MEMPHIS (AP) — Tommy West has one important priority this season — Give DeAngelo Williams some help. The Memphis coach got lucky when the running back who led the nation with 22 rushing touchdowns decided against the NFL draft where he was a likely first-round pick so he could return to the Tigers for his…

NASHVILLE (AP) — The freefall started when Samari Rolle hurt his left knee. The Tennessee Titans ranked ninth in the NFL in pass defense before their veteran cornerback became the third starter in the secondary to suffer a season-ending injury. In the final five weeks of the season, they gave up yards left and right…

NASHVILLE (AP) — Agent Drew Rosenhaus told the Tennessee Titans on Monday that he’d like to pursue a trade that would allow Billy Volek to be a starting quarterback in the NFL sooner rather than later. That’s not a subject the Titans are interested in talking about. “To me, that wouldn’t make sense based on…

NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee quarterback Steve McNair’s only problem with receivers has been hearing them tell him how open they always are. He can’t imagine being in the situation Philadelphia receiver Terrell Owens and quarterback Donovan McNabb are in. Eagles coach Andy Reid kicked Owens out of camp last week and told him not to…

WASHINGTON (AP) — On the left, they’re calling it radical. On the right, the buzzword is bold. Either way, South Carolina is proposing major changes in Medicaid, the giant federal-state health insurance program for the poor and disabled. The state says its proposal to establish personal health accounts for most of the state’s 850,000 Medicaid…

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Most people outside Rhode Island don’t understand John Raiche’s fascination with low-numbered license plates. After all, a license plate is just a license plate — unless you’re in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Illinois, Delaware or Washington, D.C. In those states, plates with four numbers or fewer have a mysterious allure, making them…

WASHINGTON (AP) — Infants have been stopped from boarding planes at airports throughout the U.S. because their names are the same as or similar to those of possible terrorists on the government’s “no-fly list.” It sounds like a joke, but it’s not funny to parents who miss flights while scrambling to have babies’ passports and…

WASHINGTON (AP) — People tend to love garlic or hate it, but few probably associate it with pain. Nonetheless, it turns out that pain-sensing nerves respond to the sulfur-based chemicals in garlic. Indeed, the same mechanism the body uses to react to the sharpness of chili peppers and hot mustards like wasabi is the one…

WASHINGTON (AP) — Year by year, the deficit numbers have been getting worse for President Bush. A $127 billion surplus the year he took office turned into $159 billion in red ink. Then came deficits of $377 billion and $412 billion, both records. The direction seems to be turning, though the numbers are still huge.…

DALLAS (AP) — Women taking daily amounts of non-aspirin painkillers — such as extra-strength Tylenol — should monitor their blood pressure, doctors say following a new study suggesting a link between the drugs and hypertension. “If you’re taking these over-the-counter medications at high dosages on a regular basis, make sure that you report it to…