PRO FOOTBALL / DAILY REPORT : AROUND THE NFL : Unhappy Sanders May Stick to Baseball

The Atlanta Falcons’ disappointing season has Deion Sanders thinking about giving up football for awhile.

Sanders, a cornerback with the Falcons and outfielder with the Atlanta Braves, said next season it might be baseball only.

“Maybe it’s time to put all my focus on baseball and give that everything I’ve got so that I really have a great season,” Sanders said. “They’ve taken away some of my love for the game (football) with the things they’ve done this year.”

Sanders said Falcon officials showed a lack of commitment to winning last week when they failed to work out contract extensions for several key players, including guard Chris Hinton and wide receiver Michael Haynes.

The Falcons (6-9) close the NFL season Sunday against Phoenix. They were 0-5 before Sanders joined them immediately after the Braves lost in the National League playoffs.

The Falcons were eliminated from the playoffs with losses to the Washington Redskins and Cincinnati Bengals the past two weeks.

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Offensive tackle Jumbo Elliott and inside linebacker Michael Brooks will start Sunday in the New York Giants’ showdown with the Dallas Cowboys despite injuries that would keep them sidelined in a lesser contest.

Elliott’s back, which knocked him out of five of the last six games, is so tender that Coach Dan Reeves wouldn’t predict how long he would last. Elliott will be replaced by Eric Moore if necessary, but Moore isn’t in much better shape, having sprained his right ankle last week against Phoenix.

Brooks is nursing a sprained right foot, which has kept him out the last three games.

Should Elliott and Moore prove ineffective, seldom-used Clarence Jones might play his first major role of the season at left tackle.