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Titans' LB, QB are in hot water

Titans linebacker Gerald McRath wants to be known for playing the right way, the clean way. So he said yesterday that's why he dropped his appeal of a four-game suspension for violating the NFL policy on performance-enhancing substances.

Titans linebacker Gerald McRath wants to be known for playing the right way, the clean way. So he said yesterday that's why he dropped his appeal of a four-game suspension for violating the NFL policy on performance-enhancing substances.

Quarterback Vince Young, meanwhile, is hopeful that fans and the team will be forgiving in the wake of his visit to a strip club early Sunday in Dallas, where he got into a fight.

Surveillance video footage released by Dallas police show the quarterback and several people talking in a small room before Young attacked someone in the room. Young left before police arrived, but he spoke with officers around 2:30 p.m. Sunday afternoon. He received a misdemeanor assault citation with a fine up to $500, and the NFL is looking into the case.

McRath said he learned in February he had tested positive early in his rookie season, a year in which the fourth-round draft pick out of Southern Mississippi started five games at outside linebacker. Standing in front of his locker, McRath said it was not for steroids, though the NFL did not tell him exactly the substance they found in the positive test.

"I take a number of supplements, but it was something that I took. In actuality, it's still my responsibility," McRath said.

The Titans released a statement from the NFL announcing the suspension near the end of the team's practice yesterday. McRath's unpaid suspension starts Sept. 4, and he cannot return to the roster until Oct. 4 - a day after the Titans host the Denver Broncos.

Coach Jeff Fisher said the Titans were notified of the suspension yesterday morning, but he had known about McRath's appeal.

Young was in Dallas Sunday for an autograph session. He said he was headed back to his hotel when he decided to go out on the town with a friend. They went to Club Onyx, which Young said was a bad decision.

"Just made a mistake, made a mistake even being there and let that guy provoke me into doing what I did," Young said.

Young said he hopes commissioner Roger Goodell doesn't come down hard on him with a suspension because he has owned up to his mistake.

Noteworthy

* New York Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis sat out some plays during practice in protest of his stalled negotiations after initially saying he wasn't feeling well.

"I was just a little lightheaded today, a hamstring pull, too," he said with a chuckle. "Nah, we're going through it right now. There's some things right now and we're starting to get serious. There's two different opinions going on, and I'm going to do what's best for me and my family."

Toward the end of the first practice, he told defensive backs coach Dennis Thurman his head was bothering him and went to the sideline.

Revis is upset over the stalled contract talks, and called it an "insult" that the Jets' offers have contained no guaranteed money.

* Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Kellen Winslow said his rehab from minor offseason knee surgery is going well and he expects to be ready for training camp next month.

* New England fans voted Patriots all-time leading rusher Sam "Bam" Cunningham into the team's hall of fame. Cunningham, older brother of former Eagles quarterback Randall Cunningham, played for the Patriots from 1973 to 1982 and ran for a franchise-best 5,543 yards on 1,385 carries.

* Les Richter, an eight-time Pro Bowl selection for the Los Angeles Rams who became a top NASCAR executive after retiring from the NFL, died at 79.

* Arizona guard Deuce Lutui signed his 1-year qualifying offer from the Cardinals. He had to sign the offer of about $1.8 million by today or the Cardinals would have reduced it to about $588,000 - 110 percent of his 2009 pay. *