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Sunday, December 03, 2000

Compiled by Ed Bouchette

As the career of Terrell Davis, the 1998 MVP, continues to suffer because of injuries, the Denver Broncos keep plugging in unknown rookies to keep up his pace.

Mike Anderson follows Olandis Gary, who replaced Davis last season. They haven't matched Davis' 2,008 in 1998, but they've not done badly.

Gary ran for 1,159 yards and a 4.2 average last season as a rookie after Davis got hurt.

When Gary blew out his ACL this year, Anderson jumped in and he has 971 yards rushing an a 5.0 average.

Davis was a sixth-round pick, Gary a fourth-round pick and Anderson a sixth-round pick.

If Anderson gets 29 yards today in New Orleans, he will become the third Denver back in three seasons to gain 1,000 yards. That's only been done once before, by the 1986-88 Los Angeles Rams with Eric Dickerson, Charles White and Greg Bell.

Anderson feels like he should buy his offensive linemen something to mark the occasion. Rolexes, perhaps?

"Oh, man, don't say that," said Anderson, who earns $193,000 in base salary. "Please don't say that."

Step down?

A Dayton Daily News story quoted unnamed friends of Mike Brown that they've asked him to step down as general manager of the Cincinnati Bengals.

Said Brown, "I don't have five friends. I don't plan to step down. That's a story that's out there. I don't really know how it started. I will just tell you it's not well-founded."

The Bengals are 54-118 since 1990, the worst record in the league. Brown became GM when his father Paul died in 1991.

In the meantime, Brown wants to re-sign quarterback Scott Mitchell and have him compete next summer for the No. 1 job with Akili Smith, the third pick in the 1999 draft.

"I think it's clear there's going to be a competition next year at that spot," Brown said. "We're not going to put all our chips on one guy."

Smith is working on a six-year, $56 million contract that included a $10.8 million signing bonus. Mitchell, 32, is making $800,000 from the Bengals this season.

Not so special

In a fit of pique, Buffalo Coach Wade Phillips fired longtime special teams coach Bruce DeHaven after the Music City Miracle in Tennessee in the playoffs last January.

That took care of the problem.

Today, the Bills rank last in the NFL in punt return average, last in kickoff return average, last in opponent's average drive start after kickoffs and last in net punting average.

Quick slants

The agent for Ravens defensive coordinator Marvin Lewis has sent letters to Arizona, Arizona State, North Carolina and USC, informing them his client would be interested in becoming their next coach.

Chan Gailey, who has a one-year contract with Miami as offensive coordinator, has opened talks on an extension.

Peyton Manning is the only quarterback not to miss a snap this season. He has taken 773.

Bengals quarterback Akili Smith will lose more than $31/2 million this season because he has been benched. His minimum salary jumps to $4 million if he passes for 1,601 yards. He has 1,253.

The Jaguars' game today will be blacked out in Jacksonville for the first time in team history because it wasn't sold out. No Steelers home game has been blacked out since the rule was changed in 1974.

Injured Miami running back Thurman Thomas won't stand on the sideline today when he returns to Buffalo. "I don't want to get hit by a snowball," he said in jest. "I'm sure they'll be flying everywhere."