Lions finally launch Millen
Matt Millen insisted he would stick with the tough job of turning the Detroit Lions into a winner instead of returning to the broadcast booth to make easy money.
So the Lions got rid of him.
Finally.
The Lions fired Millen seven-plus years after the acclaimed TV analyst and Super Bowl-winning linebacker took over as team president for one of the NFL's mediocre franchises and made it the worst.
Messages seeking comment were left on Millen's cell phone.
Millen's teams won a league-low 31 games since he took over in 2001, but owner William Clay Ford refused to get rid of him until now.
Bill Ford, son of the team owner, said Monday he would fire Millen if he had the authority.
Detroit was routed in each of its first three games this season, falling behind 21-0 twice and 21-3 once en route to lopsided losses going into its bye week.
The 0-3 record dropped Millen to 31-84 overall, giving the Lions at least 10 more losses than any other NFL team since 2001, one of the worst stretches in league history. They gave up a league-high 25.3 points and ranked 30th with 18.3 points a game under Millen, according to STATS.
Burress suspended: Less than a month after handing the man who caught the winning pass in the Super Bowl a new $35 million contract, the Giants suspended Plaxico Burress for a game for missing a practice and not calling to explain his absence.
Drew Rosenhaus, Burress' agent, insisted the nine-year veteran had an undisclosed family emergency on Monday and will appeal the ban to the NFL Players Association.
Mendenhall calm: Rashard Mendenhall probably has a thousand reasons why he should be nervous and hesitant about making his first NFL start Monday night against Baltimore.
Three of them are the fumbles he had during the Pittsburgh Steelers' final two exhibition games - the fumbles that prompted his teammates to make him carry a ball everywhere he went the following week.
Want 21 more reasons? The Ravens (2-0) haven't allowed a 100-yard rusher in 21 games, the NFL's longest current streak.
"It's just regular nerves like I have for any game," said Mendenhall, the ex-Illini whose only 10 NFL carries came during a one-sided win against Houston on Sept. 7. "You prepare for every game the same. I'll just be out there a little more. It's more excitement."
Extra points: While others were calling - some were screaming - for the winless Browns to bench QB Derek Anderson for Brady Quinn, Anderson had no doubt he would start this week at Cincinnati. "There wasn't any uncertainty in my mind," Anderson said Wednesday, shortly after coach Romeo Crennel announced he was sticking with the 25-year-old - for now. ... Bills receiver Roscoe Parrish will miss 4-6 weeks after having surgery to repair ligament damage in his right thumb, leaving Buffalo without its fastest and one of their most elusive threats. ... Damon Huard will be back under center on Sunday for winless Kansas City, giving the Chiefs a different starting quarterback for the fourth week in a row. ... Despite an injured ankle, Brett Favre should start Sunday against Arizona. ... Trent Green's hold on the St. Louis Rams' quarterback job is week to week. Pretty much the same as coach Scott Linehan's job status. "We're just concerned about this game," Linehan said Wednesday in his first comments since benching Marc Bulger in favor of the 38-year-old Green a day earlier, a move announced in a two-paragraph release. "This is for Buffalo. It wouldn't make much sense to be looking further beyond this Sunday."