Associated Press
NASHVILLE, Tenn. ó All Tennessee’s Chris Johnson needs to complete his outfit for Sunday’s game against Jacksonville is a pink mouthpiece.
The Titans running back has the pink gloves, and his pink shoes should arrive today. Johnson, one of four or five players on each NFL team wearing pink during National Breast Cancer Awareness month, doesn’t have a personal connection to the disease. He says it doesn’t matter if pink isn’t a manly football color.
“It’s about breast cancer,” he said. “You’re supporting them.”
Johnson, a former East Carolina star, is the AFC’s leading rusher with 351 yards. He also leads the NFL in total yards from scrimmage with 457.
He says his new shoes are mostly pink with some white thrown in. He won’t wear them until game day because he doesn’t “want to get them dirty.”
GIANTS
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. ó Giants safety Kenny Phillips has had microfracture surgery on his left knee and will have to wait about five months before he can start to run.
Wide receiver Hakeem Nicks, the first-round draft pick who hurt his left foot in the season opener, participated fully in Thursday’s practice.
Coach Tom Coughlin was impressed with Nicks, who was developing into a deep threat.
“He did pretty much everything,” Coughlin said. “There was no limitation on him. He felt good and wanted to do more yesterday and got a chance to do more today.”
SEAHAWKS
RENTON, Wash. ó Matt Hasselbeck has missed yet another practice, and he remains likely to miss a second consecutive game Sunday at Indianapolis.
BILLS
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. ó Bills starting cornerback Leodis McKelvin was placed on season-ending injured reserve to clear room for the team to add running back Marshawn Lynch to the active roster.
Lynch has completed an NFL-imposed three-game suspension for violating the league’s personal conduct policy.
DOLPHINS
DAVIE, Fla. ó Miami linebacker Joey Porter sat out practice for the second day in a row because of a sore hamstring, and he could miss a game for only the seventh time in his 11-year career.
n DAVIE, Fla. ó Defensive tackle Paul Soliai mourned the deaths of at least two relatives on the disaster-stricken Samoas and fears the toll for his family could get worse.
The number of causalities among relatives of Soliai and his wife was unclear. He said virtually all of his family lives on the Pacific islands, where an earthquake and tsunami Tuesday killed at least 150 people.
TEXANS
HOUSTON ó Cornerback Jacques Reeves will miss Sunday’s game against Oakland after breaking his right pinky finger during warmups for practice.
VICK
NEW YORK ó Nike said it does not have a “contractual relationship” with Michael Vick one day after the quarterback’s agent announced a deal with the manufacturer.
Nike said it has “agreed to supply product to Michael Vick as we do a number of athletes who are not under contract with Nike.”