Steve Mcnair

Papers are stacked a foot high on coach Cardell Jones' desk. Files lie on the floor on both sides of his chair. A filing-cabinet drawer hangs open. The phone is ringing. Someone is standing in his office doorway, trying to get his attention. Another visitor from a big Eastern newspaper waits for yet another interview. There's a meeting to attend. There are game films to watch. Football practice begins at 4 p.m. A Chicago Bears scout is on his way. Somebody from the Detroit Lions is coming for the second time.

The Oakland Raiders signed safety Donovin Darius yesterday. Darius could challenge incumbent starter Stuart Schweigert for playing time, adding veteran leadership to a young secondary. Darius, who will turn 32 next month, had been a mainstay in Jacksonville's secondary since he was the club's first-round pick in the 1998 draft out of Syracuse. But the Jaguars released him in June, trying to get younger and faster on defense. He is a graduate of Woodrow Wilson High in Camden.

A weekly look at how the Eagles have fared under coach Andy Reid continues with Week 14, 2000: The Eagles dropped a 15-13 decision to Tennessee that had the second-guessers wagging their tongues. Leading 13-12 in the waning minutes and facing a third-and-9, Reid called for a pass play rather than a run that would have kept the clock moving. Donovan McNabb's pass to Chad Lewis fell incomplete and the Titans, who were out of timeouts, got the ball back with 1:43 remaining. "I'd do the same thing again.

The resurgent Pittsburgh Steelers made quick work last night of Eddie George and the Tennessee Titans. The Steelers dominated the Titans on both sides of the ball as they improved to 5-1 with a 34-7 victory. The Titans, one of the NFL's most highly regarded teams entering the season, fell to a stunning 2-4. On offense, workhorse back Jerome Bettis ran for two short-range touchdowns, and the Steelers were helped by two grievous errors by Titans safety Perry Phenix. On defense, the Steelers held George to 13 yards on 10 carries.

It seems fitting Peyton Manning and Steve McNair shared the Associated Press NFL Most Valuable Player award yesterday. After all, their teams finished with the same record and tied atop the AFC South. In just the third tie since the award began in 1957, the premier passers each received 16 votes from a nationwide panel of 50 sports writers and broadcasters who cover the NFL. Manning and McNair led their teams to 12-4 records, with Manning's Indianapolis Colts edging McNair's Tennessee Titans for the AFC South crown by winning both games against the Titans.

A day after skipping practice following his arrest on a drunken driving charge, Washington Redskins rookie safety Sean Taylor was declared inactive for tomorrow's game against the Green Bay Packers. Taylor also was excused yesterday and today, the fallout from being charged with driving under the influence and refusing a breath-analysis test after being stopped by a Virginia trooper early Thursday. "He's not going to play this weekend, so I think it's good for him from a standpoint of media attention for the team and all that kind of stuff," coach Joe Gibbs said.

Terrell Owens showed up eight hours late for his own football camp on Wednesday, the Dallas Morning News reported. The new Dallas Cowboys receiver kept 90 players at the Terrell Owens Youth Football Camp waiting until 5 p.m. before he arrived. The former Eagle threw passes to the campers and asked whether they had ever seen a better quarterback. "Donovan McNabb," said one camper, giggling. Ravens. Former Tennessee Titans quarterback Steve McNair passed a physical yesterday and immediately jumped to the top of Baltimore's depth chart ahead of last year's starting QB, Kyle Boller.

Pro Bowl linebacker LaVar Arrington agreed to an 8-year, $80 million contract extension with the Washington Redskins, his agent said yesterday. Carl Poston said the deal includes $26.5 million in bonuses, most of which become available immediately. Under Arrington's current contract, he would have earned just under $10 million in salary and bonuses for the next three seasons. Arrington was selected to his third consecutive Pro Bowl last week. He has career highs this season with 112 tackles, seven forced fumbles and 13 quarterback pressures.

Chip Lohmiller, a former Pro Bowl kicker coming off the worst two seasons of his career, signed with the Washington Redskins after trying to reach a deal with several other clubs. Lohmiller wanted a multiyear contract, but had to settle for a one-year package worth $691,000. It was the same offer the Redskins first made Feb. 1. The Redskins also reached agreements with three other players, but the team's top two draft choices remained unsigned. RAIDERS. Tom Rathman, star fullback on San Francisco's Super Bowl champion teams in 1989 and 1990, who spent last season with the Los Angeles Raiders, is said to have informed the Raiders that he is retiring.

Federal prosecutors announced gun charges yesterday against a convicted murderer who admitted he sold the pistol that was used to kill ex-NFL quarterback Steve McNair. Adrian J. Gilliam Jr., 33, of LaVergne, Tenn., was arrested by agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. He is charged with being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. Conviction could bring a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, federal prosecutors said.

