According to MLive.com, Young won’t be allowed to participate in Lions OTAs after getting into a confrontation with safety Louis Delmas last week.

Allegedly, Young sucker-punched Delmas when he wasn’t looking, and Detroit decided to discipline the second-year receiver by barring him from Lions Park “until the team decides to have him back.”

Delmas, apparently, has been cleared of any wrongdoing, as he was allowed to take part in OTAs.

Coach Jim Schwartz, who’s no stranger to controversy after ‘Handshake-Gate’, toted the company line when asked about the incident.

“This is the voluntary part of our offseason program,” Schwartz said. “There is no need to comment. It sort of entails that it is not voluntary. I’m not going to comment on any other thing, other than (Stephen) Tulloch (who will miss the next few weeks to an injury) because Tulloch will be down for a significant period of time.”

This has been a recurring problem for Young; his immaturity and mental lapses were two red-flags coming out of college. He did show promise last season, hauling in 48 passes for 607 yards and six touchdowns as a legit deep threat.

However, this little brouhaha more than likely buried him further on the depth chart, and his chances to surpass Nate Burleson as the No. 2 just took a major hit … no pun intended.

If Titus wants to see class, he should look no further than the man under center. Of course, he’ll now have to wait a little while to do so.

Whether or not you buy in to the fable is immaterial; the guys who, you know, actually step out onto the field on Sundays feel the jinx is alive and well.

Take for instance Lions receiver Nate Burleson, who told the Detroit Free Press Tuesday that he’s a believer, but is nonetheless hoping a fellow teammate makes it as the coverboy for the video game’s upcoming installment.

“Of course, I would love to see my guy on the cover of Madden,” Burleson said. “I’m a big Madden fan. I do believe in the curse, but there’s certain curses that can be erased with dollar signs, so we’ll see what happens. I’m just keeping it real.”

His guy would be Calvin Johnson, arguably the league’s best wideout and finalist in the ESPN SportsNation Madden ’13 cover tournament.

But why would he want to subject ‘Megatron’ to the same horrors that Peyton Hillis, plagued by injuries and unproductivity, endured last year? Well, it’s quite simple really …

“If any guy can break the curse, it’s Calvin,” Burleson said. “This dude is a monster. He’s strong enough to break tackles, he can break a curse.”

On Wednesday, Johnson moved on to the final round of the tourney after “defeating” Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. He’ll be matched up against another signal-caller — the Panthers’ Cam Newton — for the whole enchilada. The winner will be revealed live on April 25.

So, for at least another week, Burleson gets to keep the hope alive, while Johnson may be secretly hoping Newton saves him from the dubious honor.

I mean, it didn’t exactly go over well the last (and only) time a Lion was etched into Madden lore.

The online betting site released the spreads for each of the Opening Day contests, listing half of the NFC North — the Bears and Lions — as the most heavily-favored to win their respective matchups.

Chicago (-8.5) opens up at home against (in all likelihood) Andrew Luck and the Colts. Ditto for Detroit (-7.5), who will play host to Jeff Fisher’s new-look Rams.

Right behind them are the Saints, Eagles, and Ravens (among others), all of whom are six-point favorites.

And if you’re wondering (which I’m sure you are), Peyton Manning is projected to earn his first victory in his new uniform, though the line (-1.5) could always change considering the opponent — Pittsburgh.

Listed below are the full set of odds and spreads for Week 1, via BetOnline.

Dallas Cowboys
New York Giants -3.5

Indianapolis Colts
Chicago Bears -7.5

Jacksonville Jaguars
Minnesota Vikings -3.5

Buffalo Bills
New York Jets -6

Miami Dolphins
Houston Texans -6

New England Patriots -5
Tennessee Titans

St. Louis Rams
Detroit Lions -7.5

Washington Redskins
New Orleans Saints -6

Philadelphia Eagles -6
Cleveland Browns

Atlanta Falcons -1
Kansas City Chiefs

San Francisco 49ers
Green Bay Packers -5

Seattle Seahawks
Arizona Cardinals -1

Carolina Panthers -1.5
Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Cincinnati Bengals
Baltimore Ravens -6

Pittsburgh Steelers
Denver Broncos -1.5

San Diego Chargers -2
Oakland Raiders

[H/T Beyond The Bets]

While Ndamukong Suh wouldn’t know what it’s like, he insists the Lions aren’t bounty hunters, and don’t permit such a program to take place.

