The Redskins confirmed today that six-time Pro Bowl left tackle Chris Samuels will announce his retirement tomorrow in a press conference at Redskins Park.

A serious neck injury suffered last season, compounded by pre-existing stenosis, spelled the end of Samuels’ 10-year career. He was the No. 3 pick of the 2000 draft.

The Redskins have known since October that Samuels’s career was over because of the injury he suffered early in an October loss at Carolina.

Wes Welker is recovering well from his offseason surgery from the injury that took place during the final regular season game against the Texans. It’s been three weeks since the key WR had knee surgery to repair a torn left anterior cruciate ligament. With that though, the Boston Herald reports today that he won’t be ready for the start of the 2010 season:

While the early news is extremely encouraging with Welker, counting on him to make it back for the start of the 2010 season remains an unrealistic proposition.

So with that, look for the Pats to take a long look at the wide out spot this weekend at the combine, as well as in the upcoming 2010 NFL Draft. The team made a minor move on Tuesday, bringing in 35, soon to be 36-year-old wide out David Patten. The bottom line though is this team needs to add a WR one way or another to add depth for the 10 season.

Joe Reedy from the Cincinnati Enquirer reported today that 2009 first round pick, Andre Smith, had successful surgery to clean up residual issues from breaking his left foot in training camp.

The article can be read here.

The rehab will take 10 weeks, which will get him back on the field in time for the first OTA’s in May.

Smith missed the majority of the early season, but started to come on strong as the season ended. Reedy points out that Smith was never 100% due to the injury, so the team has yet to see the former Alabama OT at full strength.

The Dolphins received great news today in that star running back Ronnie Brown is ahead of schedule on his journey back from a season ending Lisfranc injury.

Brown should be ready for training camp at this rate, and even at full speed.

Ronnie also said earlier in the week that he wants to remain with the Dolphins, but ” Unfortunately there are decisions that need to be made.”

It sounds to me that it is not Ronnie that will decide if he stays in Miami, but the Trifecta. It sounds to me that Ronnie WANTS to stay in Miami,  but it is a matter of the Trifecta wanting Ronnie to stay in Miami.

A lot of the front offices decision on whether to re-sign Brown after the season or not will depend on whether he can make it through the season injury free for one of the few times in his career.

Injuries piled up in a hurry on defense for the New York Giants last season, and one of the biggest blows was losing starting safety Kenny Phillips after two weeks to a degenerative arthritic condition in his left knee.

He allayed fears that it’s going to be an issue that impacts him this coming season in a report by Mike Garafolo of the Newark Star-Ledger, but Phillips had microfracture surgery after having an impactful start to the season at a position where the Giants were looking for a shining star. New defensive coordinator Perry Fewell has to hope he can return to form.

“It’s fixable, very fixable. A lot of guys have had it,”Phillips told Garafolo. “It should be a full recovery.”

But it’s rare for a player as young as Phillips to have his condition, patellofemoral arthritis, which leads to a hole in the cartilage in the knee. As he continued to play, the hole got larger. He suffered swelling, no pain, and his play suffered.

“I thought it was going to be a great year for me and the team,” he said. “But stuff happens.”

A team spokesman told Garafolo that Phillips is not experiencing swelling and the rehabilitation is going so well that he’s ahead of schedule. He’s now jogging in a pool and they’re not pushing him with the season so far off. Garafolo reports he’s scheduled to run March 29, six months after the surgery.

If he can return to form, Fewell’s job will be easier. No question about that.

Matthew Stafford is coming off a busy Super Bowl week filled with interviews, product promotion and public appearances. Hopefully he enjoyed his time in Florida because he is returning to the wintry wonderland this week to meet with the Lions medical team. The doctors are going to take a look at his surgically repaired knee and injured shoulder. If all goes as expected, they will give him the green light to begin participating in the offseason strength and conditioning program that begins March 15th. He has spent the majority of the offseason in Texas rehabbing both injuries.

The Colts and their fans held their breath on Friday, as their best wide out, Reggie Wayne pulled up short on a pass route. Despite the injury, he is still expected to play in Sunday’s Super Bowl.

The four-time Pro Bowl receiver left practice 20 minutes early after aggravating an injured right knee. Coach Jim Caldwell said Wayne hurt the soft tissue below his kneecap. Wayne is listed as probable and Caldwell plans on him playing against New Orleans. Wayne got through the injury most of the season.

With the Super Bowl a week away, there’s some sad news that has started already for the Colts. Star defensive end Dwight Freeney had a torn ligament which would make it difficult for him to play in the Super Bowl against the high-powered offense of the New Orleans Saints.

“He is under the care of our athletic training staff,” Team Spokesman Craig Kelley said. “Nothing we have seen changes our diagnosis that he is questionable. He has a third-degree, low basketball sprain.”

It means Freeney has a complete tear in the ankle ligament. I see the Dwight playing. I doubt he will not play this game. 100 percent, actually. But even if Freeney does play in my mind, it’s going to be questionable of how effective he will be.

“He has had injuries before where they said [he's] not going to play and he has come back,” Colts tight end Dallas Clark said during the Pro Bowl. “He is a competitor, he is one of the toughest guys on our team and I never expect him to miss anything.”

I think Freeney will be alright. It would be horrible without him. The Colts will lose another important player to squad. There was Bob Sanders and Marlin Jackson. Don’t let it be Dwight this time. Especially if it’s Super Bowl time.

Don’t worry.

Arizona Pro Bowl cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie reported to the Cardinals facility in Tempe on Tuesday to rehab his surgically repaired left knee and leg. He suffered a tear of the MCL ligament and fractured his left tibia in a Divisional Round loss to the New Orleans Saints.

Needless to say, the final three weeks of the 2009 season were not kind to DRC. First, he severely bruised his knee on the third play of a meaningless game against the Green Bay Packers in week 17. At the time, it was unknown whether Rodgers-Cromartie would play in the Wild Card game against the Packers the next week. Of course, he did play through the pain, managing to record an interception on the first play of the game after Karlos Dansby tipped an Aaron Rogers pass attempt.

The next week, however, the season ended for DRC a little earlier than for his teammates. The injury occurred when teammate Gabe Watson accidentally hit DRC while both were attempting to make a play.

The Cardinals training staff was relieved to learn that the injury was not an ACL tear, which would have been significantly more drastic. While the trainers were relieved, DRC lamented that he “still had to have surgery” and “[he] wasn’t happy.”

Despite his understandable frustration, Rodgers-Cromartie is optimistic that he will only be out “three to four months max.” In addition, he hopes the injuries will make him stronger when he returns. “They say you come back bigger and stronger and better,” DRC added, “so if I come back bigger and stronger and better, that’s a plus.” If his projected recovery time is correct, he will be able to participate in organized team activities this summer.