The Colts want Adam Vinatieri at full strength later this season, one to two months from now. Until then, they're content using another veteran kicker, Matt Stover.
Indianapolis signed Stover on Wednesday, one day after Vinatieri had arthroscopic surgery to remove a piece of cartilage in his right knee. To clear a roster spot, the Colts made a surprise move by waiving starting defensive tackle Ed Johnson.
"Last week, Adam felt his knee was giving him a little bit of a problem, so he had an MRI," coach Jim Caldwell said. "They saw some loose cartilage in there, and we felt we wanted to get that done now with the bye week. In doing that, we had to look for someone to take his spot and we found Matt Stover."
Losing Vinatieri, the league's best clutch kicker, for four to eight weeks is one thing. He missed training camp after having surgery on his right hip and right knee this summer and though Vinatieri was still hurting last weekend, he managed to make a short field goal in the fourth quarter of Sunday night's 31-9 rout over Tennessee.
Cutting Johnson is an entirely different matter.
He has now been released twice in the past 13 months by the Colts, the first coming in September 2008 after Johnson was arrested on a drug possession charge. He re-signed with the Colts in May as the team tried to beef up its undersized defensive line, and the 6-foot-2, 296-pound third-year player won back his starting job in camp.
Peyton Manning's sore left knee is no longer an issue for the Indianapolis Colts.
The three-time league MVP, who said he needed medical treatment on the knee Sunday night, gave himself a clean bill of health after finishing Wednesday's practice.
Manning said he hurt the knee late in the first half of Sunday's victory at Tennessee, on a play Titans defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch was called for roughing the passer. Manning finished the game, topped 300 yards for the fifth straight time and showed no indication he had been hurt.
Limbaugh out: Conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh has been dropped from a group seeking to buy the St. Louis Rams.
Limbaugh was to be a limited partner in a group headed by St. Louis Blues chairman Dave Checketts. Checketts said in a statement Wednesday that Limbaugh's participation had become a complication in the group's efforts and the bid will move forward without him.
Checketts said he will have no further comment on the bid process.
Limbaugh's bid ran into opposition within the league Tuesday when Colts owner Jim Irsay vowed to vote against him. Commissioner Roger Goodell said the commentator's "divisive" comments would not be tolerated from any NFL insider.
Limbaugh resigned from ESPN's Sunday night broadcast team in 2003 after he made remarks about Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb that were seen as racially insensitive.
Crabtree's debut set: Michael Crabtree will make his NFL debut in his home state.
The San Francisco 49ers' rookie wide receiver is set to take the field for the first time at Houston on Oct. 25 following the team's bye week.
Coach Mike Singletary said Wednesday that Crabtree "will play" against the Texans, which will be merely 21/2 weeks after the 10th overall draft pick finally signed a six-year contract with $17 million guaranteed.
The 49ers (3-2) are integrating Crabtree into the mix with a small package of plays initially, and he will work out at team headquarters all week while his teammates get a break to go home.
Quick kicks: New York Jets wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery missed practice Wednesday because of a hamstring injury and his status for the team's game against Buffalo is uncertain.
Cotchery sat out two days of practice last week, but played at Miami on Monday night and had one catch for 4 yards despite being in for about 30 snaps.
The Chargers released starting strong safety Clinton Hart on Wednesday in order to sign defensive tackle Ian Scott.
The Chargers need depth on the defensive line due to the loss of tackle Jamal Williams, out for the season with a triceps injury.
Hart joined the Chargers in 2004 and has been a starting safety since 2007.
Scott, a seven-year veteran, joined the Chargers last September and appeared in four games. He was released at the conclusion of training camp.