“I don’t take part in those things and nor do my teammates and nor my coaches. We don’t allow that,” Suh told reporters in Phoenix where he’s the grand marshal for Sunday’s NASCAR race.

When asked if bounties are commonplace in the NFL — as some others have stated — Suh chose not to speak beyond his position.

“I’m only in the Lions locker room,” Suh said. “I have other friends that play at other teams, obviously, but I really don’t know much about it. Like I said before, we don’t do it at the Lions.”

And that’s probably a wise choice by the mammoth defensive lineman, who’s no stranger to controversy after countless fines, and, most notably, his incident last Thanksgiving, when he stomped on the head of the Packers’ Evan Dietrich-Smith.

That momentary lapse aside, it’s good to know the NFL’s dirtiest player (as voted by his peers) has no intentions of purposely injuring an opponent.

“For me, personally, and I know my teammates, we don’t want to put anybody out,” Suh said “Especially me, I would never want anybody to target me to take me out so why would I do it against somebody else.”

[Quotes via the Sporting News]

On Tuesday, Suh was suspended two games by the NFL for his stomp heard ’round the world against the Packers’ Evan Dietrich-Smith on Thanksgiving.

Four days later, Detroit’s disruptive lineman made news again.

According to the Oregonian, Suh was involved in a minor car accident early Saturday morning in Portland, Oregon, his home town.

He reportedly crashed a 1970 Chevrolet Coupe into a tree around 1:15 AM, but luckily walked away unscathed.

Police determined that Suh was “not impaired,” and simply lost control of the vehicle, which was towed away from the scene.

Suh is eligible to return to the Lions for their Week 15 contest against the Raiders.

The team all but confirmed as much Friday.

Per the Detroit Free Press, the Lions placed Best on injured reserve, effectively cutting short his concussion-riddled 2011 campaign. The move is likely to become official next week.

Best suffered concussions on two separate occasions this season, most recently against the 49ers on October 16. Since that point, the second-year speedster hasn’t received medical clearance to resume physical activities, prompting a recent visit to specialists.

Despite the ongoing condition, Best’s agent, Tony Fleming, expects his client to be ready to go in 2012.

“Definitely expect him to be back next year,” Fleming said. “Being put on IR is more precautionary because he’s continuing to see specialists, and he’s just being evaluated still. It seems to be in the best interests to sit him for the season, but there’s nothing long-term that’s been established.”

Best, Detroit’s former first-round pick, has been an unfortunate victim of the injury bug over the years. His collegiate career at California was ended by a concussion, his rookie season was hampered by turf toe, and a preseason concussion this year was an ominous sign of things to come.

With the help of the right doctors and a bit of luck, Best can still go on to have many successful years in the NFL. However, he’ll have to be monitored closely as his health — and not football — remains priority number one.

It’s gotten worse. Now an opposing player joined the fray, absolutely ripping Tebow a new one — albeit anonymously.

On Monday, an unnamed Lions defender told Michael Silver of Yahoo! Sports what he thought of Tebow’s performance against Detroit; no one will mistake it for high praise.

“Can you believe ’15’?” “Come on – that’s embarrassing. I mean, it’s a joke. We knew all week that if we brought any kind of defensive pressure, he couldn’t do anything. In the second half it got boring out there. We were like, ‘Come on – that’s your quarterback? Seriously?’ ”

Although the above sentiments are a tad harsh, it’s hard to argue that it wasn’t “embarrassing” watching Tebow, who took seven sacks, tossed a pick-six, and coughed up the ball three times in a blowout home loss on Sunday, 45-10.

Lions defensive end Cliff Avril didn’t hide behind anonymity, but added that Tebow was easily rattled by their defensive schemes.

