Ray Rice’s appeal hearing began Wednesday morning in New York with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell testifying under oath for more than two hours.

The former Baltimore Ravens running back arrived with his wife, Janay Palmer Rice, for the start of the hearing at the offices of former U.S. District Judge Barbara S. Jones, who is a third-party arbitrator. The hearing is expected to wrap up sometime Thursday.

Goodell was cross-examined during most of his testimony by outside union attorney Jeffrey Kessler, according to ESPN.

According to ESPN’s Outside the Lines, a decision could come within days. he proceedings began nearly two months after Rice was suspended indefinitely by the NFL and released by the Ravens for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy after a second video from inside an elevator at an Atlantic City, N.J., casino showed him hitting and knocking out Palmer, his then-fiancee. Rice is seeking immediate reinstatement.

—Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo did not practice Wednesday as he followed his normal schedule and continued to get treatment for his injured back in preparation for Sunday’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars in London.

Romo, who has not practiced on a Wednesday since Week 2, remained at the team hotel. He then took part in the walk-through at the team’s hotel. Coach Jason Garrett is hopeful that Romo will be able to practice Thursday.

—San Francisco 49ers running back Marcus Lattimore announced his retirement Wednesday, five days after experiencing soreness in his surgically repaired right knee.

Lattimore, 23, suffered a gruesome knee injury while playing for South Carolina in 2012. It was his second major knee injury while playing for the Gamecocks, and Lattimore opted to enter the NFL Draft the following spring.

The 49ers took a chance by using a fourth-round pick on Lattimore, knowing he would sit out his rookie season. He rehabbed the knee through all of 2013 and returned to practice last week hoping to return to the field this season. However, he experienced soreness in the knee on Friday and left the team to discuss his future with his family.

—Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson said he will play Sunday against the Miami Dolphins after missing the last three games with an ankle injury, declaring “it feels good to be back at almost 100 percent.”

Johnson initially suffered his high right ankle sprain against the Green Bay Packers in Week 3. He played on a limited basis the next two weeks before aggravating the injury in Week 5 against Buffalo.

Johnson has 22 catches for 348 yards and two touchdowns this season. He thinks his goal of reaching the 1,000-yard mark in receiving is still reachable.

—Apparently, the 4-5 Houston Texans believe Ryan Mallett can be their fire starter. Coach Bill O’Brien said he was searching for a “spark” and with the bye week to prepare for Week 11, he turned the offense over to Mallett, a former O’Brien pupil in New England.

The Texans acquired Mallett for a conditional sixth-round pick from the Patriots in September.

In Sunday’s loss to Philadelphia, veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick was 13 of 27 for 203 yards and two touchdowns. He threw one interception and was sacked four times. He also ran for 49 yards — the most by a Texans quarterback since 2003. For the season, he has 11 touchdowns, eight interceptions and a passer rating of 87.1. Since a 3-1 start, the Texans are 1-4.

—Buffalo Bills rookie wide receiver Sammy Watkins suffered a groin injury early in practice Wednesday and was unable to finish the workout.

He was taken to the trainers’ room, was seen limping slightly in the locker room and was not allowed to speak to the press.

The bad news Wednesday was in stark contrast to the previous week, While the Bills were on a bye last week, Watkins was named the NFL’s offensive rookie of the month for October, when he caught 21 passes for 393 yards and three touchdowns.

—The Kansas City Chiefs signed fullback Anthony Sherman to a contract extension Wednesday.

Sherman, 25, was set to become a free agent after the season. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The 5-foot-10, 242-pound Sherman has played in 51 games (21 starts) in four NFL seasons with the Chiefs (2013-14) and Arizona Cardinals (2011-12). His career numbers include 36 catches for 315 yards with two receiving touchdowns. On the ground, he owns five carries for 14 yards.

With the Chiefs, Sherman has played in all 23 games (10 starts) in his two seasons with the team. His Chiefs numbers include 23 catches for 204 yards with two touchdown receptions and four carries for 11 yards.

—The clock might be ticking on the St. Louis Rams’ time in St. Louis, but Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has taken the offensive.

While speculation has been rampant that Rams owner Stan Kroenke has already made the decision to move the Rams back to Los Angeles, where they were before moving to St. Louis in 1995, Nixon announced the appointment of two executives to spearhead the effort in the next 60 days to analyze the situation and report back with possible options.

Nixon named former Anheuser-Busch president David Peacock and attorney Robert Blitz, who has worked with the Edward Jones Dome authority, to do their due diligence and come up with various options “to ensure that St. Louis remains an NFL city. I think the NFL understands we are very serious here.”

—The New England Patriots re-signed wide receiver Jonathan Krause to the practice squad.

Krause, 22, was released from the practice squad last Friday. He originally joined the New England practice squad on Oct. 24. He entered the NFL as a rookie free agent with Cleveland out of Vanderbilt on May 12. The 5-foot-11, 190-pounder was released by the Browns on Aug. 25.

The Patriots also released defensive lineman Kona Schwenke from the practice squad.

—The Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed defensive tackle Matthew Masifilo and cornerback Quinton Pointer to the practice squad Wednesday.

The 6-foot-3, 280-pound Masifilo was waived from Tampa Bay’s 53-man roster on Monday, after playing in Sunday’s game at Cleveland. He had spent the previous eight weeks on the team’s practice squad. The 5-9, 186-pound Pointer is in his third season out of UNLV, having spent the 2012-13 seasons with the St. Louis Rams, playing in eight games and making two tackles and four special teams tackles.

The Bucs also released defensive end George Uko from the practice squad.