Linebacker Takeo Spikes moves his arm as part of therapy for a strained pectoral muscle that has sidelined him for as long as 2-4 weeks. (Michael E. Keating photo) | ZOOM |

        GEORGETOWN, Ky. — Injuries are part of football, and they affect the business decisions players have to make. Takeo Spikes is willing to roll the dice. Brian Simmons is not.

        As both Bengals linebackers head into the final season of their five-year rookie contracts and look toward lucrative extensions, Spikes is likely to play through the 2002 schedule before coming to an agreement with the Bengals. He could even get into free agency.

        Simmons will sign a five-to-six-year extension this week, his agent, Jerrold Colton, said Monday morning. On Monday afternoon, Simmons said the thought of a serious injury pushed him toward the bargaining table.

        “If you look at it, when you're talking about a certain amount of money and are willing to pass over it, that's what it is, it's gambling,” said Simmons, who missed all but the first game of the 2000 season with torn cartilage in his right knee. “The bad part of it is, if there wasn't such a thing as injuries and it was just based on performance, I would be willing to go out there and take the gamble.

        “But there are a whole lot of things out there you can't control. So I had to look past myself. I have a wife (Rachel) and a daughter (Brianna). And any decision I make is going to be based on their well-being.”

        Simmons had to look no further than Spikes, one of his closest friends, to validate his thinking. The point was hammered home again Saturday night, when Cleveland Browns Pro Bowl linebacker Jamir Miller tore his Achilles' tendon against the Minnesota Vikings and was lost for the season.

        Spikes suffered a partially torn right pectoral muscle in the preseason opener Friday at Buffalo. He sacked Bills quarterback Drew Bledsoe at the end of the first quarter and ran off the field holding his chest.

        Spikes will be out for two to four weeks. He could return in time to play in the preseason finale, Aug. 29 against Atlanta.

        “I was just, "Oh, man, I hope it isn't torn,”' Spikes said of his first thought Friday night. “You just don't want to be out for the year. I stuck my hand up under my shoulder pads and felt (that) the tendon, and the muscle didn't detach.”

        In four NFL seasons, Spikes has been durable. The only game, and the only start, he missed was last season because of the death of his father.

        “You'll always think of it from a business standpoint, and you should,” Spikes said. “This is my product, this is my body, and I've got to take care of it.

        “I don't really want to talk too much about a contract. But I can tell you this: What's meant to be is meant to be, and I'm still going to go out there and do what I truly feel is right in my heart. I feel as long as I do what's morally right, as a God-fearing person, then everything will work itself out.”

        From the beginning of the off-season, the Bengals considered Simmons easier to re-sign than Spikes.

        “I never wanted to be the highest-paid linebacker,” Simmons said. “I just wanted what my talent and production enabled me to get. At a certain point, it's not worth fighting over $100,000 or $200,000.”

        Based on his rookie contract, Simmons' base salary this season would have been $684,000; his new deal is expected to be worth more than $5 million in the first year.

        Spikes is scheduled to earn $648,000 as a base. Those are bargain prices, considering that Spikes has led the team in tackles three of his four seasons, and Simmons was first once and second twice.

        They are both considered top NFL linebackers but have not received wide acclaim, such as Pro Bowl berths, because they have played on teams that are a combined 17-47 and have not qualified for the postseason.

        Colton met twice last week in person with Bengals executive vice president Katie Blackburn.

        “Maybe today, likely Tuesday or Wednesday, no later than Friday,” Colton said of when the deal would get done. “It is very close. Nothing has been reduced to writing.”

        Spikes, who was drafted 13th overall in 1998, said he is happy for his friend Simmons, who was taken four spots later.

        “May God bless him and his family. Print that,” Spikes said. “I'm just happy for him.”

        Adrian Ross, who was signed as an undrafted rookie free agent in 1998, is a close friend of Spikes' and will replace him in the Bengals' lineup while Spikes is out. Ross said defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Mark Duffner has backups well prepared to step in for starters.

        “It's not going to be anything new,” Ross said. “It's just a matter of getting the reps down and working with the ones.”

        Ross said Spikes isn't fretting his injury or the effect it could have on his contract extension.

        “He's real calm,” Ross said of Spikes. “He knows what kind of player he is. He knows there is money out there. He knows where he wants to be. He knows the people here want him to be here. So he's not worried about anything.”

Battle of QBs in final stages Bengals LBs: One getting contract; one getting healthy Next opponent: Colts Training Camp Rule 1 - Stay healthy Bucs 14, Dolphins 10 Dilfer shelved with bum knee

Priestley, other drivers reportedly told of slick spot
Priestley expected to make full recovery following crash
Gordon searches for answers to 0-30
Bad luck, long women's match conspire against local ATP final
Chang advances to second round at Legg Mason
Kournikova advances in Rogers AT&T
Pavel tunes out crowd, advances at RCA
Bittersweet memories for Lehman and Hazeltine majors
Irish eyes smilin' in the majors
PGA Championship, Player Capsules
PGA Championship, hole by hole
Phelps cruises past swimming record by over a second
Reds' real test begins tonight at Cinergy
Reds-Diamondbacks series preview
In a surprise, players' union fails to set strike date
Leaving the hammer on the table
Players seem to realize that strike is scary option
Pleasure fading from pastime
Autopsy finds cocaine in Porter's system at time of death
Hall of Famer Enos Slaughter dies
Sosa homers for third straight day
Astros 9, Cubs 6
Cardinals 10, Pirates 6
Notes from Monday's games
Louisville 2, Columbus 1
Hillsboro, Greenfield McClain bolt
Ohio preps tennis preview
Kentucky preps golf preview

• Return to Bengals front page...