It's looking like Detroit Lions running back Kevin Smith(notes) and wide receiver Calvin Johnson(notes) will be both back in the lineup on Sunday when the woeful 1-6 Lions take on the Seattle Seahawks, according to the Detroit News.

Coach Jim Schwartz isn't showing his cards on that front, though. He is saying that both of these players are game-time decisions on Sunday. However, Smith had a full practice yesterday, taking plenty of reps with the first team, after skipping the pervious day's because of the shoulder injury he earned last Sunday against the St. Louis Rams.

And Johnson apparently looked good in practice after missing a few weeks due to a right knee injury. "We are just going to keep on taking it like we are," Johnson said. "We are going to be careful, do what I can do, and as long as I don't have any setbacks, things look brighter for Sunday."

Source: Detroit News

There's been a belief for some time that former Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren would be at the top of the list for Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder if there came a time that he decided to fire his current coach, Jim Zorn. After all, Holmgren has said that he's interesting in coaching on the East Coast after stints in the West and Midwest.

Well, it appears that all may be thrown out the window, according to the Washington Post. Holmgren is apparently upset with the treatment Snyder is giving Zorn, who previously was an assistant for Holmgren in Seattle.

He reportedly told a Chicago radio station that "it was very unfair" to strip Zorn of his play-calling abilities.

"The position they put Jim in, it shouldn't happen," he said. "You can be upset with me as a play-caller or how the team's going, [then] fire me. But don't do that. Don't pull the rug out from under me, tie my hands, make me look foolish ... take away what I came there for to do in the first place. Don't do that."

Go ahead and scratch his name off your list, Mr. Snyder.

Source: The Washington Post

There is apparently a loud cry going up in the Windy City by fans of the Chicago Bears. It basically consists of one unified idea: fire coach Lovie Smith.

The team is 3-3 so there are plenty of other fans around the league (Hello, fans of the St. Louis Rams, Seattle Seahawks, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Detroit Lions, Washington Redskins, Kansas City Chiefs, Tennessee Titans, Cleveland Browns, and Miami Dolphins!) who don't know what Bears fans are so upset about. But there was an expectation for Smith to deliver more this season and his head is apparently being asked to be delivered on a plate by the masses, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The team, however, has no plans to fire Smith, according to the paper. He has two more years and about $11 million left on his contract and Bears owner Virginia McCaskey cannot afford to be paying Smith to not do a job while simultaneously paying someone else $6 million to do the job Smith was supposed to do.

So feel free to exercise your First Amendment rights, Bears fans, but don't expect anything to change for a few years.

Source: Chicago Tribune

It's been long rumored that Mike Holmgren wants to be back with an NFL team next season. It's now becoming clear which one he'd like to be with. Not surprisingly, he's most desirous of one of the teams that he formerly coached: the Seattle Seahawks. According to National Football Post, Holmgren still has a great relationship with team owner Paul Allen.

Current Seahawks general manager Tim Ruskell has a contract that runs out at the end of this season and there is no indication that he's getting an extension so Holmgren may be in luck as far as coming back to the team he loves. This time he'd be looking at the field from a big executive suite, though, instead of right on the sidelines. He apparently sees himself as sort of a Bill Parcells kind of character.

If they don't call him, there are plenty of other teams that would love to have Holmgren aboard. Until he gets the call, Holmgren can spend his time hanging out with his wife, who he apparently proposed to when they were 15, and his four granddaughters.

Source: National Football Post

It can't feel good to be an NFL head coach and be asked to give up all offensive play-calling. That's what the Washington Redskins recently asked coach Jim Zorn to do and he was so unhappy about it that he very nearly went ahead and turned in his whistle and went home, according to NFL.com.

At least that's what Zorn's former Seattle Seahawks teammate Steve Largent said yesterday.

Zorn apparently didn't want to hand over the responsibilities of play-calling to consultant Sherman Lewis, who the team recently hired. One imagines that pretty soon it won't be Zorn's choice whether he is with the team or not.

Source: NFL.com

When you hear the words "muscle" and "tear" in the same phrase, you generally look for the term "season-ending" somewhere nearby, but the Seattle Seahawks apparently don't see it that way. Head coach Jim Mora doesn't seem to think the muscle tear of linebacker Lofa Tatupu's(notes) pectorals will keep him out for the rest of the year.

The Pro Bowler's muscle is reportedly "only" partially torn so Tatupu could be back by the end of the season, according to the Tacoma News Tribune. "After further review and further imaging, we're not certain yet Lofa is done," Mora said in his weekly press conference. "They did an MRI test, and it doesn't look like the muscle and tendons are completely detached from the bone."

If you want to get out for the rest of the season, Tatupu, you've got to get that thing completely detached.

Source: Tacoma News Tribune

Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Anquan Boldin(notes) couldn't finish out the victory against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday and the word is that he had a high ankle sprain, according to the East Valley Tribune.

Boldin is saying he'll be back next Sunday when the Cards visit the New York Giants. But there is a real possibility that he won't be ready for action by next weekend and the team throws Steve Breaston(notes) into Boldin's spot.

Boldin created a big stir in Arizona back in 2007 when he requested a trade because his fellow wide receiver Larry Johnson(notes) got a four-year, $40 million deal.

Source: East Valley Tribune