Kennedy May Return For Hawks
Maybe Cortez Kennedy isn’t finished for the season.
The Seattle Seahawks’ six-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle underwent surgery on Monday - after sustaining a fractured left leg at San Diego - but coach Dennis Erickson held out hope that Kennedy would be able to play again this year.
“There is a good chance he could be back,” Erickson said. “There’s a chance that that could happen.”
A plate and seven screws were inserted in Kennedy’s left leg just above the ankle a day after he broke his fibula in the first quarter of Seattle’s 37-31 victory over the Chargers. After the game, Seahawks coaches thought he was lost for the season.
But Erickson said team doctors told him after the surgery that Kennedy would be out for six weeks. That means there is a remote chance the 6-foot-3, 306-pound player - depending on how fast his leg heals - could be back in time for the team’s regularseason finale against San Francisco in the Kingdome on Dec. 21.
In addition to Kennedy, the Seahawks could be without punter Rick Tuten this week. Tuten has a pulled groin muscle.
Erickson also said wide receiver Brian Blades suffered a fractured nose in the fourth quarter of the San Diego game, but is expected to play at New Orleans on Sunday.
Dillon will start for Bengals
Former Washington Husky Corey Dillon will start at running back Sunday for the Cincinnati Bengals.
Coach Bruce Coslet announced that Dillon, a second-round draft pick, will start in place of Ki-Jana Carter in Pittsburgh. Carter is hampered by a torn rotator cuff and a sprained ankle.
Carter started a 28-13 victory Sunday in Indianapolis, but got only four carries for 7 yards. Dillon ran 22 times for 97 yards, including a 46-yard touchdown run that put the Bengals ahead to stay.
“I believe in my heart that Ki-Jana is playing hurt, and I think Corey gives us the best chance to be successful there,” Coslet said.
Cowboys’ Lett could return soon
Chad Hennings has seen Leon Lett recently, which is why he can’t wait to see Lett in a Cowboys uniform.
“The guy looks great,” Hennings said of Dallas’ Pro Bowl defensive tackle, who is serving a year-long NFL drug suspension. “I’ve seen him and talked to him. He’s in shape and seems to have a great attitude.”
Lett is a topic of conversation in the locker room because he can rejoin Dallas for its Dec. 8 game against the Carolina Panthers if NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue approves his reinstatement.
St. Louis suit tossed out
The NFL won a legal victory when a federal judge threw out St. Louis’ $130 million antitrust lawsuit against the league.
Chief U.S. District Judge Jean Hamilton said the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission failed to prove the NFL conspired against the city by requiring a $29 million relocation fee before approving the Rams’ move from Anaheim, Calif.