Ingram's Heisman Campaign Delayed

By Justin Worsley

Mark Ingram has already encountered a speed bump in his quest to win a second Heisman Trophy. The junior tailback from Alabama will not play in the Crimson Tide's season opener again San Jose State after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his left knee on Tuesday morning.

Ingram injured his knee during practice on Monday. There is no set timetable for Ingram's return.

While the No. 1 Crimson Tide will be heavily favored over San Jose State, who went 2-10 last season, they host No. 19 Penn State on September 11.

Filling in for Ingram will be sophomore Trent Richardson. Richardson ran for 751 yards and eight touchdowns last season primarily as Ingram's backup.

Ingram became the third consecutive sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy. Ingram ran for a team-record 1,658 yards and 20 total touchdowns as Alabama won the National Title. The 5-10, 215-pound running back was trying to become the second player in college football history to win two Heisman Trophies. Ohio State's Archie Griffin won college football's most prestigious award in 1974-75.

Last year, Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford tried to repeat as a Heisman Trophy winner. Bradford receiver no votes after injuring his shoulder twice during the season and only playing in three games.

Aside from Richardson, only freshman Eddie Lacey is on the team's depth chart for running back. Alabama also faces No. 17 Arkansas and No. 4 Florida within the first five weeks of the season.

Rams Receiver Out For Season

By Justin Worsley

The St. Louis Rams road to relevancy has just gotten a bit longer.

According to head coach Steve Spagnuolo, wide receiver Donnie Avery tore the ACL in his right knee during the Rams preseason win against the New England Patriots last Thursday.

Avery, 26, injured himself while jumping to catch a pass from Sam Bradford when he awkwardly landed on his knee. Spagnuolo has said that Avery will wait about a week for the swelling to subside, then have the surgery.

Avery led the Rams in receptions with 47 last season and was considered the top target this year before his injury. The Rams are trying to rebuild a franchise that has won six games in the last three seasons combined.

The loss of Avery opens up a pivotal contest amongst the wide receivers as to who can bond with Bradford and become his top target during the season. One player who benefits is fellow rookie Mardy Gilyard, a fourth-round draft pick from Cincinnati. The other starting wide receiver is Laurent Robinson.

Avery started 28 games in the past two seasons for St. Louis.

Strasburg Expected To Require Tommy John Surgery

By Justin Worsley

The Washington Nationals feared for the worst when their ace pitcher Stephen Strasburg had a MRI on his throwing elbow, and the worst has occurred.

Strasburg, 22, has torn his ulnar collateral ligament in his right arm. The injury will sideline him for the rest of the season and Strasburg is expected to undergo Tommy John surgery.

The injury, however, will effect more than just the pitching rotation for the Nationals. The team has the third-lowest attendance for home games in the National League, however, the stadium is always a sellout crowd when Strasburg, the face of the franchise, pitches.

This is Strasburg's second stint on the disabled list this season. Last month, Washington put Strasburg on the disabled list when he strained his elbow prior to a start. Before going on the disabled list for the first time, Strasburg was 5-2 with a 2.19 ERA. In three games since his return, Strasburg was 0-1 with a 5.37 ERA.

Strasburg is flying to California to seek a second opinion before he elects to undergo surgery. The surgery has a high success rate, with 85 to 92-percent of those who undergo the procedure making a full recovery. The surgery takes about a full year for a pitcher to recover from.

Strasburg led the team in strikeouts with 92.

Vikings Top Receiver Rice To Miss Half Of Season

By Justin Worsley

If Brett Favre is hoping to have another successful year in Minnesota, he will have to do so without his favorite target.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune has reported that wide receiver Sidney Rice had hip surgery on Monday, a move that could sideline him for the first half of the season.

Rice was Favre's prime target last season, finishing second in the NFL with 1,312 receiving yards off of 83 receptions and eight touchdowns. Last year, Rice was selected to his first Pro Bowl.

Rice isn't the first receiver injured this preseason on the Vikings roster. Percy Harvin, the 2009 Offensive Rookie of the Year, has missed most of training camp due to migraines.

For the time being, a familiar face to Favre has been signed to take Rice's place. The Vikings announced on Tuesday that they have signed wide receiver Javon Walker. Walker played with Favre when both were on the Green Bay Packers between 2002-05.

