Nearly a week after an arbitrator ruled the ans couldn't keep him out of their building, quarterback Steve McNair still hasn't returned, and there are no indications he's on his way.

If he does report to team headquarters and pass the team's physical, he could be at practice on Tuesday for the first of the team's final six Organized Team Activity practices of the offseason.

But Coach Jeff Fisher said Tuesday he could decide to make McNair a bystander at next week's OTA practices.

"If a deal (that means McNair goes elsewhere) is imminent, no, it doesn't make sense to put him on the field," Fisher said. "It doesn't. If a deal ends up getting done, then he needs to move on.

"Again, I'm a little selfish here now, he's been our quarterback. I'd love to get this thing worked out and get him under center."

NFL Player's Association general counsel Richard Berthelsen said if McNair reports and is not used during the OTAs "it's the same thing as before."

"If they are not allowing him to participate with the team, they are breaching his contract," Berthelsen said. "That was the (grievance) ruling. In that case, we would bring it back before the arbitrator and say, 'They are defying your order.' How is that any different than saying he can't be there?"

Facing a giant banner of McNair outside LP Field, ans owner Bud Adams was asked if he expected it to come down soon.

"Not necessarily," he said. "We like it. He's done a heck of a job for us. That's Floyd (Reese's) job to work on that situation."

Reese said he was unable to get in touch with Bus Cook again Tuesday and has the sense McNair's agent has been out of town and "real busy."

"I don't have any reason to expect or to not expect Steve to come in," Reese said. "He's going to show up when he wants to show up, if he wants to show up."

Reese guessed next week would be more likely with nothing going on at the facility this week and the OTAs coming.

Meanwhile in Baltimore, Coach Brian Billick was coy when asked about the prospect of eventually acquiring McNair.

After an offseason practice, Billick said Kyle Boller is his starter and wondered how McNair played in the Pro Bowl if he had failed his exit physical after Tennessee's season ended.

"I'm a little confused about that one myself," he said.

Fisher said no medical people were involved when McNair was a late addition to the Pro Bowl roster as the league shuffled to hurriedly fill a spot vacated by quarterbacks with injuries of their own.

"The assumption is that when he went over to the Pro Bowl and played that he was healthy," Fisher said. "But he never stepped foot in a doctor's office to be declared healthy, so it's just part of the process he has to go through."

McNair indicated in the May 13 grievance hearing that he believed he passed the team's exit physical, but Reese and Fisher say he did not.

"If that's the case, then they concealed the info from him." Berthelsen said. "They never told him he failed the physical, and they have the obligation to tell him that before they allow him to play in the Pro Bowl. If you let him play in the Pro Bowl, you're pretty much contradicting the contention that he failed the physical."

Billick was asked if he thought the ans were "messing" with the Ravens, who negotiated a deal with McNair during the draft when a trade possibility was raised, then fell through.

"No, I can't imagine them wanting to do that," he replied sarcastically. "I could not imagine."

While Fisher hopes for new negotiations, Cook has said he's not interested in talks that don't pick up where the deal he struck with Baltimore left off.

It's hard to imagine they will, since Adams reiterated the team's position Tuesday that McNair's return could happen only if the team could "get his salary down." That salary is a
$9 million scheduled base and a salary cap charge of $23.46 million.

The Ravens' five-year offer would pay McNair an $11 million signing bonus and a $1 million base salary this year.

Adams said he puts some of the blame on Cook for the team's lockout of McNair and the resulting grievance.

Cook did not return phone messages from The Tennessean.

"Steve has been a fantastic player for us, and we want to always be a friend with him
and everything else," Adams said.

"It got a bit — I don't know what to say — ragged toward the last (part) there. But I always blame that on the agents, not Steve."

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs....606070417/1027