Ivory practices with hamstring injury, set to play vs. Falcons

New Orleans Saints rookie running back Chris Ivory, still bothered by a hamstring injury that he suffered during a Week 14 victory over the St. Louis Rams, believes he will play Monday night against the Atlanta Falcons, The Times-Picayune reported Thursday.

Ivory, who leads the Saints with 683 yards and five rushing touchdowns, was ruled out of last Sunday's loss to the Baltimore Ravens. He was limited in practice Thursday.

"I can't really open up like I would like to," Ivory said. "So I'm not full speed yet. I'd say about 90, 95 percent. So I've kind of got to pace myself at what speed I go in practice, so that I will be ready for Monday.

"Earlier in practice, it was feeling pretty good for the most part," he added. "But as we got to going, I tried to open up, and I'm probably not 100 percent, so once I tried to open up, I felt that grabbing feeling on it ... I think all that will get worked out this week. A little more treatment these next couple days, I think that will help."

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Jags' Garrard confirms throwing hand, hamstring OK after loss

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Ravens TE Heap could shake hamstring issue to play against Browns

OWINGS MILLS, Md. -- Ravens coach John Harbaugh says tight end Todd Heap could return for Sunday's road game against the Cleveland Browns after missing the past two games with a pulled right hamstring.

Heap was injured during a 13-10 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Harbaugh said he has spoken with trainer Bill Tessendorf, who's optimistic Heap will play Sunday.

Also on Monday, the Ravens cut offensive guard Bryan Mattison and promoted tight end Davon Drew to the active roster from the practice squad.

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press

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Revis' hamstring back to full strength as Jets plan for Packers

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- Darrelle Revis is ready to shut down receivers -- and questions about his balky left hamstring.

The New York Jets' All-Pro cornerback declared himself healthy Monday after using the bye-week break to rehabilitate it at the team's facility.

"It felt great today," Revis said after a light practice. "Now I can settle in and just play football. I'm 100 percent."

Revis said he'll be able to play unimpeded in the Jets' next game at home against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.

"I'm ready to go," he said. "I'll be there Sunday. We did everything we could this week. This week worked out for me to stay here and get all the treatment I needed to get."

Revis missed two games after straining the hamstring, was very sore when he returned against the Minnesota Vikings two weeks ago and still wasn't completely healthy last week against the Denver Broncos.

"He was moving around great today," Jets coach Rex Ryan said. "I think we're going to see Darrelle at 100 percent, so that's exciting for me."

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Revis received treatment on the hamstring and went through running drills and defensive backs drills during last week's six-day break. He said he had no swelling in the hamstring or any complications.

"I was here all week, just trying to get back and get this hamstring right," he said. "We did a couple of running drills, DB drills when I was here last week. We've been doing everything. I've been running."

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press

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Vikings WR Harvin limited in practice with hamstring injury

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Percy Harvin has a hamstring injury.

Harvin was added to the injury report Thursday and listed as a limited participant in practice. Harvin returned a kickoff for a touchdown in last weekend's victory over the Dallas Cowboys, and afterward he called himself as healthy as he's felt all season.

Tight end Jim Kleinsasser took part in some of Thursday's practice, and Vikings coach Brad Childress said he doesn't believes "there's any doubt he'll play" this Sunday at Green Bay. Kleinsasser has a groin injury.

Starting safety Husain Abdullah sat out again, recovering from a concussion. Cornerback Chris Cook was limited in practice, but Childress said the rookie moved around better than the previous day. Cook is recovering from a torn meniscus in his left knee.

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press

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Jets CB Revis uncertain for next game with 'sore' hamstring

Darrelle Revis' balky left hamstring is acting up again.

The New York Jets cornerback said his leg was "very sore" after the team's victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Monday night. Jets coach Rex Ryan wasn't sure Tuesday if Revis will play against the Denver Broncos on Sunday.

It hasn't been pretty, but coach Rex Ryan and the Jets are 4-1 to start the season. Now Calvin Pace and Santonio Holmes are back, so the team expects even better things. More ...

"There was added swelling in his leg," Ryan said, "but hopefully he'll be ready to roll."

Revis returned Monday night after missing two games with a strained hamstring, sustained in the first half of the Jets' 28-14 victory over the New England Patriots in Week 2. He said after New York's 29-20 victory over Minnesota that the hamstring bothered him throughout the game.

"As of right now, we're going to take it day by day, like we've been doing, and see how it goes," Revis told the New York Daily News after the game.

