Davis’ Bruised Ribs Are a Laughing Matter

Forty-eight hours after bruising his ribs, Denver’s Terrell Davis was confident of playing in Sunday’s divisional playoff game at Kansas City.

Davis was injured in the Broncos’ 42-17 victory over Jacksonville on Saturday, leaving the game late in the third quarter after rushing for 184 yards and two touchdowns.

He had difficulty breathing Saturday night and Sunday, and urged friends not to make him laugh.

But Monday he was breathing without much discomfort.

“It feels a lot better,” he said. “I’m breathing better. I can laugh and cough. I like the progress I’m making. I’m going to play, regardless. This is it.”

Davis plans to wear a light flak jacket in the game. He had a similar injury in college and managed to play wearing the protective device.

“The jacket should help a lot,” he said. “If not, I’m just going to have to deal with some pain.

“If I feel like I can go 100%, that’s great. If not, I’m still going [to play].”

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Garrison Hearst’s broken left clavicle isn’t fully healed, and the San Francisco 49ers will be without their top running threat in Saturday’s playoff game against the Minnesota Vikings.

Hearst has been sidelined since Nov. 30, when he broke his collarbone at the end of a 45-yard run against Kansas City that put him over 1,000 yards for the season.

The 49ers had a bye last week. They hoped to have Hearst back for their first playoff game, but a bone scan Monday showed the fracture needed more recovery time.

“It’s been only four weeks and one day since the injury and there simply isn’t enough healing that has taken place to date,” Coach Steve Mariucci said. “Game time will be five weeks and he’ll be a little closer at that time, but not close enough to be medically cleared.

“So we will declare him out for this game and hopefully we will have another game to play and then he’ll try to make it for that one.”

Terry Kirby will continue to start at halfback in Hearst’s absence, though Chuck Levy and fullback William Floyd also can expect to run the ball more.

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New England Patriot quarterback Drew Bledsoe admits he went onto the stage of a Boston nightclub the evening a woman claims he and teammate Max Lane jumped into the crowd, severely injuring her neck.

But Bledsoe, responding to a lawsuit filed by 23-year-old Tameeka Messier, denied he jumped onto the woman and challenged her to prove otherwise in court.

The filing, made on Christmas Eve, also said the alleged injuries or damages “were caused in whole or in part by the plaintiff’s own negligence, which was greater than any negligence of the defendant.”

In addition, Bledsoe argued that Messier “voluntarily assumed the risk of the accident” alleged in her lawsuit, although he did not specify how.

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Jimmy Johnson apparently has abandoned the three-year timetable to reach the Super Bowl he established shortly after becoming the Miami Dolphins’ coach two years ago.

Monday, Johnson denied ever setting such a goal.

“The only thing we’ve said is we’re going to have our best team the third year,” he said.

Actually, Johnson predicted a super season in 1998 shortly after taking the job. But the Dolphins’ dismal December has left them behind schedule.

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The NFL sold nearly 15 million tickets to regular-season games in 1997, the second most in its history.

The 14,966,294 tickets sold represented 90% of capacity. That was second only to 1995, when 15,043,562 people bought tickets.

Average attendance this season was 62,360, up almost 1,500 from 1996.