After an 18-16 loss to Romo and the Cowboys on Monday night, Hall was taking shots at a referee and his own coaches for what happened on the late drive that ended with Dallas rookie Dan Bailey kicking his sixth field goal with 1:47 left.

The drive was extended when Romo avoided a rush on a third-and-21 play and hit Dez Bryant for a 30-yard completion. Bryant was dragged down by Hall, who was flagged for a facemask penalty that tacked another 15 yards on the play.

“I told the ref after that call, that might have been his worst call of the game,” Hall said during an expletive-filled rant. “He’s going to get demerit points for that call. Because that wasn’t no facemask.”

On the play the Redskins had eight men on the line, another thing that irked Hall.

“Sooner or later, someone’s going to (expletive) figure it out,” Hall said. “You don’t have to be a rocket scientist. … The end result was a first down.”

Coach Mike Shanahan said it’s easy to second-guess everything.

“We had a chance to have a sack there. He did a good job scrambling and made a play,” Shanahan said. “It happens. That’s the nature of the game. It didn’t work.”

The Redskins’ final chance to score ended when Grossman was hit from behind by Anthony Spencer and fumbled in the final minute.

“We had pressure. He made a play when he had to. That wasn’t the difference in the game,” Shanahan said. “We’re going to find out what type of football team we have. When you lose like that it hurts. We don’t have time to feel sorry for yourself.”

The announcement came not long after the Colts turned to third-string quarterback, Curtis Painter, in the fourth quarter of their Sunday night loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. The loss dropped the Colts to 0-3 on the season, and without Manning, it seems unlikely the Colts will make the playoffs for a 10th consecutive season.

Sources at the meeting told WISH-TV Manning would not resume practice until December and may not play again until 2012.

Irsay later used his Twitter account to clarify his statements at the breakfast.

“I didn’t say Peyton out 4season FOR SURE, keeping him on ActiveRoster n taking it month by month/Outside chance of return n December possible,” he tweeted.

Commissioner Roger Goodell reportedly was at the meeting and did not comment on the matter.

While the tone coming out of Monday’s meeting appears bleak, NFL Network insider Jason La Canfora, citing a team source, reports the Colts currently have no plans to put Manning on injured reserve. They will make a determination on Manning’s status as he continues to progress. How the Colts’ season plays out — if it’s unlikely that they’ll play meaningful football in December — will also factor into the club’s decision.

“There has been no change in Peyton Manning’s status since our last statement on September 8th,” the Colts said in a statement. ”He is in the process of healing and rehabbing from his recent surgery. The team will inform everyone when that status changes.”

La Canfora also reports Colts coach Jim Caldwell plans to address Manning’s situation during his Monday press conference.

Manning underwent neck surgery Sept. 8, and the club has been reluctant to divulge anything definitive in regard to a timetable for a possible return.

NFL Network’s Michael Lombardi confirmed Wednesday that the Patriots have signed Mankins to a six-year contract. By signing Mankins to the long-term deal, the Patriots also lowered the six-year veteran’s salary cap number, according to Lombardi. The story

Patriots owner Robert Kraft hinted to reporters early Wednesday that Mankins, who was set to play under a one-year, franchise-tag tender contract worth $10 million, would soon be signed to a long-term deal.

“Probably you’ll see our good friend, Logan Mankins, will be signed up soon, hopefully, to be a Patriot for life,” Kraft said, according to the team’s website.

The value of the six-year deal was not known, but a source told the Boston Herald that Mankins will be the highest-paid interior offensive lineman in the league.

Yahoo! Sports reported Wednesday that the Patriots got some help in paying Mankins from recently acquired defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth. Citing a source familiar with the deal, the website reported that Haynesworth, who was due to earn $5.4 million in 2011, reduced his base salary to $1.5 million.

He can earn the money back in incentives, including $1 million if he plays in 20 percent of the plays and an additional $590,000 when he hits 45 percent, 50 percent, 55 percent, 60 percent and then 65 percent, according to the report. He can also earn $400,000 if he makes the Pro Bowl.

Haynesworth was traded from the Washington Redskins to New England for a late-round draft choice. The Patriots could not be reached for comment.

A first-round draft pick of the Patriots in 2005, Mankins sat out the first eight weeks of the 2010 season after holding out over his status as a restricted free agent. Mankins signed his tender and reported to the team on Nov. 2 and started the final nine games of the season.

He was still named as a starter in the Pro Bowl, his third career selection.

