Knee

Shares of Osiris Therapeutics fell 10 percent yesterday after the company announced that one of its adult stem cell drugs doesn't regenerate knee cartilage as expected. Still, Osiris said the therapy may have uses as an osteoarthritis treatment, according to minimal, undetailed data. It's the first significant disappointment the Baltimore business has had in a while, having gone public in the summer in one of last year's more successful biotech launches. Late Monday, the company issued a news release saying six months of early-stage clinical trials involving 55 patients have shown that the injectable adult stem cell drug, Chondragen, is ineffective at regrowing a crescent-shaped piece of knee cartilage called the meniscus.

Today's playoff games N.Y. JETS AT NEW ENGLAND JETS: Questionable: WR Laveranues Coles (jaw); CB David Barrett (hip); CB Andre Dyson (knee); RB Kevan Barlow (thigh); G Brandon Moore (ankle); DT Dewayne Robertson (knee); RB B.J. Askew (foot); S Kerry Rhodes (knee); C Nick Mangold (thigh); RB James Hodgins (knee). Probable: LB Matt Chatham (foot); QB Chad Pennington (calf); S Eric Smith (foot); RB Cedric Houston (calf); DE Bryan Thomas (shoulder). PATRIOTS: Out: S Rodney Harrison (knee)

SaturdayKansas City at Indianapolis CHIEFS -- Questionable: CB Benny Sapp (hamstring). Probable: QB Trent Green (ankle). COLTS -- Questionable: WR Ricky Proehl (hamstring); CB Nicholas Harper (ankle); WR Reggie Wayne (quadriceps); TE Dallas Clark (knee); LB Keith O'Neil (knee); S Bob Sanders (knee); G Ryan Lilja (knee). Dallas at Seattle COWBOYS -- No injuries reported. SEAHAWKS -- Doubtful: CB Marcus Trufant (ankle). Questionable: WR D.J. Hackett (hip); LB LeRoy Hill (concussion); G Chris Gray (thigh)

Today Arizona at St. Louis CARDINALS -- Out: T Levi Brown (ankle) Doubtful: WR Anquan Boldin (hip). Probable: DT Alan Branch (hand), LB Karlos Dansby (shoulder), RB Marcel Shipp (ribs), DE Joe Tafoya (hamstring). RAMS -- Out: WR Isaac Bruce (hamstring), S Corey Chavous (pectoral), G Adam Goldberg (knee), CB Tye Hill (back), RB Steven Jackson (groin), WR Dane Looker (thigh), LB Raonall Smith (knee). Questionable: QB Marc Bulger (ribs), DE James Hall (pectoral). Probable: WR Drew Bennett (thigh)

Today BUFFALO@JACKSONVILLE BILLS: Out: RB Marshawn Lynch (ankle). Questionable: CB Jerametrius Butler (calf). JAGUARS: Out: LB Mike Peterson (hand). Doubtful: WR John Broussard (ankle). Questionable: CB Rashean Mathis (groin), WR Reggie Williams (back). Probable: TE Greg Estandia (foot), RB Fred Taylor (thigh). DENVER@CHICAGO BRONCOS: Doubtful: RB Travis Henry (knee). Questionable: RB Paul Smith (calf), WR Javon Walker (knee), RB Selvin Young (knee). Probable: DE John Engelberger (shoulder)

Good morning -- David Beckham -- Bend it like Beckham isn't supposed to refer to your knee.

Tomorrow CARDINALS@SEAHAWKS CARDINALS: Out: S Aaron Francisco (calf), DE Ross Kolodziej (quadricep). Questionable: WR Anquan Boldin (toe), WR Larry Fitzgerald (groin). Probable: WR Jerheme Urban (heel), QB Kurt Warner (left elbow). SEAHAWKS: Out: WR D.J. Hackett (ankle), CB Josh Wilson (quadricep). Probable: RB Shaun Alexander (wrist), DT Rocky Bernard (groin), S Mike Green (knee), LB Will Herring (hamstring), T Walter Jones (shoulder), C Chris Spencer (oblique). BILLS@REDSKINS PANTHERS: Out: WR Dwayne Jarrett (knee)

Today FALCONS@RAMS FALCONS: Questionable: QB Byron Leftwich (tailbone). Probable: LB Michael Boley (elbow), TE Alge Crumpler (foot). RAMS: Out: CB Eric Bassey (knee), QB Marc Bulger (concussion), WR Dante Hall (ankle), DE James Hall (ankle). Questionable: CB Fakhir Brown (back), C Brett Romberg (ankle). Probable: C Andy McCollum (knee), S Hanik Milligan (hand), T Rob Petitti (illness). BILLS@REDSKINS BILLS: Out: CB Jerametrius Butler (calf), DE Chris Kelsay (ankle), RB Marshawn Lynch (ankle)

DENVER -- The Denver Broncos have lost their first four games of the season in defense of back-to-back Super Bowl championships.But their biggest loss came yesterday when they learned that reigning NFL MVP Terrell Davis had torn his anterior cruciate and medical collateral ligaments, plus suffered cartilage damage in his right knee.Davis hobbled off the field in the first quarter of Sunday's game with the New York Jets. Initially, the Broncos thought he's suffered a torn ACL. But the revelations yesterday were "the worst-case scenario," said Broncos trainer Steve Antonopulos.

