The Jets, for some reason, opened up their practice session to the media Thursday, and I bet you'll never guess upon whom the media coverage focused.

OK, I'll tell you. It was Tim Tebow. Word from New Jersey is that he struggled. Here are details from Jenny Vrentas at The Star-Ledger:

Some of Tebow's passes came out a bit high. He was picked off on back-to-back passes in 7-on-7 drills, by Bart Scott and new Jets safety Yeremiah Bell. Tebow finished 6-for-8 in the nine snaps he took in 11-on-11 team drills, by an unofficial count.

There are two ways we can look at this: One, it's evidence that the Jets acquisition of Tebow was a mistake, and that he's an awful quarterback who will never, ever be good. I don't recommend this way.

Or two, these are relaxed seven-on-seven drills in OTAs, with plays Tebow's never run before, and he's not going to be the quarterback there anyway, so none of this matters, even a little bit, in terms of projecting Tebow's performance with the Jets in 2012. This is less than nothing. That's the approach I'd recommend.

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And the rest of us are wondering what it is that makes either of them believe that the Cowboys have a championship window.

Owner Jerry Jones told the NFL Network that since some key Cowboys are getting older, they need to win a championship sooner rather than later. And that's true, I suppose, but I don't know if the Cowboys are as close to a championship as Jerry thinks they are. From NFL.com:

"Well, my window is getting shorter. Time goes by," Jones told NFL Network at the NFL spring meetings. "I do feel real pressure because we do have players not only in (quarterback) Tony Romo, but (tight end) Jason Witten (and linebacker) DeMarcus Ware, to leave out several that are (also) in the prime of their career. And we need to strike and strike soon with those guys.

"(Coach) Jason Garrett feels exactly the same way about it and understands how urgent it is. Candidly, you're looking through rose-colored glasses if we all don't realize that now is the time to compete on the field."

Romo is 32, Witten is 30 and Ware is 29. Despite those fellows being in their prime years, the Cowboys have not made the playoffs the last two seasons. The last time they qualified for the postseason was 2009, in Wade Phillips' last full year as head coach. That year, they got their only playoff win since 1996.

Romo, the guy who will ultimately have the most to do with whether or not the Cowboys can compete for a Super Bowl, disagrees. He doesn't see a window opening or closing. The window's always the same for him.

"It's not closing. I think there's a sense of urgency every year that you play, whether it's your first year in the league or your 22nd. You never know when all that stuff is going to happen, so you just play every year as if it's an urgent day."

So maybe these two gentlemen just see the issue differently, and that's that. The other possibility is that Jerry Jones would really like to ignite a sense of urgency in his players and Tony Romo is just not getting it.

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Lawrence Taylor's Super Bowl ring will hardly know it switched owners.

According to Jay Glazer, the Hall of Fame linebacker was told that a fellow aficionado of all things illicit, Charlie Sheen, was the buyer of his Super Bowl XXV ring that recently sold for more than $230,000 at auction. It's not known whether Taylor's information is accurate but, man, we hope it is.

Taylor's agent, Mark Lepster, confirmed to Glazer that LT was told Sheen bought the ring. They are still trying to confirm this poetic purchase. It's like Phil Spector buying O.J.'s Heisman.

The actor has an extensive sports memorabilia collection that includes Babe Ruth's 1927 World Series ring and the contract that sold the baseball great from the Boston Red Sox to the New York Yankees. He also owned the infamous Bill Buckner ball.

Taylor's son, TJ, put the ring up for auction unbeknownst to his father. The troubled former star said he had no problem with the decision.

[Y! Sports Fantasy Minute: NFL veteran tight ends in trouble]

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Chad Ochocinco took to Twitter after someone broke into his car and stole his wallet and iPod on Wednesday. He posted a two-minute video detailing the theft. Within hours, a follower's mother had found the wallet in a dumpster and it was returned with only one item missing: his Starbucks gold card. Ocho was predictably devastated about the loss.

"I earned the gold card," Ochocinco said, via the Boston Herald. "You know how many coffees I've had to drink and lemon loafs I've had to purchase to get to that gold card? Like, I had $220 left on my Starbucks card. Not just any Starbucks card, but a gold Starbucks card."

We can sympathize.

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Hail to the Redskins!/Hail, Victory!/Braves on the warpath!/Make jersey history!!!

When Robert Griffin III was introduced at last month's NFL draft, many took note of the fact that the back of his Washington Redskins jersey included the Roman numeral at the end of his surname. According to Paul Lukas of Uni Watch, it's a historic inclusion. Lukas says, as far as he can tell, Griffin will become the first player in major American sports to have a Roman numeral on the back of his jersey.

