NFL Notes: Redskins talking to Shanahan

ASHBURN, Va. — The Washington Redskins moved quickly in their pursuit of Mike Shanahan on Monday, flying in the former Denver Broncos coach on the same day the team fired Jim Zorn.

Shanahan and wife Peggy landed at Dulles International Airport mid-afternoon and were driven away in a limousine to meet with owner Dan Snyder and General Manager Bruce Allen. Snyder planned for Shanahan to stay overnight at the owner's house in Maryland, and a formal hiring announcement could come as early as today.

Shanahan's arrival was the highlight of a long, eventful day as the Redskins sought a new direction after a 4-12 season. The first move came in the pre-dawn hours, when Zorn was dismissed during a meeting in his office with Allen after the team's cross-country flight following a 23-20 loss to the San Diego Chargers Sunday.

“It's real clear that we're going to be aggressive,” Allen said. “What we're looking for in a head coach is somebody who can lead these men that we had in our locker room this year to levels they've haven't played through before.”

Shanahan won two Super Bowls in 14 seasons with the Broncos. He was fired a year ago after Denver missed the playoffs for the third straight season.

Shanahan would be expected to bring his son, Houston Texans offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, with him to Washington. While the Redskins weren't making any announcements about a hiring, Texans coach Gary Kubiak spoke as if a Shanahan tandem in D.C. was virtually a foregone conclusion.

In other coaching news:

• Coach Tom Coughlin dismissed rookie defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan late Monday afternoon in the wake of an 8-8 season that ended with losses in eight of the final 11 games. The firing also came the same day that co-owner John Mara vowed to make changes after seeing the season end with two embarrassing losses in which the Giants were outscored 85-16.

• Browns Team President Mike Holmgren was set to arrive Monday night to begin an overhaul of Cleveland's football operations. Holmgren is expected to meet today with coach Eric Mangini.

Mangini, who said he has spoken to Holmgren at least once a week over the past few weeks, has no gut feeling about his future. When asked if he would argue that he needed more time to fix the Browns, Mangini promised the conversation would be civil.

Henry's fiancee: Receiver jumped

NEW YORK — Chris Henry's fiancee says he jumped out of the back of her truck instead of falling and that she wasn't driving fast on the day the Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver was fatally injured.

Loleini Tonga told ESPN that she thinks Henry thought he would land safely and may have been scared because he saw someone calling the police. She said he didn't jump with the intention of harming himself.

The two had argued Dec. 16 at the home owned by Tonga's parents in Charlotte, N.C. She didn't say what the argument was about.

Henry died the next day from massive head injuries. Police called the argument a domestic dispute and are investigating the traffic accident, but no charges have been filed.

Previously, it was reported that Henry fell from Tonga's truck.

Rookie Harvin added to Pro Bowl roster

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — The Minnesota Vikings have stretched their league-high total of Pro Bowl players to nine with the addition of rookie kick returner Percy Harvin.

Harvin was selected to the roster by the NFL on Monday.

DeSean Jackson of the Philadelphia Eagles made the NFC team at two positions, wide receiver and kick returner. The league's plan was to fill the spot Jackson received the least voting points for with another player. That void was filled by Harvin, who returned two kickoffs for touchdowns and finished fourth in the NFL with an average of 27.5 yards per return.

Pittsburgh's Woodley stands by remark

PITTSBURGH — Linebacker LaMarr Woodley isn't apologizing for saying the Patriots and Bengals would “lay down” in their season-ending games so the Super Bowl champion Steelers wouldn't return to the playoffs.

While the Patriots played most starters until the end of their 34-27 loss in Houston — leading receiver Wes Welker sustained a season-ending knee injury during a game that mattered little to New England — the Bengals looked lethargic and disinterested. Welker underwent an MRI on the knee Monday. The team did not announce the results, but ESPN reported that Welker's initial diagnosis was torn ligaments.

“I was just calling it how I saw it,” Woodley said. “If you watched the games, I don't need to say anything more about it. ... I'm not a guy who starts trouble, but sometimes you have to speak your mind. Sometimes, you're wrong. And sometimes, you're right. But if you watched the games, you can tell me if I'm wrong or right.”

Ex-NFL chair denies concussion link

DETROIT — Former NFL player Kyle Turley told members of Congress on Monday that while he still had a severe headache, the St. Louis Rams cleared him for full-contact drills four days after a concussion seven years ago.

“Frustrated with being injured and wanting to prove my toughness to my teammates and coaches, I used my head more aggressively than I normally would have in practice, not understanding the damage I was doing to my brain,” Turley told the House Judiciary Committee.

“I would like to tell you that this was an isolated incident — just as Dr. Casson would.”

Turley, who retired in 2007 after a career with the Saints, Rams and Chiefs, was one of several witnesses who took shots at Ira Casson, a neurologist from New York and former co-chairman of the NFL's panel on head injuries.

Under questioning, Casson stuck to his position that there is no proven connection between football head injuries and brain disease.

Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., and Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., were skeptical.

Sanchez noted that the league formed its concussion committee in 1994, and wondered aloud whether the NFL's recent moves on concussions took too long to implement.

Casson resigned as co-chairman of the NFL's committee on mild traumatic brain injury in November, saying it was a mutual decision between himself and Commissioner Roger Goodell.

In other news:

• A rookie wage scale is among the issues the NFL and the players' union are expected to discuss during labor negotiations this week.

The NFL Players Association has presented a proposal that would include redirecting money paid to rookies into veterans' contracts instead. The union's plan would have a scale or cap for how much rookies would be paid, and the 32 teams would use the money saved from those contracts on established players. As much as $200 million could wind up in veterans' pockets.

• The Vikings' Brett Favre, the Saints' Drew Brees, the Chargers' Philip Rivers, the Packers' Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger eached completed the quarterback triple crown — 4,000 yards passing, 25 TDs passing and a QB rating of at least 100 — a record for a single season.

Woodson expected to play for Packers

MILWAUKEE — Sore shoulder and all, Charles Woodson should be OK for Sunday's playoff game.

Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy said Monday that Woodson has a shoulder strain and should be back on the field when the Packers return to Arizona to face the Cardinals for the second time in a week — this time with the playoffs on the line.

McCarthy said Woodson's practice schedule will be similar to recent weeks, meaning he could get some rest.

In other injury news:

• Jets linebacker David Harris has a sprained right ankle, and his availability for the team's wild card playoff game at Cincinnati on Saturday is uncertain. Harris leads the team in tackles and has 5½ sacks and two interceptions.

• The Bengals put defensive tackle Pat Sims on injured reserve with a broken forearm. Cincinnati replaced him on the roster by signing cornerback Keiwan Ratliff on Monday.

— The Associated Press

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