Thursday morning links and notes -- Rivers holdout appears lengthy

Pending his approval, the Reds and White Sox agreed on a Ken Griffey Jr. trade.

Sedrick Ellis' contract is worth up to $49 million with $32-33 million in base salaries. However, Derrick Harvey isn't close, ESPN writes, quoting Jack Del Rio:

"He's falling behind, there's no question," Del Rio said, according to the newspaper. "It's unfortunate he's not here. There were some deals in front of us that were outrageous in my opinion. [That] makes it difficult to have him here. We have a belief in where we're gonna go and we still have a belief on where it's gonna go, and right now we're not in agreement. At some point, you lose so much that you don't become as valuable. We're not there yet, but it's time to get into camp."

Big Cat Country is concerned that a prolonged holdout may happen between the Jaguars and Derrick Harvey. That doesn't bode well if Rivers and his agent are still trying to figure out their number based on the slot ahead of them.

Ahmad Brooks likes the anonymity of being the strong-side outside linebacker as opposed to last season when he was the team's middle linebacker with high expectations. "Yeah, I feel pretty good not being asked so many questions."

James Walker sits down with Marvin White and asks five questions.

Five things to know about the Cincinnati Bengals.

“I’m a lot bigger than the rest of the receivers and I use that to the best of my ability." Mario Urrutia hoping to make a big impact.

T.J. Houshmandzadeh is "solid as hell".

Robert Geathers absence Wednesday night was unexplained and Chad Johnson "showed no signs of a limp".

Bobbie Williams is still getting work in as the team's backup center.

There's a lot (and I mean a lot) of glowing reviews over Rudi Johnson who spent this off-season rebuilding his leg strength and maintaining a diet to be leaner. "He ate all the stuff you'd hide in your napkin as a kid." Eric Lindsey writes that Rudi "looks bigger, stronger and just as fast."

Steelers' rookie wide receiver Limas Sneed had a set back in Wednesday's practice.

Browns' return man, Joshua Cribbs, has been lining up at quarterback in shotgun formation, rolling out and even passing.