The Jacksonville Jaguars signed Chad Owens to their practice squad yesterday, one day after waiving the rookie wide receiver for mishandling three punt returns in an 11-minute span of their loss to Indianapolis.

The Jaguars already had made room for Owens by releasing offensive tackle Lester Brown from their eight-man practice squad Monday. Once Owens cleared league-wide waivers yesterday afternoon, the sixth-round pick from Hawai'i was brought back.

Owens was waived after fumbling his first and third punt returns in the second quarter of last Sunday's 10-3 loss at the RCA Dome. Owens also bobbled his second punt return, although the Jaguars recovered all three miscues.

Owens, who was making his NFL debut last weekend after being declared inactive for the season opener because of two muffed punts in the preseason, was replaced by fellow rookie Alvin Pearman just before halftime.

Also, Jaguars safety Donovin Darius will miss the rest of the season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during last week's loss.

The Associated Press also contributed to this article.

JETS

RB MARTIN SHOULD PLAY

New York running back Curtis Martin should be able to play this weekend against Jacksonville after an MRI on his strained right knee came back negative.

The team was encouraged with the test result, which was revealed yesterday. Coach Herman Edwards will address the injury today.

Martin was injured in a 17-7 win over the Miami Dolphins on Sunday. Though he played in the entire game, Martin woke up feeling sore Monday and went in for the MRI.

The 32-year-old Martin, who won the NFL rushing title last season, hasn't missed a game since 1998.

KATRINA FUNDRAISER

$5M RAISED BY TELETHON

A fund-raising telethon that featured more than 30 current and former NFL players raised $5 million for the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund in about 6 1/2 hours.

Monday night's telethon was part of the NFL's "Hurricane Relief Weekend" and coincided with a special "Monday Night Football" doubleheader on ABC and ESPN. Players such as John Elway, Donovan McNabb, Art Shell and Frank Gifford took turns, 12 at a time, spending between 75 minutes to 2 hours answering telephones and taking donations.

ELSEWHERE

Vikings: Minnesota unveiled plans for a new $675 million retractable roof stadium aimed to boost the team's revenue. The 68,000-seat stadium will be built on a 740-acre site in Blaine, Minn., about 15 minutes north of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Vikings and Anoka County officials said at a news conference. It's projected to open in 2009 or 2010.

Ravens: Baltimore quarterback Kyle Boller is likely to be out until the end of October with his injured right toe. The Ravens' 2003 first-round draft pick was injured in the 24-7 season-opening loss to the Indianapolis Colts on a sack by defensive tackle Larry Triplett.