McNair to Start for Oilers

Sparse playing time over the last 1 1/2 seasons has not withered Houston Oiler quarterback Steve McNair’s confidence and he will get to test it Sunday by starting against Seattle.

McNair played the fourth quarter of last week’s 10-9 loss to San Francisco. He spelled Chris Chandler, slowed by a lingering groin injury. Chandler will be available, but the Oilers hope he can rest the injury.

*

The great chop-block controversy won’t die.

One day after Kansas City Coach Marty Schottenheimer angrily defended his team’s blocking techniques on a play that injured Denver cornerback Lionel Washington on Sunday, Bronco Coach Mike Shanahan said he received an apology from Schottenheimer for another incident involving Dale Carter.

“He let me know how he felt about the block on Lionel Washington,” Shanahan said. “I reviewed with Marty how I felt about Carter’s block on Darrius Johnson.”

The Carter-Johnson incident occurred nine plays after the injury to Washington and on it Carter was seen going directly for Johnson’s knees instead of running a route. Johnson was not injured on the play.

“Marty was not aware that that block had occurred in the game. After I mentioned it, he went back and looked. He called me back and apologized for the incident.”