Patriots Suspend Receiver Glenn for Rest of Season

New England wide receiver Terry Glenn has been suspended by the team for the season for not showing up at training camp.

Glenn has not been at training camp since Aug. 3, when he was suspended for four games by the NFL for violating the terms of its substance-abuse program.

Coach Bill Belichick said he was disappointed, but decided it was time to concentrate on the players in camp. He said the decision was solely because of Glenn’s extended absence and unrelated to other issues.

“This is about being in training camp and playing football,” Belichick said. “I’ve extended myself and I think the coaching staff has extended itself pretty far.

“I’m going to spend my time and my energy with the players that are here.”

Glenn’s agent, James Gould, said he was trying to set up a meeting with the team when he was told that Glenn had been suspended without pay.

*

After spending much of training camp answering questions about his health, Terrell Davis was back practicing with the first team and has set Aug. 25 as the date for his return to Denver’s lineup.

“You could see that there’s been big-time strides in the last two days,” Coach Mike Shanahan said. “Hopefully he can keep it going. He knows the target date.”

Davis, who has missed 24 games because of injuries in the last two seasons, said he wouldn’t speak with reporters until next week.

*

Cleveland defensive back Corey Fuller pleaded not guilty to blocking traffic after he missed a turn during a trip to a nightclub district.

Fuller appeared before Cleveland Municipal Court Judge Ronald B. Adrine, who set a pretrial hearing for Sept. 10.

*

Four season-ticket holders are suing the Pittsburgh Steelers, claiming that they paid high prices for bad seats at new Heinz Field.

The Steelers misled ticket buyers by expanding the elite section to include poor-quality seats at the 65,000-seat stadium, said the lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court.

*

The NFL’s first schedule under the eight-division alignment, designed for the arrival of the expansion Houston franchise in 2002, will take advantage of as many displaced rivalries as possible.

The alignment, announced Wednesday by the league, has the NFC West’s four teams meeting the AFC West so that Seattle will meet its old AFC rivals--Denver, Kansas City, San Diego and Oakland. The Seahawks, who will be in the new NFC West, were the only team to be moved from one conference to the other in the realignment approved by the league owners in May.

The NFC West also will play the NFC East so that Arizona, moved from the East, can play Dallas, the New York Giants, Philadelphia and Washington, its old-time division rivals.

Other matchups pit the AFC North and South so Tennessee and Jacksonville, in the south, will face their old AFC Central rivals, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Pittsburgh, now in the new North Division.

Under the new plan, no team will go more than four years without playing any other team.

Each team will play the other three teams in its division twice, with eight games against two other divisions--one from each conference. The other two will match teams against conference teams with the same finish--first-place teams will play first-place teams, second-place teams will face second-place teams and so on.

*

Miami tackle Tim Bowens will have arthroscopic surgery to repair cartilage damage in his right knee. . . . St. Louis backup defensive end Cedric Jones is expected to miss the season because of a fractured left hip socket. Jones, a six-year veteran, was kneed in the hip late in practice Tuesday. . . . The Chicago Bears released Mike Wells, a starter at defensive tackle for the last three seasons. . . . Tampa Bay receiver Frank Rice was put on injured reserve because of a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. The Buccaneers also signed-free-agent guard-center Eric Thomas to a one-year contract. . . . The Miami Dolphins signed former Buffalo guard Jamie Nails. . . . Baltimore defensive tackle Tony Siragusa underwent arthroscopic knee surgery and is expected to be sidelined for a week to 10 days.