Vikings’ Rookie Still Missing

Dimitrius Underwood’s agent said Thursday that he still didn’t know where the AWOL rookie was hiding out but held out hope that his troubled client would return to the Minnesota Vikings’ training camp at Mankato, Minn.

Coach Dennis Green, however, sounded as though the first-round pick might not be welcomed back.

“Once a guy walks out, I don’t think you’ll find another player on this team that can count on the guy regardless of what the situation was,” Green said.

Underwood, a 6-foot-6, 276-pound defensive end from Michigan State and the 29th pick in the NFL draft, mysteriously vanished after his first pro practice Monday.

He apologetically called his Chicago-based agent, Craig Domann, 24 hours later saying he’d needed to tend to a family crisis and was on his way back to camp to meet with Green, who would decide whether to take him back.

Underwood, who signed a five-year, $5.3-million contract on Sunday, hadn’t returned by Thursday, and the team, which was able to freeze all but about $27,000 of the approximately $543,000 after-taxes bonus wired to Underwood’s bank account in Milwaukee, was contemplating its next move.

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The NFL suspended reserve linebacker Lamont Hollinquest of the Green Bay Packers for four games for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy.

The Packers had signed the former USC player to a one-year contract on Tuesday, four days after he was waived by the Kansas City Chiefs. Since he signed for the veteran minimum of $400,000, the suspension will cost Hollinquest, 28, about $94,000.

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It was a freak play, and Rob Johnson winces at the memory.

There’s Johnson, crashing to the turf on the Buffalo Bills’ first offensive series in Indianapolis last October.

There’s Johnson, sandwiched between the point of the football and Colt tackle Larry Chester.

There’s Johnson’s job, taking a perfect bounce right into the eager and capable hands of scrambling Doug Flutie.

X-rays showed a separation of his rib cartilage, and the Bills didn’t know how long the former USC quarterback would be sidelined. Johnson has yet to reclaim his status as starting quarterback for the Bills. Johnson acknowledged in training camp at Fredonia, N.Y., that there’s no question he’s the backup to Flutie.

“He deserves it,” Johnson said. “He played well last year.”

But Johnson, who was signed to a $25-million contract before last season after only one NFL start to his credit, isn’t happy about being sent to the bench.

“I’m not a backup, and I’ve proven that,” he said. “I’ve played pretty well in every game I’ve been in. I just haven’t been able to stay healthy.”

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Tight end Ted Popson, who suffered head injuries twice last season, obeyed his doctor’s orders and announced his retirement from the Kansas City Chiefs.

Popson, 32, played two seasons for the Chiefs after three with the San Francisco 49ers. He caught 103 passes for 980 yards and eight touchdowns.

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Denver Bronco tight end Shannon Sharpe, fiercely critical of traveling to Australia for the American Bowl, suffered an ankle strain in practice and might not play in Sunday’s exhibition game against the San Diego Chargers in Sydney.

“We may not make a decision until game time,” Bronco Coach Mike Shanahan said.

Sharpe, who has complained about the long trip from Denver and the rudeness of Australians, was roundly criticized on radio talk shows and in local newspapers.

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Derrick Shepard, a former punt returner with the Dallas Cowboys, died Wednesday of a heart attack.

Family members told KFOR-TV in Oklahoma City that Shepard, 35, was playing racquetball in Laramie, Wyo., when he collapsed.

Shepard, who was to coach wide receivers for Wyoming this season, led Dallas in total punt return yardage and yards per punt return in 1989 and 1990.