Mankins had criticized the Patriots organization just before starting his holdout on June 14, 2010, the day before the team’s minicamp began. He said the club asked him to play in 2009, the final year of his original five-year contract, and they would address his contract concerns after that season. He also said he wanted to be traded.

“Growing up, I was taught a man’s word is his bond,” he said in June 2010. “Obviously, this isn’t the case with the Patriots.”

He later apologized.

Mankins also was one of 10 players who were plaintiffs in an antitrust lawsuit filed against the NFL a few hours before the lockout began.

“All I know is,” Kraft said Wednesday, “any face-to-face discussions I’ve had (with Mankins) or any private discussions have all been positive.”

Matthews, who had 13.5 sacks during the season and 3.5 more during Packers’ run to the Super Bowl title, mentioned the injury while answering a question about how much the Packers will miss departed defensive lineman Cullen Jenkins, who signed with the Philadelphia Eagles.

“I don’t make a big deal of it,” Matthews said Tuesday. “(It happened) some time in the middle of the season. You can’t do anything about it. I was just taking practices off and showing up on gameday and giving it my all.”

Matthews was listed on the injury report every week from Week 9 through the NFC Championship Game as probable with a shin injury, which in fact was a lower-leg stress fracture.

Jenkins’ presence last season seemingly helped Matthews, who had 14 of his 17 sacks during the 15 games that Jenkins played. In the five games Jenkins missed because of injury, Matthews made just three sacks.

“I also had a stress fracture in four of those games,” Matthews said. “But nobody knows that. I had a stress fracture in my leg. A sore shin as you guys call it, but that’s all right. Obviously, I’m not making excuses. Cullen is a terrific athlete, and we’re definitely going to take a hit in our defensive line, but at the same time I think they have confidence in the guys coming up.”

Matthews, who also has struggled with hamstring issues during each of his first two NFL seasons — both of which resulted in Pro Bowl berths, took a different approach to his offseason training this year, including much more cardiovascular work. As a result, he arrived at Packers camp weighing six pounds less than in 2010.

“This offseason, I put an emphasis on really coming in here in great cardio shape and make sure I had done everything that I possibly could to say, ‘Hey, this is how we’re going to prevent injuries,’” Matthews said. “That’s the nature of the beast. You’re going to get injured in this game, but I feel good. I feel good about where I’m at headed into my third year and feel like I can definitely outdo what I’ve put on paper and on film the last two years.”

“I hadn’t been drinking,” Jones told WCPO-TV after he exited jail. “I was with my wife. It was her birthday.

“It don’t make no sense,” added Jones, who’ll be arraigned Monday. “There is no reason why I should have got locked up. No reason.”

Police said Jones, 27, needed to be escorted out of a downtown Cincinnati bar after repeatedly being asked to calm down. Jones went outside but allegedly yelled profanities and gestured wildly, leading police to arrest him. Jones allegedly tried to escape his handcuffs, so two officers had to restrain him before taking him to Hamilton County Jail around 3 a.m.

Jones, who’s wearing a neck brace while he recovers from an injury that ended his 2010 season, questioned how he could resist arrest in his physical condition.

“I just had surgery,” Jones told WCPO-TV. “So why would I be resisting arrest? It doesn’t make sense for me to resist arrest.”

It’s Jones’ second run-in with police in Cincinnati. Last fall, they questioned him after he drove his vehicle over a downtown curb to avoid an obstacle, but they later apologized to him, saying it was a mistake and he’d done nothing wrong.

Jones, whose NFL career has been marred by his off-the-field troubles, acknowledged Sunday “the only thing I can do is apologize,” but he vowed, “I’m going to take this to another step.”

“It’s ridiculous,” Jones said. “… I did not yell profanities at the police, and at the end of the day … I’m the bad guy.”

A Bengals spokesman told The Associated Press the team had no comment. The team is prohibited from having contact with Jones because of the NFL lockout.

It’s just the latest off-the-field issue for Jones. He was arrested six times and involved in 12 instances requiring police intervention while with the Tennessee Titans from 2005 to 2007. He was suspended for the 2007 season under the NFL’s personal-conduct policy.

The Dallas Cowboys traded for Jones in 2008, but he got into trouble again, drawing a six-game suspension for an alcohol-related scuffle with a team-provided bodyguard. The Cowboys released Jones after the 2008 season, and he sat out the next year before signing a two-year deal with the Bengals in May 2010.