North Carolina State receiver Chris Coleman caught a pass near the sideline, and Virginia safety Anthony Poindexter slowed down, figuring the play was headed out of bounds."

Just a week ago, Kimmie Meissner was talking about a comeback - from bad performances in recent years and from injuries that continued to nag her as she readied for a new season of figure skating. Now her dreams of a second trip to the Olympics in February are over. The former world and national figure skating champion from Bel Air has not recovered quickly enough from a dislocated right knee cap and tendinitis, which forced her to withdraw Thursday from both of her Grand Prix assignments.

NEW YORK - -Serena Williams took only 53 minutes and committed only nine unforced errors in her 6-1, 6-1 second-round victory over 51st-ranked Melinda Czink of Hungary. It was an emphatic win, and it prompted Serena to do a little happy dance when it was over. That was in contrast to earlier in the day, when Venus Williams played her second-round match with her left knee heavily taped. That didn't stop third-seeded Venus from dispatching 124th-ranked Bethanie Mattek-Sands, 6-4, 6-2, and moving closer to an anticipated fourth-round encounter with 2005 Open champion Kim Clijsters.

Fallston's Jess Harlee knew exactly what happened when she felt the pop in her left knee three weeks ago at a basketball tournament in Georgia. She tore the anterior cruciate ligament, a major stabilizing force in the knee, and the injury usually requires surgery and about six months of rehabilitation. Harlee will be operated on today. That means she will miss at least some of her senior season - a terrible blow for the Cougars, who went 28-0 last season and won their first state girls basketball championship with an improbable 65-62 victory over defending champion Paint Branch.

College basketball Terps guard Vasquez named preseason Wooden candidate Maryland guard Greivis Vasquez was selected as a preseason candidate for the John R. Wooden Award All-American Team and Player of the Year on Wednesday. The 6-foot-6 senior from Caracas, Venezuela, was one of 50 players selected, including 10 from the Atlantic Coast Conference. Vasquez was a second-team All-ACC selection as a junior, leading the Terps in scoring (17.5), rebounds (5.4), assists (5.0), steals (1.40)

With Fabian Washington and Evan Oglesby sidelined Wednesday, the Ravens were a little depleted at cornerback. But this group is expected to get some help by the end of the week. Veteran cornerback Samari Rolle, who has been nursing a neck injury, could soon be activated from the physically-unable-to-perform list. Rolle likely will wear a red jersey, which means he won't take part in contact drills. "He's really itching to get back," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. "We should see him out here in the next day or two."

Mark Clayton won't return to practice for a couple of weeks. The wait is much longer for Adam Terry. Terry, who underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee in the offseason, is experiencing lingering problems with the knee, and the club is leaning toward shelving the fifth-year offensive tackle for the entire 2009 season. "It just looks right now that he's got some new issues with the knee from a healing perspective," coach John Harbaugh said Tuesday after the team's morning practice at McDaniel College in Westminster.

REVIEWING THE RECEIVERS: : No one had a very good morning. Demetrius Williams dropped two passes, and Justin Harper also dropped a couple. Marcus Smith dropped a pass and was flagged for pass interference when he pulled on cornerback Frank Walker's jersey before catching a 30-yard bomb from quarterback Troy Smith. Play picked up in the afternoon when Harper made two eye-opening grabs over Walker, Williams ripped away a pass from cornerback Fabian Washington and Mark Clayton caught a perfectly lofted pass from Joe Flacco in the right rear corner of the end zone.

I haven't been able to jog this week because I have contracted a mild case of Weird Knee. Weird Knee presents itself as a vague sensation: Something doesn't feel quite right when you walk. You find yourself compensating, putting a bit more stress on the opposite hip, and before long, you're developing Weird Knee on that side, too. At this point, you'd better respect the condition and back off your exercise program, because everyone knows Weird Knee can rapidly progress into Mangled Knee.

Kelly Gregg attacked his offseason knee rehabilitation with single-minded devotion - scuttling through all the minicamps, pressing all that iron, going deep into therapy without mishap. But the moment of truth - the moment the Ravens knew their Buddha-like nose tackle was back - came one morning at practice when they saw him perform his ritualistic frog jump. "He squats down like a frog almost, with his hands on his knees," said defensive tackle Trevor Pryce, "and he bounces up and down, three or four bounces to squat his weight.

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. - -Tiger Woods often gets asked about the knee surgery he had after his triumph at the 2008 U.S. Open. A different procedure was on his mind Tuesday. "I need to have a sex change? Is that what you're saying?" he asked. The questioner led him down that path by asking about the USGA's decision to play the men's and women's Opens in back-to-back weeks at Pinehurst in 2014. "Do you see somebody trying to play both of them?" Woods was asked. "Would you be interested?" Before the questioner could recover in time to mention Michelle Wie, Woods delivered his punch line.