COACH JONES? No, Jerry Jones won't be the Dallas Cowboys' next head coach. But he says he might move from his luxury owner's suite to the coaching booth by next season.
Jones told the Washington Post in a story for Friday that he sees coaching as his next great challenge."I won't be head coach," Jones told the newspaper. "But you will see a very involved general manager in coaching aspects."
"I'm talking about pushing it to the edge. I want to try some things that haven't been done. Sure, we'll be criticized. There'll be nay-say-ers."
Jones said he's unclear about the timetable, but he indicated he could be assisting the Dallas coaching staff by next season.
He added that he has been moving in that direction this season, looking at game films with head coach Barry Switzer and attending staff meetings and practices.
PAYTON DENIES RUMOR: Reports that a celebrity triumvirate of Walter Payton, Oprah Winfrey and Michael Jordan plan to buy the Chicago Bears just aren't true, Payton said Friday.
And a Bears spokesman said the team isn't up for sale.
"I'm not looking in the very near future to be the owner of a football team," Payton said Friday after the Chicago Sun-Times cited unidentified sources saying a deal was in the works. "At this point, I have not discussed this with anyone in Michael's camp or Oprah's camp. I don't know how this got started."
Winfrey also denied the report.
CHARGERS' QB WOES: The San Diego Chargers could be in deep trouble if quarterback Craig Whelihan gets knocked out of Sunday night's game against the Oakland Raiders.
Next up would be Todd Philcox, who hasn't taken a regular-season snap since 1993. The third-string quarterback is now Casey Weldon, who said he's been keeping busy in Tallahassee, Fla., playing with a flag football team representing his father's construction company.
SHERRILL GETS NEW DEAL: Jackie Sherrill will be coaching at Mississippi State through the 2001 season as part of a deal agreed to by college officials.
LOOK OUT BELOW: Drew Bledsoe and two of his New England Patriots teammates jumped from a Boston nightclub stage, leaving a female patron injured when struck by offensive lineman Max Lane, according to sources.
The woman was hospitalized after the incident at the Paradise Rock Club in Boston on Thursday night, three days before the Patriots, tied for the AFC East lead, face the Buccaneers in Tampa Bay.