European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 18, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday december 18, 1991 the stars and stripes Page 29 around the nil Bills Thomas says hell play shoot for Rushing Crown Orchard Park n y. A Marv Levy did his darn est to dance around the question of whether hell rest his stars sunday against the Detroit Lions now that the Buffalo Bills have wrapped up the Home Field advantage for the acc playoffs. Thurman Thomas who left sunday s 35-7 Victory Over the Indianapolis Colts because of a sprained ankle did no to do much dancing at All monday a including his straight Forward answer to the question of whether hell play against Detroit. A a in a still thinking the same thing said Thomas who insisted last week he will As Long As he has a Chance at the play nil Buffalo head coach Marv Levy says the decision on playing time sunday is his alone. If Rushing title. A i m going to play a probably three quarters. That a the Bottom  Thomas conceded he does no to have a shot at one of the records he was chasing. After playing in Only nine plays sunday before the ankle injury Thomas needs 276 Yards to break Marcus Allens 1985 Mark of 2,314 combined Rushing and receiving Yards. But the Rushing title a which would be the first for the four year Back a is another matter. Barry Sanders is 33 Yards ahead of Thomas with 1,440 Yards. A we re Only 30-something Yards behind and we re going to go for it for three quarters and see How it turns out Quot Thomas said. Thomas said he a probably should have had it last year when Sanders won the title by eight Yards after Thomas carried Only five times for Zero Yards in Buffalo s season finale against the Washington redskins. The fact that he and Sanders former teammates at Oklahoma state and Friendly rivals during their professional careers will have a Chance to see each other go for the record at Rich stadium on sunday made Thomas smile. Quot i m probably not going to watch the game like i usually do a he said. A a in a probably going to go out and not even watch to see How Many Yards he gets. Usually in a up watching the defense to see what they re doing but ill probably sit Down a lot  despite what Thomas might say. Levy will decide on playing time a and he a not going to say anything before the game. A the decision is mine Quot Levy said. A Well use every consideration we think is appropriate. 1 Don t have any direction i m heading or a Broad philosophy that covers Quot resting players for the playoffs once regular season objectives Are met. Levy said he understands that players have statistical goals but added �?o1 think about winning. 1 think its Fine to have aspirations and goals and some Are statistical but i Don t think they should be the most important thing to the  Thomas in t the Only hurting Bills Star nearing a statistical goal. Jim Kelly who dinged his knee and did t play in the second half sunday did t hesitate when asked a reason for playing against the Lions. A i need 160 Yards for 4,000, Kelly said. A a in a like to hit that but my main concern is not stats. Its winning. If they decide to hold me out they will. I d like to play a Little hit but if the knee is sore Why do it a then there a James Lofton the most seriously injured Bill on sunday with a severely sprained right foot. He needs 55 Yards to break Steve Largento a nil career record of 13,089 receiving Yards. The Veteran wide receiver was limping badly monday and sounded Down As he talked about his chances of playing against the Lions. A a in a concerned about it. Well see How it goes a he said. A a in be never had anything like this  gives Butler vote of Confidence Lake Forest Iii. A coach Mike Ditka said monday he is sticking with Kevin Butler even though the Chicago bears kicker has missed two extra Points in As Many games and four of his last six Field goal attempts. A a he a my kicker no matter what happens through the playoffs a until the season ends a Ditka said. A if he goes out and misses the Ball he a still the kicker. There is no pressure on  butter who holds 14 club records including most career Field goals has been bothered for several weeks by a hip injury. A i think a Little bit probably is the injury and he really Hasni to got the timing with the Holder and snapper he needs a Ditka said. A a we la work on that a lot More this week a Jay Hilgenberg snaps and quarterback Jim Harbaugh holds on kicks. Ditka said he had a talk with Butler after the kicker told reporters saturday that he Felt his coaches had lost Confidence in his kicking. A a in be gotta fight through and keep practising and have the coaches gain some Confidence Back in me a he said after the bears 27-0 shutout of Tampa Bay that put Chicago in the nil playoffs for the seventh time in eight years. Butler was unavailable at Halas Hall for comment monday. The bears have replaced Butler with Rookie Chris Gardocki on kickoffs the last three games but the first year kicker Hasni to kicked an extra Point or Field goal attempt in a regular season game. Ditka also said he gave the entire defense a game Ball for saturday s shutout. A they made All their goals for the first time this season a he said. On saturday the buccaneers gave up three interceptions allowed four sacks and lost a Fumble. They managed Only 52 Yards Rushing and 76 passing. The longest Rush was 12 Yards and the longest pass was 21. With one game remaining for both teams the bears and Detroit Lions Are still tied atop the pfc Central at 11-4. But Chicago has the Edge in tie Breakers and Only needs to win at san Francis co next monday night to earn its seventh division title in eight years. A there is a lot of incentive for us to get momentum for the playoffs and get the Bye to rest our players a safety Mark Carrier said. A Victory Over the 49ers or a loss by the Lions the previous Day at Buffalo would mean no. 2 seeding in the playoffs and a Bye for Chicago in the first round giving running Back Neal Anderson hamstring fullback Brad Muster hip hamstring guard Mark Bortz Abdomen tight end James Thornton ankle and other injured players another week to mend. But a Detroit Victory and Chicago loss would result in the bears hosting a wildcard game the weekend of dec. 28-29.patriots Russell on course for Rookie honors Foxboro mass. Apr Leonard Russell has been too Busy doing what it takes to become Rookie of the year to consider what it would mean to win the award. He should find out soon. With one game left at Cincinnati he needs 86 Rushing Yards to become the second new England Patriot Rookie to run for 1,000 in a season. He a the of cd a fourth leading rusher. He a a top candidate for nil offensive Rookie of the year despite his eight fumbles six of them recovered by opponents. A mostly you think about your performance. In be been kept Busy with a lot of other things besides thinking about Rookie of the year a Russell said monday a with the fumbles and All the other things that have been  he a worked to eliminate the Bobbles and on monday he could t help but think about the Honor. He made his Choice on the balloting by the nil players association one of several organizations that pick rookies of the year. Players Arentt allowed to vote for members of their teams. That excluded himself and tackle Pat Harlow who was drafted three spots ahead of Russell at no. 11. The bruising running Back has been a big reason for the patriots improvement from a 1-15 season to the possibility of finishing 7-9 with wins in four of their last five games. Russell ran for a career High 112 Yards sunday in a 6-3 win at the new York jets