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For weeks, Brett Favre's actions have said that he's hoping to play again in the NFL.

Given the chance Monday night on HBO's debut episode of Joe Buck Live to confirm that notion, Favre said, "Maybe. ... I am considering it."

The rest of Favre's interview, however, left little doubt as to his intentions.  Favre confirmed most the reports that have been written about him over the last month. 

• Favre confirmed that Dr. James Andrews performed surgery on him more than two weeks ago.  He's already throwing again, and should be fully recovered in roughly two more weeks. 
  
• Favre admitted that he's been in contact with the Vikings coaching staff, and that coach Brad Childress requested that Favre show up to last week's OTAs, even if he wasn't go to practice.  Favre declined, apparently just in case his arm doesn't recover like he hopes, in order to avoid a media circus. 
  
• The Vikings sent a trainer to meet with Favre Sunday, in order to go over some exercises that would be helpful in his recovery ... as if he's already a member of the team.
• Favre loves the idea of playing for the Vikings because of his familiarity with Childress' West Coast system.  "I could teach the offense." 
  

By the time Favre used the word "we" to refer to the Vikings, it seemed like his eventual signing was just a formality.  Favre admitted that the health of his arm was the "big question" to be answered in the process.  All indications are that the procedure Favre underwent was relatively minor and that he will be throwing well soon enough.   

Favre has tried to avoid feeding the media beast for as long as possible, but there will be no avoiding it soon enough.  Vikings vs. Packers is less than four months away.   

Brett Favre doesn't seem to be in a hurry to make a decision about his NFL future. If he was, he probably would have undergone arthroscopic shoulder surgery earlier than late May to ready himself for the 2009 season.

The Vikings, however, suddenly seem to be getting antsy.  ESPN.com reported Monday that Vikings coach Brad Childress has set a deadline of this week for Favre to decide whether he's going to play in Minnesota. 

Why the rush now?  If Childress is trying to show who's boss, he's picking a strange time for it.

The Vikings are winding down their pre-training camp practices this week.  Very little will happen as a team between now and late July, so it makes sense for the Vikings and Favre in the health of his shoulder before getting hitched. 

Favre famously hates surgery of any kind, so his decision to go under the knife indicates he'll do everything possible to return to football.  And the Vikings clearly prefer Favre to Sage Rosenfels and Tarvaris Jackson or they wouldn't be going through all this.

Favre will increase his post-surgery throwing over the next week.  But he's reportedly reluctant to commit to returning until he's sure that he's eliminated all all of his problems related to his torn biceps tendon. This is one time where his caution seems well-founded.

Childress has put himself in a potentially vulnerable situation.  Let's say Favre ignores the deadline until he feels comfortable with his shoulder, then says he wants to play three weeks from now.  Would Childress really turn him down then?  

NFL writers are cheering this news, because it appears we'll have a resolution shortly.  Considering this is Brett Favre, I wouldn't be so sure.  

In a surprising decision, the NFL has cleared Brandon Marshall of any possible discipline for his March 1 disorderly conduct arrest. 

Marshall, who was suspended to start last season for violating the league's conduct policy, was arrested a fourth time since 2006 on March 1.  A police officer reportedly saw Marshall and his fiancee Michi Nogami-Campbell engaged in a fight and arrested them both.  Those charges were dropped the next day, a fact that likely factored into the league's decision not to further penalize the Broncos receiver.

While the news is undoubtedly welcome for the Broncos after an offseason of upheaval, Marshall still has some hurdles to clear before seeing the field again.  He is recovering from hip surgery in Orlando and has a court case still pending from a previous arrest.  

The Broncos probably still isn't ready to give Marshall the money he wants, but at least he'll now have 16 games to show the new coaching staff what he can do.

Vince Young has made a few missteps as a pro, but he's notably kept quiet since losing his starting job to Kerry Collins.  Perhaps he hasn't been as engaged as a backup as the Titans would like, but he hasn't ruffled any feathers. Until now.

Speaking to Baltimore station WMAR-TV, Young had this to say about his role as a backup: 

"I'm being very competitive, competing for the job, and I'll let coach Fisher make his own decision after that.  Definitely I want to be in there playing ball. ... At the same time, if those guys don't want me to be in there, it's time for me to make a career change for myself.  Because the fact is I'm ready to play ball.  And if they're not ready for me to play ball, someone is."

Young shouldn't be so sure. His stock around the NFL has reach a nadir, and it's unlikely there are any teams just waiting to hand him the keys to the franchise.  With a huge scheduled raise coming in 2010, Young seems likely to be looking for a job next off-season. 

Young would be well served to work hard, shut his yapper again, and wait for Collins' inevitable decline.  While he may no longer be the future in Tennessee, Young's best chance to rehab his value and "play ball" again will be with the Titans this year.    

Until he steps on the field again, there will remain a lot of questions about Young's game, especially his accuracy and decision making.  But there are even more concerns about his maturity level.  Comments like this won't help.

Every time Terrell Owens signs with the Bills, I have my appendix out. Clearly, it's an effort by T.O. and agent Drew Rosenhaus to keep me from weighing in on his latest headline-making move.

Well, they failed.

My appendix came out Saturday at 9:30 p.m. EST (thanks to the folks at Morton Hospital in sunny Taunton, Mass for the kind care and treatment) and I'm ready this afternoon to briefly hold forth on Owens' entry into the Western New York landscape.

