Pennington’s status remains uncertain

Chad Pennington dropped back and threw a few light passes.

That counts as significant progress for the injured New York Jets quarterback, who was still preparing Thursday to play against the Baltimore Ravens.

Pennington appeared to favor his injured right ankle in practice but made some throws during drills after not taking any snaps the previous day during the half-hour period that the media were allowed to view.

Pennington, hurt on a sack during New York’s loss to New England on Sunday, had his right ankle again heavily wrapped and still moved somewhat gingerly, but his limp was less noticeable. Pennington, who usually speaks to the media only on Wednesdays, was listed on the team’s injury report as limited in practice for the second straight day.

According to a few published reports, citing unnamed sources, the Jets have already decided that second-year quarterback Kellen Clemens will start against the Ravens. While it would seem unlikely the Jets would play an injured Pennington against one of the league’s toughest defenses, the team hasn’t made any official decision public.

Coach Eric Mangini addressed the media before practice and gave little insight into Pennington’s progress. “We have a program for him and he followed the program,” Mangini said. “It will change each day.”

Dallas Cowboys receiver Terry Glenn is still hopeful of playing this season after having arthroscopic surgery on his right knee for the second time in six weeks Thursday.

Glenn hurt his knee again last week when he tried to return to practice for the first time since the initial surgery Aug. 1 to remove a cyst from the back of his kneecap. That was a week into training camp.

“This gives Terry a chance to play this season,” Cowboys spokesman Rich Dalrymple said.

Pro Bowl running back Frank Gore missed the San Francisco 49ers’ practice after the death of his mother. Gore’s mother, Liz, died Wednesday afternoon, and he briefly visited the 49ers’ training complex Thursday before leaving to be with relatives in California. He still intends to play in San Francisco’s game at St. Louis on Sunday.

The Dallas Cowboys wrested the title of the NFL’s most valuable franchise from the rival Redskins, knocking Washington off the top of the list for the first time in eight years, according to Forbes magazine’s annual survey.

Thanks to a new $1-billion stadium set to open in 2009, the Cowboys’ value increased by 28% -- by far the largest jump among NFL teams this year -- to $1.5 billion.

They climbed from third to first in the rankings, leapfrogging the Redskins ($1.467 billion) and the New England Patriots ($1.199 billion).

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell visited injured Bills tight end Kevin Everett on Thursday morning, spending 90 minutes with the player who sustained a severe spinal cord injury.

Goodell flew from New York City to Buffalo to meet with Everett and his mother, Patricia Dugas, in the player’s room at Millard Fillmore Gates Hospital, hospital spokesman Mike Hughes said.