“As long as he felt our pressure, he was going to make crazy decisions,” Avril said.

Head coach John Fox, who reportedly revamped the offense to suit the former Gators star, already acknowledged there’s still a ways to go with Tebow under center, but is sticking with him (for now) as the team’s starter.

If he doesn’t start looking like the franchise’s future at the position, it shouldn’t be long before the Broncos reinsert Kyle Orton at quarterback, relegating Tebow back to obscure third-down packages. As of now, though, it’s obvious he hasn’t earned much — if any — respect from his peers.

According to reports, Suh requested a meeting with commissioner Roger Goodell to discuss the NFL’s rulebook, and gain an understanding of why his style of play draws so many flags.

The tete-a-tete, which will take place Tuesday, is no sudden happening; it’s apparently been “in the works for several weeks” and will include football operations consultant Jeff Fisher, among others.

“Commissioner Goodell and his staff have had many meetings with players, both individually and in groups,” the league said in a statement Sunday night. “This particular meeting (on Tuesday during the Lions’ bye week) has been in the works for several weeks and grew out of Commissioner Goodell’s respect for Ndamukong Suh and Ndamukong’s desire to gain a deeper understanding of NFL rules and policies.”

Since entering the league in 2010, Suh has dominated the trenches with a violence unmatched by any other player at the position. However, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year gets a little overzealous at times, slamming down quarterbacks and engaging in post-play shenanigans. It’s a no-no that’ll have the laundry flying, no matter who’s officiating.

Hopefully Tuesday’s chat will help Suh better distinguish between what’s acceptable and what’s not. That way he can stop costing his defense more unnecessary yardage.

Unfortunately, swaps like these have conditions, why is they usually don’t take place. One of these conditions came up in this particular trade, rendering it canceled.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Ronnie Brown-Jerome Harrison trade was voided Wednesday for “heath reasons.” Harrison was being sent to the Eagles, Brown (along with a 2013 seventh-round pick) to the Lions.

Both backs will now remain with their original clubs.

Detroit had more invested in this trade, as they were seeking a better complement to starter Jahvid Best, who’s out with a concussion. Harrison was buried behind Keiland Williams and Maurice Morris on the depth chart, though now he’s likely nowhere to be found in the team’s plans.

Brown, the soon-to-be 30-year-old former Dolphin, has disappointed this season, totaling just 38 yards on 13 carries. However, it was easy to see this coming, considering Philly’s traditional pass-happy offense. Between LeSean McCoy, an elite talent, and dynamic quarterback Michael Vick, the Eagles possess all they need in the rushing department. Brown might’ve been signed simply to perpetuate the ‘Dream Team’ hype going during their free-agent shopping spree — his playing time certainly indicates as such.

The Associated Press reports that Leshoure will miss the entire 2011 season after tearing his left Achilles tendon in practice on Monday.

“There’s no more tests that need to be done. He’ll have surgery very soon,” Lions coach Jim Schwartz said. “He’ll be back, but he won’t be back this year.”

The injury occurred during an 11-on-11 drill when he was cleanly thumped by defensive end Cliff Avril. Leshoure had to be carted off by trainers; obviously a bad omen for the injury-riddled Lions, who are already dealing with injuries to two other top picks — defensive tackle Nick Fairley and wide receiver Titus Young.

Leshoure, the Illinois alum, was drafted to provide a power presence to Detroit’s backfield. He wasn’t expected to unseat Jahvid Best for the starting job, but was in line to receive a good chunk of carries as the thunder to Best’s lightning.

Now the Lions will turn to other alternatives, such as Tiki Barber or Jerome Harrison, with fellow back Maurice Morris also out with a broken hand.

Leshoure will have a full year to rehab and recover, though this is one of the toughest injuries to come back from — especially for a running back. There’s a fair chance he may never regain some of the skills that made him such a highly-touted pick.

What’s alarming is this is — by Adam Schefter’s count — the 10th player to rupture their Achilles tendons since training camps began. That’s a scary statistic that hopefully will not continue to rise.