fb-pixelNotes: Jonathan Vilma, Roger Goodell to talk suspension - The Boston Globe Skip to main content
NFL notebook

Notes: Jonathan Vilma, Roger Goodell to talk suspension

Commissioner Roger Goodell will meet Monday with Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma to discuss Vilma’s suspension that was temporarily lifted last week, according to a person familiar with the plans. Vilma will be in New York to present his case in the Saints’ bounties scandal for which he was suspended for the 2012 season.

Vilma and three other players were suspended, but an appeals panel ruled last Friday that Goodell must clarify his earlier rulings to ensure no part of his decisions was based on salary cap violations. Goodell still could reinstate the suspensions to Vilma, New Orleans defensive end Will Smith, Browns linebacker Scott Fujita, and free agent defensive end Anthony Hargrove for participating in a pay-for-injure program that violates the league’s detrimental conduct policy.

Advertisement



Smith, Fujita, and Hargrove are expected to meet with Goodell on Tuesday.

Only Smith played on Sunday, when the Saints lost to Washington. Vilma was placed on the physically unable to perform list, while Fujita sat out Cleveland’s loss to Philadelphia with a leg injury. Hargrove was cut by Green Bay during the preseason.

Players and coaches implicated in the bounty pool have testified under oath in a related federal court case they never intended to injure opposing players. The appeals panel ruled that Goodell could suspend the four players as long as the discipline was attributable to conduct detrimental to the NFL. Special master Stephen Burbank has the jurisdiction to rule on ‘‘undisclosed compensation,’’ which violates the salary cap.

‘‘It does not require the commissioner to take additional evidence or to ‘reweigh’ the evidence currently in the record,’’ the NFL said in a statement Thursday. ‘‘The panel did not take issue with any findings that were made in the course of the investigation, did not exonerate anyone involved, and did not say that the commissioner ‘overstepped his authority.’ ”

Advertisement



Revis’s status up in air

The Jets will make a decision on the availability of Darrelle Revis before the team travels to Pittsburgh Saturday for their game against the Steelers. Coach Rex Ryan said that the status of the star cornerback, who’s recovering from a concussion, remains unchanged: Revis is cleared for physical activity, but not contact.

The team will monitor Revis throughout the day, but Ryan says if Revis ‘‘is not 100 percent, he won’t play. It’s as simple as that.’’ Revis was injured Sunday in the season opener against Buffalo when teammate Bart Scott accidentally kicked him in the head.

Mathews returns

Chargers running back Ryan Mathews was cleared for contact but was limited in practice. Mathews had been out since breaking his collarbone on his first carry in the exhibition opener Aug. 9. Tight end Antonio Gates sat out his second straight practice with sore ribs . . . Linebacker James Harrison (knee) told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette he will return to the Steelers’ lineup Sunday . . . St. Louis re-signed quarterback Kellen Clemens, who was released in the final round of cuts before the opener. Defensive tackle Darell Scott was released to make room for Clemens, who will be the backup behind Sam Bradford Sunday against Washington in the Rams’ home opener.

False alarm

Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson was a full participant in practice, a day after missing practice with a foot injury. He is expected play Sunday night at San Francisco . . . Dolphins running back Daniel Thomas missed practice for the second day in a row because of a concussion, increasing the likelihood that fourth-round pick Lamar Miller will make his NFL debut Sunday against Oakland . . . Oakland cornerback Pat Lee will start for Ron Bartell, who is out indefinitely after suffering a fractured scapula in Monday’s loss to San Diego . . . Vikings cornerback Antoine Winfield missed practice to attend his brother’s funeral. Anthony Travis, 30, was murdered in Winfield’s hometown of Akron, Ohio, last week. Winfield played in the season opener against Jacksonville days after Travis’s death. Coach Leslie Frazier said he expects Winfield in the lineup Sunday at Indianapolis . . . Bills defensive tackle Marcell Dareus returned to practice after being with his family in Alabama to mourn the shooting death of his younger brother. Dareus is expected to play in the home opener against Kansas City Sunday.

Advertisement



Hitting the mark

The NFL received its highest grade for diversity hiring practices. The annual report by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport gave the league its third consecutive A grade on racial hiring and its first C-plus for gender hiring — it drew C’s the past three years. The combined B score of 82.3 percent is tops for the NFL . . . An attorney from the Natural Resources Defense Council warned a Los Angeles City Council committee that a recent lawsuit filed by anti-poverty and environmental activists could derail plans for a downtown NFL stadium.