Playing defensive back is a game of inches back there

MOSCOW -- Russias top Olympic official expects a final decision by Sunday on whether the entire Russian team will be banned from next months games in Rio de Janeiro over allegations of state-sponsored doping.The IOC is examining the legal options of a blanket ban following a report by World Anti-Doping Agency investigator Richard McLaren that accused Russias sports ministry of overseeing doping of the countrys Olympic athletes.The issue will be finally resolved by the end of this week, probably on Sunday, Russian Olympic Committee president Alexander Zhukov said Wednesday at a meeting of the ROC.Zhukov said his committee did not discuss the McLaren report at its meeting, although he also did not rule out legal action if Russia is hit with a total ban from the games.The Court of Arbitration for Sport will issue its verdict Thursday on Russias appeal to overturn the IAAF ban on its track and field athletes for the games. The IOC will take that ruling into account before making its own decision.Zhukov said he was hopeful of winning the appeal, adding that Russias plans for the Olympics assumed the track and field team would be allowed to compete. Russia plans to send a total of 387 athletes, including 68 in track and field, he said.Of course we hope for a CAS ruling in our favor, Zhukov told state TV. It would be, Id say, a serious precedent for the other federations decisions.Regardless of how the various doping-related cases turn out, Zhukov said a Russian Olympic boycott was out of the question.These boycotts just lead to a breakup of the Olympic movement, he said. I think that Russia will never take part in any boycott.The Soviet Union boycotted the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, retaliating for the U.S.-led boycott of the 1980 Games in Moscow that followed the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.Earlier Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putins spokesman said a meeting between Putin and Russias Olympic athletes, previously scheduled for Thursday, would no longer take place.The IOC executive board held a meeting by teleconference on Tuesday to consider its steps in the wake of the McLaren report, which found that 28 summer and winter Olympic sports were affected by state-operated cheating in Russia.WADA and other anti-doping officials urged the IOC to consider the unprecedented step of excluding the entire Russian team from the Rio Games.The IOC said it will explore the legal options with regard to a collective ban of all Russian athletes for the Olympic Games 2016 versus the right to individual justice.The IOC also started disciplinary action against Russian sports ministry officials and others implicated in McLarens report, and said they would be denied accreditation for the Rio Games. The list includes Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko.The IOC can also let individual international federations decide to ban Russians in their own sports.The international rowing federation said Wednesday it was investigating whether Russian rowers places at the Rio Olympics could be reallocated to athletes from other countries if there would be a blanket ban on the Russian team or any other ban.Russia has five rowing crews entered for the Olympics after a sixth crew was disqualified earlier this month for a doping violation in qualifying.World Rowing also said it is undertaking a complete review of testing of Russian rowers since 2011 and has asked WADA for any evidence related to doping by Russian rowers. The McLaren report alleged 11 failed drug tests in rowing had been covered up by Russian officials. San Francisco 49ers Pro Shop . 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KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The most experienced cornerback on the Kansas City Chiefs roster is entering his third year in the NFL.The best of them is entering his second.In other words, the eyes of Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers should light up when he steps inside Arrowhead Stadium for the season opener Sunday. Hes coming off a 4,800-yard season with plenty of production coming against defensive backs that have been through the professional grind.But the Chiefs seem unconcerned by their cornerback pups.In fact, they seem downright confident in them.We do have some young guys, Chiefs general manager John Dorsey said, but you know what Ive seen from preseason games? I think theyve all done a really nice job.Now its time for the real season to start. Now you take it up to that next level, and I think these guys WILL take it up to the next level.The Chiefs lost veteran starter Sean Smith in free agency , yet were still confident enough in their youngsters that they traded Marcus Cooper to Arizona for a draft pick before final roster cuts. Cooper had been losing playing time but had still appeared in 38 games, giving Kansas City some semblance of experience.Their departures left Phillip Gaines as the Chiefs elder statesmen, and the fact that hes entering his third season in the NFL is tempered a bit by the way his first two years have gone.Gaines struggled to get on the field as a rookie, the acclimation process taking longer than the third-round pick expected. And once Gaines earned the starting job a year ago, he tore the ACL in his left knee in Week 3.Gaines won back his starting job in training camp, and will pair with Defensive Rookie of the Year Marcus Peters in giving the Chiefs perhaps the youngest starting tandem in the NFL.We lost a lot of guys last year -- well, this year -- so weve got to pick it up, Peters said.That is certainly true for Peters, who was usually matched up with an opponents second wide receiver a year ago. He is now the No. 1 cornerback and will be given much more difficult tasks.Weve told him and he knows what theyre going to try to do to him, Chiefs defensivee backs coach Emmitt Thomas said.ddddddddddddHell step up to the occasion. Were not worried about him. Hes our guy back there that can get the ball, turn the ball over and hes our best cover guy on this team. Hell be ready.Will the guys deeper on the depth chart be ready?The first two cornerbacks off the bench, and the first options at nickel back, appear to be Kenneth Acker and Steven Nelson. And while both have some experience, they are still relative newcomers.Acker spent a year on the San Francisco practice squad before starting 13 games a year ago. But he was traded to the Chiefs relatively late in training camp, so the pressure has been on to quickly learn the nuances of defensive coordinator Bob Suttons press-man coverage scheme.Nelson appeared in 12 games as rookie a year ago, though much of that was on special teams.Its the small things, he said. Playing defensive back is a game of inches back there, so working on the small things is important. Having a short-term memory is important too.No problem there: Quite a few of the Chiefs defensive backs have yet to make any memories.KeiVarae Russell was a third-round pick out of Notre Dame and D.J. White a sixth-round pick out of Georgia Tech, and both have flashed some talent at cornerback. Fourth-round pick Eric Murray played mostly cornerback at Minnesota, but hes forced his way onto the field in Kansas City at safety.All of them are quickly learning what life is like in game week.You can tell the focus has been taken up a notch, Russell said. Every game counts at this point and you obviously want to win every game and work toward that No. 1 playoff seed. Its not like preseason.In that respect, Russell at least sounds like a veteran.I dont know how often my name will be called, but its going to be exciting getting out there, he said. This has been a longtime dream of mine and its going to become a reality on Sunday.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '