Oklahoma City — Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops doesn’t know whether Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford will be ready for Saturday night’s game at No. 17 Miami, but said it won’t be a game-time decision.

“I would think we would know here later in the week what Sam’s able to handle and where we feel we’re at with it,” Stoops said Monday on the Big 12 coaches conference call. “I would think it would be earlier than (a game-time decision).”

Stoops said “everything has been positive” in Bradford’s recovery since he was hurt just before halftime in Oklahoma’s season-opening 14-13 loss to BYU. He has missed the No. 8 Sooners’ last two games due to a sprained AC joint in his right, throwing shoulder.

Stoops refused to assess Bradford’s chances of playing this week.

“I’m not much on — maybe some people would disagree — on being coy or evasive on stuff. I pretty much usually call it as it is, and when we don’t know, I say we don’t know just yet,” Stoops said. “I’m not smart enough to deal with all of that, so I just kind of call it as it is, and that’s what I will (do) here. We’ll just see how the week goes.”

College Football

Texas Tech bans Twitter

Lubbock, Texas — Tweeting is out of bounds for football players at Texas Tech.

Coach Mike Leach said Monday he has banned his players from using Twitter after one of his linebackers noted the coach’s tardiness to a team meeting in a tweet Sunday, one day after the Red Raiders lost, 29-28, at No. 12 Houston.

According to the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, linebacker Marlon Williams asked on his Twitter account why he was still in a meeting room when “the head coach can’t even be on time.” That tweet has been deleted, and his page no longer exists.

Offensive lineman Brandon Carter, a team captain, also had a Twitter page. After the loss to the Cougars, he tweeted: “This is not how I saw our season.”

Sunday, Carter was suspended indefinitely for violating team rules unrelated to his Twitter page, which was nowhere to be found later that day.

Leach said players don’t need Twitter or Facebook. He called them “stupid” distractions.

“I think that a guy who plays college football gets enough attention,” he said. It’s “a bunch of narcissists that want to sit and type stuff about themselves all the time. We’ll put mirrors in some of their lockers if that’s necessary, but they don’t have to Twitter.”

NU’s free safety out

Lincoln, Neb. — Nebraska backup free safety Rickey Thenarse will miss practice time this week and possibly the next game after injuring his right knee, coach Bo Pelini said Monday.

USC tailback has surgery

Los Angeles — Southern California tailback Stafon Johnson had emergency throat surgery Monday after a weightlifting accident.

The senior who scored the No. 7 Trojans’ go-ahead touchdown against Ohio State two weeks ago was bench-pressing when the bar slipped from his right hand and fell onto his throat.

Tide LB out for season

Tuscaloosa, Ala. — No. 3 Alabama linebacker Dont’a Hightower will miss the remainder of the season.

Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban said Monday that the surgery to repair a damaged ligament in Hightower’s left knee will require three to four months of recovery time.

Buckeyes safety suspended

Columbus, Ohio — Ohio State strong safety Kurt Coleman has been suspended for one game for a helmet-to-helmet hit and “targeting a defenseless opponent” in the ninth-ranked Buckeyes’ 30-0 victory over Illinois on Saturday.

N.M. coach reprimanded

Albuquerque, N.M. — New Mexico head coach Mike Locksley has been reprimanded for a fight involving an assistant coach, who told police Locksley struck him and split his lip.

Minnesota suspends two

Minneapolis — Minnesota defensive end Cedric McKinley has been suspended for the next two games.

Gophers coach Tim Brewster said Monday that backup safety Tim Dandridge also was suspended for the upcoming games against Wisconsin and Purdue for an unspecified violation of team rules and policies.

Meyer: Tebow improving

Gainesville, Fla. — Tim Tebow could be back in the huddle in time for Florida’s biggest game of the season.

Coach Urban Meyer said Monday that his star quarterback was feeling better and eating well two days after sustaining a concussion at Kentucky. Although Tebow still has “a little bit of a headache,” Meyer hopes he will be able to play when the top-ranked Gators (4-0) return to the field Oct. 10 at LSU.

NFL

Giants O-line ailing

East Rutherford, N.J. — New York Giants starting right tackle Kareem McKenzie has a sprained right knee, and his status for this weekend’s game in Kansas City against the Chiefs is uncertain.

Starting left guard Rich Seubert injured his right shoulder in the 24-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, but coach Tom Coughlin thinks he will play.

In other injury news:

n Ashburn, Va. — The Washington Redskins expect defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth to be OK despite a hip injury that forced him out of the loss to the Detroit Lions. Coach Jim Zorn says Haynesworth has a strained glut muscle high in the hip area.

n Indianapolis — The Indianapolis Colts are hoping Dwight Freeney won’t be a spectator Sunday after hurting his right quadriceps in Indy’s 31-10 victory over the Cardinals. Team officials were trying to get answers Monday about the severity of the injury and how much time, if any, the Colts’ top pass-rusher might miss.

n Davie, Fla. — Miami Dolphins quarterback Chad Pennington dislocated his right shoulder and may seek a second opinion to determine how long he’ll be sidelined, a person familiar with his status said Monday.

Other media outlets reported Pennington had a torn capsule and was likely to miss the rest of the season.

n Orchard Park, N.Y. — Cornerback Leodis McKelvin is out indefinitely with a broken bone in his leg, while safety Donte Whitner had surgery Monday to repair an injured thumb, leaving the Buffalo Bills’ limping defense minus two more starters.

n St. Louis — St. Louis Rams quarterback Marc Bulger has a bruised rotator cuff on his right throwing arm, but has not been ruled out for next week’s game at San Francisco.

n Santa Clara, Calif. — San Francisco 49ers running back Frank Gore is expected to miss three weeks because of a right ankle strain.

Bucs bench Leftwich

Tampa, Fla. — The winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers benched starting quarterback Byron Leftwich and replaced him with second-year pro Josh Johnson, who takes over following one of the worst offensive performances in team history.

Basketball

Pollard scores 12

Hammond, Ind. — Former Kansas University power forward Scot Pollard scored 12 points in the Midwest All-Stars’ 88-82 lost to KK Partizan of Serbia on Sunday at Purdue-Calumet University in Hammond, Ind.

Pollard will play for the All-Stars vs. Serbia on Wednesday night at Dakota High School in Macomb, Mich. Pollard, 34, who lives in Lawrence, has not officially retired but is not expected to be in an NBA camp this preseason.

UT player collapses

Knoxville, Tenn. — University of Tennessee men’s basketball sophomore forward Emmanuel Negedu was in stable condition after collapsing in the Neyland-Thompson Sports Complex shortly after 4 p.m. Monday., the Knoxville News reported.

Negedu did not have a pulse when he was revived with a defibrillator at the scene by UT athletic training staff members. Negedu had regained consciousness and was alert when EMTs arrived to transport him to the University of Tennessee Medical Center by ambulance, according to a News source.

Negedu had finished a workout in the weight room and was leaving the complex with teammates en route to a pick-up basketball game when he lost consciousness.

Golf

Injured pro plans comeback

Danbury, Conn. — Ken Green has overcome depression, financial troubles and a bad back. He doesn’t plan on letting the loss of a leg keep him off the Champions Tour.

The pro golfer had his lower right leg amputated after an accident in June that killed his brother and girlfriend. He said Monday that he hopes to be back on the tour by April.