Vikings won’t be able to play Bears at Metrodome

The Metrodome’s torn roof won’t be repaired in time for the Minnesota Vikings- Chicago Bears game Monday night, stadium officials said Tuesday.

The Vikings are preparing to use the University of Minnesota’s TCF Bank Stadium as a backup.

Engineers and workers who inspected the Metrodome’s collapsed roof found damage from the weekend’s blizzard was worse than initially thought, according to the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission.

Frazier hopes Favre can play in game

Brett Favre’s career isn’t quite over yet.

Vikings interim Coach Leslie Frazier says the team is hoping to have Favre, 41, back this season — and possibly this week.

Favre’s NFL-record streak of starting 297 consecutive starts ended when a sprained throwing shoulder and numb hand kept him out of Monday’s game against the New York Giants.

Frazier said that an ultrasound on Favre’s neck and shoulder showed no nerve damage. He said the quarterback’s pain was subsiding and that his recovery was “headed in the right direction.”

Backup Tarvaris Jackson has a turf toe injury, and his availability is in doubt for Monday night’s game against the Bears.

Denver’s Cox faces life in prison

Denver Broncos rookie cornerback Perrish Cox is facing up to life in prison if convicted of sexual assault charges filed by prosecutors last week.

A portion of the case unsealed by a Douglas County judge shows the sexual assault charges are Class 3 and Class 4 felonies, which carry a sentence of between two years to life in prison. They involve a helpless victim. Other details of the case remain sealed.

Cox, who played in the Broncos’ loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, is free on $50,000 bail.

Eagles sign Burgess

The Philadelphia Eagles signed two-time Pro Bowl defensive end Derrick Burgess to replace injured rookie Brandon Graham.

Burgess, drafted by the Eagles in 2001, returned to Philadelphia on Tuesday after being out of the NFL this season. He was released by New England before the season.

Burgess, 32, has 52 sacks, including a league-high 16 with Oakland in 2005.

Graham, the 13th overall pick in this year’s draft, tore a right knee ligament in Philadelphia’s win at Dallas on Sunday.

Lawsuit tossed out

A federal judge has tossed out a lawsuit by several retired NFL players who are dissatisfied with a $26-million settlement between the NFL union and about 2,000 retirees.

Lawyers representing the retirees agreed to the settlement last year in exchange for the NFL Players Assn. dropping its appeal of a jury verdict. The jury found in 2008 that the union failed to pursue marketing deals on behalf of the retirees.

After the settlement, several retirees accused the plaintiff lawyers of malpractice, saying they settled for too little because of mistakes made at trial.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup dismissed the lawsuit against the law firms Manatt, Phelps & Phillips and McKool Smith.