Griese Still Uncertain for Sunday

Denver quarterback Brian Griese, the NFL’s top-rated passer, practiced Thursday for the second consecutive day, but his status for Sunday’s AFC playoff game at Baltimore still is uncertain because of a recurring problem with his right shoulder.

Coach Mike Shanahan said he does not expect to decide on a starter between Griese and Gus Frerotte until hours before kickoff.

Shanahan closed practices to the media this week, so it was impossible to tell how much progress Griese has made since aggravating his shoulder injury in the first quarter of last Saturday’s regular-season finale against San Francisco. He was sidelined the previous five games.

Frerotte is 4-2 as a starter this season.

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St. Louis quarterback Kurt Warner, who sustained a concussion in the regular-season finale against New Orleans, left practice early for a checkup with team doctors.

“Everything was normal,” trainer Jim Anderson told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Anderson said Warner was cleared to play by Ralph Dacy, chief of neurosurgery at Washington University Medical Center.

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Running back Corey Dillon has rejected the Cincinnati Bengals’ first contract offer after two months of negotiations. Dillon’s agent, David Levine, said the offer was too low.

Dillon, who set the NFL single-game rushing record with 278 yards Oct. 22, reportedly is asking for $5 million-$7 million a season with a $10-million signing bonus, according to Thursday’s Cincinnati Enquirer. The amount of the Bengals’ initial offer was not released.

The Bengals have the right to match offers by other teams to Dillon if, by March 1, they make him a one-year offer of about $4 million. That amount is estimated to be the average of the top 10 salaried NFL running backs.

Dillon was the eighth NFL player to rush for 1,000 yards in each of his first four seasons. He finished this season with 1,435 yards in 315 carries, both team records and career highs.

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New Orleans defensive end Joe Johnson came back from major surgery on his right knee, back surgery for a bulging disc and an arthroscopic procedure on his left knee to earn the Associated Press NFL comeback player of the year award.

Johnson beat New York Giant quarterback Kerry Collins by one vote, 9-8, in balloting by a nationwide panel of 50 sports writers and broadcasters.

Johnson was selected for the Pro Bowl in 1998 after recording 70 tackles and seven sacks. Then he injured his right knee in training camp last year even though he wasn’t hit, and he had to be helped from the practice field and was sidelined the entire season. He came back this season with 48 tackles and 12 sacks.

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Buffalo owner Ralph Wilson will meet a second time with general manager candidate Tom Donahoe, who formerly held a similar position with Pittsburgh.

It’s believed Wilson wants to fill the job before he is scheduled to meet with Coach Wade Phillips next Friday. Wilson has twice refused to give Phillips a vote of confidence over the last 10 days.