NFL notes: Raiders sign fullback off Bears' practice squad

<p>The Oakland Raiders signed fullback Jason Davis on Tuesday after placing starter Justin Griffith on the injured reserve list with a season-ending knee injury.</p><p>Davis had been on the practice squad for the Chicago Bears before the Raiders signed him to help replace Griffith.</p><p>Griffith tore the ACL in his right knee late in the third quarter of a 29-10 loss to Baltimore on Sunday. He scored Oakland’s stayed in the game for a few plays and managed to score Oakland’s only touchdown on a 2-yard catch. He was hit hard by Ray Lewis on the play and knocked out of the game.</p><p>The injury left the Raiders with only one healthy fullback, Luke Lawton, who has mostly played special teams after being brought in late in training camp when Oren O’Neal went down with a season-ending knee injury.</p><p>Davis started two years in college at Illinois before spending the 2006 season in injured reserve with Philadelphia with a knee injury. He was on the Eagles’ practice squad last season and on the Bears’ practice squad this year.</p><p>The Raiders also waived offensive lineman Seth Wand, who had been on the injured reserve list with a knee injury.</p><p>CHARGERS FIRE COTTRELL</p><p>Without a sack or interception in the past nine quarters, the San Diego Chargers on Tuesday fired defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell and replaced him with inside linebackers coach Ron Rivera.</p><p>Cottrell had become a popular target of fan ire as the Chargers (3-5) lost three of their past four games.</p><p>The Chargers are at or near the bottom of the NFL rankings in several defensive categories, including last in pass defense.</p><p>Rivera played linebacker for the Chicago Bears’ 1985 Super Bowl champion team. He interviewed for the head coaching job that went to Turner in February 2007 after Marty Schottenheimer was fired.</p><p>“I think it’s a great opportunity for myself personally and I think it’s also an opportunity for us a team to do some things differently,” Rivera said. “I think it’s a good challenge.”</p><p>Cottrell was hired the same day as Turner. Hours later, Rivera was hired after the Bears said he wouldn’t be back as their defensive coordinator.</p><p>INJURED WITTEN MAY PLAY</p><p>Cowboys tight end Jason Witten has a broken rib but could play anyway Sunday against the New York Giants.</p><p>Witten tried to return after injuring his ribs last weekend against Tampa Bay, but he eventually sat out most of the second half. He could wear added protection against the Giants, according to a posting Tuesday on the team’s Web site.</p><p>The Cowboys were already without Pro Bowl quarterback Tony Romo when Witten, the NFL leader in yards (549) and catches (46) among tight ends, got hurt late in the first quarter.</p><p>Rookie Martellus Bennett and Tony Curtis back up Witten.</p><p>Cornerback Anthony Henry tore his quadriceps against the Buccaneers, but the Cowboys are optimistic rest and treatment will be enough for him to play Sunday, according to the Web site. If Henry can’t play, Orlando Scandrick would start opposite fellow rookie Mike Jenkins.</p><p>HALL OF FAME CANDIDATES</p><p>Defensive end Bruce Smith, defensive back Rod Woodson and tight end Shannon Sharpe are among first-year candidates for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.</p><p>The list includes 110 players, seven coaches and 16 contributors, including former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue and longtime team owners Bud Adams, Jerry Jones, Art Modell and Ralph Wilson.</p><p>Hall of Fame selectors will choose 25 candidates who will be announced later this month as semifinalists. The field will then be narrowed to 15 by a mail ballot. The inductees will be selected from among those 15 and the two senior nominees previously announced, Bob Hayes and Claude Humphrey. They were selected in August by a senior selection committee.</p><p>The class of inductees will be chosen at the selection committee’s annual meeting on Saturday, January 31, 2009, in Tampa, Fla., the day before the 2009 Super Bowl. As few as four and as many as seven can be selected.</p><p>To be considered for Hall of Fame election, a nominated player or coach must be retired for at least five years. A contributor, who has made outstanding career contributions to pro football in capacities other than playing or coaching, may still be active in his pro football career.</p><p>TWO JETS ON IR</p><p>The New York Jets placed running back Jesse Chatman and rookie quarterback Erik Ainge on injured reserve Tuesday.</p><p>Chatman injured his left knee during the Jets’ 28-24 victory over Kansas City on Sunday and left the locker room on crutches. Coach Eric Mangini said on Monday that the injury appeared to be season-ending.</p><p>Chatman, who signed with the Jets as a free agent in March, missed the first four games after being suspended without pay for violating the league’s steroids and related substances policy.</p><p>Chatman said he tested for a diuretic — “something I never even heard of” — that could be used as a masking agent.</p><p>He had 8 yards on five carries, two receptions for 5 yards and five special teams tackles in three games.</p><p>Ainge, who has an injured right foot, was New York’s fifth-round pick out of Tennessee and was inactive for every game this season.</p><p>The Jets still have three quarterbacks on their roster with Brett Favre, Kellen Clemens and Brett Ratliff.</p>