* Hope you enjoyed the relative peace and quiet for the first three seasons of NFL play, Trent Edwards. The Bills quarterback has now been pulled into the Owens vortex and he's going to leave a mark on Edwards' career. He's done it to every quarterback he's played extended time with (or, as T.O. likely thinks, has played for him). Jeff Garcia, Donovan McNabb and Tony Romo didn't just have to deal with Owens gesticulating at them because they didn't get the ball, giving half-assed effort on balls he couldn't catch or dropping critical passes that hit him in the hands. He questioned Garcia's sexuality, McNabb's heart and desire and insinuated a Romo-Jason Witten-Jason Garrett cabal designed to...well, designed to...keep the ball away from Owens, apparently.

* This deal for Owens reminds me of the end-of-days decision made last decade by Jets owner Leon Hess who rounded up Bill Parcells to revive his moribund franchise before he shuffled off this mortal coil. Bills owner Ralph Wilson is 90 years old. Statistical analysis shows that most 90 year olds are within a decade or so of completing their time on Earth. Anecdotal evidence gathered from my 90-something relatives on my mother's side of the family has shown me that people in that age bracket aren't terribly concerned about what the neighbors think. If they want to see something occur before they head wherever they're headed, they'll try to make sure it happens. And Wilson, who is still of sound mind, would no doubt like to see his Bills win a Super Bowl. T.O. is probably the only AVAILABLE player who can feasibly get the Bills over the top. Could he also pull them to the bottom where the muck of controversy and disappointment will choke out their final breath? Certainly. But at this point, why not give it a shot?

* Dick Jauron and Owens may just get along. Jauron's an interesting guy, A former player himself, his Bills revere him. He's stoic, tough and accepts blame when things go poorly. It will be interesting to see how quickly he moves to put his foot down if Owens tries to show him up. With Bill Parcells, it was clear Owens wanted to try a "I'm just keeping it light" passive-aggressive tact of trying to pee on his territory (witness the Tour de France uniform when he was out with a hammy during training camp). With Wade Phillips, there was no need for area-peeing since Wade was so easily walked over. Jauron is probably most similar to Andy Reid who Owens never really tried to challenge. The thing with Owens is he tries to go after the guys who he thinks he can co-opt teammates against. Garrett, for instance. Or Witten. He may not find many guys ready to ride under his flag in Buffalo. They have pretty good team chemistry up there (at least looking in from a distance).

* On the face of it, Owens' personality seems counter to the workaday folks in Buffalo. But the greater dynamic at work is the Buffalovians need for NFL relevance again. They had it damn good in the 90s. They want it back that way. Owens - whether he flops spectacularly and tears the team asunder or (less likely) leads the Bills to elite status - gives them something to look forward to, a storyline to follow.

* Attendance. Marketing. The relative pittance the Bills have to pay to rent Owens for the year. It all works out for Buffalo. This is a winning situation for the Bills in that they were pretty much marooned in that "pretty good, seldom really good, never great" area of the league. So have fun with that Buffalo. I know I will.

You're feeling pretty OK if you're a Giants fan and you've gotten a gander at the 2008 NFL schedule.

The defending champs only face two 2007 playoff teams after November 9 (at Redskins November 30, at Dallas December 14). And they open the season with their first seven games against teams that are just OK or a little better than that - Redskins, @ St. Louis, Bengals, Seahawks, @ Cleveland, 49ers.

The tough stretch for New York comes right there, though. On October 26, the Giants are at Pittsburgh then hosting Dallas and at Philly. Two of the three are Sunday night games on NBC.

Meanwhile, if Tom Coughlin's itching to find a sign of disrespect, his team has four prime-time games. Dallas and New England each have five. Hmmmmph.

Another tidbit: the Browns have three occasions in which they have back-to-back road games.

Since nothing seems to make Wade Phillips feel more content than a terrific regular season, he's got to be feeling purty good right 'bout now.

There isn't a team on Dallas' schedule that makes you sit up and say "uh-oh" until they play at the Giants on Nov. 2 at 4:15 (that'll be a great day for NFL by the way, with the Pats and Colts on NBC after).

Before that for the 'Boys? At Browns, Eagles, at Packers, Redskins, Bengals, at Cardinals, at Rams and then the Bucs.

There are three playoff teams in there but the Redskins and Bucs were the worst teams to get there in 2007 and the Packers have Aaron Rodgers and not Brett Favre under center for them this year. On second thought, Rodgers chewed up Dallas replacing Favre at Texas Stadium last year, so that might not be a picnic.

Dallas also sets up nicely with its bye, having it come right after the Giants game. Dallas closes the season at Pittsburgh, hosting the Giants and Ravens and then at Philly.

*****

Know who got a rotten schedule in the NFC? Chicago. Not only do they open with two on the road at Indy and Carolina, but they have three in a row on the road later in the season -- the only team in the conference with three in a row OR the first two games on the road.

The Panthers, meanwhile, close with two games on the road meaning John Fox won't have to hear the boos in his final days as Carolina coach.

From Oct. 19 to Nov. 30, the Indianapolis Colts are going to be getting a faceful of it every weekend.

Check out what Indy sees after its first five games:

• Oct. 19: @ Green Bay
• Oct. 27: @ Tennessee
• Nov. 2: New England
• Nov. 9: @ Pittsburgh
• Nov. 16: Houston
• Nov. 23: @San Diego
• Nov. 30: @ Cleveland

That's five out of seven road games (all five against playoff teams from 2007) and six out of seven against playoff teams from last year. And when they get a home game during that stretch, Indy has to play New England sandwiched in between road trips to Tennessee and Pittsburgh?

That's nasty. The Colts also close the season at Jacksonville and then home against Tennessee. They, of course, open the season on NBC against Chicago on Sept. 7.