NFL Nfl Training Camp

In matter of months, veteran quarterback Jeff Garcia went from pronouncing himself a contender for the Raiders' starting job to an Oakland afterthought. Garcia fell victim to his age (39) by sustaining a series of nagging injuries that forced him to miss the bulk of training camp snaps, but he appeared ready to accept a backup role.

Instead, his Raiders career ended before it really starting. Oakland released Garcia on Saturday, along with 21 other players to reach the 53-man NFL roster limit.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Rookie quarterback Nate Davis, a San Francisco 49ers fifth-round draft pick in 2009, had an uncomfortable conversation several times in recent days with 12th-year quarterback Damon Huard. It wasn't about mentor-pupil anymore. How's this for awkward: Only one of them would make it through the week on the 49ers' roster.

So the conversation was about survival.

Mandatory roster cutdowns were imminent on NFL teams and the 49ers were carrying four quarterbacks. Shaun Hill had earned the starting job; former No. 1 overall pick Alex Smith was idling in neutral at No. 2. That meant a final spot came down to Davis or Huard.

"We always stayed positive with each other and said, 'We hope that we're both here,'" Davis says of his many heartfelt talks with his most direct competitor for an NFL job.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- NFL preseason games are about as meaningful as a Lindsay Lohan vow of chastity. But there is a modicum of significance to the third exhibition contest. Starters play for extended periods. Opponent game plans are installed. Coaches expect signs of rhythm, timing, execution. Then they yank the first teams at halftime and put them on ice until
Week 1.

All of which made Saturday's surreal 45-7 New Orleans Saints' takedown of the Oakland Raiders at a stifling hot, mostly empty Oakland Coliseum even more disturbing for those expecting to see, well, anything of substance from the always rebuilding home team.

The 49ers offensive line surrendered an NFL-most 55 sacks in 2008, and the team's ability to protect newly named starting quarterback Shaun Hill this season was compromised further with Saturday's confirmation that right tackle Marvel Smith has retired.

More and more, the 49ers' decision to draft recalcitrant (and unsigned) wide receiver Michael Crabtree rather than offensive tackle Michael Oher with the 10th overall pick in April's NFL Draft is looking like a personnel blunder.

Chronic back problems ended Smith's football career – and dashed the 49ers' hopes that they had found a starting right tackle to take over for standout Joe Staley, who is taking over at left tackle.

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Tyler Thigpen went from third-team quarterback to the first team in the span of one week last year. But even after he put together a pretty solid season as the Chiefs fill-in starter, it looks like he's gone from starter back to the third team this fall.

With Matt Cassel installed as the team's new franchise quarterback, and Brodie Croyle apparently beating Thigpen out for the No. 2 job, Thigpen is slated to be one of the most experienced No. 3 quarterbacks in the league, which is why he's drawing plenty of trade interest.

Earlier this week it looked like Brandon Marshall and the Broncos had made steps toward finding a way to work together, but Thursday brought new reasons for uncertainty. Marshall wasn't present when the Broncos convened for practice, just a couple of days after he was restored to a starting position on the team's depth chart.

There's no word out of Broncos camp as yet about why Marshall was absent. He could have aggravated his hip injury during practice on Wednesday, when he was a full participant, or it could have something to do with his ongoing unhappiness about his contract. The third, and most intriguing, option is that it could have something to do with his trade demand.

After a strong showing during the 2008 preseason -- specifically the nationally-televised Hall of Fame game -- Colt Brennan became the apple of many Redskins fans' eyes. Forget the investment and talent of Jason Campbell, or the fact that Todd Collins had a three-game winning streak to lead the 'Skins on an improbable '07 playoff run; masses of Colt fanatics pined for the decorated collegiate star from Hawaii to lead their troops at some point.

After not seeing any regular season action in 2008, Brennan was thought to be ready to battle Collins for the backup role this season. Instead, he's struggled and found himself fighting for his life to save a roster spot against Washington's new flavor of the preseason, Chase Daniel.

This Saturday, Jamal Lewis will turn 30. Considering that age, along with the multiple knee surgeries and the 2,399 career carries, it's pretty safe to say his best days are behind him. The Browns still plan on entering the 2009 season with Lewis as their starting running back, but -- all of a sudden -- it seems there is some competition cropping up.

When training camp began, there was no talk of a running back battle in Cleveland. Jerome Harrison was set to be the back and change-of-pace back, while rookie James Davis would fight for a roster spot. After two preseason games, though, there are whispers from Cleveland that Davis could catapult all the way to the starting gig.

For a Steelers fan base that has too many memories of Ricardo Colclough, Najeh Davenport, Gary Russell, Allen Rossum and Willie Reid botching returns, Stefan Logan's 205 yards in returns on Saturday proved to be the highlight of the night. For a team that ranked 29th in the league in kick returns and 31st in punt returns last year, Logan looked, at least for one night, to be the kind of game-changing returner that Pittsburgh hasn't had since Antwaan Randle-El left to go to Washington.

When the Green Bay Packers take the field at Arizona Friday night, they'll have in place their starting offensive line. The five-man group Green Bay used for practice Monday night is the group it will use against the Cardinals, and it's the group the Packers expect to use to start the regular season.

This was hardly an easy decision for the Packers, who feel like they have two starting-caliber centers on the roster. There also appears to be some uncertainty as to who will ultimately start at right tackle.