Jacobs: Eagles, not Giants, likely for Burress after prison time

When Plaxico Burress is released from a New York state prison Monday, he must find work. But Giants running back Brandon Jacobs, one of Burress' closest friends, doesn't believe the wide receiver will do so with his former NFL team.

"No, he ain't coming to the Giants," Jacobs said Thursday, according to The Star-Ledger. "That's out of the question. He's got options, and it's good he can weigh his options. I would love him to be a part of the Giants, but I don't think that's even on his plate."

What's on Burress' plate, Jacobs believes, is joining the NFC East rival Philadelphia Eagles -- a possibility that has been recently speculated and later supported by the team's quarterback, Michael Vick, who served 19 months in a federal prison on dogfighting charges. Burress, 33, will have served 20 months after pleading guilty in 2009 to attempted criminal possession of a weapon following a November 2008 incident in which he accidentally shot himself in the leg at a New York nightclub.

Brooks: Burress is a fit in Philly

"I would hate to see him go to where I think he's going to go, from talking to him," said Jacobs, who speaks to Burress weekly and helps his wife and children. "It's pretty tough to deal with all those different combinations that they can present. ...

"(The Eagles) have a lot of dynamic players down there. "It wouldn't be a bad thing, he thinks, to go down there, because he wants to win. He wants to have a shot to win a Super Bowl right away. I don't know if that's the right mixture for him to do it, but they definitely have a lot of talent."

Jacobs also said Burress has told him he wouldn't mind playing for former Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, now coach of the St. Louis Rams.

Jacobs' comments about Burress mirror those of Giants left tackle David Diehl, who told NFL.com last month that he'd like the receiver to return but doesn't see it happening.

"If I were Plaxico, I don't think I would want to ...," Diehl said. "If I were in that position, in order to move on and start fresh, you have to get back to square one. That's getting back to playing football. That's getting back to yourself, and not only enjoying your family, but enjoying your life and being happy again. For him, I think that's somewhere else."

Not every Giant dismisses the idea of Burress returning to the team. Eli Manning, who threw the game-winning TD pass to Burress in Super Bowl XLII in February 2008, expressed his support for the receiver last month, saying, "I'm excited that he's getting out, and if the Giants or another team give him a shot, I'll look forward to getting him back into football." Defensive end Justin Tuck said Thursday that "I would love to have Plaxico back in Giants blue."

Even so, Jacobs is adamant that his friend will find a new NFL home.

"I just want to be happy for him," Jacobs said. "I just want him to be super happy that he's out, that he's a free man and he's able to continue his career."

Burress started his NFL career with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2000, then joined the Giants in 2005. He has 505 catches for 7,845 yards and 55 TDs.

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49ers reportedly told to stop talking about their free agents

No more talk about quarterback Alex Smith, or any of your other free agents, please.

That is the message the league has sent to the San Francisco 49ers and new coach Jim Harbaugh, The Santa Rosa Press Democrat reported Tuesday.

Harbaugh has stated several times, including two weeks ago on "NFL Total Access," that he would like the 49ers to re-sign Smith. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2005 draft has struggled with injuries and inconsistency during his first six pro seasons with the team.

Harbaugh speculated after April's draft -- when San Francisco selected quarterback Colin Kaepernick in the second round -- that he thought Smith would return.

"I think he's going to come back to the team," Harbaugh said on April 30. "He has not signed a contract."

Harbaugh changed his strategy during an interview with the newspaper last week.

"I'm not answering any questions about Alex Smith," Harbaugh said. "The league has mandated we do not talk about him. The NFL has mandated that we don't talk about players who are not under contract -- who are free agents who haven't signed. We've been sent a memo saying we can't talk about it."

A 49ers spokesman told the newspaper that the league had contacted them. However, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello told The Press Democrat he was not aware of the contact between the league and the 49ers.

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Jets' Pouha unveils life off the field in 'Life of Lock Out' series

NEW YORK -- Sione Pouha was tired of answering the same questions everywhere he went this offseason.

He heard them in stores. At his kids' school. Even at the dinner table.

"Everybody was asking two general things: 'What's up with the lockout?' 'What are you doing with no football?' " the big New York Jets defensive tackle said. "I was kind of like a broken record. So, I thought to myself, 'Dude, what am I doing? I can just show them.' "

So Pouha grabbed a video camera, put together a film crew and started rolling on a behind-the-scenes series that fans can subscribe to for free on his YouTube channel. The four-minute preview for the "Life of a Lock Out" series has received more than 1,500 views since it was posted a week ago, and the first full-length episode airs Wednesday.

