Martz Will Try to Return Soon

Coach Mike Martz of the St. Louis Rams wants to return to the field after stepping down in October because of a bacterial infection of the lining of the heart.

Martz said Tuesday he would ask his doctor for permission to return to his job. The Rams are 3-3 under interim Coach Joe Vitt.

“This is the best I’ve felt,” Martz told St. Louis TV station KMOV. “And when you feel this good, you feel like you should be working.”

Said team spokesman Duane Lewis: “Our response is until he is cleared medically, any type of conjecture is premature.”

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Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) backed off a threat he made Monday to have a Senate subcommittee investigate whether the NFL and the Philadelphia Eagles violated antitrust laws in their handling of Terrell Owens.

The Eagles suspended Owens on Nov. 5 for four games without pay for “conduct detrimental to the team,” and deactivated him with pay Sunday after the suspension ended.

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The NFL denied telling the Seattle Seahawks that officials erred when they ruled two New York Giant touchdown receptions complete in Seattle’s 24-21 overtime win Sunday.

Seattle Coach Mike Holmgren said Monday that the NFL had acknowledged the mistakes.

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Linebacker Nate Webster was activated by Cincinnati. Webster tore a knee tendon last season.... San Francisco signed guard Tony Wragge, who played with the Avengers of the Arena Football League in 2005.

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A man has been charged with stabbing two men in a restroom Sunday at the game between the New York Jets and New Orleans Saints at East Rutherford, N.J.

Thomas J. Conwell, 21, of Brooklyn, N.Y., was charged with aggravated assault, accused of stabbing Shawn Hundley, 19, and Henry Finnila, 24.

Hundley was treated at the scene. Finnila was treated at a hospital. Conwell was being held in jail on $25,000 bail.

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The Rolling Stones will perform at halftime of Super Bowl XL on Feb. 5 at Ford Field in Detroit, the NFL said.