Crowell out for season

Knee injury KO's Bills linebacker

Bills starting linebacker Angelo Crowell was placed on season-ending injured reserve yesterday in a surprise move that came after the player elected to have surgery on his left knee.

The Bills issued a one-sentence statement announcing the move hours after coach Dick Jauron said Crowell missed practice because he had elected to have arthroscopic surgery.

It's not clear whether Crowell had surgery before the Bills placed him on IR, and the team did not disclose the nature of the injury, which comes as Buffalo prepares for its regular-season opener Sunday against Seattle.

Jauron had previously said that the surgery was related to a nagging injury that kept Crowell in and out of practice during training camp and forced him to miss two exhibition games last month.

Yet Jauron said he didn't anticipate the injury was so severe Crowell would require surgery.

Backup Keith Ellison will start in Crowell's place on the strong side. Middle linebacker Paul Posluszny was held out of practice yesterday with a sore ankle, but is expected to play Sunday.

Saturday: No surgery

Despite a torn ligament in his right knee, Indianapolis Colts center Jeff Saturday is not planning on surgery. The three-time Pro Bowl selection, who was hurt in the Colts' exhibition loss to Buffalo two weeks ago, will instead continue his rehab work and hopes for a quick return. Steve Justice or Jamey Richard will likely start in his place against the Bears Sunday night . . . Super Bowl hero Plaxico Burress is finally going to be paid like one of the NFL's top receivers. Hours before the Giants kicked off the season against the Redskins last night, Burress signed a two-year contract extension that will bump his salary into the $7 million range over the next five years. The deal includes $11 million in guaranteed money that will be paid this season. Burress had three years remaining on his original contract that he signed in 2005. He was to have earned about $10 million over that period . . . Call him Ocho Cinco on the field, too. The NFL decided to recognize receiver Chad Johnson's legal name change to Chad Ocho Cinco. The new name will be on the back of his Bengals uniform for the opener in Baltimore Sunday. The receiver had his name changed in his home state of Florida last week. It's a reference to his uniform number - Ocho Cinco means "eight five" in Spanish.

Culpepper retires

Daunte Culpepper, who starred for the Minnesota Vikings before a major knee injury in 2005 curtailed his career, announced his retirement in an e-mail, saying he's grown tired of fighting for one more opportunity. Culpepper, 31, who also played for the Dolphins and Raiders, completed 64 percent of his passes in a nine-year career, with 142 touchdowns . . . Jaguars offensive tackle Richard Collier is making improvement from gunshot wounds but is "not out of the woods yet," his agent told the Florida Times-Union. Collier remained in critical but stable condition in the intensive care unit at Shands Jacksonville Medical Center . . . Cleveland linebacker Antwan Peek will miss the season after he ruptured his right patellar tendon. The club re-signed Shantee Orr, who was waived last week, to fill Peek's roster spot . . . The Ravens agreed to terms with former Bengals offensive tackle Willie Anderson on a three-year, $11 million contract. The four-time Pro Bowl selection was cut by Cincinnati after refusing to take a pay cut . . . The Chargers were granted a 24-hour extension by the NFL to try to sell 600 remaining tickets and lift the local television blackout of their opener vs. the Panthers.