Statistics in the NFL during the month of May haven't been good.

Seven unrestricted free agents have signed with other teams. Seven re-signed with their clubs. Eleven others were involved in off-the-field incidents: Four DUIs, two drug-related incidents, three victims of a robbery or shooting incident and one tragic loss of life (Cowboys rookie running back Ennis Haywood).

When the off-the-field stats outnumber the roster transactions, there is a problem. What's even more troubling is that these are predictable stages for the months of May and June in the NFL. Players, many of them rich, are staying closer to their NFL cities for 14 weeks of off-season training. They have more time, energy and money than they sometimes can handle.

The result is being at the wrong place at the wrong time or doing the wrong thing at any time. The pattern of bad news headlines outnumbering other NFL headlines isn't new. It's been happening for years, and, unfortunately, it will continue. In the month of June, for example, expect a few more incidents and a few less signings.

	Michael Bennett had a good 2002 campaign, but has experienced offseason woes.

But the mistake would be coming to a conclusion that the NFL is in some downward trend for character. The stats really don't bare that out. While it's true that anyone can forecast with accuracy that the NFL will have approximately 10 negative incidents a month in the late spring and early summer, don't misinterpret what is going on.

There are currently more than 2,800 players on NFL rosters, more than 75 percent of them spending at least four days a week in team facilities working out and getting ready for training camp in late July. Times are relaxed. The player can do his offseason work in a little as two hours or as many as 6-8. The rest of the day is theirs.

Teammates naturally get together, and that is where the potential for problems start. Player education has come a long way, and the league and the NFL Players Association do extensive work in warning players about their behavior.

Yet, as often as players are advised against drinking and driving, they do. As often as they are warned about staying away from certain places, they go. NFL players are no different than anyone else. They are human. They make mistakes. Stuff happens. This is why coaches and general managers keep their cellphones on at all times and cringe every time it rings during the months of May and June.

They realize incidents occur, the front office execs just hope that the damage isn't too bad.

Raiders great Willie Brown always tells players that when they go out in public, a neon sign flashes around them everywhere they go. They are recognized, which is good and bad. Fans want to meet them. Opportunists want to make them targets.

With as many as 22 hours a day of free time on their hands, athletes in their early or mid-20s aren't going to stick around at home and watch soap operas. This is their time to relax and enjoy. Unfortunately, like members of general society, athletes get themselves in bad situations.

Titans quarterback Steve McNair couldn't have been more apologetic about his DUI arrest in which his car was stopped and the police found his licensed gun in the car. McNair confessed to bad judgment. His body of work as a class act and being a great player should earn him the right to be forgiven by fans. Simply let the courts decide the right punishment for his blunder. That's what happens in normal society.

What bothers me is talk that this May and June trend signifies deep-rooted psychological and philosophical meanings. It is what it is. Players have more time on their hands in these two months and are in more of a position to make mistakes. That doesn't forgive the mistake. It's just a truthful part of the NFL calendar.

Less can happen during training camp because coaches exhaust the entire day of a player. In February and March, players are either too beat up to get in trouble or are sleeping on a beach on an island outside of the mainland. Mistakes happen during the season, but they aren't as extensive as they are in May and June.

In fact, June is a new concern because of the more structured nature of the NFL's offseason program. Offseason training by a team starts March 25. It can last 14 weeks, and coaches want to make the best of the program, so they are scheduling more minicamps and practice sessions in June than in past years.

That means more socializing, more impatience waiting for the season and potentially more off-the-field incidents. As unfortunate as it is to say this will be predictable, don't overact to the headlines. Ten incidents out of 2,800 players isn't out of whack.

		Raiders great Willie Brown always tells players that when they go out in public, a neon sign flashes around them everywhere they go. They are recognized, which is good and bad. Fans want to meet them. Opportunists want to make them targets.

What players need to do is watch the headlines of others and use them as warnings for themselves. Bad things can happen in what would appear to be innocent situations.

Take the Michael Bennett incident in St. Paul. Bennett believed someone pickpocketed his wallet and a cellphone in a club. He approached two women he had been around and thought they had taken his items. A male gentleman who knew the women entered the conversation. Eventually, Bennett, without his wallet and cellphone, drove away while bullets were hitting his Hummer.

It should be noted that Bennett doesn't drink. He was a victim. Yet, the incident itself cast Bennett and the Vikings in a bad light because it was "another NFL player involved in a shooting." Tell me what Bennett could have done differently?

It's been suggested that players can use this extra time in May and June to advance their education, and the idea is one to study. The problem with it? Name colleges than can work around that March 25-July 10 schedule and still allow a player to train between 2-6 hours a day at a team facility?

Many players would love to go back to school, but the problem is they would like to return to their alma maters for classes. They can't do that and participate in the team's offseason program from March through July.

The Houston Texans, like a lot of teams, have extensive internship programs that are helpful to players. Kicker Kris Brown learned financial planning and real estate at a golf management office. Tight end Jabari Holloway interned at a shoe company. Linebacker Jay Foreman worked at an investment firm. Linebacker Kailee Wong interned for a Houston city councilman.

Despite that, two Texans had off-the-field incidents in May. Linebacker Patrick Chukwurah was robbed a gunpoint. Safety Ramon Walker had an alleged DUI.

Players can study the headlines in May and June and hopefully those headlines can prevent a few others from happening. In the NFL, May is a month of uncertainty. The news may be good. The news may be bad. Coaches and general managers just hope their players May make it through without incident.

John Clayton is a senior writer for ESPN.com.