Indianapolis Colts: Edgerrin James appears to be back in form.

In the first week of training camp, the two-time NFL rushing champ is making moves he couldn't make last season, the year after he underwent surgery on his left knee.

"We've seen the same thing in summer school," Colts president Bill Polian said. "It tells me he's on schedule, and he's back to where he was."

For James, it has been a long, painful and difficult recovery from the injury: a torn anterior cruciate ligament, the worst injury there can be for a running back.

Doctors and coaches warned him it would take two years to heal completely. But last year at training camp, James proclaimed himself 100 percent fit just nine months after the surgery.

Initially he showed glimpses of his Pro Bowl form. As the season wore on, though, things changed. James got nicked up, and eventually wore down.

He sprained both ankles and missed two games. He needed rest during games and practice. He cut cautiously and his typically powerful runs became rare. He was even replaced in short-yardage situations.

He finished the season with 989 yards and a 3.6 average compared to 1,553 and 4.2 and 1,709 and 4.4 in his first two seasons.

"I was coming from a situation of not being able to walk every day," James said. "I was held back, I couldn't do full two-a-days and that gave a false sense of what I could do."

Arizona Cardinals: A day after a visit to the hospital, Bryant Johnson returned, slightly embarrassed and glad to be drawing attention for running pass routes again.

The wide receiver, the No. 17 pick in this year's draft, blamed a few drinks and Flagstaff's 7,000-foot elevation for the queasy feeling that led teammates to call an ambulance early Sunday.

Bryant was examined and released from Flagstaff Regional Medical Center.

"That's probably what it was -- being dehydrated and being at this altitude," the former Penn State star said after practice. "I feel fine now."

He denied drinking excessively during his first weekend at training camp. The Cardinals opened camp on July 25, but Johnson didn't sign his $8 million, five-year contract until Wednesday.

Coach Dave McGinnis, who made a beeline for the player's dormitory when he heard Johnson was ill, said little about the incident.

"It's been dealt with," McGinnis said, refusing to elaborate.

Washington Redskins: Mindful of his reputation, Steve Spurrier was quick to dash any notion that Danny Wuerffel's return is the first stop in yet another year of quarterback carousel.

"We don't have any problems," the Redskins coach said. "Some of you guys may want to create them, but there's no problems on our team who the quarterback is."

After making five starting quarterback changes in his first NFL season a year ago, Spurrier is going with second-year player Patrick Ramsey through thick and thin, at least for now. The plan is for Wuerffel, who joined the team Monday morning at practice, to compete with struggling veteran Rob Johnson for the No. 2 spot.

"Patrick Ramsey is by far our best quarterback," Spurrier said. "Danny gives us some insurance."

Wuerffel, Ramsey and Shane Matthews each got two turns at the starting job a year ago. Wuerffel started four games and was the only quarterback to lose his job due to injury. He completed 58 of 92 passes for 719 yards with three touchdowns and six interceptions.

It had been expected Spurrier would bring Wuerffel back for another season, but Spurrier hesitated because of the backlash he received from signing so many of his former Florida players a year ago.

"We sort of cleared out all the old Gators, to tell you the truth," Spurrier said. "We cleared out, then we started adding back guys to help our team. I told Danny I was sorry it had to work this way."

Denver Broncos: Tackle Blake Brockermeyer was supposed to provide depth to an offensive line that has been plagued by injuries. It didn't take him long to become a starter.

Brockermeyer was listed as the starting left tackle on Denver's first depth chart of training camp Monday, just three days after signing with the Broncos.

It took injuries to Ephraim Salaam and rookie George Foster to get there, but Brockermeyer sees it as a chance to show what he can do after battling injuries last season.

"I haven't seen myself atop of anything," said Brockermeyer, who started one game in 2002. "Until the first game, that's when it counts. Ephraim, if he comes back healthy, I wouldn't be surprised if he was the starter. I guess it depends on how I do and how quick Ephraim comes back."

Salaam is expected to miss two weeks after having arthroscopic surgery on his right knee, and Foster has been out since the first day of camp with a sprained right ankle.

Coach Mike Shanahan said Brockermeyer was listed as the starter to give Cooper Carlisle a chance to alternate between guard and tackle.

New England Patriots: Two rookies will start at cornerback Thursday against the New York Giants in the exhibition opener for both teams.

Second-round draft choice Eugene Wilson of Illinois and fourth-round pick Asante Samuel of Central Florida will start in place of injured veterans Ty Law and Otis Smith.

Law has been limited in practice with an ankle injury. Smith, in his 14th season, is rehabilitating offseason shoulder surgery.

"They've moved along well," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said of the rookie cornerbacks. "They're going to be out there and they're going to get the opportunity to go against whomever the Giants put out there, their best guys, so it will be a good evaluation for them."

Detroit Lions: Wide receiver Charles Rogers dressed in pads and took part in a few light drills at training camp, nearly a week after he dislocated his left ring finger.

"We're going to get those sutures out in a day or two, then he'll be able to do more," coach Steve Mariucci said. "He's out here. He's suited up. He's running routes. He's doing some of those things. He's not fully participating, but after those sutures come out, he'll do more."

Mariucci has said Rogers' availability for Saturday's preseason opener at Ford Field against Pittsburgh would depend on how much he practiced this week.

Rogers was the second overall pick in the draft.

New Orleans Saints: Club officials are hoping that the AstroTurf in the Superdome will be replaced, if not this season by the next, with a state-of-the art synthetic grass like the rubberized type that carpets the team's practice facility.

"Basically, the sooner the better," Saints general manager Mickey Loomis said. "If there was a way it could be done this year, we'd be absolutely in favor of that."

But engineering challenges make a switch unlikely this season, said Doug Thornton, regional general manager of SMG, which runs the Dome. It's reasonable, though, to expect the Superdome to install a new synthetic-grass field for the 2004 season, Thornton said.

"I'm more convinced than ever that it can be done," he said.

The Saints practice on FieldTurf, one of several brands of what Thornton called "in-fill turf systems," in which ground rubber and sand fill in space between fibers of synthetic grass. FieldTurf is about 20 percent sand and 80 percent rubber, Thornton said. Other systems, such as AstroPlay, the surface at the University of Illinois, where the Chicago Bears played last season, are mainly rubber.