Two Saints players reportedly on list of drug violators

New Orleans Saints veterans Deuce McAllister and Will Smith reportedly are among several players who have violated the NFL steroids policy.

Fox 31 television in Denver, citing an unnamed source, reported Friday there are between six and 10 positive tests in the NFL for a weight-loss diuretic. The only names the station mentioned were the two Saints, who are in London for Sunday’s game with the San Diego Chargers.

ESPN.com, citing two unnamed sources, reported the number is more than 10 and may exceed 15.

The NFL would not comment on the reports, but attorney David Cornwell told The Associated Press he has been hired to handle the appeals of a number of players who are facing possible suspensions.

Saints spokesman Greg Bensel, who was with the team in London, said drug testing is a league matter and the team would have no immediate comment.

Phone messages left with defensive end Smith’s agent, Joel Segal, and running back McAllster’s agent, Jim Steiner, were not returned.

According to the NFL’s policy, the first positive test results in a four-game suspension.

The Fox 31 report said three or four of the positive tests belonged to the Saints, and that McAllister and Smith tested positive for Bumetanide. A “water pill,” Bumetanide decreases the amount of water retained in the body by increasing urination. It causes the kidneys to get rid of unneeded water and salt from the body into the urine.

Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Santonio Holmes will be charged with misdemeanor marijuana possession after a traffic stop in which police smelled burning marijuana and found marijuana-filled cigars in his car.

“He’s going to be summoned,” said police Sgt. R. Griffith, meaning Holmes was not arrested after the incident Thursday, but will receive notice of the charge in the mail.The charge, possession of a small amount of marijuana, is punishable by up to a year in jail but probation or a fine is common in most cases.

Police said the 24-year-old Holmes acknowledged having marijuana when stopped and pointed out the blunts to officers.

“We’re aware of what happened and are still gathering information at this time and will not comment,” Steelers spokesman Dave Lockett said Friday.

The team will deactivate Holmes for Sunday’s game against the Giants.

Holmes and his agent could not immediately be reached.

The third-year player didn’t have his license when police stopped him about 4 p.m. near Mellon Arena, the home of hockey’s Pittsburgh Penguins.

Police stopped Holmes driving a dark sport-utility vehicle with out-of-state license plates. Officers in the area had been alerted that a similar vehicle was believed to be carrying a large amount of drugs. Holmes’ vehicle matched the description but was not the one police were seeking, Griffith said.

Holmes is second on the team behind Hines Ward with 22 catches for 360 yards and a touchdown. A first-round draft pick out of Ohio State in 2006, Holmes has 118 catches for 2,037 yards and 11 touchdowns, in his career with the Steelers.

Baltimore Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs insisted the team did not have a bounty on rookie running back Rashard Mendenhall and receiver Hines Ward of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

In an interview last week on an Atlanta radio station, Suggs was asked if there was a bounty on Mendenhall. He replied, “The bounty was out on him and the bounty was out on (Ward). We just didn’t get him between the whistles.”

Suggs was notified Friday in a letter from NFL executive VP of football operations Ray Anderson that “any further comments or on-field activity indicating his participation in bounty activity could result in significant disciplinary action,” NFL official Greg Aiello said.

Mendenhall, the Steelers’ first-round draft pick, needed surgery and was lost for the season with a shoulder injury that occurred during a 23-20 overtime win over Baltimore on Sept. 29.

Suggs said Wednesday there was no bounty on either player, and reiterated the assertion Friday in a statement issued by the Ravens.

“We, the players, don’t pay each other to take another player out of the game. And you know coaches don’t do that. As I said before, we prepare to stop the other team’s best players every week,” Suggs said. “Those are the players who can beat you with big plays.

New York Giants receiver Plaxico Burress was fined $45,000 by the NFL for verbally abusing an official and tossing a ball into the stands during last weekend’s game against the 49ers.

Burress was fined $20,000 for comments to head linesman Phil McKinnely after the official called him for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in the second quarter, and $20,000 for inappropriate comments after the game on the officiating.

McKinnely had called Burress for offensive pass interference against cornerback Nate Clements on the previous play. After the next play, Burress drew the unsportsmanlike penalty for some choice remarks to the officials.

Burress was assessed another $5,000 fine for throwing a ball into the stands after catching a touchdown in the third quarter.

Burress was suspended by the Giants for one game earlier this season for missing a team meeting on Sept. 22, a decision that cost him $117,500. He has admitted to being fined 20 to 30 times by the team for violating team rules since joining them in 2005.

