Punching Panther Smith sent home

Carolina receiver Steve Smith was sent home from training camp in Spartanburg, S.C., Friday after he punched teammate Ken Lucas at practice, leaving the starting cornerback holding an ice pack to his left eye before he was carted to the locker room.

Panthers coach John Fox said Smith and Lucas returned to Charlotte, about 80 miles away, after the fight. Neither player was present for the team’s second practice.

The Panthers didn’t provide an update on the extent of Lucas’ injuries and club officials declined to say if the volatile Smith, the team’s top receiver, would be suspended.

Favre mulls marketing deal

Brett Favre’s reinstatement to the NFL was held up again as the three-time MVP mulled getting paid not to play through a marketing deal with the Green Bay Packers that could resolve the standoff over his retirement.

The potential agreement, worth a reported $20 million over 10 years, might end Favre’s bid to return just months after retiring. It also would likely keep him from reporting to Packers training camp and a team that is not planning to start him at quarterback for the first time since 1992.

Around the league

A man identified by NFL player Adam “Pacman” Jones as the gunman in a strip club shooting that wounded three people in 2007 was indicted on seven felony counts. Arvin Kenti Edwards of Renton, Wash., was ordered by a Las Vegas judge to be held without bail pending arraignment Tuesday. … Buffalo rookie Alvin Bowen sustained a severe right knee injury in practice and coach Dick Jauron expressed fear that the linebacker could miss the entire season. … Baltimore cornerback Fabian Washington was suspended one game without pay for violating the NFL’s personal-conduct policy, a punishment stemming from a domestic violence arrest in February involving his girlfriend. … A precautionary MRI turned up nothing wrong with the sore left knee of Denver center Tom Nalen.