Glenn’s Return a Touchy One

Don’t expect a “Welcome Back” banner when Terry Glenn returns to the New England Patriots locker room after serving a four-game NFL suspension for violating its substance-abuse policy.

Glenn’s big victory came Wednesday when arbitrator Richard Bloch, who held a 13-hour hearing at Foxboro Stadium the previous Thursday, overturned the team’s decision to put him on the reserve-left camp list, which would have made him inactive for the full season.

“I wasn’t surprised or disappointed by that decision,” said Coach Bill Belichick, who put Glenn on the list Aug. 15, the 12th day after he left camp without permission after learning of the NFL action.

Asked if he would welcome Glenn back, Belichick was reluctant to comment for fear of interfering with other pending issues. Still to be determined is how much of his signing bonus Glenn will receive.

Quarterback Drew Bledsoe has praised his receiver corps of Troy Brown, Bert Emanuel, David Patten, Charles Johnson and Torrance Small. The addition of Glenn, fourth in career catches in club history, would force Belichick to remove a player, not necessarily a wide receiver, from the roster.

“That’s something that’s down the road,” Belichick said. “The rules prohibit Terry from being here and we’ll comply with those rules. So until that situation comes a lot closer, really, nothing’s changed.”

Glenn hasn’t been a regular participant in the team’s off-season workout program in Foxboro.

*

Even if the NFL decided to play this weekend, New York Jet players weren’t going anywhere.

Several prominent Jets, including quarterback Vinny Testaverde and wide receiver Wayne Chrebet, said they would have refused to make the trip to play the Oakland Raiders.

“I made a decision early in the morning that I was not playing this week whether the team was going to California to play a game or not,” Testaverde said.

Testaverde said he spoke to Jet Coach Herman Edwards and General Manager Terry Bradway about his feelings and felt he was supported by both.

“Personally, I wouldn’t have played anyway ....” Chrebet said.