FOOTBALL

COWART MAY NOT RETURN FOR BILLS GAME One day after it appeared the Jets would get Sam Cowart back into the lineup for Sunday’s game at Buffalo, the outlook became less optimistic.

Though Cowart, who has missed the last five games with a sprained left knee, is still listed as probable on the injury report, both coach Herman Edwards and Cowart didn’t sound like he was ready.

“I’d rather make sure I’m right before I get out there,” Cowart said yesterday. “That’s my concern. I want to come back rolling. I don’t want to come back trying to feel my way around. I’d rather wait that extra week or wait one more game to make sure I’m ready to roll.”

Edwards sounded as uncertain about Cowart’s status as the player himself, calling it a “game-time decision” on whether Cowart will play against the Bills.

EAGLES GIVE BROWN SIX-TEAR EXTENSION

Sheldon Brown signed a six-year extension with Philadelphia yesterday, keeping the second-year cornerback with the Eagles through the 2012 season. Brown received a $7.5 million signing bonus and the contract is worth $30 million over the six seasons, agent Jason Chayut told The Associated Press.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

SPURRIER DOESN’T WANT FLORIDA JOB

Steve Spurrier felt his time with the Florida Gators had passed.

After spending more than a week thinking about it, Spurrier decided yesterday to remove his name from consideration to replace Ron Zook.

The Gators won six Southeastern Conference championships and the 1996 national title under Spurrier. He posted 122 victories over 12 seasons, tormented opponents with his offensive flair and witty one-liners, and left town with the best winning percentage in league history.

Zook, who was hired in 2002 when Spurrier left to coach the Washington Redskins, was fired last week after the latest in a series of embarrassing losses. Spurrier, who quit the Redskins after two losing seasons, was widely considered the leading candidate for the open job.

Some close to the 59-year-old Spurrier say he doesn’t want his coaching career to end on a losing note, and predict he will give the NFL another shot. It could come soon. With yesterday’s announcement there was almost immediate speculation that Spurrier would end up in Miami with the Dolphins – even though Dave Wannstedt has not been fired.

BASEBALL

EXHIBITIONS TO BE PLAYED IN DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

The major leagues plan to put some 2005 spring training games in the Dominican Republic, returning exhibition baseball to the country after a five-year absence.

Baseball “wants to strengthen its ties with the Dominican Republic,” said Lou Melendez, the commissioner’s international operations director. No dates or teams were announced.

Major league teams last played spring training games in the Caribbean country in 2000, when the Boston Red Sox played the Houston Astros twice. Major League Baseball has held eight exhibition tours in the capital of Santo Domingo since 1936.

BELTRAN SEEKING TEN-YEAR DEAL

Houston Astros free agent center fielder Carlos Beltran is seeking a 10-year contract, his agent, Scott Boras, told a television station yesterday.

Boras said Beltran is also interested in a couple of teams other than the Astros, but he did not name them. He declined to discuss salary figures.

Only a handful of teams will be able to afford the 27-year-old All-Star’s soaring price tag — the Yankees are chief among his suitors. The Chicago Cubs are also said to be interested.

SOCCER

STRIKER MUTU BANNED FOR SEVEN MONTHS

Former Chelsea striker Adrian Mutu was suspended for seven months and fined about $35,000 by the English Football Association yesterday after testing positive for cocaine.

The FA will ask world governing body FIFA to extend the 25-year-old Romanian’s ban worldwide. FIFA had no immediate comment.

Mutu tested positive at Chelsea’s practice facility in September. He acknowledged taking a recreational drug and his contract was terminated last month by Chelsea for “gross misconduct.”

Mutu has accepted his guilt, started rehabilitation, and promised to accept any punishment. Mutu was widely reported to have tested positive for cocaine, but he said he used a drug to enhance sexual performance. Chelsea criticized the FA’s ruling, saying Mutu got off too easily.

TENNIS

RODDICK, HENMAN UPSET AT PARIS MASTERS

Top-seeded Andy Roddick and defending champion Tim Henman were upset in the third round of the Paris Masters yesterday.

Roddick lost 7-6 (2), 6-2 to qualifier Max Mirnyi, while Henman was beaten 7-5, 6-1 by unseeded Mikhail Youzhny.

Henman, meanwhile, lost his last five service games. Youzhny, who recently won his second career title at St. Petersburg, faces a quarterfinal against Radek Stepanek, a 6-2, 6-3 winner over no. 17 Vince Spadea.

In other action, second-seeded Lleyton Hewitt reached the quarterfinals when no. 14 Nicolas Massu quit with a thigh injury while trailing 4-3 in the first set, no. 13 Guillermo Canas beat Tommy Haas 7-6 (4), 6-2, and Feliciano Lopez defeated no. 11 Andrei Pavel 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. Pavel was last year’s runner-up.

HOCKEY

LECAVALIER SIGNS WITH RUSSIAN TEAM

Vincent Lecavalier signed with a Russian team yesterday to play during the NHL lockout and said Tampa Bay Lightning teammate Brad Richards will be joining him. Russia’s AK Bars Kazan already signed other NHL stars such as Atlanta’s Ilya Kovalchuk, the Rangers’ Darius Kasparaitis, Anaheim’s Ruslan Salei, and Columbus’s Fred Brathwaite. Lecavalier was the MVP of the World Cup of Hockey and helped Tampa Bay win its first Stanley Cup last season. .

– Associated Press