NFL ROUNDUP

NFL ROUNDUP

News and notes

Patriots: It’s a boy for Bridget Moynahan and New England Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady. The actress gave birth to the baby in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Moynahan’s publicist Christina Papadapoulos said in a statement. “Both mother and baby are doing well,” she said. Brady’s whereabouts weren’t known. He wasn’t on the field or sidelines for the first 15 minutes of practice on Wednesday and Patriots spokesman Stacey James said he didn’t know when Brady would rejoin the team. It also wasn’t clear whether Brady would play in the Patriots’ third exhibition game Friday against the Carolina Panthers. A call to his agent, Donald Yee, wasn’t immediately returned. Brady, 30, had said earlier this week that he would like a few days off for the birth of his first child, calling the event “a very joyous, happy situation.” Moynahan and Brady split up late last year after a three-year relationship. Brady has been dating supermodel Gisele Bundchen. The quarterback had said he wanted a few days off to attend the birth of his first child. It was unknown if he arrived before the baby was born.

Raiders: Daunte Culpepper will be Oakland’s starting quarterback in the Raiders’ preseason game Friday night against St. Louis. Culpepper, who signed with the Raiders as a free agent July 31 after being released by Miami in the offseason, has been taking the majority of reps with Oakland’s starters in practice this week but coach Lane Kiffin didn’t announce his plans until Wednesday. “I know Daunte’s excited about it, I could tell when I told him,” Kiffin said. “He’s very excited to get a shot so we’ll see what happens.” Culpepper is the third quarterback to start for the Raiders this preseason. Josh McCown started against Arizona on Aug. 11, while Andrew Walter got the nod against San Francisco last Saturday. McCown will work in relief of Culpepper against the Rams, while Walter is No. 3 on the depth chart. Kiffin hedged, however, when asked if he would name a starter for the regular season following the game with St. Louis. “I don’t know that,” Kiffin said. “I’d like to. We’ll evaluate this game and maybe we’ll go into the next game and have to continue but I’d like to.” Culpepper, 30, has outplayed McCown and Walter throughout the preseason, completing 11 of 20 passes for 153 yards and two touchdowns. His quarterback rating of 113.1 far exceeds Walter’s 71.2 and McCown’s 66.0.

Broncos: Denver bolstered its defensive line by signing free agent tackle John Browning, who spent his first 11 seasons in Kansas City. Browning sat out last season with an assortment of injuries and is coming off back surgery. He played every position along the defensive front, seeing action in 121 regular season games, including 96 starts for the Chiefs, who selected him in the third round out of West Virginia in 1996.

Giants: Eli Manning defended his decision to rip former New York Giants teammate Tiki Barber, saying there are times when you just have to react to criticism. The quarterback also said there are also times to forgive and forget, and that he would like to put his disagreement with the halfback-turned-football-analyst behind them. “I am fine talking to Tiki,” Manning said between training camp practices at the University at Albany. “If I see him, I’ll definitely talk to him. I will be friendly to him. I’m not trying to start something. It’s just a deal that happened and hopefully when we see each other, and we will, and it won’t be awkward. I don’t want it to be.” Manning’s peace offering came 24 hours after he criticized Barber for attacking his leadership on the halftime show of the Sunday Night Football game between the Giants and Baltimore Ravens. Barber had said that Manning’s attempt to lead an offensive meeting in the 12th week of the last season was “comical” at times. After sarcastically noting that Barber was making a smooth transition from the playing field to television, the normally reserved Manning said he could have questioned Barber’s leadership last season for calling out coach Tom Coughlin and then having articles about him retiring in the middle of the season. It turned out to be a major distraction for the Giants. “I guess I have always been an even-keel guy, never really responded back, always tried to make things smooth and easy,” Manning said. “That’s probably the first time I fired back a bit. It was one of those things that I felt I needed to do.”

Falcons: More than 50 pit bulls seized from Michael Vick’s property face a deadline of today to be claimed. If no one comes forward, they could be euthanized. Federal prosecutors filed court documents last month to condemn 53 pit bulls seized in April as part of the investigation into dogfighting on the Vick’s property. No one has claimed any of the dogs, which are being held at several unspecified shelters in eastern Virginia, the U.S. Attorney’s office said. The civil complaint filed by federal prosecutors does not name the Atlanta Falcons quarterback and is separate from the criminal case against him. But it does state the pit bulls were part of the dogfighting operation known as “Bad Newz Kennels,” which Vick and three cohorts are accused of operating.

Associated Press