national sports briefs

MLB

Phillies ace Cole Hamels plans to pitch off the pitcher’s mound tomorrow, making… MLB

Phillies ace Cole Hamels plans to pitch off the pitcher’s mound tomorrow, making another step toward full recovery from a strained pitching elbow.

Hamels played problem-free catch from 80 feet with Phillies pitching coach Rich Dubee on Saturday.

The left-hander expects to return to the Phillies rotation Sept. 3, when Philadelphia takes on the Atlanta Braves. Philly is three games behind San Diego in the race for the National League wild card.

Hamels is 14-5 with a 3.0 ERA.

NFL

Former Notre Dame star quarterback Brady Quinn will be on the sidelines for the Cleveland Browns’ season opener Sept. 9.

According, at least, to Browns general manager Phil Savage, he won’t be playing.

“It’s unrealistic for Brady to be in the mix for the opener,” Savage told the News Herald of Willoughby, Ohio.

Browns coach Romeo Crennel doesn’t expect to name a starter until the week before Cleveland hosts the Pittsburgh Steelers.

NFL

The Atlanta Falcons want a refund.

After embattled Falcons quarterback Michael Vick admitted to funding a dogfighting operation in a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell OK’d the Falcons’ efforts to retain the signing bonus money paid to Vick in his contract extension.

The extension, signed in 2004, was worth $130 million over 10 years. Vick must remain on the Falcons’ roster for the Falcons to reclaim the signing bonus.

The returned money would be put into the Falcons’ 2008 salary cap.