll keep with the tradition that the conference has maintained over the past however many decades.

JaMarcus Russell is still clueless

OAKLAND, CA - JANUARY 03:  JaMarcus Russell #2 of the Oakland Raiders walks off the field against the Baltimore Ravens during an NFL game at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on January 3, 2010 in Oakland, California.  (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)

Former No. 1 overall pick JaMarcus Russell recently appeared on Showtime’s Inside the NFL and admitted that he made some mistakes that led to the Raiders’ releasing him last May.

Of course, he doesn’t know what those mistakes were, but he’s taking full responsibility for them.

From USA Today:

“Now looking back on it, I could have went about certain things different,” Russell said.

What specifically did he do wrong?

“I am not sure,” Russell told Showtime interviewer Josina Anderson. “I don’t know where they went wrong. But the things that did go wrong I take full blame for whatever was my fault, and the things that did happen. Being drafted No. 1 there are so much that they want you to do at a snap of a finger. It didn’t happen that way which brings us to today.”

That doesn’t sound like a guy who knows he messed up and is now taking the appropriate steps to ensure he doesn’t make the same mistakes twice. This sounds like someone who is trying to tell everyone what he thinks they want to hear in order to get what he wants (i.e. another chance at the NFL). Just based on his statement above, it seems like Russell doesn’t have the faintest idea how he got to the position he is today.

Here’s the real kicker:

The former LSU product told Fox he knows “for a fact” that he will return to the NFL. “I can’t say when, but until it happens I am going to stay here in Houston and continue to work out each and every day no matter how long it takes,” he said.

Russell told Showtime he will not consider playing in the UFL and brushed off a question about whether he would consider playing a position other than QB.

“I am not going to speak on that,” he said. “I am a quarterback.”

He knows he screwed up and that teams want nothing to do with him because they know he’s a malcontent, yet he basically says he’s above playing for the UFL and switching positions.

Good luck, JaMarcus. You’re going to need it.

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