LAUDERHILL, Fla. — NFL commissioner Roger Goodell says switching the Pro Bowl to the week before the Super Bowl is already a success because the game is drawing more attention than ever.

Sometime soon, the league will decide if it wants to keep things that way.

"What we're seeing is a lot more attention on the Pro Bowl than we've ever had before," Goodell said. "And that in and of itself is a success."

Goodell arrived yesterday in South Florida — the Pro Bowl will be played there on Sunday, followed one week later by the Super Bowl — and immediately went to work alongside some members of the NFL Players Association.

Helped considerably by more than 200 volunteers, they built a playground at a school not far from downtown Fort Lauderdale, one of three stops by Pro Bowl players yesterday in what the NFL said was the largest community program in league history.

"When kids like this see us giving back and caring enough to help them build their playground, they'll remember it for a lifetime," said Tennessee's Kevin Mawae, the NFLPA president.

The Pro Bowl has traditionally been held the week following the Super Bowl. Sunday's game marks the first time in three decades the Pro Bowl is being played somewhere other than Honolulu, where it will return for 2011 and 2012.

HONORS

MISSION VIEJO COACH SELECTED NFL'S BEST

Robert Johnson from Mission Viejo High School in California was chosen the NFL's high school football coach of the year yesterday.

Johnson will receive $5,000 and a trip to the Super Bowl, and a $10,000 grant from the NFL Youth Football Fund will be awarded to his school's football program.

Johnson was nominated by Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez and Seahawks defensive end Nick Reed. He was picked from a pool of nominations that came from more than 75 NFL players.

The high school coach of the year award was created in 1995 to honor coaches who made a positive impact on the athletic and personal development of NFL players.

JETS

SANCHEZ UNDECIDED ABOUT KNEE SURGERY

New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez might have surgery this offseason to stabilize the patella ligament in his left knee, which was injured during college.

Sanchez, who just completed his rookie season, won't need any procedures on his right knee, which suffered a sprained posterior cruciate ligament earlier this season.

He had both knees examined by team doctors this week, and also had them looked at by Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala., on Wednesday.

"It would certainly be much sooner than later because, right now, nothing has been decided," Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum said yesterday. "So, we're going to keep the lines of communication open and make a decision pretty soon here."