NFL Player News

Buccaneers running back Doug Martin, who's coming back from a torn labrum, said his shoulder is quickly getting back to normal.

"I feel great, my arm is about to get cleared this week," Martin told the Tampa Bay Times. "I'm just getting my strength back. It's been too long since I've been out of the game."

Ravens running back Bernard Pierce said his surgically-repaired rotator cuff is improving and that he'll be ready for training camp, reports the Baltimore Sun. Pierce averaged just 2.9 yards per carry last season following an impressive rookie year in which he averaged 4.9 yards per tote.

Buccaneers running back Doug Martin expects to be medically cleared in time for the start of organized team activities next week, after recovering from surgery to repair a torn labrum that ended his season.

Martin was struggling even before the injury last season, rushing for 456 yards one 127 carries in six games. He is expected to remain the top running back on the depth chart for the 2014 season.

A need for speed in the backfield could motivate the Jets to pursue running back Chris Johnson if he is released by Tennessee as anticipated, according to ESPN.

Johnson would not serve as the featured runner, but would provide a nice complement to power back Chris Ivory. He has exceeded 1,000 yards rushing every season since 2008, but took a step back last year by averaging a career-low 3.9 YPC.

The Titans "very likely" will release running back Chris Johnson next week, reports CBS Sports NFL Insider Jason La Canfora. Johnson would draw strong interest as a free agent, the report said, despite averaging a career-worst 3.9 yards per carry last season.

Cardinals coach Bruce Arians expounded this week on his plan to build the offense around second-year running back Andre Ellington.

"He is still not a guy who you will pound up the middle 30 times a game and survive," Arians said at the NFL owners meetings. "He can run the football 30 times a game if you do it correctly, but you'd rather have him have 10 catches and 20 carries and let Stepfan Taylor or (Jonathan) Dwyer have the rest of the carries."

As excited as he is about Ellington, Arians said the offense must be diverse.

"You've got to watch that you don't create too much stuff and then he sprains an ankle and you don't have any offense because you put too much in one basket," Arians said. "You still have to have your cinch-it-up, grind-it-out football.”

Titans running back Chris Johnson plans to be at all of the team's offseason workouts, even if the team doesn't have him in their plans for the upcoming season.

"Yeah, I plan on being there," Johnson told The Tennessean Tuesday. "If I haven't been traded or released by that time, I will show up in Nashville and be ready to go from day one with the team. There's been a lot of speculation about the future, and where I'll be. But I am under contract with the Tennessee Titans. That's my team. And whatever team I am with when the offseason program starts, that is where I am showing up."

Johnson has been the subject of numerous trade rumors, and the Titans are reportedly considering parting ways with him even if a trade cannot be found. Johnson is due $8 million next season, with two years remaining on the contract worth $15 million after that.

The Titans are still exploring their options with Johnson, and aren't planning to rush the decision after having failed to find a suitor so far. Johnson is recovering from surgery to repair a torn meniscus, and was able to run for the first time Monday as part of his recovery.

"I don't know what’s going to happen," Johnson said. "Right now I am focusing on getting back to 100 percent and being ready."

Colts coach Chuck Pagano said Tuesday at the NFL owners meetings that he's looking forward to the competition at running back between Trent Richardson, Ahmad Bradshaw and Vick Ballard .

"It’s going to be great competition, I know that," Pagano said. "Certainly with Trent, Ahmad and Vick coming back. It’s a good problem that we have. It’s going to create great competition at the position."

Pagano said the health for Bradshaw (neck) and Ballard (ACL) will determine their usage early on this season. Both finished last year on injured reserve.

"We know what Trent is capable of doing," Pagano said. "Trent is going to be so much better in our second season with us. Just having an offseason, knowing the offense and feeling more comfortable and knowing the pieces around him and having chemistry with our offensive line. There’s going to be great competition there. You have to have one guy you call your bell cow, who is going to get the lion's share of the snaps. We have a lot of options there. It's good to have multiple backs."

Pagano said bringing back Bradshaw was a no-brainer.

"You watched him play," Pagano said. "The guy is a warrior, he's a fierce, fierce competitor and I knew once he got the diagnosis, knew what he had to go through from a rehab standpoint that there was no question once the doctor said you're going to be fine he'd come back. That's in his DNA. He doesn't know anything else. He doesn't want to do anything else."

Titans coach Ken Whisenhunt told the media assembled at the NFL Owners Meeting on Tuesday that Chris Johnson's situation with the team was "a process." The team is currently trying to trade the running back, and they have time to do so given that they don't owe him any of his $8 million salary until the season starts. 

"There's not a timetable on doing it. We're trying to do what's best for the team," Whisenhunt said per The Tennessean. "We're certainly sensitive to try and resolve this whole deal sooner than later. It's just a process that you go through."

Whisenhunt said this is simply a part of making the team better. He wouldn't say if he had talked to Johnson since news broke of a possible trade. 

Raiders coach Dennis Allen said Tuesday at the NFL owners meetings that he's not sure what second-year running back Latavius Murray is capable of, but he's looking forward to finding out.

Murray missed his entire rookie year with an ankle injury, but he's expected to compete for a role as the No. 2 running back behind Darren McFadden this season.

"Latavius is a guy that I think has a lot of potential," Allen said. "When you look at him from an athletic standpoint, he’s a little over 6-2, he’s about 230 pounds and ran a 4-3 40-yard dash. He had the injury last year, and he was never really (healthy). When I saw the tape from him in college, I was very impressed with him as a runner. He's a big, physical back that has excellent footwork and lateral movement. And he has good vision.

"The problem is I never really saw Latavius Murray from the time that he walked on campus. Because really even then in the rookie minicamp he wasn't 100 percent healthy. From all indications, he’s healthy now, and so I’m excited to see what he can do."