The Sports Xchange

The NFL suspended Buffalo Bills defensive tackle Marcell Dareus without pay for the first game of the 2015 season for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy.

The four-year veteran will be able to participate in all offseason and preseason practices leading up to the season opener Sept. 13 against the Indianapolis Colts in Buffalo.

In four seasons with the Bills, Dareus has started 60 of 63 games and has 202 tackles and 28 1/2 sacks. Last year, Dareus finished with 49 tackles and a career-best 10 sacks in 15 games.

—Domestic violence charges against former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice were dismissed by a New Jersey judge on Thursday because Rice has completed a pre-trial diversion program.

Rice has not played in the NFL since video of the incident, in which he knocked unconscious his then-fiancee in a New Jersey casino elevator, became public. He was initially suspended two games, then banned indefinitely and released by the Ravens after the league viewed the video.

Rice was charged in February 2014 with third-degree aggravated assault.

Rice, 28, is a free agent.

—Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr could be throwing by the end of organized team activities, when he should be recovered from a right ring-finger injury, his agent said.

Tim Younger, who represents the second-year starter, told the San Francisco Chronicle that Carr is not dealing with a matter that will require surgery, as ESPN reported Wednesday.

“It’s a very minor situation,” Younger said. “I think he’s probably going to be throwing before the end of (workouts).”

—Jerry Jones claims the Dallas Cowboys are a better offense in 2015 without DeMarco Murray, but there are signs the team remains unsettled at the running position.

The Cowboys worked out former Houston Texans running back Ben Tate, who bounced around the league in 2014 after being cut by the Cleveland Browns, and could look to bring in former Arkansas blazer Felix Jones, a onetime first-round pick of Cowboys and college teammate of potential Murray replacement Darren McFadden.

Tate turns 27 in August and began the 2014 season as the starting running back for the Browns after signing a two-year, $6 million deal. He was released by Cleveland and claimed by the Vikings, who parted ways with Tate before the end of the season and he was picked up by the Steelers.

Jones last played in the NFL in 2013.

—The Houston Texans released veteran right tackle Tyson Clabo on Thursday.

Clabo, 33, started 101 games in seven seasons with the Atlanta Falcons (2006-12). He joined the Miami Dolphins in 2013 and started 13 games then served as the Texans’ swing tackle last season.

The Texans’ top reserve tackles are Jeff Adams, Will Yeatman and Bryan Witzmann.

—The Indianapolis Colts waived developmental offensive tackle Demarco Cox on Thursday.

Cox, who did not play football in college, signed with the Colts on March 19.

Cox, who is 6 feet 8 and 294 pounds, played four years of basketball at Mississippi, including a medical redshirt, and finished as a graduate transfer at George Tech last season.

The Colts were trying him at offensive tackle, where he starred in high school before turning down football scholarships to Alabama, LSU and Ohio State.