Linebacker Fujita back on Browns’ roster

CLEVELAND — Scott Fujita is another step closer to being on the field with the Browns

The NFL lifted the roster exemption Tuesday for the linebacker, who had the three-game suspension for his role in the Saints’ bounty scandal lifted last week.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is planning to meet with Fujita and the three other players whose suspensions in connection with the bounty investigation were all recently lifted by an appeals panel.

Fujita is now back on Cleveland’s 53-man roster, which had an opening when cornerback Joe Haden was suspended four games Monday for failing a drug test and violating the league’s ban on performance-enhancing substances. Fujita did not play in Sunday’s season opener against Philadelphia despite being eligible to play.

Fujita watched from the sideline in street clothes as the Browns lost 17-16 to the Eagles, who scored a late touchdown to pull out the win.

Browns coach Pat Shurmur chose to activate only the linebackers who practiced last week. Fujita was not allowed to work out with the team as he was banned from the Browns’ while he was suspended. The suspension of Fujita and other players in the New Orleans pay-for-hits program were overturned by a three-member appeals panel on Friday.

After Sunday’s game, Fujita, who had remained confident he would play in Week 1, did not want to predict where his case was headed next.

“This is completely unchartered territory,” the 33-year-old said. “There’s no precedent for any of this. I felt good about it all along. Everyone thought I was crazy for feeling optimistic, but I still feel good about what’s ahead, even though I don’t know what’s ahead.”

Shurmur said Monday that he expects Fujita to play this week. Fujita was sidelined during the exhibition season and part of training camp with a knee injury.

The Browns did not practice Tuesday. They return to the field Wednesday to begin preparing for Sunday’s game at Cincinnati.

Also, the team signed offensive lineman D.J. Young to its practice squad. To make room for Young, the Browns released offensive lineman Jeff Shugarts.

Young signed with Arizona as an undrafted free agent last year. He spent 16 weeks on the Cardinals’ practice squad before being elevated to the active roster for the season finale.

Young was a two-year starter at Michigan State after transferring from Bowling Green. His father, Duane, played six seasons in the NFL as a tight end.

Broncos sign center Dan Koppen

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Former Pro Bowl center Dan Koppen, who spent nine season snapping the ball to Tom Brady in New England, will now have the chance to work with Peyton Manning.

Koppen signed with the Denver Broncos on Tuesday, two weeks after his release from the New England Patriots, where he played from 2003-11.

Koppen adds experienced depth to the interior line and might push starting center J.D. Walton for playing time.

The Broncos also waived backup center C.J. Davis and re-signed backup quarterback Caleb Hanie, who was released in a procedural move Saturday to provide the Broncos with some financial flexibility.

They also placed defensive tackle Ty Warren on injured reserve after he re-tore his right triceps in the opener. Warren has been on IR every season since 2009.

Goodell to meet with

4 players in bounty scandal

NEW ORLEANS — NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and four players whose suspensions in connection with the bounty investigation were recently lifted by an appeals panel have agreed to new meetings on the matter.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said Tuesday no specific dates have been set for the meetings. An attorney for Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma said his client hoped to meet with the commissioner by early next week.

The NFL Players Association, which is representing Saints defensive end Will Smith, Cleveland linebacker Fujita and free agent defensive lineman Anthony Hargrove, did not immediately comment.

Goodell is reconsidering whether to hand down revised suspensions for the four players who had been punished in an alleged pay-for-pain pool offering cash bonuses for hits that injured opponents.

Ginsberg said Vilma’s meeting would not be considered a hearing, but would be more akin to preliminary fact-finding meetings that occur at the outset of the disciplinary process outlined by the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement.

Steelers hoping Harrison

can play against Jets

PITTSBURGH — Ryan Clark will be back. Maybe James Harrison too.

Still, Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin thinks the two veteran defenders are hardly the cure-all for a defense that lacked a certain bite during Sunday’s season-opening loss at Denver.

Yes, it’ll be great to have Clark — who sat out the opener due to a sickle cell trait that flares up at high altitude — back for the home opener against the Jets. And Harrison’s aching left knee was good enough to work out on Monday, leaving open the possibility the four-time Pro Bowler could suit up for the first time since January.

Good news to be sure. Just not a cure-all.

“Obviously, those guys are capable of helping us,” Tomlin said. “They’re quality veteran players. They know how to play and, specifically in Ryan’s case, not only his play but his communication and leadership. That remains to be seen, and we’re not going to assume anything. What we are going to do is focus on the healthy guys and get them prepared to play and, ultimately, expect them to play on the acceptable level.”

Something Tomlin thinks didn’t happen enough against the Broncos, as Pittsburgh’s defense — ranked No. 1 in yards against a year ago — struggled once Peyton Manning and the Broncos went to a no-huddle offense.

Tomlin, however, doesn’t think the no-huddle “taxed” the Steelers so much as what happened when the ball was in play. Denver’s offensive line controlled Pittsburgh’s front seven in the second half, giving Manning all the time he needed to throw for 253 yards and a couple of touchdowns.

“The reality is that we didn’t play well enough post-snap,” Tomlin said. “Forget about whether or not they huddle between plays, we’ve got full control over how we play once the ball is snapped and it wasn’t up to snuff in many instances.”

Denver didn’t dominate on the ground — averaging just 3.5 yards per carry — but ran it effectively enough with Willis McGahee to keep Pittsburgh off balance. The Steelers sacked Manning twice in the first half and created an early turnover, but did little after halftime. The Broncos scored on their first three second-half possessions, and their fourth was a couple of kneel downs by Manning to end it.

With Brent Grimes out,

Falcons turn to backup CBs

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — With former Pro Bowl cornerback Brent Grimes out for the season, the Atlanta Falcons are counting on four career backups to fill the void.

Losing Grimes to a torn Achilles tendon means the Falcons must face Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos on Monday night without their best cornerback.

Christopher Owens and Dominique Franks have struggled in the past for Atlanta, but the team is counting on both players to take plenty of snaps.

Falcons coach Mike Smith said that Robert McClain, who signed as a free agent in January, and Terrence Johnson, who signed as a free agent on Tuesday, will compete for snaps, too, as the season goes on.

“We’ve got guys that have played in games that are going to have to step up and take that role,” Smith said on Tuesday. “And maybe a couple of guys instead of one based on the game plan that week. We’re going to have to disperse our defense a little bit differently than what we did this past week.”

Against the Broncos, longtime NFL veterans Asante Samuel (left side) and Dunta Robinson (right side) will start at cornerback.

The nickel back will likely be either Owens or Franks, both of whom said they feel wanted even though neither has yet to play well enough to compete for a permanent starting job with the Falcons.

Owens joined the team in 2009 as a third-round draft pick from San Jose State.