NFL Notebook, June 16: Giants Lose WR Domenik Hixon for Season

Here's what's happening around the National Football League on Wednesday, June 16, 2010:

• It looked like Giants receiver Domenik Hixon had escaped serious injury after an awkward fall on the new Meadowlands' FieldTurf Tuesday. Turns out, Hixon -- and the Giants -- weren't so lucky.

According to Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily news, Hixon tore his ACL. He will have surgery within the next few weeks and will miss the entire 2010 season.

"We're aware of it, we're continuing to work with it, we're asking the turf people to take another look at the field and some of the thoughts we had about shoes and such," Giants coach Tom Coughlin told reporters after Hixon's mishap, when New York believed the wide receiver had simply hyperextended the knee.

Hixon started two games last season for the Giants and played in 14. He caught 15 passes for 187 yards and one touchdown.

• Chad Ochocinco's never one to shy away from the microphone, and the Bengals receiver was at it again Wednesday, proclaiming that Cincinnati is one step ahead of division rival Baltimore.

"We got better than them," Ochocinco told ESPN.com's James Walker. "They're not better than us. The Ravens? I mean, what have they done? They have some nice draft picks. But we have people that can come in right now and be effective."

Ochocinco was then reminded about Anquan Boldin's addition to the Ravens.

"Yeah, that's my homeboy, but then Anquan Boldin has to go against the No. 4 defense that was ranked last year," Ochocinco replied. "Last time I checked, we destroyed their defense. We added to ours, but we still have the better defense."

The Bengals did go 2-0 against the Ravens in 2009, winning 17-14 at Baltimore and 17-7 in Cincinnati.

• Albert Haynesworth could learn a thing or two from Ronnie Brown.

The running back wants a multi-year deal instead of the one-year, $3.97 million tender the Dolphins have offered. But Rather than going all Haynesworth on the team, Brown is taking the polar opposite approach.

"I got a lot of work to do, especially if we're going to go to the Super Bowl," Brown told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

"There's nothing dramatic. It's not like anyone's expecting me to hold out. It's a few knickknack things. There's language [issues].

"I plan on signing it. It's not a big deal. We're just talking about some things. Obviously I'd like to get something [long term] done, but there's nothing dramatic."

Brown's contract situation is unique. While Tuesday was the league-wide deadline for players to sign their tenders or have their offers reduced, Brown is not bound by the deadline because the Dolphins opted out of the final year of the rookie contract he signed in 2005.

"It's not a big deal on either side, them or myself," Brown said. "There's not any tension either way."

Brown rushed for 648 yards and scored eight touchdowns last season before a Lisfranc fracture ended his season after nine games.

Transaction Wire

• Pittsburgh signed two draft picks: OT Chris Scott from Tennessee and CB Crezdon Butler from Clemson, both fifth-round selections.

• The Eagles signed third-round pick Daniel Te'o-Nesheim, a defensive lineman, to a four-year deal, reportedly worth $2.5 million.

• The Browns claimed OG Paul Fanaika off waivers from the Redskins. A seventh-round draft pick of the Eagles last year, Fanaika spent 11 weeks on Philadelphia's practice squad before he was claimed by the Redskins and placed on the active roster Nov. 23.

• New England came to terms with rookie punter Zoltan Mesko on a four-year deal.

Injury Ward

• Bills head coach Chan Gailey said that injured offensive linemen Eric Wood and Demetrius Bell "are well ahead of schedule" in their respective rehabs, according to The Buffalo News. Bell tore a knee ligament in November. Wood, meanwhile, suffered an extremely grisly broken leg -- one that was so gruesome that TV broadcasts opted not to show the replay.

Tweet Up

• Cardinals DT Darnell Dockett (@ddockett) in the middle of a rant against Albert Haynesworth's decision to hold out: "That's why I tell yall I'm nothing like these dudes, for a 100millon my a** will play 4-3, 3-4 5-9, 4-8, and still whip a**! #PAYME"