Bob Harlan

The nightmare on the offensive line continued for the Jacksonville Jaguars on Wednesday when their only healthy starting veteran, center John Wade, was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his right foot. The injury will keep him out at least three weeks and is yet another piece of amazingly bad luck for the Jaguar line. "I don't think the term is 'beat up,' " Coach Tom Coughlin said. "I think there are various injuries, all different kinds, in all different areas, some of which have been flukes.

Barry McCaffrey, President Clinton's top drug policy advisor, said Monday the muscle-building supplement that Mark McGwire made famous should be classified as a steroid "within a few months." Making a speech to the Citizenship Through Sports Alliance in Arlington, Va., McCaffrey said, "I've got to do something about andro. I've got to get valid testing completed, and I bet that's the way it comes out: that andro is a steroid."

Steve Atwater, an eight-time Pro Bowl player, already has something to prove with the New York Jets. "The former team I played with, I think they felt like I couldn't play anymore," said Atwater, 32, who signed a three-year, $8.3-million contract with the Jets on Tuesday after he was cut by the Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos two weeks ago. "I'd like to show them and show the world that Steve Atwater can still play football."

Where others see question marks, Brett Favre sees potential exclamation points for the Green Bay Packers this year. Of course, Favre also thought he saw plenty of big plays developing on the field last year -- and 29 of them fizzled into interceptions. Favre opened his 16th training camp by proclaiming this year's Packers "the most talented team that I've been a part of," a pronouncement as bold, improbable and perhaps ill-advised as many of his trademark off-balance touchdown passes.

The New York Giants, who in the Super Bowl edged the Buffalo Bills by a single point, are gearing up to be more dominant this time. Tinkering with the NFL's most conservative attack, the Giants have added the Bill Walsh short-pass, ball-control offense to their famous ball-control running game. "I expect that it will take us most of the summer to nail it down," the champions' new coach, Ray Handley, said the other day.

Barry Sanders and Terrell Davis have earned headlines with their rush for 2,000 yards. But if the reason they play this game is to win, then in the next few weeks the coronation of Brett Favre as the greatest quarterback to play the game should be official with his selection as the NFL's most valuable player for a record third consecutive year.

Baltimore's chances of regaining the Colts nickname and horseshoes seem be fading. Indianapolis is making a bid to keep the Colts, and owner Jim Irsay doesn't seem keen on moving. Last week, the Indianapolis City Council voted for a 1% increase in the auto rental tax to fund renovations at the RCA Dome. At a Tuesday meeting, it's expected the city will make more concessions.

Like a cyclist who can't shake his pursuers, the Tour de France continues to be dogged by the cloud of doping. Race leader Michael Rasmussen became the latest rider to face scrutiny on Friday when he had to answer why he had been kicked off the Danish national team for failing to report his whereabouts for drug-testing purposes. "I do admit that I've committed an administrative error," Rasmussen said.

About five times during the Monday night game, you half-expected the Orchard Park, N.Y., police to storm Rich Stadium, chase down Sam Wyche and handcuff him to the Bengals' bench. Maybe somewhere, sometime, a coach in the NFL has been more out of control, but it's doubtful. Wyche was so maniacal, so combative, so absolutely without discipline, he made an otherwise unwatchable game compelling. The referee should have been empowered to slap a straitjacket on him.