[Related: Redskins rookie Robert Griffin III reveals his romantic side]

The NFL changed the rule this offseason and it allows Roman numerals and Jr./Sr. distinctions. The III has a special connection to Griffin but is also a killer marketing tool. Lukas thinks it may run deeper than that:

And that's not the only kind of branding at work here, because the Roman numeral III can also be viewed as three stripes -- which happens to be the visual signature of adidas, which signed Griffin to a big endorsement contract back in February. In fact, Uni Watch suspects Griffin chose adidas over Nike specifically in large part because of the potential marketing synergies between the Roman numeral and the stripes.

If Uni Watch is right -- and when it comes to uniforms, that's almost always the case -- Griffin is even more savvy than advertised.

[Yahoo! Sports Shop: Buy Robert Griffin III gear]

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Add the voice of San Francisco 49ers quarterback Alex Smith to those decrying the increasing use of stats to evaluate football performance. Usually, it's former head coaches unhappy about the numbers (used, as they sometimes are, to help describe why said former head coaches lost their jobs), but in Smith's case, he's tired of the stats despite his 2011 season, in which he finally played with some of the efficiency and consistency expected of the first overall pick in the 2005 NFL draft.

When asked before the 49ers' divisional playoff win over the New Orleans Saints if he might someday throw for more yards in a season than Drew Brees, or some of the NFL's other more high-octane quarterbacks, Smith was quite defiant.

"I really don't care," Smith said. "I'm looking to outscore him. He can throw for as many yards as he wants."

So there! The 49ers did indeed outscore the Saints on their way to a close NFC championship loss to the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants, and in the 2012 season, more will certainly be expected of Smith. He played the caretaker role for Jim Harbaugh in 2011, throwing just five interceptions and helping San Francisco's unflashy-but-effective offense as the 49ers shocked the league with a 13-3 record. He also had career highs in pass attempts (445), completions, (273), passing yards (3,144), and his second-highest touchdown total (17). Now, Smith is being asked if he's ready to bust out with bigger numbers ... and the answer is, he really doesn't care.

"I could absolutely care less on yards per game," Smith told Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle on Wednesday. "I think that is a totally overblown stat because if you're losing games in the second half, guess what, you're like the Carolina Panthers and you're going no-huddle the entire second half. Yeah, Cam Newton threw for a lot of 300-yard games. That's great. You're not winning, though."

Well, hold on there, Huckleberry! Cam Newton smashed many of the NFL's rookie passing records in 2011, and I would argue that he did do a lot of winning -- he took the worst team in the league and helped pull it to a six-win season. Now, the Panthers are rightfully seen as a fringe playoff contender, and Newton is the primary reason. In fact, it could be argued that Newton did everything Smith could not in 2005 -- take a horrible team to the next level with his own play as the first pick in the draft.

It's a bit easier for Smith to say these things now, buttressed as he is by a dynamic rushing attack and supported by one of the NFL's best defenses. Joe Flacco has tried that whole "I'm just winning" thing as well, but he's very much in Smith's camp -- aided severely by his defense and running game.

Total yards may not matter, but can Smith become the kind of quarterback capable of transcending the average and putting a team on his back? That's the real question for any quarterback looking to find that mysterious "elite."

"We're up in the third and fourth quarter and naturally you're going to be in four-minute offense," Smith said of the wisdom behind the 49ers' more conservative game plan. "You're going to be grinding it out. You're going to be running the ball a lot more and you're not going to have as many 300-yard passing games."

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The biggest threat to NFL stadium attendance is how awesome it is to watch games at home. In an effort to keep seats full at stadiums, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell wants to make the stadium experience more like the home experience by having Wi-Fi at every venue.

Goodell talked about that on Tuesday at the league meetings. Via Nate Davis at The Huddle, here's Goodell on enhancing the stadium experience:

"We believe that it is important to get technology into our stadiums. We have made the point repeatedly that the experience at home is outstanding, and we have to compete with that in some fashion by making sure that we create the same kind of environment in our stadiums." [...]

"We want [fans] to have access to the same information. Have access to our Red Zone, have access to highlights, be able to engage in social media, including fantasy football. When you come to our stadium we want to make it a great experience."

He's right; every stadium should have Wi-Fi available to fans. But not because it's going to replicate what it's like to watch a game at home ‒ that's impossible ‒ but because it's 2012 and so few of us are Luddites.

I think the commissioner is going the wrong way on this one. You're not going to compete with my living room by trying to be like my living room. You can't give me a couch, a remote, a laptop, a box of Cheez-Its, reasonably priced alcohol and the ability to curse freely from time to time. So don't try.

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The Miami Dolphins do not have a wealth of experience at wide receiver. Davone Bess leads the unit with 260 career catches, and no one else has more than 109. For comparison's sake, the New England Patriots have three individuals with more career receptions than every Dolphins receiver combined.