Jones appeared in five games for Cincinnati last season, totaling 14 tackles and one interception. He also returned a fumble for a touchdown before a neck injury ended his campaign.

“In a recent radio interview a caller got really confrontational with me. I got very heated with the caller, took it a bit too far and did not mean to offend anybody. I meant no disrespect and a better choice of words was needed,” Jackson said through a spokesman.

Jackson made the comments June 30 on the “All Out Show” with Rude Jude and Lord Sear on Sirius XM’s “Shade 45″ — an Eminem-styled hip-hop channel. When a caller identifying himself as “Troy in Tennessee” asked a question that rubbed Jackson the wrong way, the wideout responded with an off-color slur, according to Philadelphia Daily News.

Before filing the statement, Jackson appeared to react aggressively to the growing firestorm on Twitter on Saturday, writing: “WANNA BRING ME DOWN BUT IM OK!! THEY TRYIN KNOCC ME OFF BUT IM STILL ON!!”

Tweeted Jackson: “THEY LOOKN 2 TAKE YA DOWN AT ALL TIMES NO MATTER HOW POSITIVE AND WHAT U DO!! ITS ALWAYS AWAY THEY TRY TO GET YA…. IM STANDIN TALL”

In a later series of tweets on Saturday, however, a considerably more polished Jackson appeared contrite.

“I am sorry for using words that I know to be hurtful and unacceptable in a recent radio interview.” he wrote. “Intolerance is unacceptable and I apologize to anyone I have offended. … I have made a mistake and would like to make it clear that words I used meant no disrespect to the Gay and Lesbian community.”

Jackson has emerged as one of the top playmakers in football, both on special teams and as Michael Vick’s favorite deep target. Jackson finished last season with 47 catches for 1,056 yards and six touchdowns.

“It’s doing really good. It’s healed up,” Roethlisberger said. “Obviously, it helps when I’m not cutting and planting and doing all of these different activities. It’s really come a long way. I haven’t had too many problems with it recently.”

Roethlisberger suffered through much of 2010 with the foot injury, which he aggravated during a game against the Buffalo Bills in November, saying “there were times during practice and games where I didn’t feel like I’d be able to walk.”

The seven-year veteran and two-time Super Bowl winner wore a cleat fitted with a pair of metal plates both in games and practices, right up through the team’s loss to the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XLV. He didn’t miss a snap last season because of the injury, throwing for 3,200 yards and 17 touchdowns.

“I could have had surgery (after last season), but according to the doctors, it would have been a really nasty process because of where the break was. It was better off trying not to do anything,” Roethlisberger said. “It’s going to be something where we’re just going to have to, in essence, play it by ear. If it continues to be as painful as it was at the end of last year, then I’m going to probably have to have the surgery.”

Roethlisberger has been able to focus on football this offseason, free from off-the-field issues that plagued him a year ago. He recently told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that he gathered offensive players for workouts earlier this offseason but kept the proceedings undercover.

“We’ve worked out, linemen, running backs, tight ends, everybody. All of the offense,” Roethlisberger said. “… We’ve had some good progress, just to kind of refresh people’s memories on audible calls or no-huddle calls, little things like that.”

The parties will return to the bargaining table next week for a fifth round of clandestine talks at an undisclosed location. Meanwhile, the NFL Players Association will concurrently stage its replacement for the NFL’s canceled rookie symposium — entitled “The Business of Football: Rookie Edition” — in Bradenton, Fla.

Next week’s talks follow sessions held in suburban Chicago (May 31-June 2), New York’s Long Island (June 7-8), Maryland’s Eastern Shore (June 14-15) and suburban Boston (June 22-23).

As has been the case throughout the last month, talks between the league and players haven’t been limited to face-to-face discussions. And one person involved estimated that at least five hours of work go into each set of talks.

As they departed the latest meeting in Hull, Mass., on Thursday, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith stood side-by-side and acknowledged the importance of gathering key people from each side under the same roof.

“Someone asked me if I was optimistic — I think we’re both optimistic when we have the right people in the room,” Smith said. “We know we’re talking about the right issues, and we’re working hard to get it done. It’s extremely complicated. It requires a lot of hard work by a lot of people. But we’re committed to getting something done. And we’re going to keep working at it.”

Smith and Goodell have been joined by Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson, New York Giants owner John Mara, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, New York Jets fullback Tony Richardson, Baltimore Ravens cornerback Domonique Foxworth and Indianapolis Colts center Jeff Saturday, as well as U.S. Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan (who’s overseeing the talks), as constants.

