The sad twist to the Dwight Freeney story is how his Lisfranc injury could have happened. Freeney thought someone stepped on his foot as he was making a spin move rushing the cornerback. But it's debatable whether a Charger did accidentally step on his foot. The field was sloppy and wet. Freeney went to long spikes and that might have been a factor with the injury.

The Lisfranc injury goes back to the days of Napoleon. The injury is named after Napoleon's doctor. When soldiers fell from their horses, their feet would often get caught in the stirrups. They would suffer separation in the high arch area, the area Freeney separated with his injury. The good news is that surgery or rest can heal the injury. Back in the Napoleonic days, they cut off the foot at that joint in the arch.

Rex to rescue? Rex Grossman's chance to start again doesn't have much to do with Brian Griese's left shoulder injury. Griese missed practice, but his injury isn't serious. Grossman took 30 percent of the snaps last week with the first team and it was inevitable he was going to get another chance to start. Grossman is a free agent after the season, and the team wanted to get one more look at him. Grossman would have to take the Bears deep into the playoffs to get a big contract offer, but if he does well, he could get a chance at a short-term deal with Chicago.

Ricky in limbo: Cam Cameron may take the full two-week exemption time to determine if he wants Ricky Williams back on his team. Williams was reinstated by the league after missing 18 months of football. In the end, he probably will have to take him back. First of all, the Dolphins need Williams. With Ronnie Brown out for the season with a knee injury, the Dolphins would have no running offense if anything happens to happens to Jesse Chatman. With rookie quarterback John Beck expected to start the remainder of the season, he needs to have help from the running game. Plus, Williams is a hard worker when he's in a football environment. If the Dolphins were 5-4 and had Brown, Cameron might have cut Williams. They are 0-9 and going to a rookie quarterback. They need Williams.

Panthers gaining QBs: Vinny Testaverde and David Carr were on the field together for the first time in three weeks, but even they couldn't tell you who will be the Panthers starting quarterback this week. Both quarterbacks are playing hurt. Day to day, their injuries tend to get worse as the practice week progresses. The healthiest quarterback standing gets the start. It's the most uncertain quarterback situation in football.

Indy hurting: The Colts are starting to get a little bit of that jinx that happens to Super Bowl teams. They have had 11 starters -- seven on defense -- miss games because of injuries. Three key front seven players are gone for the season -- Freeney, defensive tackle Anthony McFarland and linebacker Rob Morris. If you include the starts those three will miss the rest of the season, the Colts will have 55 missed starts for those 11 players. The number is growing. In case you're wondering, though, the Bills, Cardinals, Falcons, Rams and Dolphins have more missed starts.

Bills shorthanded: Dick Jauron isn't optimistic halfback Marshawn Lynch will be able to start this week against the Patriots because of his ankle injury. Lynch missed Wednesday's practice and could miss a few more days. Losing Lynch would take a lot out of the Bills offense. Anthony Thomas is a better pass blocker than Lynch but he doesn't have much explosiveness. If Thomas plays instead of Lynch, the Bills might have to go to more of a pass-oriented offense against the Patriots.

Spears rips Campbell: Cowboys defensive end Marcus Spears made an interesting comment about Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell. He talked to reporters about the Redskins running philosophy, and he said the reason Washington runs the ball so much is because the team don't have enough confidence in Campbell to let him win the game. That probably won't go over well in the Redskins' locker room but it's probably true. Campbell has done well as a starter. He's put the team into playoff contention with consistently good play. But he's not like Tom Brady or Peyton Manning where he can carry the team on his shoulders. In his first full season as a starter, it's probably too much to ask of him.