Sports - Pancake Blocks: Don't worry about Portis ... yet

Clinton Portis has patella tendinitis, which is an expensive way to say his knee hurts. It's often used used as a generic catch-all phrase in sports when nothing serious is going on. By midseason, half the running backs in the league probably have it. Of course we've also found it's a placeholder term, something to use until a team finds out what is really wrong.

If it's just tendinitis, Portis will be fine well before training camp. It's not the greatest news considering he's coming off shoulder and hand surgeries.

If the injury lingers and impedes Portis' preparation for the season, then we ranked him too highly in our first magazine. Any lingering problems will give Joe Gibbs an excuse to use Ladell Betts more often. It's still mid-May. Keep an eye on Portis, but don't panic yet.

Portis' teammate Lemar Marshall is out of a starting job for now. Rocky McIntosh is set to be the weak-side linebacker in Washington, with London Fletcher taking over the middle. The Redskins have always been a fine source of tackles in IDP leagues. Don't be surprised if Marshall ends up starting, though, because Marcus Washington could struggle in his return from hip surgery. If that happens, the Redskins would be awfully light.

No team has more veterans skip OTAs than the Ravens. After reading about Brian Billick's veteran-friendly approach in Next Man Up, it's not a surprise.

Our new Fantasy Fix videos are up. The new presentation is fancy. As are the widgets at the side of this blog. Good work.

A nice look at the issues facing the Bears heading into their minicamp. Chicago, like Seattle last year, has a huge advantage in their quest to return to the playoffs after winning the NFC. Their division is terrible. They should fatten up on the Lions, Packers, and Vikings.

I love this Rod Marinelli quote. He was asked if he's being overly positive for May.

"That's OK," he said. "It's just me. It's what I see. I'm out here. I look, I see it. I'm not going to under sell. I'm going to overrate."

Brett Favre has demanded a trade again.

The Vikings doctor says that Adrian Peterson faces no more riskof hurting his collarbone than any player. That defies logic after he broke it twice in three months, but who am I to argue? I think Chester Taylor still gets a little boost because of Peterson's injury history, but it looks like the rookie will be rarin' to go in Week 1. Peterson immediately becomes Minnesota's best skill position player.

Only in Philadelphia could there be daily updates about a fictional football tournament. I like McNabb to take down Vermeil's Eagles in a mild upset. That Eagles team was good enough to win the Super Bowl in most years.