Only two other wide receivers, Bernard Berrian and Greg Lewis, were on the roster last season. Tight end Visanthe Shiancoe, who caught 11 touchdown passes last season, alos returns.

Lee Spoils Misch's Gem

By Justin Worsley

A three-run home run by Carlos Lee in the seventh inning gave the Houston Astros a late lead and spoiled what was otherwise a very efficient game for New York Mets pitcher Pat Misch as Houston went on to win 3-2.

Bud Norris (6-7) was credited with the win after pitching seven innings and allowing two earned runs off of two hits. Brandon Lyon was awarded his fifth save of the season after pitching a perfect ninth inning.

Early errors put the Mets in a 2-0 lead when Norris walked Angel Pagan and then hit David Wright in his back elbow on a pitch with no outs. Ike Davis then advanced both runners to second and third when Astros shortstop Angel Sanchez failed to step on second base during a double play. Jeff Francouer then drove in Pagan as he grounded out. Chris Carter's infield hit brought in Wright.

After allowing a double to Hunter Pence in the first inning, Misch and the Mets defense went into lockdown mode, retiring the next 16 consecutive batters.

The 17th batter, however, was when things started to look bleak for the Mets. Misch allowed back-to-back singles to Sanchez and Pence before throwing a fastball over the plate to Lee on the first pitch, which he launched out of the park for his 16th homer this year.

Misch (0-2) pitched six innings, striking out one batter and allowing three earned runs off of four hits. None of the Mets pitcher allowed a walk.

The loss continues the Mets woes this year, as they have failed to win a road trip this season against a National League club. Houston's win evened the four-game series between the teams.

Starting at catcher for New York tonight was Rod Barajas, who has been out since July 24 with an oblique injury. Barajas went 0-for-3 in the game.

Mets first baseman Ike Davis also went 0-for-3. In his last ten games, Davis has gone 3-for-31

New York (60-61) will travel to Pittsburgh on Friday where Mike Pelfrey (11-7, 3.95 ERA) is expected to start against Jeff Karstens (2-9, 4.57) Houston (53-67) will travel to Florida where J.A. Happ (3-1, 3.38) will make his this start as an Astro against Anibal Sanchez (9-8, 3.31.)

Broxton Pulled From Closer's Role

By Justin Worsley

After being named to two consecutive All-Star games, Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Jonathan Broxton has gone from superstar to jobless.

Manager Joe Torre announced on Friday that he was pulling Broxton, 26, from the closing role, just a day after giving up four runs, three of the earned, in the ninth inning of a 10-9 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. Prior to the bottom of the eighth inning, Los Angeles held a 9-2 lead.

Filling in for Broxton will be Hong-Chih Kuo, a lefty. Kuo, however, has a history of elbow injuries that prevent him from playing in consecutive games. Octavio Dotel and rookie Kenley Jansen could also fill the void for the time being.

Broxton has converted 21 saves, however, he has also blown five save opportunities and currently has a 3.42 ERA, the highest total since his rookie season. His 1.31 WHIP is also the second-worst total of his career.

Running Back Coffee Retires

By Justin Worsley

After spending his rookie season playing backup to Pro Bowl running back Frank Gore, San Francisco 49ers running back Glen Coffee has decided to step away from the game.

San Francisco drafted Coffee, 23, in the third round of the 2009 NFL Draft with the 74th overall pick. Coffee was second on the team with 226 rushing yards, however, he was only able to muster a pedestrian 2.7 yards per carry and only scored one touchdown (in comparison, Gore average 4.9 yards per carry.)

Coffee entered this season in competition for the backup running back role against rookie Anthony Dixon. The only other running back on the roster is fifth-year veteran Michael Robinson.

The 49ers have told the Associated Press that they are looking into bringing in another running back for the team. San Francisco is looking to try and help lighten the load for Gore, who has averaged 260.3 carries per season since 2006.

One big name free agent who is still available is Brian Westbrook, who was cut by the Philadelphia Eagles this offseason after suffering two concussions last year.

Coffee agreed to a four-year deal last season. After making $310,000 last season, Coffee was slated to make $395,000 this year.