Louis, MO (Sports Network) - Rams running back Steven Jackson arrived in St. Louis on Thursday morning, ending his lengthy holdout as his agent and the club iron out the details on a new contract.

The club's web site, citing team sources, said that Jackson's new deal is believed to be for seven years. It is unclear if the Rams will make Jackson pay the $408,132 in fines he owes after missing 27 days of practice, including all of training camp at Concordia University.

The first NFL Hall of Famer who played exclusively offensive guard, Upshaw was battling pancreatic cancer. According to a posting on the NFLPA's web site, Upshaw only learned that he had cancer on Sunday.

The former Oakland and Los Angeles Raider had served as executive director of the NFL Players Association since 1983, but came under fire in recent years by both current and former players for his perceived shortcomings in the position.

The club's web site cited team sources close to the situation as saying Jackson would return Wednesday night and take a physical on Thursday morning.

Jackson is searching for a long-term contract extension from the club with negotiations expected to resume upon the running back's arrival.

Following Wednesday's practice, Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan revealed that the veteran will have the knee scoped, in hopes that it will clear up the soreness which has largely kept Nalen out of training camp.

This procedure follows a previous arthroscopic surgery Nalen had back in June to repair torn cartilage in the same knee. After participating in the first week of camp, he had to cease activity due to soreness.

Smith, who started the team's second preseason game against Minnesota, received the nod over Kyle Boller as the two battle for a starting role in the Ravens season opener with Cincinnati September 7.

Smith played sparingly in a 23-15 loss to the Vikings, completing just 3-of-5 pass attempts for 25 yards with an interception, but did lead Baltimore to its only touchdown drive on the first series. Boller also tossed a pick going 8- for-12 for 40 yards in his time under center.

Scott, who was signed in the offseason after the Panthers traded defensive tackle Kris Jenkins to the New York Jets, sprained his left knee early in training camp.

He also missed all of last season when he was with the Philadelphia Eagles with a knee injury.

Curtis suffered the injury during last Friday's preseason game against Carolina and will "be out for a while," according to head coach Andy Reid.

"We're trying to not wait and do that whole thing," Reid said. "We're trying to get on it.

Daniels, a fourth round draft choice out of LSU in 2005, played in all 16 gamesforthe Dolphins lastseason, registering 28 tackles and an interception.

In44career games with Miami,Daniels has 126 tackles and three interceptions.

Brackins is fresh off a productive campaign for the Arena Football League- champion Philadelphia Soul, hauling in 107 receptions for 1,395 yards and 29 touchdowns this past season.

Clowney, Green Bay's fifth-round pick out of Virginia Tech in 2007, leads all wideouts in preseason receiving yards with 222 on eight catches, including a pair of 70-yard touchdown receptions in New York's preseason opening 24-20 triumph over Cleveland.

The changes and competitiveness in the Big South have been dramatic, and the conference looks to build on the respect it has earned during the 2008 season.

The biggest news around the Big South is that the NCAA Division I football championship committee announced this spring that the league will receive an automatic bid to the playoffs when the playoffs expand to 20 teams in 2010.

"I'm disappointed that Joe didn't get an opportunity to compete because of his (hamstring) injury in training camp and because he chose not to come to (organized team activities)," Smith said. "We're going to move forward. We feel very comfortable about the receiving corps that we have and I wish Joe the best of luck as he moves on." Horn, a 13-year NFL vet, signed with the Falcons prior to the 2007 season after an illustrious seven-year career with the New Orleans Saints. He is the Saints' all-time leader in receiving with 523 catches for 7,622 yards and 50 touchdowns. The four-time (2000, '01, '02 and '04) Pro Bowl selection also holds the Saints record of 27 games of 100-or-more receiving yards.

The 36-year-old Horn, who also played four seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs before arriving in New Orl

The eight-year veteran was released by the Tiger-Cats earlier this year. In 2007, Wayne made 13 starts for Hamilton, making 16 tackles, two tackles for losses and one forced fumble.

After being drafted with the 21st overall pick in the 2000 CFL Canadian College Draft by Calgary, Wayne has played in 102 games and has been in the Grey Cup.