The nine-year veteran returned to practice Friday after missing two days of work with a sore shoulder and stiff neck. He said he would be ready to play against the Steelers this weekend in his return to Pittsburgh.

Three of the New England Patriots’ top four running backs are likely to miss Sunday’s game against the Rams.

Sammy Morris and LaMont Jordan were listed Friday as doubtful for the game, and Laurence Maroney is out for the season with a shoulder injury. That leaves Kevin Faulk, primarily a third-down back, rookie free agent BenJarvus Green-Ellis and fullback Heath Evans.

Morris rushed for a career-high 138 yards and one touchdown in the first half of Monday night’s 41-7 win over the Denver Broncos, but missed the second half with a knee injury. Jordan missed the last two games with a calf injury.

A staph infection in a bursa sac in Peyton Manning’s left knee led to the surgery that kept him out of much of the Indianapolis Colts’ preseason training camp, the team confirmed Friday.

But team officials denied reports Manning had a highly virulent form of staph infection that is difficult to treat called methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

“At no time did he have MRSA,” a team statement said.

The team, responding to reports that the staph infection prompted both of Manning’s preseason left knee surgeries, said that was the case only with the first procedure, which removed the bursa sac. The second operation was to tack skin together to eliminate the space left by the removal, the team said.

The Colts, who have struggled to a 3-3 start this season, said Manning first developed swelling in the bursa in late February, which doctors treated by draining it and with anti-inflammatory agents.

Signs of infection appeared while Manning was in New Orleans in July, prompting surgery to remove the bursa sac and treatment with antibiotics to eliminate the infection, the team statement said.

The Indianapolis Star first reported Manning’s staph infection Friday.

Roger Goodell wants to lengthen the 16-game regular season. The NFL commissioner knows it won’t happen for a while.

Goodell told a sports conference in London on Friday that an expanded regular season would improve the overall quality of the league and increase fan interest. It can’t happen before the 2010 season and would depend on negotiations with media partners and the players’ union.

The NFL discussed adding one or two more games to the regular season at its owners’ meetings this month, but no decision was made.

The commissioner was speaking during a panel discussion with Richard Scudamore, the chief executive of the English Premier League, held in conjunction with Sunday’s game between the San Diego Chargers and New Orleans Saints at Wembley Stadium.

In a separate interview with ESPN Radio, Goodell left open the possibility that suspended Dallas Cowboys cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones could play again in the NFL. Goodell made it clear the oft-troubled player must first work through his off-field issues; Jones currently is serving a four-game suspension.

“I’ve been consistent on this one. He has to recognize his responsibility to play in the NFL,” Goodell said, adding that Jones has “not made good decisions.”

Running back Steven Jackson’s availability for Sunday’s game at New England will be a game-time decision, St. Louis Rams coach Jim Haslett said Friday.

Jackson did some individual work before practice in St. Louis, but he did not work out with the Rams (2-4) as they prepared for the Patriots (4-2). Jackson, the Rams’ leading rusher and receiver, has a strained right thigh muscle.

Jackson is first in the NFL with an average of 127.8 yards from scrimmage per game. A trio of backs — Antonio Pittman, Travis Minor and Kenneth Darby — would fill in if Jackson isn’t ready.

Right guard Brad Butler and defensive end Aaron Schobel won’t play Sunday for Buffalo, leaving the AFC East-leading Bills without two key starting linemen for their game at Miami.

Butler sprained his left knee in the first half of Buffalo’s win over San Diego this past week, while Schobel is still hobbled by ligament and bone injuries to his left foot. Schobel has been walking with a protective boot and hasn’t practiced since aggravating the injury during a 41-17 loss at Arizona on Oct. 5.

Jason Whittle will replace Butler, a two-year starter, while Ryan Denney takes Schobel’s spot along the defensive line.

Washington Redskins defensive end Jason Taylor went to a hospital Friday to have his left calf re-examined, and coach Jim Zorn said Taylor will have a second operation on the leg next week.

Taylor did not practice but still hopes to play Sunday against the Detroit Lions. He is listed as questionable on the injury report.

Taylor was kicked in the calf during Washington’s victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Sept. 21. Blood began to pool in the leg overnight, and Taylor had to undergo an emergency operation the next morning. He missed two games, then played a limited role in the last two while wearing a titanium pad on the leg. Stitches were removed this week, but bleeding continued to be a problem.