Steelers' Taylor out with ankle injury

Pittsburgh's ironman is out on Sunday against the San Diego Chargers. The franchise quarterback might be too.

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday cornerback Ike Taylor's 135-game streak will end after Taylor sustained a fractured right ankle in last weekend's 23-20 win over Baltimore.

Taylor will likely be out at least two weeks, handing the starting job to second-year defensive back Cortez Allen.

Tomlin is a little more optimistic Ben Roethlisberger's sprained right shoulder will be good enough to play for the first time in nearly a month. Roethlisberger threw on Monday but Tomlin said it's still too early to tell whether Roethlisberger will be available when the Steelers (7-5) host the Chargers (4-8).

Charlie Batch will take the majority of snaps with the first team Wednesday, a day Tomlin said will be critical in determining Roethlisberger's status.

Long goes on IR with triceps injury

Left tackle Jake Long has been placed on injured reserve by the Miami Dolphins because of a left triceps injury, ending his season.

Long, a perennial Pro Bowl pick, was hurt Sunday in a loss to New England. The No. 1 draft pick in 2008 might have played his final game for the Dolphins, because he can become an unrestricted free agent this winter.

Rookie right tackle Jonathan Martin will make his first start on the left side Sunday at San Francisco. He played left tackle at Stanford.

Tackle Patrick Brown and safety Tyrone Culver were signed Tuesday by the Dolphins. Brown played in 15 games with the Minnesota Vikings in 2011.

Cardinals' Rhodes confirms tiff with Dockett

Arizona safety Kerry Rhodes has confirmed he had a run-in with teammate Darnell Dockett at the end of Sunday's game against the New York Jets.

Rhodes says in an email released by the Cardinals that there was an on-field "disagreement" but emphatically denies a report that Dockett spit in his face and says the two have agreed to move on.

The dispute reportedly centered on the Cardinals' desire to allow the Jets to score late in the game so the offense would get the ball to go for the tying score. Dockett didn't want to allow a touchdown.

The issue became moot when Shonn Greene purposely downed the ball at the Arizona 1-yard line and the Jets ran out the clock for a 7-6 victory.

Marijuana charge dropped against Lions' Fairley

A Mobile municipal judge has dismissed a misdemeanor marijuana charge against Detroit Lions defensive tackle Nick Fairley.

Defense attorney Sid Harrell said the charge was dismissed on Tuesday. Judge Matt Greene agreed with prosecutors that there wasn't enough evidence to show partially smoked marijuana cigarettes found in Fairley's vehicle on April 3 belonged to the former first-round pick out of Auburn.

Harrell says Fairley passed a drug test Tuesday, is tested several times a week by the NFL and has passed them all.

Father of Raiders coach Dennis Allen dies at 66

The father of Oakland Raiders coach Dennis Allen has died.

The team said Tuesday that former NFL linebacker Grady Allen died overnight at age 66 from cardiac arrest.

Dennis Allen had left the Raiders on Sunday night to go to the Dallas area to be with his father, who was hospitalized last week. Dennis Allen is expected to rejoin the team Wednesday night and coach Oakland against Denver on Thursday night.

Grady Allen played 59 games over five years as a linebacker with the Atlanta Falcons.

Starr collapses during speech

Hall of Fame quarterback Bart Starr collapsed during a speech in Madison, Wis., on Tuesday. Conference organizers say he appears to be OK.

The Green Bay Packers' former quarterback and coach finished speaking at the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority conference at Monona Terrace, then collapsed on stage.

Authority spokesman Kevin Fischer says Starr then sat up and said he was fine. Fischer tells the Journal Sentinel the 78-year-old Starr was speaking coherently and left the convention center with his wife, Cherry, got into a limo and was taken to the Dane County Regional Airport.

Starr led the Packers to five NFL titles and two Super Bowl championships. He was Green Bay's head coach from 1975-83.