Martz Returns to Practice

St. Louis Ram Coach Mike Martz returned to the practice field Friday, ready to put the attention back on the game instead of his heart condition.

Martz, 54, sat out two days while undergoing tests for a bacterial infection of a heart valve. He said earlier this week that team doctors believe he has endocarditis.

“I appreciate everybody’s concern and I’m not trying to minimize this, I’m really not, but everything’s fine,” Martz said.

“Now it’s time to focus on this team and winning a game. Really, I’m not trying to minimize it or be a John Wayne or anything else like that, it just is what it is.”

Martz has undergone a series of blood cultures to confirm the diagnosis, but had nothing to add on that front.

The Rams (2-2) play the Seattle Seahawks (2-2) Sunday at St. Louis in a game for first place in the NFC West.

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Seahawk Coach Mike Holmgren said that injured receivers Bobby Engram and Darrell Jackson will not play against the Rams. Instead, Joe Jurevicius and D.J. Hackett will start.

Engram cracked two ribs on the first play of last Sunday’s 20-17 overtime loss at Washington. Jackson has a bone bruise in his right knee.

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Randy McMichael signed a four-year extension worth a reported $18 million with the Miami Dolphins, making him one of the highest paid tight ends in the league.

McMichael’s current deal was scheduled to run out at the end of next season, but the new deal will keep him with the team through 2009.

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Quarterback Chad Pennington of the New York Jets underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder, and the team is optimistic he will be ready for the 2006 season. The surgery was performed Thursday by orthopedist James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala.