Panthers’ Smith Could Miss Opener

Carolina Panthers receiver Steve Smith has more hamstring trouble and is questionable for Sunday’s game against Atlanta.

Smith, who sat out 17 days of training camp because of a strained left hamstring, did not practice Wednesday because of pain in his right hamstring.

Coach John Fox said Smith was injured in practice Tuesday.

“He tweaked his other hamstring and we rested him today,” Fox said. “We’ll see how he looks tomorrow.”

Smith injured his left hamstring during the second practice of training camp July 29. He sat out more than two weeks before returning to practice on a limited basis.

Smith was then sidelined another week because of an ingrown toenail that required stitches, and did not play in any of Carolina’s four preseason games.

Keary Colbert or Drew Carter will start opposite Keyshawn Johnson against the Falcons if Smith can’t play.

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Dallas Cowboys receiver Terrell Owens is feeling good about his hamstring -- and about his budding relationship with quarterback Drew Bledsoe.

Owens went through practice without any limitations and sounded upbeat about Sunday’s opener at Jacksonville.

“I think if I had to play tomorrow, definitely I’d be ready to play,” Owens said. “Every day, I’m getting better, definitely getting myself mentally in tune with the game plan to be able to go out there and communicate with Drew. We’re trying to get on the same page and go out and make a statement.”

Owens and Bledsoe played only one series together in exhibition games, with Bledsoe unable to get off a pass to him during it.

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Kansas City Chiefs tackle John Welbourn, who unexpectedly retired in June, was suspended for six weeks for violating the league’s drug policy.

Welbourn, 30, also suspended for the first four games in 2005 under the league’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs, had asked to be reinstated, said Chiefs President Carl Peterson.

“We’ll determine that after the suspension is finished,” Peterson told the Associated Press.

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Denver Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer found out he won’t face a jury trial in his April road rage case in Denver.

Plummer has accepted deferred prosecution as part of the plea bargain, said his attorney, Harvey Steinberg. If Plummer stays out of trouble for the next nine months, the charges will be dismissed.

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Brian St. Pierre was moved from the Pittsburgh Steelers’ practice squad to their 53-man roster and will be quarterback Charlie Batch’s backup tonight against the Miami Dolphins.

Batch will start because Ben Roethlisberger had an appendectomy Sunday and will sit out at least one game.

To make room for St. Pierre, cornerback Chidi Iwuoma was released.

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Detroit Lions assistant coach Joe Cullen has been arrested twice in the last two weeks -- once while police say he was driving nude and a week later on suspicion of drunk driving.

Police in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn, Mich., said Cullen was pulled over Aug. 24 and ticketed on suspicion of indecent and obscene conduct. Then, on Friday, police stopped him and determined he had a blood-alcohol content of 0.12%, court records show.

Cullen, 38, who was hired from the University of Illinois, apologized in a statement, saying, “It won’t happen again.”

Cullen, fired from the University of Mississippi in 2005 after an alcohol-related arrest at a restaurant, will appear in court next week.

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Without fanfare, the NFL and its game officials reached agreement on a six-year contract extension, avoiding the kind of labor squabble that led to a two-week lockout five years ago.

Commissioner Roger Goodell announced the agreement, which extends through 2012 and is subject to ratification by the officials.