MINNEAPOLIS — Twins outfielder Jason Repko, who was hit in the back of the head by a pitch from the Indians’ Justin Masterson on Sunday, is still experiencing concussion-like symptoms, and is unlikely to return this season.

Repko has been bothered by headaches and nausea, and must be cleared by Major League Baseball before he can return to action.

“The past couple days he had a CT and an MRI on his head and they both came back normal, but he’s still complaining of concussion symptoms,” Twins trainer Rick McWane said. “So, we’ll do further testing. he hasn’t been ruled out for the rest of the season, but I’d say it’s unlikely.”

Span glad to be back against Mariners

MINNEAPOLIS — Twins center fielder Denard Span, who has been dealing with migraines related to his concussion sustained in a home-plate collision on June 3, was activated from the disabled list on Wednesday.

Span started in center field and batted leadoff against the Mariners. he went 0-for-3 at the plate before being removed after the fourth inning.

Span said before the game that he was “nervous” about making his return.

“It was a big sigh of relief getting back out there,” Span said. “I was nervous, but that last at-bat definitely felt good. when I came out of the game, I took three or four big deep breaths because I just got over it and got it out of the way. so, it felt good.”

it was Span’s first game back since Aug. 13, as he played in nine games in early August after missing nearly two months.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire also was pleased to see that Span’s return went as planned and that he had no issues out on the field.

“I think he was excited,” Gardenhire said. “He saw the ball good, and I think he felt pretty good about being out there. it was nice to see.”

Getting back into game action before season’s end was Span’s goal.

“It’s very important,” Span said. “I think if I would have went the whole offseason without playing and just showing up to Spring Training without playing for six, seven months, I think the hurdle probably would have been through the roof, trying to get over that hump. it would’ve been a lot tougher for me. so, I think getting back on the field is going to do something for me mentally.”

Gardenhire said Span is expected to play every few days, as the club doesn’t want to take any risks with Span.

“It’s going to be here and there,” Gardenhire said. “We’re not going to go out there and beat him up and play a lot of games. He’s in there tonight and then we’ll see about [Thursday] and maybe one in Cleveland. It’s not going to be a lot. We just want to make sure he’s OK and can get some at-bats and get through it, and leave on a positive note.”

Span, who first started dealing with migraines and vertigo in 2009 when he was diagnosed with Vestibular Neuritis, said the concussion in June brought back those symptoms. he said he feels healthy enough to play, but wants to make sure his symptoms don’t return next year.

“I think it’s still a work in progress,” Span said. “Before this season, I had some flare-ups with the dizziness and I had a plan and routine I’d go through daily to keep it in check. but I think now, dealing with this concussion, even in the offseason I have to come up with a new routine and game plan to move forward and keep my symptoms in check for next year.”

The last-place Twins had just lost their 93rd game of the season Monday afternoon to the Yankees in new York, and Twins President Dave St. Peter was in his Target Field office.

The Twins played without Joe Mauer, who is being paid $23 million this year and is finished for the season because of pneumonia, and Justin Morneau, who is paid $14 million and is done for the season because of concussion symptoms and a minor knee procedure.

Mauer, 28, who is in the first season of a $184 million, eight-year contract, played in just 82 games this season.

Morneau, 30, who is in the fourth season of an $80 million, six-year contract, played in just 69 games.

Both players’ contracts are guaranteed. I asked St. Peter if he has second thoughts about having signed Mauer and Morneau, both of whom have been American League most valuable player, to such immense deals.

“Absolutely not,” St. Peter said. “We obviously are huge believers in Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau, and we still believe to this day that they will continue to be cornerstone players for this franchise as they have been throughout their contracts. This was obviously a very difficult year for both of them, as well as other people throughout the organization.

“Our job is to support them and their efforts to come into spring training as healthy as they possibly can. hopefully, that will happen. and if it does, I like our chances for both of those guys having huge bounce-back years next year.”

St. Peter said there “absolutely” is no unknown ailment that has sidelined Mauer, who in 2009 won his third AL batting title (.365) with 28 home runs while leading the league in on-base percentage (.444) and slugging percentage (.587).

This season, Mauer finished with three homers while batting .287.

“There is no conspiracy theory relative to Joe Mauer’s health,” St. Peter said. “He admittedly has had a very challenging year, and nobody is more frustrated than Joe. It’s pneumonia. it isn’t Lyme disease. it isn’t Lou Gehrig’s disease. it isn’t anything else.

“He has seen some of the best doctors in the world at the Mayo Clinic. I think they’d tell you if it was anything more than that.”

