Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher is not among the growing coalition of NFL coaches who want to shorten the preseason. One more scare like this, and he might change his mind.
Just two days after Cowher expressed delight with his team's relatively injury-free training camp, quarterback Kordell Stewart sprained his left knee during a driving rain Sunday in a 28-20 exhibition victory over Detroit.Stewart, who has led Pittsburgh to a 4-0 exhibition record, insisted he will be ready for the Aug. 31 opener against Dallas. But he will not play in Friday's preseason finale at Carolina.
"I'm the starter now, so why take a chance?" Stewart said. "Why do something crazy?"
Several Steelers linemen accused Lions defensive lineman Shane Dronett of doing exactly that - undercutting Stewart's knees and rolling over his legs.
Patriots 31, Broncos 21
Chris Slade had three of the four sacks that Jeff Lewis absorbed in the first half, and Drew Bledsoe jump-started a cranky offense with two touchdown passes as the Patriots won Sunday's exhibition.
Lewis and Bubby Brister, competing for the backup spot, have played well at times for Denver (2-2). On Sunday, Lewis completed 11-of-18 passes for 111 yards and Brister was 11-of-25 for 127 yards and two touchdowns.
Bears 22, Cardinals 10
At Chicago, Erik Kramer, Rick Mirer and Steve Stenstrom each threw a touchdown pass as the Chicago Bears beat the Arizona Cardinals in an exhibition victory marred by a serious injury to receiver Curtis Conway.
Conway, who became the first receiver in Bears history to record consecutive 1,000-yard seasons when he caught 81 passes a year ago, broke his left collarbone while reaching for a second-quarter pass.