One NFC team executive said Wednesday night that he believed the sides were “within striking distance” of a deal. However, another AFC team executive said: “There are enough legitimate issues to where it could all fall down still. They’re dealing with that stuff.”

One such issue is the rookie salary system, which was broached for the first time Thursday since the secret meetings began May 31. The parties have spent much of the last four weeks discussing the biggest issue, which is how to split revenue and account for growth in the players’ take.

Trust had long been seen as an issue, but it might not be as much anymore. The “all revenue” model, which takes much of the guesswork out of calculating the split, has quelled many of the players’ concerns. On the other side, league sources indicate Smith has won the owners’ trust and respect over the last four weeks, a major development as the sides work toward a deal.

The Kansas City Chiefs said Tuesday that they are collecting bottled water and contributing $35,000 to assist victims of devastating tornadoes in Reading, Kan., and Joplin, Mo.

The Chiefs also are teaming with the Salvation Army to collect financial donations for Heart-to-Heart International.

Team employees announced that they would accept bottled-water donations at Arrowhead Stadium on Tuesday and Wednesday. Owner Clark Hunt, general manager Scott Pioli and other team officials planned to help load the trucks Wednesday.

More than 100 people were killed in the tornado that hit Joplin on Sunday. Earlier, one man died and dozens of homes were destroyed in the eastern Kansas community of Reading.

The St. Louis Rams plan to get involved with the relief effort after general manager Billy Devaney and coach Steve Spagnuolo return from the NFL Spring Meeting in Indianapolis. The Rams coaching staff helped in cleanup efforts in St. Louis County from a tornado that devastated entire neighborhoods last month.

The Springfield (Mo.) Cardinals, a minor-league baseball team, will collect fan donations before their games during their current homestand with a formal presentation Friday to representatives of Convoy of Hope, a disaster relief agency.

The Indianapolis Colts, Lucas Oil Products and the American Red Cross of Greater Indianapolis also are involved. The team asked fans to donate bottled water, disposable diapers or money.

“I feel good,” Collie told The Indianapolis Star in a story for Sunday’s editions. “I feel like my routes are crisp and I’m catching the ball well. I’m doing all the little things.”

After what Collie went through last season, Colts vice chairman Bill Polian wants to be sure his wide receiver is healthy before declaring him ready to go.

“I don’t know if you can say that (Collie is back) until he gets on the field and actually plays,” Polian said. “Thus far, all the signs are positive.”

Collie was among the NFL leaders in receptions until hurting his right thumb Oct. 17 against the Washington Redskins. Surgery forced Collie to sit out the Colts next game.

He returned Nov. 7 against Philadelphia but left in the first half after Eagles defensive back Kurt Coleman lowered his shoulder to hit Collie and inadvertently had a helmet-to-helmet collision. Collie lay motionless on the field for about 10 minutes before being placed on a backboard and taken off the field on a stretcher.

Collie, who never had concussion issues prior to the Eagles game, returned Nov. 21 against New England but left in the first quarter with concussion-like symptoms.

He returned Dec. 19 only to suffer another frightening injury late in the second quarter against the Jacksonville Jaguars. On that play, Peyton Manning tried to thread a ball between two Jaguars defenders on third-and-12. Collie appeared to catch the ball, but when the second defender, linebacker Daryl Smith, hit Collie in the head with his forearm, the ball came out.

But Collie again stayed down on the field, motionless for several minutes as the hushed crowd watched 10 coaches and trainers huddle around Collie. Smith, Manning and Jeff Saturday — the two longest-tenured Colts — all stood nearby.

Eventually, Collie sat up and walked straight to the locker room, missing the final 67 seconds of the half. Collie was placed on season-ending injured reserve on Dec. 22.

The two-year veteran began training in February on the West Coast and in Indianapolis, according to The Star. After working with Manning in non-contact passing sessions, the All-Pro quarterback told the newspaper that Collie moved with the same focus and dedication he always has.

Collie told The Star there was nothing he could have done to avoid the collisions from last season.

“It was just playing football and unfortunately, that’s what can happen,” he said. “They were just two unlucky incidents that unfortunately I was in the middle of.

“The last thing I want to do is hesitate at any given point. I try to put those things in the back of my mind and not worry about them.”

Collie understands that people want to see how he responds to taking a hit.

“I’m not even thinking about that,” he said.