Talks with NFL officials were canceled Monday and replacement officials will work the second week of the season as owners continued to play hardball.
Before Sunday’s opening games, the league pulled its offer for an immediate 60 percent salary increase and a 120 percent increase by 2005 off the table and reduced it to increases of between 20 and 75 percent.
Tom Condon, chief negotiator for the NFL Referees Association, offered to resume talks in a call Monday to Jeff Pash, the league’s chief negotiator. But NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said: “We have notified the alternate officials they will be on the field in Week 2. It was clear during an exchange of phone calls that a meeting would not be productive.”
The league wants the four-man negotiating committee for the officials to be present at the next round of talks because the league says Condon does not have the power to make a deal.
Batch out: All six new coaches lost their debuts Sunday and Detroit’s Marty Mornhinweg was the fastest to yank his starting quarterback. Mornhinweg will start newcomer Ty Detmer this week against Dallas after watching Charlie Batch struggle against Green Bay. Batch was sacked seven times and was particularly inaccurate with the wet ball, especially in contrast to the Packers’ Brett Favre.
Washington’s Marty Schottenheimer appears ready to bench Jeff George permanently after replacing him with Tony Banks in the Redskins’ 30-3 loss to San Diego. Schottenheimer said he wasn’t sure what he’s going to do, which means George’s days are numbered.
McNair hurt: The right shoulder of Tennessee Titans quarterback Steve McNair could keep him out of this week’s game. McNair was knocked out of Sunday night’s game against Miami. Last winter, McNair was hospitalized with an infection in the shoulder.
More injuries: The Dolphins’ big win in Tennessee was tempered by the loss of left tackle Marcus Spriggs for the year with a torn anterior cruciate ligament. He was replacing Brent Smith, also out with an ACL tear, and Smith was replacing departed free agent Richmond Webb. The Dolphins protected quarterback Jay Fiedler perfectly, allowing no sacks to the vaunted Titans pass rush. Spencer Folau will replace Spriggs.
The Jacksonville Jaguars will play the Bears on Sunday without safety Donovin Darius, out indefinitely with a broken left hip. . . . The Buffalo Bills are likely to play the rest of the season without leading tackler Sam Cowart, out with an Achilles’ heel injury. … Dallas Cowboys defensive end Ebenezer Ekuban, the team’s top pass rusher, will be sidelined for at least four weeks with a herniated disc.
Hardy Jaguar: Jacksonville linebacker Kevin Hardy from Illinois had the second two-sack game of his six-year career Sunday against Pittsburgh. He also had 11 tackles, 10 solo, after switching from weak-side linebacker back to strong side.
Hardy, likely to become a free agent after the season, is off to a great start. He has defended the new scheme of defensive coordinator Gary Moeller.
“I’ve said all along it’s a good scheme and a sound one,” Hardy said.
Charged up: Give new San Diego general manager John Butler a big edge on the initial fallout from his decision to trade the No. 1 choice in the draft to Atlanta instead of picking quarterback Michael Vick.
Butler signed quarterback Doug Flutie as a free agent and traded his pick to the Falcons for their No. 1 plus kick returner Tim Dwight. The Chargers then drafted running back LaDainian Tomlinson.
Flutie directed the 30-3 romp over Washington as Tomlinson rushed 36 times for 113 yards and Dwight returned a punt 84 yards for a touchdown and caught two passes. Vick played two series for the Falcons, scrambled twice for 34 yards, and completed none of his four pass attempts.
Nigerian connection: Packers second-year defensive end Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila from San Diego State sacked Batch three times Sunday. He was born in Los Angeles, the son of Nigerian-born Mustapha and Bola Gbaja-Biamila. The last name translates as “Big Man Come and Save Me.”
Colts second-year defensive tackle Chukie Nwokorie from Purdue returned a fumble 95 yards against the Jets, who are still trying to explain how a 6-foot-2-inch, 286-pound defensive tackle could outrun 11 offensive players for 95 yards. Nwokorie was born in Tuskegee, Ala., and went to high school in West Lafayette after spending nine years in Nigeria.
