NFL ROUNDUP | News and notes

Steelers: Pittsburgh left tackle Marvin Smith won't play Sunday against the Chicago Bears because of a sprained right ankle, the third game he will miss in four weeks. Smith, a Pro Bowl lineman last season, sat out an overtime loss to the Ravens on Nov. 20 with a sprained left ankle, then injured the right ankle the following week against the Colts. Trai Essex, a rookie from Northwestern, will make his third NFL start in place of Smith. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, coming off consecutive losses for the first time in his two-season career, is listed as probable despite his injured right thumb. He passed for a career-high 383 yards in a 38-31 loss Sunday to Cincinnati while wearing a splint and a glove to protect the thumb.
49ers: San Francisco signed safety Marques Anderson and waived kicker Jose Cortez. Anderson, a third-round pick out of UCLA in 2002, played 10 games for Oakland last season before being released by the Raiders in the preseason. Anderson was claimed by Denver and played six games with the Broncos before being waived last month. San Francisco signed Cortez as insurance for Joe Nedney, who had been bothered by a groin injury. Cortez handled the kicking duties against Tennessee on Nov. 27, but Nedney was healthy enough to play on Sunday against Arizona. Also, center Jeremy Newberry underwent surgery Tuesday on his injured right knee. The operation was performed by team physician Dr. Michael Dillingham.
Eagles: Running back Brian Westbrook will miss the rest of the season with a foot injury, the fourth Pro Bowl player the team lost for the season in the last month. Westbrook hurt his foot in the first half of Monday night's 42-0 loss to Seattle. An MRI on Tuesday confirmed he has a Lis Franc sprain, an injury more common in automobile accidents and equestrian sports. Westbrook joins quarterback Donovan McNabb (sports hernia), cornerback Lito Sheppard (ankle) and left tackle Tra Thomas (back) on the injured list. The Eagles also are without All-Pro wideout Terrell Owens, who was suspended four games for conduct detrimental to the team and told not to return. The NFL Players Association filed a grievance against the Eagles on Tuesday, claiming the team breached Terrell Owens' contract by trying to get back part of the wide receiver's signing bonus and by leaving him inactive for the rest of the season. The union said the team was breaching the maximum discipline clause in its agreement with the NFL.
Cardinals: Arizona placed center Alex Stepanovich on injured reserve and re-signed linebacker Isaac Keys. Stepanovich, an Ohio State graduate, injured his shoulder in the Cardinals' victory at St. Louis and has sat out the last two games. He is the 12th player, sixth starter and fourth offensive lineman placed on the season-ending injured list. Keys has played on special teams in three games this season. He was on the practice squad for the first five games and has been re-signed to the active roster three times. Keys was released Dec. 2 when Arizona signed kicker Nick Novak.
Lions: Instead of pushing fans to apathy, the Lions have sunk so low that their followers are fed up and furious. Local radio station WDFN is sponsoring an Angry Fan March before the home finale and is taking suggestions for a Lions-related message to put on a billboard it has reserved near the downtown stadium. "People are sick of letting the Lions waste their Sundays and watching them become a national joke over the past five years," said WDFN host Sean Baligian, who came up with the idea for the march. "The Lions don't want fans in the stands with signs, and we're cool with that. So we're going to walk around the stadium before the Bengals game because we want the Lions to make changes. Matt Millen is a good guy with good intentions, but he doesn't have a clue when it comes to running an NFL franchise." Another sports-talk station in the Detroit area, WXYT, has played a part in stirring up the fans' unrest this week, too. After Garcia's weekly segment on WXYT ended Monday, callers responded by saying it sounded like he was making excuses. That compelled Garcia's girlfriend, Carmella DeCesare, to call the station to defend him. Garcia, who was released by Cleveland in February, expected to join an up-and-coming team, but he has discovered the Lions are a mess on and off the field. "It is different than what I expected," Garcia said.
Associated Press
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