The currently unemployed Plaxico Burress does, too, and he's looking for a job. A job with the Miami Dolphins, in fact, according to one report Wednesday. But the Dolphins, even with their apparent need at the position, aren't interested. From Armando Salguero at the Miami Herald:

Add Plaxico Burress to the list of receivers who would love to audition for the Dolphins. But Miami has shown no interest in the likes of Burress, Roy Williams and Braylon Edwards. Ireland said he "could be done" at receiver, but isn't certain. If the rookies don't develop this summer, Ireland might add a veteran.

I mean no disrespect to Bess, Brian Hartline or Legudu Naanee, nor am I suggesting that the Dolphins are making a mistake by passing on Plaxico Burress, but don't they need something else at wideout? If you're looking for one of your young fellows to develop into a franchise quarterback, they're going to need help. Probably more help than you have on the roster right now.

[Also: Green Bay Packer Donald Driver wins 'Dancing With the Stars']

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The question we were asking all along when it came to the "spirit of the salary cap" penalties handed down to the Dallas Cowboys, Washington Redskins, Oakland Raiders and New Orleans Saints was, of course, "How on earth can teams be in violation of salary cap rules when there is no salary cap in place?"

Turns out, the NFL Players Association was asking the same question, and now, they will do so in court. On Wednesday morning, the NFLPA released this statement in part:

The Class Counsel under the Reggie White settlement agreement and the NFL Players Association today filed a complaint, on behalf of the NFL players, charging the NFL, its clubs and their owners of collusion during the 2010 NFL season. The complaint details a conspiracy to violate the anti-collusion and anti-circumvention provisions in the White Settlement Agreement (SSA) by "imposing a secret $123 million per-Club salary cap for that uncapped 2010 season."

The written claim is filed with the United States District Court of Minnesota, which oversees the SSA and alleges that the league and owners acted illegally and "solely by self-interest, unconstrained by their clear and unambiguous SSA obligations."

The claim was filed just one day after Special Master Stephen Burbank dismissed the appeal filed by the Redskins and Cowboys. Clearly, the NFLPA had this one on a tripwire.

The Cowboys and Redskins were the hardest-hit by the league; the Redskins were docked $36 million in salary cap room over two seasons, and the Cowboys $10 million, for the offloading of onerous player contracts during the uncapped year of 2011. At that time, there was no official rule regarding just how much salary and other player income a team could dump during that time, but as it turned out, the NFL had verbally warned all teams that any nebulous violation of the rules that could be perceived during a capped year would be dealt with severely.

Of course, the uncapped year occurred during the lockout, after the old collective bargaining agreement ran out, and the salary cap with it. Until a new agreement could be struck, the NFL could not possibly send out written instructions for teams to avoid either offsetting or "overpaying" its players without providing the NFLPA with a boilerplate collusion case.  According the NFLPA, the penalties handed down, and the language used by the league and the Management Council, is enough to warrant the complaint.

"When the rules are broken in a way that hurts the game, we have an obligation to act. We cannot stand by when we now know that the owners conspired to collude," said NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith.

"Our union recently learned that there was a secret salary cap agreement in an uncapped year. The complaint today is our effort to fulfill our duty to every NFL player. They deserve to know, above all, the facts and the truth about this conspiracy," added NFLPA President Domonique Foxworth.

''The claims have absolutely no merit and we fully expect them to be dismissed,'' the NFL said in a statement. ''On multiple occasions, the players and their representatives specifically dismissed all claims, known or unknown, whether pending or not, regarding alleged violations of the 2006 CBA and the related settlement agreement. We continue to look forward to focusing on the future of the game rather than grievances of a prior era that have already been resolved.''

The complaint centers around one very damning quote from New York Giants owner John Mara, who also serves as the Chair of the NFL Management Council Executive Committee. When the penalties were handed down in March, Mara was asked about the reasoning.

"What they did was in violation of the spirit of the salary cap," Mara said. "They attempted to take advantage of a one-year loophole … full well knowing there would be consequences."

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Green Bay Packers wide receiver Donald Driver was named the winner of the umpteenth season of ABC's "Dancing With The Stars" on Tuesday night. He becomes the third football player to win the Mirror Ball Trophy, following in the footsteps of Emmitt Smith and Hines Ward.

Following the victory, Driver was asked whether his victory compared to winning the Super Bowl. "I think it does," he said. "It's truly something special. I reached the greatest milestone in my career, and that was winning the Super Bowl. I just made my partner reach her greatest milestone, and now she's 'Dancing With the Stars' champion."

Judging by his reaction to winning -- pushing away his partner, running around like a college basketball player after a buzzer-beater and flopping on the dance floor like a fish -- I'd say he wasn't being hyperbolic.

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