Sunday, December 02, 2001
NFL notebook
Colts not giving up on season
The Associated Press
The Indianapolis Colts are 4-6 and face a daunting remaining schedule. Coach Jim Mora doesn't want to talk about the playoffs, and neither do the Colts players.
That does not mean, however, that the players have given up on the season.
“This is the Indianapolis Colts, this is our team,” left tackle Tarik Glenn said. “We believe that our destiny is in our hands and as long as we believe in ourselves, anything can happen.”
Glenn finds himself in good company. When practice resumed Wednesday, the mood was upbeat, unlike the mood that permeated the locker room following the Colts' first three-game losing streak this season.
And the Colts also were resolute to try and make amends for what has been a disappointing season through the first 10 games.
“You know what happened last year,” defensive tackle Ellis Johnson said, a reference to the Colts' three-game winning streak that allowed them to sneak into the playoffs. “I don't put anything past what we can accomplish in this locker room.”
Even quarterback Peyton Manning, who said he understood Mora's postgame tirade last week to be directed at him, believes the Colts can recover in time to make a run at the playoffs.
“I don't think it's real funny or a joke like he said it the other day,” Manning said about Mora's comments last week. “We have six games left, and we know that's always been the goal.”
MEETING JOHNNY U.:
When the Colts played at Baltimore in 1998, Manning remembers former Baltimore Colts quarterback John Unitas standing on the sidelines — the Baltimore Ravens' sidelines.
It wasn't the first encounter Manning had with the NFL Hall-of-Famer; Manning met Unitas during a banquet his senior year in college when he won the award named for Unitas.
If Unitas is on the sidelines again Sunday, it would be the first time that Manning has run into him since he started breaking Unitas' records.
“It is a little awkward,” Manning said. “Here's a guy whose in all your record books and he's standing on their sideline. That's all about the Baltimore-Indianapolis stuff and that's all kind of beyond me.
“As a quarterback and a football player, I have the utmost respect for him because he defined the game as a quarterback.”
CARDINALS:
Rob Moore knew it was coming, mentioning Thursday “the Grim Reaper” was ready to visit his locker.
So it wasn't a shock when Arizona coach Dave McGinnis put the veteran receiver on injured reserve Friday to end his season — just bitter disappointment.
“You see guys working out there as hard as they can and they are short (because of injuries) and it's not fair to them to get worn down when they can bring someone in who can help,” Moore said. “I understand that. I told coach McGinnis I appreciated him trying to be as patient as he could with me. I don't know that any other coach would have afforded me that luxury.
“After while, the hope has become reality.”
Moore, done in by a hamstring problem that simply wasn't improving, was put on IR to allow McGinnis to bring up receiver Bryan Gilmore from the practice squad.
The Cards needed receiver depth with the questionable hamstrings of Frank Sanders.
McGinnis also put rookie defensive lineman Mario Fatafehi (broken hand) on IR and activated defensive end Andy Bowers from the practice squad.
McGinnis, trying desperately to allow Moore to stay on the active roster, was clearly bothered by having to end Moore's season.
“First class is all I can say about him. He is a big part of what I am trying to do here,” McGinnis said, adding that the Cards' injury problems combined with Moore's lack of progress gave him no choice.
COWBOYS:
Dallas is one of five teams in the hunt for free agent quarterback Chad Hutchinson, a former Stanford starter who gave up football to pursue professional baseball.
Hutchinson, 24, started at Stanford for two seasons ending in 1997 and threw for more than 2,000 yards each season (20 touchdowns, 22 interceptions). He is working out for several NFL teams.
After holding a group workout for NFL teams, Hutchinson (6 feet 5, 230 pounds) worked out privately for Dallas, Chicago and Kansas City. Houston and Green Bay also have requested that Hutchinson work out for them.
Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones said the team could afford to sign Hutchinson this season by working out a contract laden with incentive bonuses that would kick in next year.
“We are in a position with our quarterback situation where we should be leaving no stone unturned,” Jones said.
DOLPHINS:
Russell Maryland became the latest former University of Miami defensive tackle deciding not to return to the NFL to take Daryl Gardener's spot in Miami. Friday morning, Maryland called Dolphins coach Dave Wannstedt from Dallas.
“Physically and mentally, he is just not ready to make the commitment that he knows he would have to, in order to get done what I would expect him to get done and what we are trying to get done as a team,” Wannstedt said.
The Dolphins also had spoken with former UM and Seattle Seahawks star Cortez Kennedy, and with James Jones, a former Lion, but neither is interested in playing.
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