Pack to wear decal in honor of White
The Green Bay Packers will honor the late Reggie White by wearing a No. 92 decal on their helmets for the last game of the regular season and the playoffs.
The team will start wearing the decal, which has 92 in dark block numbers with a clear background, on Sunday in Chicago against the Bears.
White, 43, who died suddenly Sunday in North Carolina, is believed to be only the second player honored with a Packers helmet decal. The team wore the No. 3 decal after Hall of Famer Tony Canadeo died in 2003.
The team is also finalizing plans to honor White at its wild-card playoff game at Lambeau Field. The Packers also plan to retire White’s number next season.
On Thursday, nearly 50 current and former members of the Packers attended White’s funeral in Charlotte, N.C.
White played for the Packers from 1993-98 and helped Green Bay win the Super Bowl against New England after the 1996 season.
A preliminary autopsy report showed White might have died because of a respiratory disease combined with other health problems. Determining a final cause of death might take up to three months.
Bettis to miss Bills game
Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jerome Bettis will miss Sunday’s game at Buffalo because of a sprained ankle.
Bettis will finish 59 yards short of his ninth 1,000-yard season since breaking in with the Rams in 1993. Bettis has started only six games this season as a backup to Duce Staley, but gained at least 100 yards in all six.
Bettis ran for 117 yards in the Steelers’ 20-7 win over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday. He played the entire game, but was listed as doubtful on Wednesday.
Staley is questionable with the hamstring injury that has sidelined him for six of Pittsburgh’s last eight games. If he can’t play, third-string running back Verron Haynes likely will get most of the carries against the Bills (9-6), who must win to stay in the AFC playoff race.
Carolina’s Fields fined
Carolina Panthers linebacker Mark Fields, a former Washington State University star, was fined $5,000 by the NFL for unnecessary roughness in last weekend’s victory over Tampa Bay.
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the fine was issued this week.
Fields’ sack of Buccaneers quarterback Brian Griese resulted in unnecessary roughness. He grabbed Griese’s face mask and unnecessarily twisted his head.
Holcomb to start for Browns
Cleveland quarterback Kelly Holcomb had a good practice Friday and likely will start against the Houston Texans in the Browns’ season finale Sunday.
Holcomb tied a franchise record with five TD passes in his last start, a 58-48 loss at Cincinnati on Nov. 28, but sustained cracked ribs. Rookie Luke McCown started the past four weeks.