ONE HUNDRED FORTY-TWO is the number of games that Donovan McNabb started with Andy Reid as his head coach. One hundred forty-two starts, tied for the sixth-longest span in NFL history. It makes you tired, just thinking about it. In some ways, it hurts just to type it. It is one of the reasons that the transition to Kevin Kolb just feels right. Kolb has the clear confidence of his bosses. He is a different kind of personality than McNabb and has a different skill-set. All of that is more important than Donovan Fatigue, true enough.

Tennessee Titans top draft pick Derrick Morgan , who played at Coatesville High, faces charges of driving with a suspended license and speeding after an interstate traffic stop in northwest Georgia. Gordon County, Ga., Sheriff Mitch Ralston said in a statement Friday that Morgan was traveling 91 m.p.h. in a 70-m.p.h. zone when stopped Wednesday in Resaca. Morgan was also charged with driving with a suspended license. He was jailed and released on a $2,108 bond. Morgan, a defensive end, is from Atlanta and played for Georgia Tech.

Tiger Woods was voted the PGA Tour player of the year by the players yesterday, the 10th time in his 13 years on tour that he has won the award. Woods started and finished the season the same way - with questions when he would return. He was coming off knee surgery at the beginning of the year, and last week announced an indefinite leave after admitting to marital infidelity. In between, he won six PGA Tour events, captured the FedEx Cup and its $10 million bonus, won the money title for the ninth time in his career with over $10.5 million, and had the lowest scoring average for the ninth time.

Jason Campbell will remain the Washington Redskins' starting quarterback for Monday's game against the Eagles, coach Jim Zorn said yesterday on his radio show. Campbell was benched at halftime of Sunday's 14-6 loss to Kansas City. Todd Collins played the second half, but neither quarterback was able to mount a touchdown drive against a defense that entered the game ranked last in the NFL. Zorn said Campbell missed some open receivers against the Chiefs, but added: "I didn't give up on the young man. " Campbell went 9-for-16 for 89 yards and an interception.

Text messages show a woman asked former NFL quarterback Steve McNair to transfer $2,000 into her bank account hours before police say she shot him to death, then turned the gun on herself. Police in Nashville, Tenn., released the text messages last night as part of a case summary and detailed the exchanges between the two hours before the July 4 murder-suicide. Sahel Kazemi texted McNair on July 3 to say she was so stressed she might have a breakdown and asked for money to pay cell phone bills.

Thumbs down To ESPN for its misleading report on the Eagles' decision not to activate the $7 million option bonus in the contract extension that Brian Westbrook signed last year. John Clayton wrote, "Brian Westbrook's long-term security isn't as long as he had anticipated. " Uh, actually, it's exactly as long as he had anticipated. The option bonus was only put into Westbrook's extension so that the deal would comply with the league's cap-accounting rules. Both he and his agent, Todd France, were well aware of that and had no problem with it. As was pointed out in the Daily News on Wednesday, a source close to Westbrook acknowledged that Westbrook and France viewed the final 3 years of the deal, which were voided when the option bonus wasn't picked up, as "dummy years.

The Napa, Calif., police department reopened its investigation yesterday into an attack that left Oakland Raiders assistant coach Randy Hanson with a broken bone in his face. Hanson was hospitalized following the Aug. 5 attack that he told police was initiated by a member of the Raiders coaching staff at the team's training camp hotel in Napa. Internet reports said head coach Tom Cable attacked Hanson during a meeting with some of the team's defensive coaches. Cable would not comment when asked yesterday about the news that the police had reopened the investigation.

Terrell Owens will miss the Buffalo Bills' preseason game against Chicago this weekend because of a sprained toe that has prevented him from practicing all week. Coach Dick Jauron ruled Owens out of tomorrow's game after practice last night, saying the toe is healing but the team doesn't want to take any chances with the receiver aggravating the injury. Though Jauron didn't have a timetable for when Owens could resume practicing, Owens tweeted that he expects to return to the field as soon as Monday.

Former New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress testified yesterday before a New York grand jury that is investigating weapons charges against him and told reporters outside that he was sorry for his actions. "I was truthful, I was honest, and I'm truly remorseful for what I've done and for what happened," Burress said outside a Manhattan courthouse. The 31-year-old Burress shot himself in the thigh at a Manhattan nightclub in November. He was charged with weapon possession and faces up to 3 1/2 years in prison.

Authorities say former NFL quarterback Steve McNair had a blood-alcohol level twice Tennessee's legal limit for driving when his girlfriend shot him to death. Tennessee Assistant Medical Examiner Feng Li said yesterday that a toxicology report showed a trace amount of marijuana in the body of Sahel Kazemi. Police say the 20-year-old Kazemi shot McNair July 4 in a Nashville condo before killing herself. Police say McNair was likely asleep when he was shot twice in the head and twice in the chest.