Smith hit with 2-game suspension
Receiver Steve Smith was suspended two games by the Carolina Panthers after a training camp fight with cornerback Ken Lucas.
Smith, a three-time Pro Bowl selection, will continue to practice when training camp resumes tomorrow and will be allowed to participate in exhibition games, coach John Fox said yesterday.
Lucas, who left the practice field at Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C., with ice over his left eye Friday, has a broken nose, Fox said. Smith was kicked out of practice and sent back to Charlotte.
"What [Smith] did was wrong and we take very serious and he is being punished severely for it," Fox said.
The melee came after both players had taken off their helmets in a break for starters during a special teams drill. It was unclear what provoked the fight. Although the two have routinely jawed at each other in practice since Lucas signed with Carolina in 2005, they had never come to blows in view of reporters.
The suspension will cost Smith more than $205,000, a fraction of his base salary. Fox also seemed to issue a stern warning toward Smith.
"He is still ours and he will have conditions," Fox said. "He knows what those are and we will move forward."
Goodell wants resolution
Roger Goodell hopes to have Brett Favre's standoff with the Packers resolved by tomorrow - even if he has to force the issue.
"Both parties are talking," the commissioner said in an interview with the NFL Network yesterday. "I think the discussions are moving ahead and I hope we have something resolved by [tomorrow]. I think we've gotten to the point where we kind of have to force it."
Goodell was not going to grant Favre's reinstatement request yesterday, NFL spokesman Randall Liu said. Favre submitted a letter requesting reinstatement from the Packers' reserve/retired list Tuesday, but Goodell has held off approving it in hopes that Favre and the Packers could resolve their dispute.
The Packers did sign a player they wanted to be in camp, agreeing with holdout running back Ryan Grant on a four-year deal worth as much as $30 million.
Report: Walker almost retired
Raiders receiver Javon Walker, 29, reportedly told the team he wanted to retire and offered to return his $11 million signing bonus before being talked out of it by owner Al Davis. ESPN, citing an unidentified source, reported that Walker, who signed a six-year, $55 million deal in March, told the team Thursday of his intentions to retire. Walker has been at practice the past two days . . . Glenn Dorsey, this year's fifth overall selection, sprained his left knee when he collided with another Chiefs lineman in practice. The Chiefs' other first-round pick, left tackle Branden Albert, could miss the rest of camp after spraining his foot Thursday . . . With rookie linebacker Alvin Bowen lost for the foreseeable future with a serious right knee injury, the Bills signed free agent linebacker Donnie Spragan, who spent the past three seasons with the Dolphins . . . Ravens tight end Todd Heap limped off the field with a right calf injury while receiver Mark Clayton didn't practice because of a sprained right shoulder.
