COLTS QUARTERBACK Peyton Manning and Rockies first baseman Todd Helton have been working out at Duke this week, an athletic department spokesman said yesterday.
The spokesman said both are there primarily to visit David Cutcliffe, who was Tennessee's offensive coordinator when both were college quarterbacks.
The cover was blown earlier yesterday when Matt Skura, a Duke football player, posted on Twitter that he was "stretching" next to Manning. The post was later taken down.
Manning has spent the past 5 months recovering from his third neck surgery in less than 2 years, and there have been conflicting reports about how much progress the four-time league MVP has made. Manning's doctor has cleared him to resume playing, although Colts owner Jim Irsay says Manning has not yet passed the team's physical.
Oakland released cornerback Stanford Routt less than 1 year after signing him to a 3-year, $31.5 million contract.
* San Francisco wideout Joshua Morgan is running, even sprinting, again on his surgically repaired right leg that limited him to only five games in 2011 for the NFC West champions. Morgan broke a bone in his lower leg Oct. 9 against Tampa Bay and was placed on season-ending injured reserve.
* Pittsburgh officially introduced Todd Haley as its new offensive coordinator. He takes over for Bruce Arians, who left to become offensive coordinator in Indianapolis.
* Chad Ochocinco is changing his name back to Chad Johnson, according to a report.
TMZ.com reported that the New England wide receiver is getting married this summer and "doesn't want his wife to have a made-up last name." While with Cincinnati in 2008, he changed his name to Ochocinco, which is Spanish for 85, his uniform number.
