Detmer grows rich while not playing

Koy Detmer made $90,000 last week, which isn’t staggering for an NFL player … unless you consider he did little more than stand around for three Minnesota practices.

The Vikings signed him as a reserve quarterback because they weren’t sure Tavaris Jackson and Kelly Holcomb were healthy enough to back up Brooks Bollinger. But when Jackson proved he was OK, Minnesota cut Detmer.

He didn’t leave empty-handed. He received a game check of $42,352.94 and termination pay of $48,000. Not a bad gig.

Bush grows better

Houston coach Gary Kubiak, whose team plays New Orleans today, said Reggie Bush – passed on by the Texans in the 2006 draft – does so much more for New Orleans than the boxscore indicates.

“They do everything they can to find ways to get him the ball,” Kubiak said. “They can always put him back there to return. He’s getting his touches as a running back, he gets his touches as a receiver. … When he’s not, they’re using him to fake reverses and stuff, which helps the game plan and everything else they do.

“So, I mean, he’s scary.

“He’s a threat to go the distance every down and he’s a big part of what they’re doing, down in and down out.”

Many unhappy returns

With all its injuries, Indianapolis had to tap into special-teams players to fill holes on offense and defense. That’s made their shaky coverage teams more suspect, as the football world saw last Sunday when San Diego’s Darren Sproles returned a kickoff and punt for touchdowns.

Since the start of the 2006 season, the Colts have given up seven returns for touchdowns – among them Chicago’s Devin Hester running back the opening kickoff in Super Bowl XLI.

In the last few years, the Colts ranked 31st, 30th, 32nd and 20th in punt coverage, and 30th, 21st, 11th and 20th in kickoff coverage.

A special odor

Pittsburgh is ranked No. 1 in defense and No. 5 in offense, but coach Mike Tomlin doesn’t need to look far to find a sobering weakness. The Steelers’ special-teams units are not good at all.

Or, as Tomlin delicately put it: “One thing that is for certain: We stink as a kickoff coverage unit.”