Jay Zygmunt, the St. Louis Rams' president of football operations, resigned Monday in the fallout from another terrible season.
Longtime team president John Shaw also is expected to scale back his activities as part of a restructuring. The Rams are 2-13 this season, 5-26 the last two years and preparing for their second coaching search in two seasons.
It's anticipated that Billy Devaney, the executive vice president of player personnel, will be promoted to general manager and will head the search. The list of candidates will include Jim Haslett, who replaced Scott Linehan after an 0-4 start and produced two quick victories but appears to have no better than an outside shot to be retained.
The Rams have lost nine in a row heading into the season finale at Atlanta on Sunday. It's the franchise's longest losing streak since the move to St. Louis in 1995.
Zygmunt is in his 27th season with the Rams and has been in charge of managing the salary cap, coordinating the draft and signing players. He was part of perhaps the biggest deal in franchise history, getting Marshall Faulk from the Colts for draft picks in a move that propelled the Rams to their only Super Bowl championship after the 1999 season.
FAN ARRAIGNED FOR TACKLING SEAU: A football spectator pleaded not guilty to charges of trespassing and assault and battery for tackling New England Patriots linebacker Junior Seau on the sidelines during the team's 47-7 win over Arizona on Sunday.
Todd Kobus, of Attleboro, Mass., appeared in Wrentham District Court on Monday where a pretrial hearing was set for Feb. 17.
"I'm just a big fan of Junior Seau," the 31-year-old Kobus said in court. "I meant to give him a big hug. I absolutely did not mean to tackle him or anything along those lines. It was a stupid lapse in judgment."
The ticket account that includes the seat Kobus occupied was revoked by the Patriots, team spokesman Stacey James said. He said he did not know if Kobus was the owner of the account.
The club had no comment on whether it would review its security procedures, James said.
Seau, a 12-time Pro Bowler, had sat out the season before rejoining New England for its game at Seattle on Dec. 7. He was their leading tackler Sunday in his third game with the team this year.
RAMS FINE PITTMAN $25,000: St. Louis Rams running back Steven Jackson got his heaviest workload of the season on Sunday, partly because his backup was being punished.
Coach Jim Haslett said Monday that Antonio Pittman was fined $25,000 after skipping practice Saturday. Pittman, whose 23rd birthday was Friday night, also was inactive for Sunday's 17-16 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
Pittman has made five starts while Jackson was sidelined by a thigh injury, and has 283 yards with a 3.7-yard average. Jackson had 108 yards on 32 carries, his first 100-yard game since Game 6, despite spending time on the training table at the end of the first half with a sore hamstring.
CABLE LOBBIES FOR RAIDERS JOB: Oakland Raiders interim coach Tom Cable lobbied for the full-time job Monday, saying that stability at the head coaching position would help the team make it back to the postseason.
"I don't think there's any question. In order for it to move forward and be a playoff team next year, which I believe it will be, hopefully things will go in the right direction that way," Cable said. "I think it's very important at this point."
Cable is 3-8 since taking over for the fired Lane Kiffin at the end of September, beating Houston 27-16 on Sunday in the home finale. If the Raiders (4-11) finish the season with a win Sunday at Tampa Bay, they would end up with their most wins since going 5-11 under Norv Turner in 2004.
Cable will sit down with owner Al Davis after the season to discuss the coaching situation. Under the terms of the Rooney Rule, the Raiders must conduct a search after the season that includes at least one interview with a minority candidate.
NFL ASKS COURT TO RECONSIDER SUSPENSIONS: The NFL wants an appeals court to reconsider a federal judge's order that blocked the suspensions of five players for violating the league's anti-doping policy, according to court documents filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Minnesota.
Attorneys for the NFL filed notice they were asking the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals to take up the issue after U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson in St. Paul, Minn., earlier this month cleared the way for Kevin Williams and Pat Williams of the Minnesota Vikings, and Charles Grant, Deuce McAllister and Will Smith of the New Orleans Saints to continue playing.