NFL notes

LITTLE ROCK — CARDINALS

Brown tears triceps TEMPE, Ariz. - Arizona Cardinals starting left tackle Levi Brown has a torn right triceps and probably will not play this season.

Coach Ken Whisenhunt revealed the extent of the injury at his Saturday news conference, saying the five-year starter will require surgery, with an anticipated recovery time that would approach the end of the season.

The 6-6, 324-pound Brown was injured in the first half of Arizona’s 31-27 preseason victory over the Oakland Raiders on Friday night.

Whisenhunt said D’Anthony Batiste and D.J. Young were candidates to take Brown’s spot, and that the team would keep an eye out for players who could become available as other teams make roster moves.

“We’re looking at what could become available over the next couple of weeks and we’ll shuffle some guys around,” Whisenhunt said.

Batiste, entering his seventh NFL season, had been playing mostly right tackle in training camp. Young, an undrafted rookie free agent a year ago, had been listed second on the depth chart behind Brown. Nate Potter, a seventh-round draft pick out of Boise State, was third on the depth chart at left tackle.

Brown, Arizona’s first-round draft pick out of Penn State in 2007, was released by the team March 13 because the Cardinals didn’t want the $17.5 million salary cap hit it would have taken had the Cardinals kept him. But just three days later, Brown re-signed on a five-year, $30 million deal with $12 million guaranteed.

SAINTS Reserve LB out for season METAIRIE, La. - New Orleans Saints reserve linebacker Chris Chamberlain said he is out for the season after injuring his left knee Friday night in an exhibition game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Chamberlain confirmed in postings on his Twitter page that magnetic resonance imaging results from Saturday show he has torn his anterior cruciate ligament.

The linebacker said his knee buckled as he pursued running back Montell Owens during the second quarter.

New Orleans brought in Chamberlain this season as a free agent from St. Louis, where he played under new Saints defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, who was the Rams’ head coach the past three seasons.

Chamberlain was a starter last season in St. Louis, but in New Orleanswas expected to rotate in at weakside linebacker and play on special teams.

FALCONS Dent still sitting out FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. - Atlanta Falcons linebacker Akeem Dent has returned to practice after sustaining a concussion, and the team hopes he’ll be fully cleared by today.

Dent was injured in the Falcons’ first preseason game against Baltimore. He missed the next game and had not practiced until Saturday, when he took part in the noncontact drills.

Coach Mike Smith said Dent must clear one more step in the concussion protocol before he is allowed to take part fully in practice. Dent is expected to take over as the starting middle linebacker in place of Curtis Lofton, who signed with New Orleans.

Also Saturday, cornerback Darrin Walls couldn’t finish practice with what appeared to be a minor quadriceps injury. Receiver Kevin Cone took a big hit late in the day but seemed OK.

LIONS

Special teams lacking BALTIMORE - Jim Schwartz couldn’t hide his contempt for his team’s subpar special-teams play Friday. And if the Lions don’t get better in that area soon, Schwartz knows just how to fix it.

“We got to find better players to be able to execute,” Schwartz said. “LikeI said, you can do all the drills you want. If a guy can’t make the play, he can’t make the play. We got to findguys that can on the kickoff cover and the punt cover. We were poor in those areas. We got lucky because of a couple of penalties.” The Lions had two specialteams penalties and failed to recover a late onside kick in Friday’s 27-12 victory over the Ravens. Baltimore also had two long returns - one for a touchdown - nullified by flags.

Of Schwartz’s threat that jobs could be on the line, receiver Maurice Stovall said, “If that’s what the head coach says then that’s true.” But Stovall and others had a hard time putting a finger on what went wrong Friday.

Stovall blamed himself for not attacking the botched onside kick more, though he was taken out by a wall of Ravens before he could get his hands on the ball. The Lions had breakdowns on both coverage teams.

Coverage ace John Wendling has seen his special-teams role reduced now that he’s starting at safety, rookie Ronnell Lewis, who was drafted to be special-teams contributor, remains in a part-time role, and linebacker Travis Lewis suffered a quad injury on the Lions’ first punt.