"I would call it a low-budget reality series," Pouha said with a big laugh. "It's not quite 'Keeping Up With The Kardashians.' It's the non-football life of a football player and what they do during the lockout."

The preview shows clips of Pouha working out and visiting with teammate Nick Mangold, hanging out in Times Square, waiting to reward a Jets fan with tickets to the home opener -- when and if that happens -- and singing in the kitchen with one of his daughters.

"I thought it would be awesome to give people kind of like a reality show, a chance to see what we do other than on the fields," he said. "A lot of people just see us on Sundays, and, obviously, that's what we get paid to do, but we have adventures and have families and take our kids to school and do homework and that sort of stuff."

Would fans really care? Pouha, 32, is an under-the-radar guy on a team filled with headline-making personalities, but he received all the confirmation he needed that night in Times Square, when fans flocked to him.

"You see them, and it's like they're dehydrating (without football)," he said. "It just looked like they were absorbing it like a dry sponge. That's when you understand, as a player, how much energy the fans give to you. It's like, 'Wow!' "

Pouha, who made a career-high 59 tackles and two sacks last year while filling in for injured Kris Jenkins for the second consecutive season, is not alone in trying to keep fans entertained. Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez has begun posting videos and pictures on his Facebook page of things he's doing this offseason, such as his "Jets West" camp with some offensive teammates in Southern California and his recent appearance on NFL Network. Safety Emanuel Cook also is starting a YouTube channel, and several Jets players are active on Twitter.

Pouha began thinking about his project in early May, when "the flakes of the idea" came to him. Three weeks ago, he decided to go ahead with it and called a camera crew that shoots commercials for his business venture, Bula Beverage -- a kava root-based, Pomegranate-flavored soda that hit stores in the West and Southwest a year ago. The crew showed up a week later, and the cameras have been shooting ever since.

"Usually around this time, fans are excited and buying rookie jerseys, and everyone's starting to set up their fantasy teams and welcoming in their new acquisitions through free agency," he said. "None of that's going on right now, so I thought I'd give fans something to watch."

Using Bula's marketing budget to pay for the crew's expenses, all Pouha needed was to run it by his wife, Katie.

"She thought I was crazy, kind of," Pouha said. "My wife was kind of like, 'What are you going to think of next?' It's crazy, because this is kind of against my nature. I'm not really the kind of guy who goes and has a Web page. It's kind of like out of character, but at the same time, I don't know what's come over me."

His family is originally from the South Pacific island kingdom of Tonga, and this will enable relatives and friends there to keep up with the Pouhas.

There will be shots of him and the rest of the Jets' defensive linemen when they get together soon for position workouts, but not all the footage will be filmed by the crew. Pouha will use his own camera and produce vlogs -- video-style blogs -- that will be included in each episode. He took his camera back home to Utah for Memorial Day weekend, will introduce fans to his mother and even take them to some private moments, such as when he visits his father's gravesite. Pouha stopped cutting his hair last season in tribute to his father and has also started growing a beard, but fans will have to tune in to find out why.

He'll give demonstrations on Polynesian cooking, and if the lockout is still going on, he'll take the fans on a video tour of Tonga. He might go down to Miami to hang with friends Koa Misi and Paul Soliai, who play for the Dolphins. There also will be games in which subscribers can win prizes, and Pouha will answer questions from Twitter followers.

"People will be like, 'Oh, he doesn't just two-gap. He multitasks, and these guys really juggle a few things more than football,' " Pouha said.

He already has more than a hundred hours of footage and plans to post a new episode every other week. Although Pouha hopes the lockout ends soon, so he can get back to work, that doesn't mean the video series will then end.

"We'll start it off with 'Life of a Lock Out,' and then when that's done, we can change it up and do something else," Pouha said. "I feel like we'll have a lot of stuff, even throughout the season. It's fun for me, and it'll be fun for the fans."

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press

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Ex-NFL QB Leaf has benign tumor removed from brain stem

LUBBOCK, Texas -- Former NFL quarterback Ryan Leaf was recovering Tuesday in California after doctors removed a benign tumor from his brain stem.

Leaf, 35, had been experiencing headaches, dizziness and blurred vision before seeing a doctor May 18, his publicist, Margo Myers, told The Associated Press. He had surgery a week later at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, Calif., and was released Saturday.

"I am looking forward to resting a bit and being with my family," Leaf said in a statement. "This was just another bridge for me to cross, and I will continue to live each day to the fullest and give back where I can!"

