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According to Miami Herald staffer Jason Cole, Ricky Williams will formally apply for reinstatement to the NFL and likely will get a small break from the league so he can return to the Dolphins in time for training camp.

But getting any break on a four-game suspension looks unlikely.

Agent Leigh Steinberg told the Associated Press on Friday that Williams would file the application on July 23 or shortly thereafter. Steinberg considers that date the one-year anniversary of Williams' retirement.

"As far as we're concerned, that's the date he sent the letter," Steinberg said. "The league or the Dolphins may have a date a day or two later, but that's our date.

"That's the date that we are going with based on when Ricky first said he was going to retire and told [former Dolphins coach Dave] Wannstedt."

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello has said several times the NFL considers July 27 the date Williams officially retired. However, another league source said, "There are so many dates in this case you pretty much have your pick of them."

Given that and the fact Williams will reenter the NFL's drug testing program sooner than required, the league source indicated Williams likely will be allowed to start training camp on time.

As for the four-game suspension and four-week fine Williams faces once the season begins, Steinberg and other representatives for Williams hope the league will reduce the length of his suspension to perhaps one or two games.

The league, however, indicated there is no chance of that happening. "We have to treat all the players the same," the league source said.

Cole went on to suggest that Williams' representatives might argue that Williams started using marijuana again toward the end of the 2003 season after having an adverse reaction when he stopped taking Paxil, a medication to help with his social anxiety disorder.

Williams took Paxil during at least his first season with the Dolphins and was a spokesman for the company for a time.

However, he eventually stopped taking the medication during his second season with the Dolphins. In December 2003, Williams tested positive for marijuana after going nearly two years without a positive test, and he tested positive again last summer.

But Williams also has often said he took masking agents to hide his marijuana use. ...

It's worth noting here that Dolphins owner H. Wayne Huizenga, asked by Herald staffer Barry Jackson about Williams' possible return last week, said he's comfortable with it, but on one condition: "If he can demonstrate that he's really serious about coming back. ...

"He's got to prove [it]. The only way you can do that is to come back, start working out, work every day, work hard. ... If he does that, I think it would be great. ... He is going to have to serve his four-game suspension. ...''

Meanwhile, South Florida Sun-Sentinel beat man Alex Marvez reminded readers this morning that before Williams can run effectively again for the Dolphins, he will need to regain significant weight and muscle.

Williams reportedly weighed 195 pounds in early May after returning from a trip to India that was part of holistic and yoga programs he embraced following his retirement from football. As Marvez put it: "At that size, Williams would get squashed by the defenders he once steamrolled as a 230-pound tailback."

But Marvez went on to note that those close to Williams, as well as some nutritional and strength-training experts, believe he won't have a problem bulking up before reporting to training camp in July.

"He wasn't away from football that long," Kim Wood, who spent 28 seasons as the Cincinnati Bengals' strength coach, told Marvez. "If he can get his body chemistry right, it shouldn't be hard."

Steinberg told Marvez that Williams has resumed working with his former nutritionist and made arrangements to begin training at a South Florida facility even before he began driving back to the area earlier this week.

"He has a copy of the Dolphins' workout program with him, which he's been working on," said Steinberg, who estimated Williams has gained about 10 pounds since his return from India. "He's been lifting [weights]. He's very confident the key to his gaining weight and strength lies in a concerted lifting program.

"His weight has fluctuated throughout his pro career. He's been as low as 215 pounds and as high as 250. At 205 pounds, he's not a small person. He's just not as bulked up as you recall him."

Miami-based nutritionist Sari Mellman began working with Williams in 2002, when he no longer wanted to play in the 240-pound range like in New Orleans the previous season. After analyzing blood work, Mellman placed Williams on a customized diet, which took off about 20 pounds.

Williams went on to lead the NFL in rushing that season with 1,853 yards.

Citing proprietary and privacy issues, Mellman wouldn't share details about her new plan for Williams when asked by Marvez. But she said Williams, who follows a predominantly vegetarian diet, should find it easy to regain sufficient weight.

"He was always great to work with," said Mellman, who has designed nutritional programs for dozens of other NFL players. "He was very disciplined and cooperative about everything. ... I expect that his endurance and capacity for lean body mass that he develops on these foods will be greater than it was before."

Mellman added that she designed Williams' new program so that he shouldn't undergo significant weight loss in training camp.

Wood said he expects Williams to begin gaining weight rapidly once he settles into regular eating and training routines.

"He just needs to get back into an NFL regimen," Wood said. "Whether he likes it or not, the previous 15 years of his life, that's the way he has lived. Football people understand the guy can come back real quick."

The one certainty here? We're about to find out just how quick that is.

The uncertainties, however, are great.

Does Williams really want to play? Or is he just trying to work off some debt? If so, can he play with the same intensity he did prior to last year's surprise retirement? Will his presence cut significantly into rookie Ronnie Brown's playing time? Will it slow Brown's development?

While answers to the first three questions will become clearer in time, I have stronger feelings about the last two.

At Auburn, Brown had to fight for carries in a program that first featured Rudi Johnson, now with the Bengals, and then Carnell "Cadillac" Williams.

In my opinion, that won't be the case in Miami -- even with Williams on the roster.

The only concern for Brown at this point, seems to be the fact he's a little too laid back.

As Cole reported, even though the No. 2 overall pick has shown everything the Dolphins expected from an athletic standpoint, head coach Nick Saban said last Saturday that there is a little more he's expecting from Brown in terms of attitude.

"Ronnie's done a good job. Ronnie is a bright guy, he learns well, he doesn't make a lot of mental mistakes," Saban said. "I think he is such a good guy, he doesn't want to offend anybody. And that's good to a point.

"But at some point in time, if you are a good competitor -- which I know he is -- you've got to be ready to take the next step and do the things you got to do to play your best football, as well. That's what we want to see him do."

Saban said he wants Brown to step away from the idea of merely fitting in and try to have a star's attitude.

"He's physically tough and all that stuff. I'm talking about the disposition of maybe being assertive, might be a better way to say it. Rookies sometimes feel their way and I think this is going to happen in time when this guy gains his confidence and people on our team gain confidence in him."

Asked about Saban's remarks, Brown said: "I think I handle myself the way the other rookies do. Just go in and know I don't have a position, and I have to work. I think it's the same for all of us [rookies] trying to learn as much as possible and know my role on the team."

Still, Cole reported there have been few, if any, complaints from players about Brown's attitude.

Both cornerback Sam Madison and linebacker Zach Thomas spoke highly of him. New fullback Heath Evans, who played with Brown at Auburn, expanded on that point and even took a jab at Williams in the process.

"He's tough, physical. He's just a special player," Evans said of Brown. "He catches, he runs, he blocks. You see him on special teams. There's not another second pick overall that another team would dare put on special teams. But he craves that stuff.

"And the character issues we've seen here with other running backs, we should love to see this kid down here. That's not just bias speaking, he's a quality kid."

Stand by boys and girls. ... We haven't heard the last of this one. I'll have more on Brown, Williams and the Dolphins offense in coming weeks.