Bruce Allen:

The Washington Redskins brought back a familiar name and dusted off a long-unused title Thursday in a major front office shake-up, the first of many anticipated changes resulting from a losing season.

Bruce Allen, son of late Redskins Hall of Fame coach George Allen, is the team's new general manager. He becomes the first person hired by owner Dan Snyder to hold the GM title, a notable milestone after a decade of various front-office arrangements that usually centered around Snyder and good friend Vinny Cerrato.

"It's exciting because of the history, the tradition, the comfort about coming home," said Allen, whose father coached the Redskins from 1971-77 and whose brother has served Virginia as both governor and U.S. senator.

Out the door goes Cerrato, Snyder's right-hand confidant for most of the past decade and the executive vice president of football operations for the last two seasons.

It was said he resigned, but, "I think the best way to put it," Snyder said, "is it was time for a change."

Rams have flu

The St. Louis Rams canceled practice Thursday because of an undisclosed number of H1N1 virus (swine flu) cases on the team, three days before a home game against the Houston Texans.

Coach Steve Spagnuolo would not say how many players had the illness but said five or six players had flulike symptoms, and added that other players had reported symptoms the last few weeks. He anticipated the Rams would return to practice today with a workout that will incorporate some of the elements missed Thursday.

Ware returns

Dallas Cowboys linebacker DeMarcus Ware was back at practice, though the team was unclear about his status for Saturday night's game at New Orleans that will be less than a week after he strained his neck in a scary headfirst collision.

On the practice report issued by the Cowboys, Ware was listed as not participating even though he was involved in some parts of the 90-minute session without pads that resembled a walkthrough.

Fines

New York Giants center Shaun O'Hara and Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Trent Cole have been fined $15,000 by the NFL for a scuffle at the end of Sunday's game at Giants Stadium.

Dunn part-owner

Former Atlanta Falcons running back Warrick Dunn is buying a piece of the team. Dunn, who retired after the 2008 season, has an agreement to become the team's seventh limited partner.

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but Arthur Blank will continue to hold more than a 90% stake in the team.

QB updates

New England's Tom Brady had limited participation in Thursday's session after sitting out Wednesday's workout while nursing rib and right finger problems. . . . The New York Jets' quarterback Mark Sanchez practiced for the second straight day, but Coach Rex Ryan remains undecided on his starter for the team's game against the Falcons.