The Associated Press

BEREA, Ohio - Quarterback Kelly Holcomb will return to the Cleveland Browns' starting lineup this week. Unfortunately, he may have picked the wrong time to get healthy.

Holcomb, who broke his right leg in a Sept. 21 win at San Francisco, will start Sunday's game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Browns coach Butch Davis said.

However, Holcomb will come back to an offense missing its top running back and wide receiver.

On Monday, Davis suspended second-year running back William Green for one game and benched wide receiver Kevin Johnson in favor of Andre' Davis.

Green must sit out following his arrest last week on charges of driving under the influence and marijuana possession. Green has rushed for a team-leading 559 yards this season.

Johnson, leading the Browns in catches (40) and yards (378), hasn't played up to the standards of his coach, who has been critical of the fifth-year receiver in recent weeks.

Two weeks ago in a loss to San Diego, Johnson dropped a crucial pass on fourth down, cut short a route that led to an interception and underthrew a pass that should have been a touchdown.

"At some point in time you go so far in trying to get people to play totally the way you would like them to play and at some point there have got to be some changes made," Davis said of his decision to bench Johnson. "Part of it is we want to give Andre' Davis an opportunity, and this will give him a chance."

FALCONS: As if they didn't have enough problems, Atlanta officials scrambled Monday to defend a halftime show featuring three rap groups.

Bonecrusher, Youngbloodz and Jermaine Dupri performed Sunday during a 23-16 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, the Falcons' seventh straight loss.

Bonecrusher, a hefty, Atlanta-based artist, sang the hip-hop hit "Never Scared," in which he muses about shooting someone in the head.

Some people at the game claimed they heard profanity, others said they didn't.

Roddy White, the team's director of event marketing and entertainment, conceded Monday there were "some things that happened that shouldn't have happened."

COLTS: Safety Idrees Bashir will miss Sunday's game at Jacksonville with a dislocated right shoulder. Colts coach Tony Dungy said Bashir will miss "a couple weeks at least."

RAIDERS: Quarterback Marques Tuiasosopo is doubtful for next Sunday's game against the New York Jets with a torn knee ligament. Rick Mirer is expected to start.

DOLPHINS: Quarterback Jay Fiedler had a setback in his rehabilitation from a sprained knee, meaning Brian Griese will start a third consecutive game. The Dolphins hope Fielder can serve as a backup.

EAGLES: Quarterback Donovan McNabb had X-rays on his back for the second straight day Monday, and again they showed no damage.

NFL TV: Next for the NFL is its own TV network for fans that begins broadcasting today.

Don't look for games there, though. Those events remain the property of established networks that paid $2.6 billion for the privilege. What the NFL Network will provide is score updates and related programming the rest of the time.

Twenty-four hours before its launch, no cable systems had signed on to carry the network. It will be available on DirecTV, carried to about 11 million homes.

Return to Bengals front page...