In his first two starts for the Vikings in 2009, Brett Favre completed 14 of 22 passes for 110 yards and one TD, without an interception, against the Browns in Cleveland, then completed 23 of 27 for 155 yards and two TDs with an interception against the Lions in Detroit.

In Donovan McNabb’s first two starts for the Vikings, he completed seven of 15 passes for 39 yards, no TDs and one interception, against the Chargers in San Diego, then completed 18 of 30 for 228 yards and no TDs or interceptions against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

A bunch of Jerry Kill’s pals from his days coaching small college Pittsburg State (Kan.) were at TCF Bank Stadium on Saturday to celebrate his first victory as Gophers coach over Miami (Ohio).

Terry Skrypek, Brother Francis Carr, Frank Asenbrenner, Tracy (Schultz) Warner, Emmy (Treacy) Springer and Rick Cover will be inducted into the inaugural Hill-Murray Hall of Fame at the merged school’s 50th anniversary Saturday before the Pioneers’ 1 p.m. football game against South St. Paul. both teams are 3-0. Ex-Vikings QB Brooks Bollinger is in his first year as Hill-Murray coach.

DON’T PRINT THAT

Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor said Tuesday that Rick Adelman was the top choice of basketball president David Kahn when the Wolves began their search for a coach to succeed fired Kurt Rambis.

“Early in the process, David had put down Rick as his first choice,” Taylor said.

Adelman will be officially announced as coach today at Target Center. Taylor, because the choice was primarily that of Kahn, isn’t expected to attend the news conference. He said Kahn deserves the credit.

Adelman’s deal, the Pioneer Press has reported, is for $20 million for four years. The fourth year is an option year for both Adelman and the Wolves.

“Rick wasn’t clear if he was going to coach or not coach, so we went through the whole process and interviewed everybody else,” Taylor said. “We were prepared to go ahead, and then (Kahn) went back and talked to Rick, and Rick said he wanted to come in and interview.”

Taylor said Kahn was patient and waited through the whole process, talked several more times to Adelman and then brought the coach to Mankato for Taylor to meet.

“We spent an evening together and talked,” Taylor said. “After that, Rick told David he was very interested in coming here. David made him an offer, and they worked it out.”

OVERHEARD

Gophers football coach Jerry Kill, on the medication for his seizures: “So they need to get it figured out; that’s my wife’s job, and that’s why I’ve been married 29 years. She’s a heck of a woman. She’s trying to get it figured out, and we’ve got good medical people here, and they’ll eventually get it figured out.”

A new study commissioned by ESPN and funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse suggests that retired NFL players are suffering a lot of pain: 7% are taking at least one prescription opioid painkiller, according to the study, a rate four times higher than that of the regular population.

Combine the findings with a Dec. 2010 report that showed that concussions are up 21% in the NFL this year, and a Sept. 2010 study finding that retired players are 19 times more likely to have dementia or Alzheimer’s than other men ages 30 to 49, and that’s a lot of bad news for pro football players. (More on Time.com: Study: Boys, Girls Suffer Different Concussion Symptoms)

The current study, conducted by researchers at Washington University, St. Louis, surveyed 644 former players who retired between 1979 and 2006 to track their use of prescription drugs, including Vicodin, codeine and oxycodone. about 52% of the players said they had used painkillers during their football careers, and 71% of those had misused the drugs (i.e., they didn’t take the drugs as prescribed or took drugs prescribed to someone else). in fact, 63% of the athletes who had used prescription painkillers during their playing days said they had gotten pills from coaches, teammates, trainers or from the Internet — not from medical professionals.

About 15% of players who had misused prescription drugs before retirement were still doing so after hanging up their jerseys. Players who misused drugs while playing were three times more likely than players who didn’t to continue misusing them after retirement, the study found. (More on Time.com: Down Syndrome Goes Viral, Thanks to a High School Touchdown)

Although the study didn’t indicate levels of drug dependence, it does suggest that ex-NFL players are in pain. “The rate of current, severe pain is staggering,” said lead investigator, Linda B. Cottler, a professor of epidemiology in Washington University’s psychiatry department, in a statement.

Still, the NFL’s medical adviser for substances of abuse, Dr. Lawrence S. Brown, told ESPN that the study was fundamentally problematic. “It is scientifically flawed to compare the general population with athletes, active or retired,” he said, adding that professional athletes are more vulnerable to injury and to prescription-drug misuse than the general population.

But the fact remains that players are suffering — they said so themselves. Only 13% of the players surveyed said they were currently in excellent health; 88% said they had been at the beginning of their careers. (More on Time.com: Could Painkiller Use in Pregnancy cause Problems in Baby Boys?)

The study is published online by Drug and Alcohol Dependence, and a full evaluation of the data is available on ESPN’s outside the Lines.