RAIDERS’ FRANCHISE PLAYER SIGNS IN TIME FOR PRACTICE
NAPA, Calif. FLAGSTAFF, Ariz.TERRE HAUTE, Ind.GREEN BAY, Wis. — Cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha signed his $9.765 million franchise player tender offer Thursday and joined the Raiders in time for their first training camp practice, while running back LaMont Jordan has been told to stay away from the team.
Jordan is scheduled to make $4.7 million this year and $5 million next season, but has no role with the Raiders after the team drafted Darren McFadden.
In other news, receiver Javon Walker has been cleared to practice after being seriously injured last month during a robbery in Las Vegas. Walker was discovered unconscious and beaten on a back street near the Las Vegas Strip.
Walker, who was treated at a hospital for a concussion and facial injuries, will practice once a day at the start of camp because he is recovering from a knee injury suffered last season with Denver.
Boldin begins holdout
Cardinals wide receiver Anquan Boldin lashed out at the organization for failing to follow through on what he said was a promise for a new contract and said he would not re-sign with the team.
“Right now I don’t want a deal,” he said. “You may think I’m funny or saying that just to say it, but for me, I’m tired of it. I washed my hands of the whole situation.”
Boldin, a two-time Pro Bowl player and a team captain last season, has three years left on the four-year, $22.75 million contract extension he signed after the 2005 season that keeps him under contract through 2010.
Manning hopes for quick return
Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, the NFL’s two-time MVP, spent reporting day at home in Indianapolis, his left knee immobilized after having surgery to remove an infected bursa sac.
“I’m not really in very much pain,” he told reporters in a conference call, his first public comments since the July 14 surgery. “I have pain medication but I haven’t had to take any in about eight days. The doctors think no pain means the infection is clearing.”
Manning is expected to miss four to six weeks, though he is hoping coach Tony Dungy’s most recent prognosis on the shorter end proves correct.
Meanwhile, the Colts announced they had signed two veteran quarterbacks — Quinn Gray and Jared Lorenzen.
Support for Favre muted
There were plenty of No. 4 jerseys in the stands and a smattering of jeers for general manager Ted Thompson at the annual meeting of Packers shareholders at Lambeau Field. But given the chance to air their grievances directly to the team’s leadership, shareholders didn’t turn the meeting into one big bring-back-Brett Favre rally.
Instead, most of the 9,375 people who attended the meeting pleasantly applauded Thompson and team president and CEO Mark Murphy, then gave a sustained standing ovation to head coach Mike McCarthy.
The reaction seemed to indicate that many of the fans who own a tiny stake in the team they love are backing the front office in its standoff with Favre.
With Favre’s retirement up in the air, the Packers might have to put off retiring the three-time MVP’s jersey in a ceremony scheduled in conjunction with the Sept. 8 season opener against Minnesota at Lambeau Field.
Footnotes.
Former Vikings defensive lineman Darrion Scott received a two-year stayed sentence for putting a plastic bag over his 2-year-old son’s head.
• Super Bowl hero David Tyree was placed on the physically unable to perform list by the Giants because of lingering problems recovering from surgery on the receiver’s right knee.
• The Lions and cornerback Leigh Bodden have agreed on a $27 million, four-year contract extension. The Associated Press
