PRO FOOTBALL / DAILY REPORT : AROUND THE NFL : Young Might Start for 49ers Sunday

Quarterback Steve Young took snaps and participated in contact drills Wednesday for the first time since breaking his left thumb, and he may start in the San Francisco 49ers’ opener Sunday at Pittsburgh.

“I really think I’ll be fine on Sunday. I really do. It’s not going to be a problem,” Young said.

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The Kansas City Chiefs have reached an injury settlement with former 1,000-yard rusher Christian Okoye and he has left the team to continue rehabilitating his injured knee. Okoye went home to California and expects to be ready in about three or four weeks to try out for other teams. . . . Linebacker Pepper Johnson followed the New York-to-Cleveland trail taken by a number of former Giants when he agreed to a contract with the Browns on Wednesday. Johnson will be working for Coach Bill Belichick, who until 1991 was his defensive coordinator in New York. At least seven other former Giants have followed Belichick to Cleveland, including cornerback Everson Walls and kicker Matt Stover.

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Wes Hopkins apparently got fast in a hurry.

On Aug. 9, the Philadelphia Eagles clocked Hopkins in the 40-yard dash, and said he was too slow to continue as a safety in the NFL.

“He doesn’t fit into our plans at this time,” Eagle Coach Rich Kotite said then. “We’re going in another direction.”

On Wednesday, the Eagles signed Hopkins to a one-year contract.