Jay Cutler Lifestyle

The House Judiciary Committee announced its list of witnesses for Monday's hearing in Detroit regarding head injuries suffered by football players. Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), the chairman of the committee, called the hearing as a followup to the committee's late-October meeting on Capitol Hill on the same subject. "Clearly, we have reached a tipping point in our understanding of the causes and treatment of brain injuries in football," Conyers said in a written statement. "Since our last hearing, the NFL has made a series of important announcements, including enhancing the protocol for concussions by players; helping ensure that independent brain-injury experts clear players before they can return to play; encouraging current and former players to agree to donate their brains to study; shaking up the membership of their concussion committee; and suspending the concussion committee's work while proposing to support independent research into the study of brain injuries.

The Chicago Bears placed cornerback Charles Tillman on the season-ending injured reserve list. Tillman suffered broken ribs and a bruised lung during Monday night's overtime triumph over the Minnesota Vikings, according to the Bears' Web site. The Bears also placed defensive lineman Israel Idonije on the IR list because of a foot injury.

Reserve quarterback Michael Vick sat out the Philadelphia Eagles' practice Wednesday. Vick has missed one game because of a bruised quadriceps muscle. He said he hopes to play Sunday at Dallas when the Eagles try to secure the NFC East title and the conference's second playoff seed. "I'm very excited to get back out on the field," Vick said, according to the Eagles' Web site. "Being hurt is not the thing you want to be at this time of year. To have a chance to go out and get myself healthy and play against Dallas is my goal. That's what I'm trying to do, so that's why I've been working hard with the trainers."

Quarterback Tom Brady and wide receiver Randy Moss didn't participate in the New England Patriots' practice Wednesday. Brady was listed as having shoulder, rib and finger injuries, according to the Boston Globe. Moss was listed as not participating for non-injury reasons. Fellow wideout Wes Welker was listed as a non-participant for non-injury reasons. Coach Bill Belichick has not said whether he'll play his front-line players this weekend.

Pro Bowl wide receiver Brandon Marshall suffered an apparent hamstring injury during the Denver Broncos' practice Wednesday. Marshall suffered the injury while running a pass route and grabbed the back of his right leg, the Denver Post reported. He dropped to a knee and then limped over to speak to a trainer. Marshall was speaking to Coach Josh McDaniels when the portion of the Broncos' practice that was open to media members ended, the newspaper reported. It was not immediately clear if the injury would affect Marshall's playing status for this weekend.

Coach Marvin Lewis said the Cincinnati Bengals will "go win the football game" when they face the New York Jets on Sunday night at Giants Stadium. The Bengals will know by kickoff whether the game has playoff implications for them. They're vying with the New England Patriots for the third seed in the AFC playoffs, and the Patriots play earlier in the day. But Lewis said that won't affect his approach. "As I said, we're going to go win the football game," Lewis said at a news conference Wednesday, according to a written transcript by the Bengals. Lewis said he doesn't believe a team can regain its intensity during the postseason if it rests players at the end of the regular season. "We won a lot of games when I was with the Steelers in the early '90s," Lewis said. "We won a lot of games, but we didn't

Safety Troy Polamalu participated in the Pittsburgh Steelers' practice Wednesday on a limited basis. However, Polamalu said he's unlikely to play in Sunday's regular season finale at Miami without practicing fully following a long layoff from a knee injury. "For me, no, but I haven't done it before," Polamalu said, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Polamalu has missed the last six games because of his second knee injury of the season. "Whenever you take this much time off it's kind of a mix of everything," Polamalu said, according to the Post-Gazette. "It's trying to get your nervous system right, trying to get muscle bulk from the atrophy, trying to get some strength back.... It's a process of even seeing looks at this point in the season. Had I been 100 percent healthy I probably wouldn't be practicing any faster than I am now. We'll see when the time comes."

The Pittsburgh Steelers need help from other teams this weekend to get into the playoffs. Steelers linebacker LaMarr Woodley says they won't get it. "Cincinnati is probably going to go into New York and lay down for the Jets and not play them hard just because they don't want to see Pittsburgh in there," Woodley said, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, "because they know if we get into the playoffs we're a dangerous team." The Steelers also could use an assistant from the New England Patriots, who face the Houston Texans. "All of them will lay down," Woodley said, according to the Post-Gazette. "No one wants to see Pittsburgh in there. That's just how it is. Everybody knows we're a dangerous team once we get into the playoffs no matter how we played throughout the whole year."

Detroit Lions rookie quarterback Matthew Stafford underwent knee surgery Tuesday in Birmingham, Ala. The Lions called the procedure, performed by orthopedist James Andrews, minor and termed it successful. The club placed Stafford, the top overall selection in the NFL draft in April, on the season-ending injured reserve list last week. Stafford hurt his right knee in the season's fourth game.

New York Giants tailback Brandon Jacobs will undergo arthroscopic knee surgery and won't play in Sunday's season finale at Minnesota, Giants Coach Tom Coughlin announced Wednesday. Jacobs will undergo surgery next week, according to Coughlin. Coughlin said at a news conference that Jacobs's knee had bothered him for some time but not to the extent that surgery was required. It was determined after Jacobs's knee was examined this week that surgery is necessary, according to Coughlin. Jacobs finishes the season with 835 rushing yards. But he averaged only 3.7 yards per carry, down from five yards per carry in each of the past two seasons. Jacobs topped 1,000 rushing yards in each of those two seasons.