Adam Jones, the trouble-prone Dallas Cowboys cornerback, was suspended indefinitely by the National Football League on Tuesday for again violating the league’s personal conduct policy. The suspension will last a minimum of four games, but Cowboys owner Jerry Jones — sometimes speaking of the player in the past tense — sounded resigned to the idea that Jones might not play again this year.

The New York Giants and New York Jets had the biggest increase in value in Forbes Magazine’s annual ranking of NFL franchises, each jumping 21 percent because of their new stadium.

And the stadium where they’ll both play isn’t scheduled to open until the 2010 season.

The Giants moved from eighth to fourth in the rankings released Wednesday, valued at $1.178 billion, behind Dallas ($1.612 billion), Washington ($1.538 billion) and New England ($1.324 billion), the perennial leaders. The Jets are right behind them in fifth with a value of $1.178 billion.

Indianapolis made the biggest jump in the rankings, going from 21st to eighth because their new stadium is opening this year. The Colts are valued at $1.076 billion.

The magazine also found that for the first time in any sport, team values averaged $1 billion. Ten years ago, when it first started keeping track, the average value of an NFL team was $288 million.

Forbes attributes the increase primarily to new stadiums as well as increased sponsorship deals.

The rest of the top 10 included Houston at No. 6 ($1.125 billion); Philadelphia No. 7 ($1.116 billion); Chicago at No. 9 ($1.064 billion); and Baltimore at No. 10 ($1.062 billion).

In all, 19 teams were valued at more than $1 billion.

The value for the top teams also correlates more than in the past with success on the field.

The Giants are the reigning Super Bowl champions; the Colts won in 2007; Baltimore won in 2001; the Patriots have won three titles this decade; the Bears and Eagles have played in recent Super Bowls; and Dallas had the NFC’s best record last season at 13-3.

Minnesota, Oakland and San Francisco, all with aging stadiums, were at the bottom of the chart.

NEW ORLEANS - Marques Colston, the New Orleans Saints’ top receiver during the past two seasons, had surgery on his left thumb and will miss four to six weeks.

Colston said he had a torn ligament resulting from a play Sunday when he reached forward to make a catch while taking a helmet-first hit to his hands from Ronde Barber.

“I don’t know if my thumb just got caught in an awkward position. It just bent all the way backward,” said Colston, who was wearing a cast over his left hand. “I guess the only silver lining is that I’m going to have a chance to come back and play a good portion of the season and hopefully be back in time for that playoff push.”

Colston tried to continue playing with the injury during the Saints’ 24-20 victory over Tampa Bay, but finished with only three catches for 26 yards. He made one catch after the injury.

Colston was a seventh-round draft choice out of Hofstra in 2006. At 6-foot-5, 225 pounds, he provides quarterback Drew Brees a big target and emerged as one of Brees’ favorite receivers during his rookie year. Colston went on to compile 2,241 yards receiving for 19 touchdowns in his first two seasons.

His 168 catches are more than any NFL receiver has had through only two seasons. During the summer, Colston agreed to a three-year contract extension that could keep him in New Orleans through the 2011 season.

“It’s tough, especially when you lose a guy as productive as him,” Brees said after Wednesday’s practice. “But there’s always an opportunity for a younger guy to step up or guys that might not get as much playing time ordinarily to step up and contribute even more.

“I’m confident with all our guys. However we piece it together, whoever is on the field knows what to do and they know they’ll get their opportunities.”

Most of Brees’ 343 yards and all three of his touchdown passes in the victory over Tampa Bay involved receivers other than Colston.

How much tougher it is for other receivers to get open without Colston drawing double coverage remains to be seen. But the Saints also have a new receiving threat in tight end Jeremy Shockey, who made his debut last Sunday with six catches for 54 yards, including a drive-extending 10-yard catch on third down that set up a field goal.

“It was good for him to come out and play as many snaps as he did and make six catches, some of them very big, and third-down conversions,” Brees said. “Certainly, he’s a guy I’m not going to shy away from for any reason even if we haven’t gotten as much time together as we hoped we would have through training camp, the preseason and such.”

