Colts back will miss final tune-up

INDIANAPOLIS- Edgerrin James will be starting the NFL regular season without having taken any hits from opposing defenses on his surgically repaired left knee.\nIndianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy made it official Thursday that Edgerrin James would not play in the team\'s final preseason game Friday at New Orleans.\nJames, who was the NFL's rushing champ in 1999 and 2000, has not played in any of the Colts\' preseason games as the team has eased him back into action since he suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee last Oct. 25 and missed the remainder of the season.\nHe has participated in nearly every drill during training camp while rehabbing the knee and it had been originally thought that James might play a series or two against the Saints.\nColts President Bill Polian had said Wednesday that he did not see the value in having James on the field for just a few plays before the Colts' Sept. 8 regular season opener at Jacksonville.\nAfter talking with James, head trainer Hunter Smith and team medical personnel, Dungy came to the conclusion that it was in the team's best interests to keep the star running back on the sidelines for one more week.\n\"He will not play,\" Dungy said after the team's Thursday morning practice. \"We'll break him out next week.\"\nDungy said that James would travel with the team and take part in pre-game warmups. But how much work he will do before the game remains up in the air.\nThe Colts have been beset with injuries in the offensive backfield since the start of training camp.\nRunning back Dominic Rhodes, who gained more than 1,000 yards last season as James' replacement, is out for the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. Backup running back Shyrone Stith is still recovering from a twisted left knee suffered in Indianapolis' preseason opener at Seattle.\nFullback Jim Finn and reserve running back Kevin McDougal handled most of the running chores in last week's 19-7 win over Buffalo and are expected to carry the load Friday against the Saints.\nThose factors, as much as James' rehabilitation schedule, were involved in the decision to rest James.\n"It's just really the way things developed," Dungy said. "We feel like this is going to be the best way to get us ready to win (against Jacksonville)"