All the signs in Detroit are pointing toward RB Kevin Smith being back in uniform for the Lions on Sunday.

Veteran RB Kevin Smith is inactive for the Lions’ season opener against the Bears while he recovers from a knee injury sustained last season.

If you are not high on Jahvid Best by now, you may have already missed the boat.

We’ve seen it time and time again in the NFL: The recovery time following major knee surgery is never a certainty and rarely treats two players the same. The latest example is Kevin Smith.

The Lions offense continues to be impressive, and RB Jahvid Best continues to show that we should not be so quick to label Ryan Mathews as the top rookie running back.

Who is the going to be the top rookie running back this season? The smart money has long been on Chargers RB Ryan Mathews. But it looks like Lions RB Jahvid Best is going to make a case for himself.

A quick look around the league and players who have been announced, and reported, as starting the season on the physically-unable-to-perform list.

The Dallas Morning News presented a pretty interesting statistic Monday, illustrating some of the least-effective running backs on third-and-1 and fourth-and-1 situations last season.

The Seahawks knew that they were going to get a college-like enthusiasm from new coach Pete Carroll. But the organization is getting much more. Carroll installed a blue-white scrimmage, similar to a “spring game” recently, leaving me to wonder if letter sweaters and achievement stickers on the helmet can be far behind.

It’s very early, but several of the long list of injured Lions from last season are showing encouraging signs.

Jahvid Best may not be a true featured back as a rookie, but it’s pretty easy to predict that he’ll see the majority of the backfield touches for the Lions in 2010.

Raiders coach Tom Cable is not going to select a starting quarterback in May. Cable calls it an open competition. Others call it a formality because newly acquired QB Jason Campbell was the hands-down favorite at the Raiders three-day minicamp over the weekend.

Jahvid Best is an explosive running back who could make a decent fantasy impact in Detroit.

The Rams, who hold the No. 1 overall selection in the draft, have begun preliminary negotiations with Oklahoma QB Sam Bradford, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

A number of teams will use the NFL Scouting Combine not only as a way to look at new players, but hopefully hammer out some contract details with potential free agents.