Colston’s absence is expected to open the way for Robert Meachem to dress for a regular-season game for the first time since being drafted in the first round a year ago. New Orleans visits Washington on Sunday.

“You see the smile on my face? It’s a dream come true,” Meachem said. “I’ll do whatever it takes to make my teammates and coaches proud and so my family back home can hold their heads high.”

Meachem, who had a solid preseason that included a 60-yard touchdown and a 49-yard catch, was not sure why he was left off the active roster in the opener. The active receivers in the game were Colston, David Patten, Lance Moore, Devery Henderson and Terrance Copper. Copper and Moore both also play on special teams.

he felt comfortable with the five guys who were at receiver. He’s been in the league a long time, so he knows what he’s doing. I didn’t second-guess that,” Meachem said. “Being a competitor, I wanted to be out there. It hurt not being out there, but we got the victory.”

The Ultimate Fighting Championship and its heavyweight champion are back together after a nearly year-long argument.

Almost eleven months after titleholder Randy Couture announced he was quitting UFC, the two sides on Tuesday afternoon announced that he would return to fight Brock Lesnar at UFC 91, scheduled for Nov. 15, in Las Vegas.

Couture in October said he was leaving the promotion to pursue a fight with Russian superstar Fedor Emelianenko, but UFC claimed Couture was contractually bound for at least two more UFC fights before he could compete in mixed martial arts for anyone else. The company later sued Couture, claiming he breached a separate employment contract by allowing his name and likeness to be used by other MMA promoters.

An attempt by HDNet Fights owner Mark Cuban to have a court in Texas rule on Couture’s contractual status failed earlier this year, leaving the matter in the hands of arbitrators in Nevada, UFC’s home state.

Couture, a five-time UFC champion, last fought in July of last year, when he successfully defended his heavyweight belt with a technical knockout of Gabriel Gonzaga in the third round.

Lesnar has fought only three professional MMA bouts, but he dominated hardy veteran Heath Herring at UFC 87 last month. As an NCAA Division I-A wrestling champion and a former star in professional wrestling, Lesnar brings a combination of enormous athletic ability and widespread name recognition.

Couture said he was eager to end the legal battle. Fighting Lesnar “makes sense because it’s part of a resolution for getting back on good terms with UFC,” Couture said, during a Tuesday conference call with reporters.

The winner of Lesnar-Couture will fight the winner of a December bout between interim heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Frank Mir, said UFC President Dana White.

Couture’s return to UFC raises questions about future opponents for Emelianenko, who fights for M-1 Global and Affliction Entertainment. Emelianenko, widely considered the world’s top heavyweight, won the newly created heavyweight title of the World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts when he defeated former UFC champion Tim Sylvia in 36 seconds.

Immediately after beating Sylvia, Emelianenko said he wants to fight Couture. Affliction officials have said they would be interested in promoting that matchup if Couture could resolve his legal issues with UFC.

Couture said he takes the Lesnar fight seriously, but also made clear that Emelianenko remains his ultimate goal.

“I have faith that the UFC is working diligently to make the Fedor fight happen,” Couture said. “Obviously, that’s the endgame for me.”

Although White dismissed Emelianenko as “completely irrelevant” to the company’s current situation, he still would like to match him against Couture because of the interest among hardcore fans. But UFC doesn’t want to undercut the Russian’s contracts with other promoters, White said.

“If the Fedor fight can be made … then absolutely we would love to make the Fedor fight,” White said.

The Green Bay Packers on Saturday trimmed their roster to the NFL limit of 53 players by releasing 19, including running back Vernand Morency.Once thought to be part of the solution at the position for the Packers, Ryan Grant’s emergence in 2007 and former second-round pick Brandon Jackson’s presence on the roster left little room for Morency.

The 27-year-old Morency appeared in 13 games for Green Bay last season - his third NFL campaign - and rushed for 108 yards on 29 carries.

Morency has rushed for 726 yards and four touchdowns in 40 career games with the Houston Texans and Packers.