Teams playing games with injury reports

SEATTLE – Let the gamesmanship begin – again.

New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick has never really hidden his disdain for the league’s weekly injury report.

He has been fined or admonished for not adhering to the rules, such as two years ago when defensive lineman Richard Seymour was listed as probable for a game in Denver and did not even travel with the Patriots.

So when Atlanta quarterback Michael Vick went from “probable” to “questionable” to “out” between Friday and Sunday last week, Belichick was irritated.

He didn’t say as much, but he didn’t have to. His injury report last week did.

After listing 50 players as “questionable” through the first five weeks, Belichick had none under that listing and 15 as “probable” on Wednesday. Then, Friday, all but quarterback Tom Brady were back to “questionable.”

After the initial report came out Wednesday, the coach was asked if he was sending a message.

His response: “There’s a policy in place, and we’re trying to comply with it.”

Asked also if any players might be downgraded, he said, “I have no idea. We’ll see what their status is on Friday. If their situation changes, then we’ll change it. If it doesn’t, we won’t.”

Funny how – just like Vick – they all got a little worse in just two days.

Meanwhile, Falcons coach Jim Mora admitted he is using the injury report to get an edge.

“It’s just trying to preserve a competitive advantage,” he said. “If I give them an edge that I don’t need to give them, then I think that is counter-productive to what our goal is.”

In another injury-report issue, the Chicago Bears reportedly were unhappy the Cleveland Browns failed to report receiver Braylon Edwards as out on Saturday when he was hospitalized with an infection in his arm.

First-year Browns coach Romeo Crennel apparently was unaware he had to report changes on Saturdays, too. The league is investigating and could fine the Browns.

First-round downers

Edwards, the third pick in the draft this year, is expected to be out for up to two months. That is just the latest piece of bad luck for the Browns and their first-round picks.

Kellen Winslow Jr., the team’s top pick in 2004, suffered a broken leg in the second game of his rookie season and missed the rest of the season. He is missing this one with injuries suffered in an off-season motorcycle accident.

Tim Couch, Courtney Brown and Gerard Warren – first-rounders in 1999, 2000 and 2001 – are no longer with the team. Running back William Green, Cleveland’s top pick in 2002, has been a bust even though he is still with the team.

Since the Browns returned to the league in 1999, their only successful first-round pick has been starting center Jeff Faine (2003).

That would partly explain why they went 30-66 the past six seasons.