NFL ROUNDUP: Word of Millen rant was omen for Mooch, By: Nicholas J. Cotsonika
November 2, 2006
Did Lions president Matt Millen rip coach Steve Mariucci during last year's 27-7 Thanksgiving loss to Atlanta before firing him the following Monday?
Falcons coach Jim Mora said Wednesday that in the locker room after the game, Atlanta media relayed comments "Matt had said rather loudly regarding Steve" in the press box.
"Some of our media people came down and said, 'You can't believe what Matt Millen was saying up there,' " Mora said in a teleconference with the Detroit media to preview Sunday's Falcons-Lions game. "And so I was obviously very concerned about Steve's future at that point."
Mora, on Mariucci's staff in San Francisco from 1997 to 2003, said he called Mariucci's house on the bus ride home to check on him.
"I mean, he's a very, very good friend of mine -- very good friend," Mora said. "Yeah, I was concerned."
But Mora also said he didn't know if it was "accurate or not" that Millen had spoken in the press box, and the Free Press was unable to find any quotes attributed to him from during the game. He declined to comment to the Free Press on Mariucci's status after the game.
Lions spokesman Bill Keenist said Millen declined to comment Wednesday.
HOUSTON: Texans No. 1 draft pick Mario Williams did not practice because of a sore arch on his right foot Coach Gary Kubiak said Williams likely will sit out or be limited in practice today as a precaution, but he will play Sunday against the Giants.
N.Y. JETS: Curtis Martin's season ended because of a lingering knee injury, and the running back isn't sure if he'll play again. "I'm officially not playing this year," Martin said. "Retirement -- that may be the inevitable result. I just haven't gotten there yet." The Jets placed the 33-year-old Martin on the reserved physically-unable-to perform list with a bone-on-bone condition in his right knee, putting his career in doubt.
SAN DIEGO: Banished from the NFL for four weeks, outside linebacker Shawne Merriman said he's not a steroid cheat. He also suggested he's a victim of the league's drug-testing policy. He dropped by team headquarters to address his teammates before starting a four-game suspension for testing positive for the steroid nandrolone. He and his attorney have blamed a tainted supplement.
TENNESSEE: The team suspended Adam (Pacman) Jones, the sixth overall pick in the 2005 draft, for Sunday's game against Jacksonville. Coach Jeff Fisher hopes the punishment, which includes banning him from practice and what he called "significant financial considerations," gets Jones' attention. Jones was issued a citation last weekend accusing him of misdemeanor assault after being accused of spitting on a woman in a nightclub. The loss of one game check would be $49,558.
