Report: Lett Will Be Suspended Again

Leon Lett may be in trouble again for substance abuse, although the Dallas Cowboys’ star defensive tackle could finish the NFL season.

Lett avoided reporters at the team’s training facility Monday, and league and team officials had no comment.

But the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that Lett, suspended for four games last season, has been suspended for a year and is appealing.

If that’s true, league sources said, Lett could finish the season while his appeal is being considered and, if he loses, sit out the 1997 season.

In November of 1995, Lett was suspended without pay for four games after he tested positive for drug use.

Meanwhile, an MRI test on Emmitt Smith’s right ankle Monday revealed no injury. Still, Dallas Coach Barry Switzer said he’d seen Smith play better.

“Emmitt got stung during the game but didn’t want to say anything to me about it,” Switzer said. “He requested the MRI because he wanted things checked out.

“He doesn’t have the quickness he has had in the past. He’s obviously bothered by something. His ankle has been hurting.”

He gained only 18 yards in 11 carries in a 20-6 loss to the New York Giants on Sunday and was benched in the fourth quarter in favor of Sherman Williams.

*

An injured ankle that is more serious than originally feared might keep Warren Moon out for the rest of the season, raising the question of whether the quarterback has played the last game of his career.

Moon, 40, who has not played the last two weeks, admitted after the Vikings’ loss to Denver on Sunday that recent tests have discovered a more serious sprain in the right ankle.

Coach Dennis Green said it was uncertain whether Moon would play again this season.

“Right now it’s hard to be optimistic,” Green said. “I don’t know if it was that bad from the start or if it got worse as we played. A lot of times what happens is they get better a little bit at a time, and then, because they’re not totally healed, when you play they get a little worse.”

*

The Carolina Panthers got some unexpected good news. Coach Dom Capers said it was possible that offensive tackle Blake Brockermeyer could return to practice as soon as Thursday. Brockermeyer left Sunday’s game because of a dislocated left thumb, and the initial prognosis was that he might sit out the rest of the season. He underwent surgery Monday to have two pins put in the thumb and the prognosis was better than anticipated.