St. Louis Rams cornerback Fakhir Brown said yesterday he was suspended for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy because he missed a drug test because of a misunderstanding.

Brown, who started 14 games last season, is appealing a ruling that takes effect Aug. 31 and will sideline him for the first four games. He said a meeting with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has not been scheduled.

"I really don’t know what’s going to happen," Brown said. "Right now I’m just waiting to talk to the commissioner. You never know how things are going right now."

Brown failed a drug test earlier in his career and thus is subject to random testing. He must contact the NFL whenever he leaves what he designates as his testing site and said he was at his football camp in Mansfield, La., instead of his hometown in Shreveport, La., about 15 minutes away, when he missed a test earlier this month.

The NFL, which considers a missed test a failure, suspended him July 13. Brown blamed it on new personnel working for the NFL "just doing what they’re told."

"I was out of town, and things just got mixed up," Brown said. "It’s just a misunderstanding."

In the meantime, the Rams are trying to give Brown at least some of the practice reps. Ron Bartell, a second-round pick in 2005, is likely to take over the starting job.

"We get a lot of repetitions so you can get Fakhir in, getting the reps he’s going to need," Coach Scott Linehan said. "He’s going to be playing a lot in the preseason."

● PACMAN HITTING THE MAT?: Goodell won’t let Adam "Pacman" Jones play football, but Goodell can’t keep Jones from dabbling in professional wrestling.

The suspended Tennessee Titans cornerback might participate in a Total Nonstop Action Wrestling show, according to Nashville television station WTVF-5 and The Tennessean newspaper.

TNA Wrestling tapes many of its events at a Universal Studios soundstage in Orlando, Fla.

A deal may be announced today.

"I can’t confirm or deny anything," TNA Wrestling spokesman Steven Godfrey told the Orlando Sentinel. "I’m officially at ‘no comment’ right now."

Jones’ agent, Michael Huyghue, and Jones’ attorney, Worrick Robinson, did not return phone messages from the Sentinel.

"Pacman is talking with TNA at this time, and we expect an announcement to be made in the next several days," Robinson told The Tennessean. "It is not anticipated that he’ll be wrestling, but discussions are taking place for him to have some role in their profession."

In April, Goodell suspended Jones for the entire 2007 season because of repeated off-field incidents since the Titans drafted him in 2005.

Police have interviewed and/or arrested Jones at least 10 times over the past two and a half years.

Last month, Jones was charged with two felonies for his alleged role in a Feb. 19 brawl at a Las Vegas strip club that police said led to a triple shooting.

● MONEY IS NO OBJECT: Michael Strahan’s holdout already has cost him $57,152 in fines and will run him another $14,288 for every day he doesn’t report.

But that won’t make a difference, according to his agent, because money has nothing to do with why the seven-time Pro Bowler is staying home.

"I’ve never asked them for money," agent Tony Agnone told the New York Daily News yesterday. "We haven’t talked money since March, when we discussed extending Michael’s contract. That has not been the issue here in this situation."

Agnone was responding to a story in yesterday’s Daily News that included some tough talk from Giants General Manager Jerry Reese and information from team sources that the organization believes Strahan is holding out because he wants a raise. Agnone vigorously disputed that notion and insisted Strahan is torn about whether he wants to continue his 14-year career.

A source close to Strahan said his return to the Giants is "50-50" at best - a sentiment echoed by defensive end Osi Umenyiora, who spoke with Strahan twice over the weekend. Agnone said the 35-year-old defensive end has no set timetable.

"Michael is a Hall of Fame player," Agnone said. "Michael is going to decide when he’ll decide to hang them up or not."

Regardless, the Giants have made it clear they will not wait. Simeon Rice is due in New York today and will take a physical for the Giants tomorrow, and the team is also searching for possible trades.

● BRADY MISSING A BUNCH: Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback Brady Quinn missed his fourth day of training camp yesterday in a contract holdout that shows no signs of ending anytime soon for the first-round draft pick.

Quinn, who figures to compete for the starting job with Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson, has missed six practices so far.

Browns General Manager Phil Savage has been in negotiations with Quinn’s agent, Tom Condon, but the team said there was nothing new to report. Savage characterized talks with Condon as "in the same neighborhood but not on the same street."

A four-year starter at Notre Dame, Quinn was expected to be taken in the first 10 picks in April’s draft. However, he slipped to No. 22, where the Browns nabbed him after trading a first-round pick in 2008 to the Dallas Cowboys.

Condon could be trying to get his client money in line with a top-10 selection, something the Browns already had to do to sign left tackle Joe Thomas, the No. 3 overall pick, who signed a five-year $42 million deal last week that included $23 million in guaranteed money.

● BAD BREAK: Frank Gore, the San Francisco 49ers Pro Bowl running back, broke a bone in his right hand during the first padded practice of training camp and might not play in the preseason.

Gore was injured during a noncontact ballhandling drill, and Coach Mike Nolan said he would not practice with the team for the remainder of the week. Gore will be re-evaluated Monday, and Nolan expects him to return to practice then with a cast on his hand.

● DEPLETED SECONDARY: New England defensive back Chad Scott will miss the upcoming season because of a knee injury, the team announced yesterday, as cornerback Asante Samuel’s holdout continued.

Scott, 32, was placed on the reserve/injured list. The news came just hours after Coach Bill Belichick continued to describe Scott’s injury as day-to-day.

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