ORLANDO, Fla. – Police in Orlando want to talk to New England Patriots safety Brandon Meriweather about a shooting that injured two men outside a bar near his hometown, authorities said Thursday.

Meriweather, 27, was at the shooting in the early hours of Feb. 28 in Apopka, Fla., Orange County Sheriff’s department spokesman Capt. Angelo Nieves said at a news conference.

Nieves said Quentin Taylor, 24, and Nico Stanley, 23, were injured. Taylor was shot in the face and Stanley was grazed by a bullet.

The spokesman said there was some sort of altercation before the shooting, and a lawyer who says he represents Meriweather would like to set up an interview. So far it hasn’t been scheduled.

No charges have been filed.

Nieves wouldn’t go into details but said, “there was some activity, something that occurred, some discourse or disagreement or altercation that occurred at (the bar) that precipitated the incident.”

Meriweather graduated from Apopka High in 2002 and played at the University of Miami. He was drafted in the first round in 2007 by the Patriots and just completed his fourth season.

Taylor was interviewed by detectives Wednesday for the first time. Stanley spoke to investigators Monday, according to the sheriff’s office. Nieves said the time lapse was because the men needed time to recover from their injuries.

A message left with Adam Swickle, whom the Orlando Sentinel reported was representing Meriweather, wasn’t returned.

The Patriots released a brief statement.

“We are aware of the reported allegation but do not have any additional information,” the statement said.

This isn’t the first time Meriweather has been mentioned in regard to a violent incident.

In October 2006 while still at Miami, he was part of an on-field fight with several Florida International players.

About three months earlier, he shot at an assailant who had shot Miami backup safety Willie Cooper outside the house Cooper shared with Meriweather and another teammate, police said. Meriweather wasn’t charged and police said he used the gun legally.

WITH THE TWO sides far apart on key economic issues, nine of the 10 members of the owners’ labor committee joined Commissioner Roger Goodell at the office of the federal mediator overseeing the talks. But the union said none of the owners met with any players.

Even though there were small-group negotiations between NFL and union representatives, no one gave any indication that progress was made. The loudest words came in the evening, during a series of back-and-forth barbs sparked by comments from the league general counsel and lead negotiator, Jeff Pash.

“Things can come together quickly. Things can fall apart quickly,” Pash said. “I’ve said it many times: If both sides have an equal commitment to getting this deal done, it will get done. I don’t know if both sides have an equal commitment. Obviously we have the commitment.”

When those comments were relayed to an NFL Players Association spokesman, George Atallah, he responded with an e-mail that said: “Jeff Pash was part of an executive team that sold the networks a $4 billion ticket to a game they knew wouldn’t be played. The only thing they’ve been committed to is a lockout.”

That was a reference to a court ruling last week, when the federal judge overseeing NFL labor matters sided with the players in their case accusing owners of improperly negotiating TV deals to prepare for a lockout.

The NFLPA executive director, DeMaurice Smith, went back to the mediator’s office to respond to Pash himself.

“We have been committed to this process. But for anyone to stand and turn to the American people and say they question that? Look, I understand that there’s probably some things Jeff Pash just has to say, but this is the truth: We know that as early as March of 2009 the National Football League engaged in a strategy to get $4 billion of television money even if the games weren’t played.”

BRONCOS: Details of sexual assault allegations against cornerback Perrish Cox will remain secret, for now.

Harvey A. Steinberg, a lawyer for Cox, waived his client’s right to a preliminary hearing, where investigators present evidence in court, after a judge ruled it should be public. Steinberg argued that the public had no constitutional right to court proceedings leading up to trials.