The Associated Press

ALAMEDA, Calif. - Roland Williams has done everything in his power to convince the Oakland Raiders' coaching staff he's healthy enough to play in Sunday's AFC championship game.

"I'm ready to play. I have to convince the coaches," he said with a smile. "I have a little instability and a little pain."

The team's starting tight end has a torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee, along with a partially torn anterior cruciate ligament and some meniscus damage.

The 6-foot-5, 265-pound Williams also has turf toe on his left foot and torn toe ligaments that will require surgery after the season.

Williams is listed as doubtful for Sunday's game with the Tennessee Titans, but that isn't stopping him from trying to get on the field. He participated in limited agility drills Wednesday and underwent treatment Thursday.

Williams has been a key blocker this season and has 27 catches for 213 yards and no touchdowns. He has been wearing a protective brace on the knee, which might require offseason surgery.

This is a special season around Raider Nation, one that all the players realize will be very hard to repeat. That's why Williams is so eager to remain a part of it.

"Anytime you come into a game and it's your last shot, it makes it more emotional," he said. "Every time we play as if it could be our last game. The reality is this team will never be the same as it is now."

The Raiders have six players age 35 or older, and the team is expected to break up next season because of salary-cap restrictions.

JAGUARS: With about 2,000 fans cheering him on, new coach Jack Del Rio promised a more aggressive team for Jacksonville.

"We will bring passion back to this stadium," Del Rio said at a news conference.

It was passion that was missing as the Tom Coughlin regime came to a close after eight seasons. Attendance dropped by about 11,000 per game in the three losing seasons that transpired between Jacksonville's last trip to the AFC title game and 2002.

Del Rio reportedly signed a five-year contract that will pay him between $1.2 million to $1.3 million a year. At 39, he's the NFL's second-youngest head coach, behind Tampa Bay's Jon Gruden.

FALCONS: Quarterbacks coach Jack Burns was fired Friday after a season in which he helped Michael Vick earn a trip to the Pro Bowl.

"After an evaluation period, we felt this was the right time to make this move," coach Dan Reeves said. "I wish Jack the very best."

Said Burns: "It's one of those things that happened. Dan's decided to go in another direction."

Vick had an NFL-best 6.9 yards per carry and went 171 straight passes without an interception. Atlanta was 14th in total offense (345.9 yards) and 22nd in passing (211.5).

BROWNS: Linebacker Jamir Miller is trying to get a long-term contract from Cleveland despite missing this season after tearing an Achilles' tendon in an exhibition game. Leigh Steinberg, Miller's agent, said he plans to begin negotiations after the Super Bowl.

LIONS: Tight end Mikhael Ricks re-signed with Detroit, agreeing to a three-year contract after a season in which he was a Pro Bowl alternate. Ricks averaged 12.6 yards a catch, tops in the league at his position, and totaled 27 receptions for 339 yards and three touchdowns.

SAINTS: Quarterback Aaron Brooks underwent surgery to reattach a tendon in his right shoulder. He was injured Dec. 1 against Tampa Bay but played in the team's final four games.

BUCS: Defensive tackle Warren Sapp faces a third paternity test to determine whether he is the father of a New Jersey girl whose mother has filed suit seeking child support payments.

Two DNA tests have been done in the case. The first showed Sapp was not the girl's father. The second showed he was.

DOLPHINS: Linebacker Derrick Rodgers pleaded no contest Friday to charges he attacked his wife and a man at a Miami restaurant.

He was placed on three years' probation, and the NFL probably will suspend him for a game. The league's security department will investigate the case before making a recommendation.

Rodgers, accompanied by his wife, Kareff, pleaded no contest to two felonies, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and resisting an officer with violence, and three misdemeanors: battery, assault and a violation of a domestic violence injunction. Afterward, Rodgers declined to comment.

The 6-foot-1, 235-pound Rodgers found his wife sitting with William Peguero at a Miami Beach restaurant in July and accused them of having an affair, police said. Rogers hit Peguero over the head with a metal chair, cutting him, and kicked his wife and punched her in the chest.

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