The Washington Redskins have placed WR/KR Jerome Mathis on waivers. After the draft, it was obvious that Mathis ... who signed with Washington on April 4th ... didn't have a good shot at sticking with the team.

At the draft, the Redskins drafted recievers Devin Thomas and Malcolm Kelly. Both would've pushed Mathis down on the receiving depth chart. Mathis' return duties took a hit with the drafting of Thomas (who could find a nice role there) and cornerback J.T. Tryon.

Second off, Mathis has had some troubles with Johnny Law of late, which didn't make his signing very tantalizing in the first place. One was for mishandling his pit bulls ... and the second was for punching his common-law wife.

All this could mean that Mathis' NFL career may come to a halt. Depite being a Pro-Bowl player in his rookie season (2005), he wasn't highly sought after during free agency and may have trouble landing a new gig.

Miami-Dade County State Attorney's Office spokesman Ed Griffith says Wednesday that 16-year-old Timothy Brown is charged with first-degree murder. He is also charged with armed burglary of an occupied dwelling.

Brown also won't face the death penalty.

Currently, Brown is sitting in jail in Lee County, FL and it isn't known when he will be moved to Dade County. It has been rumored for quite some time that police were looking at a fifth suspect in the killing of Taylor, a safety for the Washington Redskins. Taylor died from massive bleeding of a gunshot wound during a robbery gone bad (when do they ever "gone good"?)

The trial for the other four accused is August 25th.

"They would have had to show it was premeditated," (Huerte's attorney Michael) Hornung said. "I believe that it's appropriate that they waive the death penalty."

The current theory of the crime, that Rivera was the alleged shooter, likely prevented prosecutors from seeking the death penalty since Rivera was a minor at the time of the shooting.

"The fact that the prosecution won't seek the death penalty has been a foregone conclusion," Taylor family spokesman Richard Sharpstein told the Fort Myers News Press. "The family is still supporting the prosecutors and looking for justice to be done."

It should make closure a bit easier, as a death penalty sentence would've made the trial a bit more trying. Since Rivera was a minor at the time of the murder, he can't get the death penalty under Florida law. The other three (who were legally adults at the time) could have been sentenced to death ... but it would have looked bad that the shooter doesn't get sent to death row but his accomplices do.

When I say "who wears #21 for the New York Giants" ... your response will most likely be retired running back Tiki Barber. Well, not anymore.

Rookie safety Kenny Phillips will be wearing that number (well, he at least was during the rookie minicamp). Interesting that the team just gives away the jersey number of their all-time rushing and receptions leader just one year after he retires. Sure, most NFL teams don't retire numbers often ... many do choose not to issue those numbers to just anyone at anytime.

However, Phillips isn't wearing it to honor or slight Tiki. He's doing it to honor fellow Miami Hurricanes safety, the late Sean Taylor.

"He was a guy who my whole career, even in high school, I had pictures of him in my locker," Phillips said. "I wanted to get a chance to meet him, and I never did. I watch him on film and he was just an exceptional athlete. The plays he made were crazy. I just wanted to pay my respects by having his number and trying to live up to that."

Awesome gesture by Phillips who could be the first of several Canes players that may do the same. Taylor was beloved by his teammates and someone that younger guys were in awe of.

Phillips, who was drafted with the final pick of the first round, will hope to become the next in a line of outstanding Miami safeties: Taylor, Baltimore's Ed Reed and New England's Brandon Meriwether.

"He was feeling his hamstrings all along, and I think it was because I have him sinking down a little bit," Zorn said. "It's the change. I was kind of excited about it. Not that I wanted him to tweak his hamstring, just the fact that different things are happening to his body. He's going to be fine."

Zorn was a quarterbacks coach (uh, and a quarterback) so I'm sure he sees the bumps and bruises as a sign of Campbell following his direction. One of the most important keys in the 2008 season for the Skins is how Campbell performs in the new West Coast Offense.

However, it isn't encouraging to see the Redskins' skill players dropping like flies. Campbell's hammy will hurt his development in the new offense. Running back Clinton Portis hurt his hip in a race against LaRon Landry; Antwaan Randle El had surgery to remove some cartilage from his knee.

Earlier that morning, I'd made over 10 phone calls to three different people arranging the final details of my afternoon meeting. After meeting up with Bill, we wasted no time as we casually strolled through the men's room doors. The two of us snuck quickly past the corridor of urinals toward the last stall -- our best bet for going unnoticed. Luckily it was unoccupied, and we moved right in.

Not many words were said in the stall. Both of us were completely comfortable with the procedure. Bill took out the package, but I was the one who had to break the seal. I ripped open the plastic container, revealing a short plastic cup to capture my random urine sample.

"The biggest thing is, as long as they learn from their mistakes, that's the biggest thing," Cerrato said. "The kid felt awful. Jim got a chance to talk to him and Jim's handling it internally. I've talked to his agents and the kid feels horrible, which he should.

"Anytime you miss anything, to me it's important. Especially when you're here to ... he's making his first impression. Do what's right. He made a mistake. Now, he's got to fight back from the mistake."

The former University of Hawai'i quarterback's decision to return for his senior season will cost him about $1,378,500 over a three-year period.

Brennan, who was projected to be a first- or second-round pick after the 2006 season, saw his value drop after a poor outing in the Sugar Bowl, an illness that caused his weight to drop to 185 at the Senior Bowl, and a recent hip surgery

Pros: "Slides naturally in the pocket, finds throwing lanes, in-breaking routes he does a great job on."

Cons: "Anytime he has to drive the football to the outside of the numbers, he will struggle; he looks like a centerfielder crow hopping to throw the football home.

He's also had well-documented off-field issues; he didn't deal with them very well at the Senior Bowl and [NFL] Combine ... but I will say that getting hurt didn't hurt him."