Goodell interested in permanent London franchise
As the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have expressed interest in helping boost the NFL's profile in London with annual trips, commissioner Roger Goodell told British fans he wants to build a fan base large enough to support a permanent NFL team.
Having a routine presence in London by specific teams is a goal and could be a "very powerful" draw, Goodell told fans in a Q-and-A advancing the Chicago Bears-Bucs game Sunday.
"(It would) lead us to what we ultimately would like to do—have a franchise here in London."
While the Bucs have said they would not be interested in leaving Tampa permanently to expand the NFL to London, their ownership, the Glazer family, also owns the Manchester United soccer team. So the Bucs have interest in becoming one of the regular teams Goodell is seeking for return trips as the NFL will play in England for the next five years, the commissioner said.
"I think they recognize that the growth of the league is important and they've been leaders in this area," Goodell said. "I think they want to see the Bucs become a global franchise and I think that's a great thing for Tampa and a great thing for the NFL."
Travel issues could provide an obstacle to a permanent franchise. Just this week, there have been debates about the best way for a team to prepare for the unusually long trip—with Tampa Bay opting to travel early in the week to get settled and the Bears choosing to arrive Friday to keep their routine as normal as possible.
The Bucs are the first team to make a return trip to London. The game is not sold out at Wembley Stadium, and Goodell said he considered the late ticket sales due to the lockout as a factor.
—Cook reportedly arrested; Vikings acknowledge incident
The Minnesota Vikings acknowledged an incident involving cornerback Chris Cook, who was arrested early Saturday morning, according to a report on 1500 ESPN Twin Cities radio.
Cook was held without bail on two charges of domestic assault and had a court appearance scheduled for Monday morning, the station reported.
"The Minnesota Vikings are aware of the incident involving Chris Cook," the team said in a statement. "We take this matter very seriously and are still gathering all the details of the incident. We will not have any further comment at this time."
There was no immediate word as to whether Cook would be available to play Sunday against the Green Bay Packers.
The cornerback, who was expected to start Sunday's game, was arrested last March on a charge of brandishing a firearm during a fight, but was acquitted of the charge two months later.
—Bradford out, Feeley to start for Rams
As had been anticipated during the week, A.J. Feeley will be the St. Louis Rams starting quarterback for Sunday's game against the Dallas Cowboys.
The Rams officially announced Saturday that injured starter Sam Bradford was out after he missed practice this week with a high ankle sprain.
Feeley, who hasn't started an NFL game since 2007 with Philadelphia, took the first-team reps all week for the struggling Rams.
St. Louis added Tom Brandstater from their practice squad as insurance at quarterback and waived receiver Nick Miller.
—Colts sign Tepper, waive Evans
The Indianapolis Colts signed offensive tackle Mike Tepper and waived running back Darren Evans.
Tepper was signed to the team's practice squad after training camp and had been placed on the active roster on Oct. 3, making his NFL debut against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 4.
Evans was signed as an undrafted free agent in July. He was inactive for the first two games and was signed to the practice squad on Sept. 22. He played on special teams in his NFL debut against the Cincinnati Bengals last week after getting placed on the active roster on Oct. 11.