Pollard, a 13-year NFL veteran, was signed by the Patriots as a free agent in April after spending last season with Seattle where he caught 28 passes for 273 yards and two touchdowns in 14 games.

He had his best years in Indianapolis where he played from 1995 through 2004. His best season came in 2001 when he established career-highs in receptions (47), yards (739) and touchdowns (eight).

Cobourne earned offensive honors after running for 107 yards on 16 carries, and also posting 103 yards and a touchdown on five catches in Montreal's 32-14 win over Toronto.

The defensive prize went to Montreal defensive tackle Keron Williams. He had three sacks and finished with four tackles in the victory over Toronto. Williams has six sacks on the season, the third most in the league.

Craft spent two years -- one as a redshirt -- at San Diego State, then played the 2007 campaign at Mt.

San Antonio Junior College before transferring to UCLA last spring.

The Mountaineers, the three-time defending national champs, received 97 of 101 first-place votes and 2,546 points. It is the third consecutive year that ASU has opened the season ranked No. 1 by The Sports Network.

North Dakota State, the No. 2 team in the poll with 2,275 points, received one first-place vote and No. 6 James Madison was selected first by three voters.

The Bengals released Henry on April 3 after his fifth arrest since the club made him their third-round pick in the 2005 NFL Draft. Charges for that arrest were later dropped, and, subsequently, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell's indefinite suspension was revised to a four-game ban.

For his repeated violations of the league's personal conduct policy, Henry will miss the first four games of the 2008 season, but will still be able to participate in practice and preseason games. However, during the suspension, which starts on September 1, Henry will also be held out of practice.

Early in the second quarter, Anderson was sacked by Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora and immediately exited into the locker room to be evaluated.

Second-year signal-caller Brady Quinn replaced last year's Pro Bowl selection, who completed 4-of-10 passes for 20 yards.

Manning connected on 4-of-7 passes for 52 yards, including 11 and 24-yard strikes to Hixon, who followed up the TD grabs by returning a free kick after a safety 82 yards for a touchdown as the Giants (1-1) took a 23-3 lead after one quarter of play and held on to win.

Danny Ware led the Giants rushing attack with 97 yards on 10 carries, while Ahmad Bradshaw tacked on a rushing touchdown for New York's only score in the second half.

The Bengals released Henry on April 3 after his fifth arrest since the club made him their third-round pick in the 2005 NFL Draft. Charges for that arrest were later dropped, and, subsequently, Commissioner Roger Goodell's indefinite suspension.

Henry was a productive third option in the Bengals' passing attack over the past three seasons, compiling 88 catches for 1,370 yards and 17 touchdowns.

The Ravens slapped the franchise tag on Suggs, meaning his salary would be the average of the five highest-paid linebackers in the league last season. However, since Suggs played more snaps at defensive end, the Ravens made up the disparity between the two positions and signed him to a $8.5 million deal, as reported by the Baltimore Sun.

The 10th overall pick in the 2003 draft, Suggs recorded 78 tackles and five sacks in 16 games last season. In only five campaigns with the team, he ranks third on the franchise's all-time sack list with 45, trailing only Peter Boulware (70) and Michael McCrary (51).

Shipp, an eight-year veteran, was released by Arizona earlier this month. Signed as an undrafted rookie free agent by the Cardinals in 2001, Shipp ran for 1,664 yards and six touchdowns from 2002-03 before a leg injury forced the Massachusetts product to miss the 2004 campaign.

The New Jersey native rushed for just 41 yards on 15 carries last season.

Orton, a fourth-round draft pick in 2005 from Purdue, had been battling with Rex Grossman, who was the starting quarterback the last two seasons and guided the Bears to Super Bowl XLI following the 2006 season.

The former 2003 first-round pick, though, had been chastised for his inability to protect the ball.

McKinney, a 10-year NFL veteran, was signed in May.

"When we brought Steve in we really took a look and, at this point, he wasn't where we thought we needed to have him, so we needed to move on," said Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano on Monday.

Lions cornerback Brian Kelly hit Johnson as he attempted to catch a pass from CarsonPalmer onCincinnati's first series.

Kelly came up with the interception as the flamboyant wideout landed on his left side.