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In previous lives, before Matt Millen spent eight years running the Lions' franchise into the ground, he was a Pro Bowl linebacker and four-time Super Bowl winner. And after his football career, Millen was part of the No. 2 broadcast team for the NFL on Fox, and was also the color commentator for Monday Night Football on West Wood One.

Up to the moment he accepted the Lions gig, he was considered a good player and a great analyst. Which is why it wasn't totally surprising that he got back into commentating after William Clay Ford finally got around to firing him. Unfortunately, a large segment of the NFL-viewing population couldn't separate Millen the analyst from Millen the bumbling front office type.

Fox Sports' Jay Glazer, I guess, knows everything first. Here's his scoop on Plaxico Burress:

The New York Giants wide receiver accidentally shot himself in the leg on Friday night, FOXSports.com has learned, not long after being ruled out of Sunday's game against the Redskins with a hamstring injury.

I'm not sure if Glazer is suggesting anything by the timing of the shooting. Burress spent the evening in the hospital and his injuries are not supposed to be life threatening.

Plaxico Burress is an amazingly talented player, but when you are having the sort of season where you are receiving unsolicited advice from Lawrence Taylor, there may be some really strange things going on in your life. Burress accidentally shooting himself in the leg is messed up even by LT standards.

We will update this story when more information comes available. Given that he plays in New York, I'm guessing there will be all sorts of news soonishly. For example, since I started typing this, John Clayton of ESPN says that Burress received an accidental gunshot in a club.

UPDATE: According to reports, Burress' leg was grazed by the bullet, and he should be able to return this season.

There is a rumor spreading around the Cincinnati area that Marvin Lewis could be fired by the end of the week.

Sources have informed Pro Football Central that the Cincinnati Bengals are nearing toward a decision that could result in head coach Marvin Lewis being fired by the end of the week. The source also states that owner Mike Brown is also deciding upon whether to name assistant head coach Paul Alexander or defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer as the interim head coach.

Now who knows if this rumor has anything behind it. I mean, doesn't every breaking story come from Jay Glazer, Chris Mortensen and John Clayton?

Sure, the Rams fired Scott Linehan and the Raiders fired Lane Kiffin already this week. They, like the Bengals, have gotten off to really bad starts this year. However, the Rams and Raiders are heading into bye weeks which gives their new head coaches some time to make their own adjustments. The Bengals' bye isn't until Week 10.

Here's how ESPN has been reporting the retirement of Daunte Culpepper all day today:

Without fail, the ESPN anchor in Bristol will say that Culpepper retired and then add, "Now, to the man who broke the story, ESPN.com's John Clayton."

Except that Clayton didn't "break the story" at all.

Notes on a trip to the NFL Scouting Combine.

The 2008 NFL Scouting Combine is three days old, and although there are many 40s yet to be run and many Wonderlics yet to be taken, we've seen enough for an early look at the winners and losers:

Winner: Rashard Mendenhall. The Illinois running back considers himself the best back in the draft, and there are definitely NFL coaches who agree with that assessment.

Loser: Darren McFadden. After he weighed in at 211 pounds, a whole lot of people in Indianapolis were saying McFadden, the Arkansas running back, just doesn't have enough lower-body muscle to fight for tough yards in the NFL.

NFL reporter John Clayton just made a rather stunning comment on ESPN Radio: According to Clayton, the ankle injury suffered by Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is serious enough that if the Super Bowl had been yesterday, Brady wouldn't have played.

So that means that if the NFL had decided to schedule just one week off between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl, Brady would have finished one of the greatest seasons in NFL history by standing on the sidelines and watching his undefeated team play the Super Bowl without him. What would the Patriots' offense look like without Brady? Would the Patriots even be favored to beat the Giants with Matt Cassel under center?

We'll never know, Clayton said, because Brady will practice this week and play Sunday. But with all due respect to Clayton, I simply don't believe his report. Brady was walking without a limp yesterday, and if Brady can walk, he's not going to miss the Super Bowl.

Cutler's fourth week marked the rookie's second win, bringing his career numbers to 2-2. Though the Broncos won the game against Cincinatti largely due to the Bengal's own incompetence, Cutler played no small part in the victory. The rookie's line on the day: 12/23, 179 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT. Now he's turning heads - even the gargantuan head of John Clayton.

Positives: Cutler continued to look confident and the complexity of both the plays he ran successfully and the throws he completed increased this week. Jay continued his streak of throwing two touchdowns per game, making him the first rookie in NFL history to do so in his first four starts. Cutler has now thrown eight touchdowns on the season, and just three picks. In 11 games, Jake Plummer had only 11 touchdowns, compared to 12 interceptions. The rookie also showed remarkable poise coming back to lead the Broncos on four scoring drives after being intercepted on the first play of the game.

And in the game's defining moment, with the Broncos down 17-14 and starting from their own one yard line, Cutler lead the Broncos on a 99 yard touchdown drive, passing for 60 of those yards. In addition, Cutler continued to show off his ability to throw down the field, connecting with Javon Walker for 39 yards and Brandon Marshall for 37.

Negatives: Cutler threw an early interception for the second straight week, this time on the first play of the game. This time, the interception was all his fault - he double-pumped and waited too long to throw the ball to Brandon Marshall, allowing Dexter Jackson to make a play on the ball. Cutler also fumbled the ball once under center, proving that he still has work to do getting used to Tom Nalen. On a few plays, Cutler overthrew his target or tried to force balls to receivers that could have been picked off. Once again, he needs to learn to move around a little bit to buy more time, or try using his speed to run the ball for a short gain when receivers aren't open, instead of forcing the ball. Cutler also couldn't lead the team down the field late in the game when another score would have basically sealed the game for the Broncos. A lot of this was very conservative play calling by Shanahan, something that has to stop. But Cutler also has to learn to look for first downs, not big gains or short passes, on those drives late in the game.

Improvement Over Week 3? Not statistically. But remember - even if Cincinatti's defense isn't the best in the league, they are definitely better, or at least played better on Sunday, than Arizona. Mentally, Cutler played another sharp game, and his stats weren't bad at all. He played a large part in all three Broncos touchdowns, and showed his ability to perform well under pressure during the aforementioned 99-yard drive. The real question is, would Plummer have given us a better chance to win the game? The answer is no. Cutler's play was certainly one of the brightest points of the game for the Broncos, and the big drive was by far the best of the season for the Broncos. Plummer never sustained a long drive this season like Cutler did, especially during such a crucial part of the game, and Plummer probably would not have been able to complete the long passes to Walker and Marshall, which lead to the other two Denver touchdowns.