Dousing speculation he plans to return to the sideline, former Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden told the Tampa Tribune he is remaining with ESPN as an analyst for its "Monday Night Football" broadcasts. "I love my job and I'll be back at ESPN with the guys," Gruden said. "I'm not going anywhere." Gruden, 48, has spent the past three NFL seasons in the ESPN booth with fellow analyst Ron Jaworski and play-by-play man Mike Tirico, receiving two Sports Emmy nominations. In October, Gruden signed a 5-year extension with ESPN.

Despite a poor 2011 season, Peyton Hillis doesn't want to go anywhere. Hillis, who is eligible to become a free agent after the season, would like to return to the Browns. Negotiations before and during the season did not produce a new contract for Hillis. "I would love to come back here," Hillis said. "I'm a Cleveland Brown at heart. Since I've been here, I fell in love with the fans, the city and the people that live here. They've been nothing but 100 percent supportive through everything when I talk to 'em. It's good to have a second family backing [you] like that."

Penn State has not given up hope it can lure Mike Munchak for its coaching vacancy, according to a source. Munchak has repeatedly stated he would remain at Tennessee, but a source close to him said Munchak is struggling with the concept that he can "fix and make right" his alma mater. "He loves his school and his heart is torn," the source said Saturday. "He really fits what they want and need to a tee."

Outgoing Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver is in a reflective mood these days. He will hand over the ownership reigns to Illinois businessman Shahid Khan on Jan. 4. "Look at the first eight years with (then-head coach) Tom Coughlin. It was our most successful time, but we didn't do everything right and I learned a lot from him. ... "If hindsight you could change, I'll be honest with you: I probably would have never changed Coughlin," the Weaver said. "I would have tried to have Tom take a step back and just be the coach. I thought about it, but I didn't think Tom would do it. I thought Tom's pride would never allow him to take a step back and me take the general manager's position."

Seattle running back Marshawn Lynch's love of Skittles paid off in the form of free candy earlier this season, but now it is costing him $10,000. Lynch wore cleats with a Skittles pattern for last Sunday's game against the 49ers, which likely made the candy makers very happy. It wasn't as warmly received by the folks at the league office, though. He was fined $10,000 for wearing the shoes in violation of the league's uniform policy.

Saints running back Darren Sproles is within reach of the all-time record for all-purpose yards in a season. The current record is held by Derrick Mason, who had a total of 2,690 yards in 2000, when he was a starting receiver and the primary kick returner for the Titans. With one game left this season, Sproles has 2,528 all-purpose yards, meaning if he has 163 all-purpose yards on Sunday, he'll have the record.

Browns running back Peyton Hillis resisted blaming his 2011 season on the Madden Curse, but he has finally relented. After all the drama triggered by his battle with Cleveland management over a new contract, his controversial decision to sit out a game with strep throat on the advice of his agent, the nagging hamstring injury that caused him to miss five straight games, his awkward rapport with teammates and his perhaps too-little-too-late flourish to end the season, Hillis now thinks he may have been jinxed. "Things didn't work in my favor this year," Hillis said. "There's a few things that happened this year that made me believe in curses. Ain't no doubt about it." Following a breakout year with the Browns, he won a nationwide fan vote to be the cover figure for "Madden NFL 12," the best-selling video game that has earned a reputation for dooming any player who graces its cover. Hillis is the latest to succumb to its spell.

Lawrence Taylor fully expects his Giants to defeat the Cowboys on Sunday night with the NFC East title and a playoff berth on the line. "If the Giants lose this game I would be shocked," Taylor said. "I don't think it's even a question that the Giants are a better team than Dallas. "I know you think I'm biased, but the Giants have by far the better athletes, they are tougher mentally, and they have by far the better coaching. I guarantee you that Dallas ain't taking s--- away from the Giants. If the Giants lose this game, they'll lose it themselves. Dallas won't take it away from them."

Eagles running back LeSean McCoy is officially listed as questionable for the team's meaningless season finale. However, coach Andy Reid fully expects McCoy to face the Redskins and flirt with the NFL rushing title. McCoy missed practice on Wednesday and was limited on Thursday because of an ankle injury. He has 1,309 rushing yards, 128 behind Jaguars running back and current league leader Maurice Jones-Drew (1,437), who missed two days of practice with an ankle injury but is listed as probable for Sunday's game against the Colts. McCoy leads the league with 17 rushing touchdowns.

Earlier this season, Broncos quarterbacks decided to fine Tim Tebow for every day in which an infamous billboard remained up in Denver. Like many teams in the NFL, the Broncos quarterbacks have an informal system in place that allows them to fine each other for different infractions, whether funny or serious. Four days after a billboard on 58th Avenue one block east of Interstate 25 publicly called for coach John Fox to bench Kyle Orton in favor of No. 15, the quarterbacks decided to begin fining Tebow every day that it remained up. No one ever gave him a reason, but according to sources, this was it: Tebow never made any attempt to publicly admonish the divisive gesture by the fan base. So they fined him for six days, until he eventually replaced Orton and there was no longer a reason for the billboard to exist.