SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Coach Mike Singletary might wait until Thursday before deciding on a starting quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers’ exhibition opener against Denver.
Shaun Hill or Alex Smith? Alex Smith or Shaun Hill? The two have been fairly even through the first 10 days of training camp, and both should get plenty of chances against the Broncos on Friday night.
“We’ll talk about it prior to the game, figure it out,” Singletary said Monday. “We’re in no rush to do that.”
Singletary plans to keep the competition and evaluation process going through the third preseason game Aug. 29 at Dallas, naming a starter soon after that game. No surprise, both QBs have said they expect to win the job.
“Both quarterbacks have done a tremendous job,” center Eric Heitmann said. “For us, we see completions. They both have a commanding presence in the huddle. That’s another situation as an offensive unit where we have two guys back there who are great players. We’d be fortunate to have either one of them starting for us.”
JAGUARS
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jaguars receiver Mike Walker is being held out of practice because of an ankle injury.
Walker injured his ankle during Saturday night’s scrimmage and was held out of practice Monday. Coach Jack Del Rio says Walker had minor swelling, but should be back by the end of the week. Del Rio wasn’t sure Walker would play in next week’s preseason opener at Miami.
Running back Chauncey Washington (concussion), offensive lineman Drew Miller (foot) and linebacker Russell Allen (foot blister) also missed practice. Del Rio said Miller’s injury, a lis franc issue, could keep him sidelined a while. Safety Reggie Nelson left practice after getting hit in the chest.
CARDINALS
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — Arizona running back Beanie Wells missed another workout with a sprained right ankle on Monday, raising doubts that he’ll play in the Cardinals’ preseason opener.
Wells ran and did agility drills on a side field during a morning practice at Northern Arizona University. Wells said the ankle is improving, but coach Ken Whisenhunt wouldn’t commit to playing Wells when the Cardinals open the preseason at Pittsburgh on Thursday night.
COWBOYS
SAN ANTONIO — Twisting and turning, speeding up and slowing down, Cowboys linebacker DeMarcus Ware is spending training camp testing all sorts of new ways of getting to the quarterback.
He asks offensive linemen what they think, sometimes making adjustments based on their advice. He watches film of contemporaries and old-timers, sometimes calling them for tips. He’s pretty much willing to give anything a shot.
After leading the NFL with 20 sacks last season, Ware is convinced he needs to mix things up just to stay ahead of the competition.
“Every year, the offenses are gunning for you and they’re changing, so you’ve got to be able to change, too, to stay on top,” Ware said.
This must be a coach’s dream, right? Here’s a superstar player in his prime trying to put more things in his “toolbox,” as Ware calls it.
Well, coach Wade Phillips wishes Ware would cut it out. His point: Don’t mess with a good thing.
“I’ve told DeMarcus if he does too much (tinkering) he hurts himself,” Phillips said. “The moves he has now, that we’ve identified, we tell him, ‘These are the ones we want you to use because these are the ones that are best for you.”’
COLTS
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — Colts cornerback Marlin Jackson and offensive lineman Charlie Johnson made it onto the practice field Monday.
It was the first time that the two projected starters practiced at training camp. Jackson is returning from a torn anterior cruciate ligament and a damaged meniscus in his right knee. Johnson tore a pectoral muscle in April, requiring surgery.
RAMS
ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Rams will be without No. 1 wide receiver Donnie Avery for four to six weeks after the second-year player injured his foot during a scrimmage last week.
Avery was hurt Friday and has a stress fracture in his left foot, the team said. The injury could mean he’ll miss the first two regular-season games.
“We’ll take it day by day, but it’s going to be a lot of time,” Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo said.
After Torry Holt left as a free agent after last season, Avery became the Rams’ top receiver. He had 53 catches for 674 yards as a rookie. He was chosen in the second round of the 2008 draft.
Rookie Brooks Foster, second-year player Keenan Burton and veterans Tim Carter, Laurent Robinson and Ronald Curry are among the nine wide receivers in camp fighting for roster spots.
Spagnuolo acknowledged that the Rams will miss Avery’s speed, but he still feels that quarterback Marc Bulger can get the job done with the West Coast offense being installed by new offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur.
SAINTS
METAIRIE, La. — Malcolm Jenkins avoided drinking much water before his first Saints practice, hoping that would help him make his mandated training camp weight of 205 pounds.
The 6-foot rookie weighed in at 204, but whatever relief that small triumph provided soon gave way to the distress of heat exhaustion. Not long into practice, trainers took Jenkins aside, pulled his shoulder pads off and poured water over him to cool him down.
“I had to sit out for a little bit and get used to the heat and everything, and the pads, but I got back in there and finished practice,” Jenkins said Monday, joking that he might have lost 10 more pounds during practice.
“I’ve been down here and working out over at Tulane in the heat, trying to simulate things, but coming out the first day and throwing on the pads and helmet with a visor and everything, that adds another element to it,” Jenkins said. “It’s something I’ll have to get used to.”
PANTHERS
SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Jerry Richardson began by thanking his players for their support during his illness. Then the Carolina owner asked the franchise’s biggest offseason distraction, Julius Peppers, to stand next to him.
The result of the surprise training-camp chat: plenty of laughs.
Richardson may have aged a bit and lost considerable weight, but he showed Monday in his first address to the team since getting a new heart that he hasn’t lost his direct style. He assured his players he’s getting well — and that there are no lingering effects from management following Peppers’ public pleas to play elsewhere.
“He’s always been an owner that if he has something to say, he’s going to say it,” receiver Muhsin Muhammad said. “He’s going to say it to your face. He’s not going to talk behind your back. He’s that kind of guy. He stood up in front of the team, said what we wanted to say — then broke us down after that.”
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