Spasms Keep Warner Out

St. Louis quarterback Kurt Warner sat out most of practice Thursday because of soreness and muscle spasms in his ribcage.

Coach Mike Martz expects Warner will be fine to practice today and is not in jeopardy of missing Sunday’s NFC championship game against Philadelphia.

“When the back spasms are like that you can get into a bad rhythm and you can do damage elsewhere, and so we just kept him out,” Martz said. “The doctors and the trainers say that he will be fine and we expect him to practice tomorrow.”

While the training staff treated Warner’s ribcage with electrical stimulation, backup quarterback Jamie Martin ran the offense.

Sam Farmer

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Contract talks between Marty Schottenheimer’s agent and the San Diego Chargers hit a snag, the day both sides had hoped to reach a deal for the veteran coach to take over the struggling team.

Schottenheimer’s agent, Tom Condon, left face-to-face meetings with Charger officials in Mobile, Ala., for his scheduled return to Kansas City. He said he planned to continue to negotiate with the Chargers by phone.

“There’s no offer, and we haven’t done the deal,” Condon said by phone before leaving Mobile. “I don’t think that it’s dead or anything like that. I don’t want to characterize it like that.”

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New York Giant defensive coordinator John Fox interviewed a second time with the Carolina Panthers about their coaching job and emerged as the front-runner to replace George Seifert.

Fox, who first interviewed with the Panthers last week, was brought in for his second meeting after team officials spent a day with Baltimore defensive coordinator Marvin Lewis.

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The Detroit Lions promoted Maurice Carthon to offensive coordinator and hired Sherm Lewis, a former Michigan State player and assistant coach, to be the team’s special assistant on offense. ... The New York Giants hired Bruce Read as special teams coach. Read, 40, spent the last three seasons with the San Diego Chargers.

Former Green Bay Packer defensive back John Symank, a member of two NFL championship teams, died from cancer. He was 66.

Associated Press