Owens Returns, Admits to ‘Mistakes’

Terrell Owens returned to the San Francisco 49ers on Monday, somewhat chastened by his week-long suspension for his infamous touchdown celebrations in Dallas.

Owens didn’t apologize for his flamboyant actions at Texas Stadium on Sept. 24, but for the first time he admitted he made “mistakes.”

Coach Steve Mariucci suspended his top receiver for a game and fined him $24,294 after Owens twice caught touchdown passes, ran to midfield and celebrated on the Cowboys’ star logo.

“What I did against the Cowboys, it was excessive,” Owens said. “I’ve just got to move forward. . . . Everybody makes mistakes. The thing is just not to repeat the same mistakes.”

It was a change of tune for Owens, who joined the 49ers for regular Monday meetings at their team offices in Santa Clara. Last Tuesday, he told reporters he didn’t feel he had done anything wrong, and that Mariucci was coerced by media pressure into suspending him.

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Tre Johnson, the Washington Redskins’ starting right guard, may be sidelined for the season because of a torn left knee ligament.

Johnson left Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the first quarter with what was described as a knee sprain. But Coach Norv Turner said an examination Monday showed Johnson with a torn ligament. He will sit out at least two games while the swelling goes down, but Turner said he expected Johnson to need surgery and be sidelined for the season.

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Linebacker Jamir Miller of the Cleveland Browns denied his involvement after a woman claimed in a civil lawsuit that she was raped.

The woman named Miller, a former UCLA player, and former Brown cornerback Antonio Langham, alleging they and others sexually assaulted her on a boat during the summer of 1999.

The lawsuit was filed Friday in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court. It alleges the assault took place July 31, 1999, while the woman was working for a boat dealer.

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Former Green Bay Packer star Mark Chmura was denied in his request to have charges against him dismissed in his sexual assault case in Waukesha, Wis. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of child enticement and sexual assault. The judge also has refused to consider each charge separately. Chmura, 31, has been accused by a 17-year-old girl who had been a baby sitter for him. She contends he had sex with her without her consent on a bathroom floor in a neighbor’s home April 9 after a high school prom. . . . The widow of NFL running back Fred Lane, charged with shooting him to death, was indicted in Charlotte, N.C., on charges she and a friend conspired to steal money from a bank. Deidre Lane and Natosha Watson, a teller at a Wachovia Bank branch in Charlotte, hatched a scheme to make a July 1, 1998, theft look like a bank robbery, according to the federal indictment. . . . The Miami Dolphins acquired tight end Alonzo Mayes from the Chicago Bears for an undisclosed draft choice. . . . Running back Errict Rhett of the Cleveland Browns will be sidelined for at least six weeks and could be sidelined for the season after suffering a sprained left foot while making a cut during the second quarter of Sunday’s 12-0 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. . . . Running back Duce Staley of the Philadelphia Eagles is listed as doubtful for Sunday’s game against the Washington Redskins because of a sprained right foot suffered in the fourth quarter of Sunday night’s 38-10 victory over the Atlanta Falcons. Brian Mitchell replaced Staley and scored on a career-longest 85-yard run to seal the victory. . . . Running back Michael Basnight, who suffered a broken bone in his right wrist in a training camp scrimmage in July, was placed on injured reserve by the Cincinnati Bengals. . . . With kicker Jason Elam expected to return to the lineup, the Denver Broncos waived veteran Joe Nedney. . . . Calling the condition of the field at Mile High Stadium a “complete joke” and worse than a high school field, Bronco Coach Mike Shanahan said he will meet with city officials to seek a remedy. Shanahan has spoken with the city and will meet today with those responsible for maintaining the natural-grass surface. Asked if the city has plans to resod the field as they do several times each season, Shanahan said, “God only knows.” A Bronco spokesman said the field already was resodded only about a month ago.