NFL Drug Issue an Unlikely Topic

The NFL’s winter meetings, where the league’s most important decisions are usually made, begin today at Rancho Mirage, but the drug issue is expected to be placed on the back burner.

Owners, coaches and general managers, who will meet through Friday, will consider such items as instant replay, cutting down on crowd noise, roster size and clarification of rules that caused problems last year.

But the most pressing of issues--the NFL’s drug policy--is unlikely to come up.

The policy is being negotiated by Commissioner Pete Rozelle with Gene Upshaw, head of the NFL Players Assn., and Jack Donlan, executive director of the NFL Management Council.