The Arizona Cardinals lost Pro Bowl receiver Larry Fitzgerald for 2-5 weeks with a hamstring injury.

"I'd say it will be at least two weeks, two-to-five maybe, two-to-four, it's hard to say," coach Dennis Green said at his Oct. 9 news conference. "It's a real strong pull, maybe even a slight tear in there also."

Big blow to the Cards, as well as fantasy owners that took him early in the second round. Troy Walters and Bryant Johnson could step up for the Cards. Another receiver to keep your eye on is Brandon Stokley. He's healthy now and could be a nice free-agent pick up.

The Dolphins will start Joey Harrington at quarterback this afternoon when they play the defending division champion New England Patriots.

Several team sources have confirmed that Daunte Culpepper will be benched in favor of Harrington because of the bruised right shoulder that Culpepper has been suffering since the Sept. 17 game against Buffalo.

Fantasy owners will want to update their lineups in the little time that remains.

"On Monday, I had an operation on my elbow to clean up the bone chips which were causing irritation and swelling throughout the year. As soon as I heal in the next few weeks, I will begin my offseason training. Keep checking my site for updates regarding my recovery and plans for the future."

The Giants, they said, will get younger and healthier in 2007, and moreover, the days of building the team around Barry Bonds are over. Magowan said the Giants will re-sign Bonds only if Sabean determines he can help the team win, not to sell tickets or so Bonds can chase the all-time home-run record with the Giants.

The owner insisted that if Bonds is a Giant next season, he will not be the center of the wheel, just one spoke.

"He's one of 11 parts of a puzzle," Magowan said, referring to the number of potential Giants free agents. "He's not the only piece of the puzzle. He's not even the centerpiece of the puzzle.

"I think we need to go in a new direction. I think we've had for a long time a strategy that has worked well until the last two years, when it hasn't worked well. The strategy has been one of having a great player, perhaps the greatest player in the game, at the centerpiece and filling in with veteran players. It caught up with us in the last couple of years."

Even though Gore's listed as questionable, expect him to play Sunday. However, fantasy owners will want to keep an eye on rookie Michael Robinson near the goal line. He might end up vulturing some touchdowns if Gore proves to be untrustworthy near paydirt.

Year in and year out, the Giants break the hearts of their fans. This year is no different. Barry Bonds has a decent season, but the pitching staff has tired and so the club has been unable to turn the offensive production into victories.

Now all that's left to play for is the goal of spoiling their rival Dodgers' playoff aspirations. I will be there at the park hoping Bonds hits me one.

The San Francisco 49ers got good news about running back Frank Gore and confirmed bad news about tight end Vernon Davis on Monday.

Gore is expected to be in the 49ers' lineup at Kansas City on Sunday despite bruised ribs that sidelined him in the third quarter of their loss to Philadelphia. Davis, the sixth overall pick in the draft, will be out four weeks with a broken bone in his right leg.

The 49ers' two young offensive stars were hurt on the same play last Sunday in their 38-24 loss to the Eagles.

Update your fantasy lineups if you have Davis. Eric Johnson appears to be a decent option.

Latest word on Simms is that he suffered a ruptured spleen, but finished the game. Surgery has been performed and Simms is said to be in stable condition.

Get well soon Chris.

One second, the Niners are trying to punch it in at the goal line, and the next 292-pound Mike Patterson returning a Frank Gore fumble 98 yards for a touchdown. This is what you call a 14-point swing (the difference in the game).

Brian Westbrook rushed for 117 yards and two touchdowns, also catching a scoring pass from Donovan McNabb in the Eagles' 38-24 victory over the 49ers on Sunday.

McNabb passed for 296 yards and Reggie Brown caught five passes for 106 yards as the Eagles (2-1) shook off last week's embarrassing collapse against the Giants, emphatically protecting a huge lead this time with 416 yards of sharp offense.

Fantasy owners will want to take a look at Michael Robinson of the 49ers. After Gore fumbled, he left the game and did not return. Robinson scored two touchdowns in the remainder of the game.

Brett Favre completed 25-of-36 passes for 340 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Green Bay Packers past the Detroit Lions, 31-24, at Ford Field.

Brett Favre sprinted toward the end zone, signaled touchdown and then pumped his right fist. The 36-year-old quarterback had just become the second player in NFL history to throw 400 career touchdown passes. Favre joined Dan Marino as the only players in NFL history to throw 400 touchdown passes. Marino currently holds the NFL record with 420.

He added two more scores to lead the Green Bay Packers to a 31-24 win over Detroit on Sunday for their first victory of the season.

Nomar Garciaparra's walk-off grand slam with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning carried the Dodgers to a dramatic 5-1 win over Arizona on Sunday.

Marlon Anderson started the winning rally by bouncing a single up the middle off Luis Vizcaino to lead off the ninth. Russell Martin bunted Anderson to second, and he took third on Oscar Robles' groundout. Rafael Furcal was walked intentionally and Kenny Lofton unintentionally to load the bases for Garciaparra, who hit a walk-off homer for the second time in a week.

Dodgers starter Hong-Chih Kuo allowed one unearned run over seven innings, while striking out eight.

The Nationals actually suffered two losses on Saturday afternoon at Shea Stadium, though the outcome of the game was far less important to Washington players.

Nick Johnson suffered a fractured right femur in the eighth inning of the Nationals' 12-6 loss to the Mets at Shea Stadium, colliding with right fielder Austin Kearns in pursuit of a pop fly.

This is really too bad. Nick Johnson had a great break-out season. Fantasy owners, drop him if you're in a championship game.

Place-kicker Adam Vinatieri and Pro Bowl safety Bob Sanders are two of six players the Indianapolis Colts downgraded from questionable to out today for Sunday's AFC South showdown with Jacksonville in the RCA Dome.



The temporary loss of Vinatieri will result in the Colts signing veteran Martin Gramatica. The team had him in for a workout on Wednesday.

Stokley will also be out this week.

Update your lineups fantasy owners.

Thanks to the timing of the bye week, Terrell Owens might not miss any games because of his broken hand.

Owens broke the bone leading to his right ring finger Sunday night and had a plate surgically attached to it Monday. Although Owens' hand was swollen and aching Wednesday, Dallas Cowboys coach Bill Parcells said he's optimistic the receiver will be back at work next week and catching passes a week from Sunday against Tennessee.

"I certainly wouldn't rule it out now," Parcells said. "Maybe five days from now I might, but I wouldn't rule it out now. ... I know we're looking to try to get him moving around pretty good in the next day or so. So we'll see where we are."

Interesting...fantasy owners will want to pay attention next week and check on TO's status.

The Chargers agreed in principle to acquire quarterback Billy Volek from Tennessee on Tuesday, giving San Diego a veteran to back up first-year starter Philip Rivers.

Volek's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, told The Associated Press that Volek was in the process of signing the form to waive his no-trade clause.

The Chargers are believed to be giving up a sixth-round draft pick that could escalate to a fifth-rounder, depending on Volek's playing time.

Fantasy-wise, this doesn't change much at all. It would have been much more interesting to see Volek get traded to another California team in need of a quarterback, the Raiders.