"This process is kind of frustrating, because I've never been hurt during the season," Revis added. "I want to be out there so bad with my teammates and win games. I need to learn patience right now and get back to 100 percent. ... When that happens, I can play the type of ball that I can play."

Ryan said he was unaware that Revis' hamstring was a problem during the game.

"I thought just the opposite," Ryan said. "I thought about challenging him more. I never saw it."

Ryan added that he hadn't spoken to Revis as of early Tuesday afternoon. Ryan also said the team wouldn't rest Revis this week just because its bye is the following week, giving the cornerback more time to recover.

"If he's healthy, we want to play Darrelle," Ryan said. "It's not vacation time. It's time to beat somebody. This is an AFC opponent and we need to win games so we can get into the postseason. That would be my thought. Is he going to be better three weeks from now if we don't play him or all that? I think that still has to be determined."

Ryan insisted that the team didn't rush Revis back and said the wet conditions during the game played no factor in the decision to let him play.

"We wouldn't have put him out there if we didn't think he was healthy," Ryan said. "We thought he was healthy, ready to play. I think he felt he was healthy, ready to play."

Revis wasn't up to his best against the Vikings, as the Jets used cornerback Antonio Cromartie on new Vikings wide receiver Randy Moss. Meanwhile, Revis mostly defended Percy Harvin and Greg Lewis in what Ryan called a "decent football game" by his star player.

"For the standards of Darrelle Revis, let's face it, we expect him to go out, and if this was golf, we expect him to birdie every hole," Ryan said. "That's the truth. Now, if he has a couple of par and a bogey every now and then, what's wrong with Revis, you know what I mean? But hopefully, this injury is not that big a deal."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Raiders' McFadden rests bad hamstring, likely out vs. Chargers

ALAMEDA, Calif. -- Oakland Raiders running back Darren McFadden sat out his second consecutive practice with a sore hamstring and almost certainly will miss Sunday's game against the San Diego Chargers.

Michael Bush, off to a slow start after missing the first two games with a broken left thumb, handled the majority of reps in practice Thursday and likely will start against the Chargers.

McFadden's absence would be a blow to Oakland's sputtering offense. The former first-round draft pick is tied for third in the NFL with 392 rushing yards, 35 more than he had all last year. It's the best start by a Raiders running back since Lamont Jordan ran for 424 yards after four games in 2007.

The Raiders insist McFadden's injury isn't like the one that sidelined him early in training camp, but coach Tom Cable said it was "very, very doubtful" that the third-year pro would play Sunday.

Instead, Oakland will lean heavily on Bush, who has just 10 carries this season after leading the team in rushing in 2009.

Bush's power running is in stark contrast to the quicker, slashing style of McFadden, although Cable doesn't believe the Raiders will alter their offense much because of the change.

"If you look at when Mike's played, it's been the same things," Cable said. "He runs more physical in the box, maybe. You may not get as much play on the perimeter, but you'll get it running downhill at the defense. (McFadden) has been very productive, so we've got to find a way to get that same production, but I think Michael's ready to take that load."

Neither Bush nor McFadden were made available to the media Thursday. McFadden didn't attend practice.

McFadden isn't the only Oakland player hurting.

Backup running back Michael Bennett (hamstring), left tackle Robert Gallery (hamstring), defensive tackle John Henderson (foot) and linebacker Thomas Howard ((knee) sat out Wednesday's workout. Linebacker Quentin Groves (hamstring) was limited in practice but isn't expected to play much, if at all, against San Diego.

Additionally, quarterback Bruce Gradkowski (shoulder) was limited, and first-round pick Rolando McClain was excused for a second consecutive day because of personal issues, although the rookie linebacker will play against the Chargers.

Rock Cartwright has taken only a handful of plays on offense for Oakland this season and will be Bush's backup if McFadden and Bennett are ruled out of the game.

The Raiders could receive a lift if Gallery is cleared to play. Gallery hasn't played in three weeks, but Cable apparently is willing to start the lineman if he practices Friday.

"The workout was good this morning, so if we can get some work out of him tomorrow, we'll see what happens," Cable said. "It depends on how the work goes. If it looks erratic and all that, it's not worth doing that."

Notes: The Raiders failed to sell out for a 10th consecutive home game, dating to last season, and the game will be blacked out in the Bay Area. ... Rookie OL Jared Veldheer took reps at center and left tackle with Oakland's first-team offense.

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press

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