Leaf, a Great Falls, Mont., native, starred at Washington State, and the San Diego Chargers made him the second pick of the 1998 NFL draft. He played for the Chargers from 1998 to 2000 and for the Cowboys in 2001.

He threw for 3,666 yards and 14 touchdowns in his career, and he is considered one of the league's biggest busts.

In April 2010, Leaf pleaded guilty to eight felony drug charges in Texas and received 10 years of probation and a $20,000 fine. He was coaching quarterbacks at West Texas A&M at the time.

Leaf recently finished writing a draft of his first of three books he's penning for Crimson Oak Publishing, a Pullman, Wash.-based publisher, about his life, football career and addiction to painkillers. He also writes a column for his alma mater's website and sells resort packages in British Columbia.

Leaf also spends time talking to groups about his addiction.

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press

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Brady heads to Boston, will lead Patriots' workouts

Tom Brady will lead the New England Patriots in players-only workouts beginning Wednesday, ESPN Boston reported, citing sources familiar with his plans.

The quarterback, who is returning to the Boston area for charity appearances Friday night and Saturday for Best Buddies International, contacted teammates about joining him on the field while he was in the region, and sources said a number of teammates have traveled to join him.

Brady has been recuperating from foot surgery in January and working out in his native California. He was especially interested in pass-catchers joining the workouts, sources said.

Locally based players, such as tight end Rob Gronkowski and wide receiver Brandon Tate, won't have to alter their plans much to join Brady's sessions. Receiver Julian Edelman, who has been working out in Los Angeles, flew to Boston on Tuesday.

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Haynesworth, alleged road-rage victim settle, charges dropped

FAIRFAX, Va. -- A judge on Tuesday dismissed a misdemeanor assault charge against Washington Redskins defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth after the player reached an agreement with the man who said he was the victim of a road-rage attack.

Under Virginia law, a judge can dismiss misdemeanor assaults under a provision called "accord and satisfaction," in which a victim says he has been made whole, usually by a financial payment.

Neither Haynesworth nor the victim, identified as Arthur Velasquez, would comment on details of the settlement. Haynesworth, dressed in a white collared shirt with blue jeans and large diamond stud earrings, said nothing as he left the courthouse after the two-minute hearing in Fairfax County General District Court.

The incident in early February began when Velasquez gave the finger to Haynesworth on the Fairfax County Parkway in Reston because he believed Haynesworth was following too closely, according to Haynesworth's attorney, Steven Merril, and police accounts.

Both drivers exited the parkway, and at some point Haynesworth got out of his car. At that point, according to Merril, the two men's stories diverged. Velasquez said Haynesworth punched him in the face, giving him a bloody nose.

"There's blame for both of them" in the confrontation, Merril said after the hearing. "You know how northern Virginia can be with tight traffic, anger building up among drivers."

Merril said, "Haynesworth's mistake was he got out of the car. Judges don't like that."

It was not clear if Velasquez knew Haynesworth's identity at the outset of the confrontation.

Velasquez's lawyer, Stephen Sheehy, declined to discuss details of the case but said his client is satisfied with the outcome.

Haynesworth, meanwhile, still faces a misdemeanor sexual abuse charge in the District of Columbia, where he is accused of groping a waitress at a hotel bar. He has pleaded not guilty.

At one point last year Haynesworth was juggling as many four court-related matters, including lawsuits from a bank, an exotic dancer, a man injured in an automobile accident and complaints from his ex-wife that he wasn't paying her health insurance or their children's bills.

Haynesworth set an NFL record in 2009 with $41 million guaranteed as part of a seven-year, $100 million contract with the Redskins. But Haynesworth fell out of favor with new coach Mike Shanahan in 2010 and repeatedly clashed over workout routines and playing time. The Redskins suspended Haynesworth for the final four games of the season for "conduct detrimental to the team."

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press

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Rookie Locker joins future Titans teammates for workout

Rookie quarterback Jake Locker was among 15 Tennessee Titans who gathered to work out together Tuesday morning, The Tennessean reported via Twitter.

Locker, whom the Titans selected eighth overall in April's draft, did not throw during the workout because only two receivers showed up at Father Ryan High School in Nashville, according to The Tennessean.

Locker said he planned to spend two weeks in the Nashville area, and that he is staying with second-year receiver Damian Williams.

The group at Father Ryan has been working out together for several weeks, according to The Tennessean. Cornerback Cortland Finnegan said last week that plans are in the works for as much of the team as possible to meet for a minicamp on June 8-9 at the high school.

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