Thursday, August 07, 2008

San Francisco Chronicle: Tedford is looking for Best in his return man

Rusty Simmons

Coach Jeff Tedford said Jahvid Best is in the running to return punts and kickoffs, offering further indication that the sophomore tailback's injured hip is no longer a concern.  Best missed the final three games last season after hurting his hip against USC, and the diagnosis of the injury wasn't certain more than a month later. He did individual drills at full speed during the offseason, and he'll get his first dose of full contact Friday, when the team wears pads for the first time.  "We're going to utilize him," Tedford said. "The things he does best, we're going to play him. He's a gifted guy."

Quarterback quandary: The quarterbacks competing for the starting job had their best days of training camp. Nate Longshore and Kevin Riley were sharp and consistently made good decisions.  During 7-on-7 drills, Longshore was 7-of-9, with one of the incomplete passes coming when receiver Jeremy Ross didn't come out of his break quickly enough, and Riley was 9-for-9, including four consecutive tosses that went for at least 20 yards each.

Briefly: Safety Brett Johnson (knee) and defensive tackle Cody Jones (knee) were held out of practice, and tailback Shane Vereen (ankle) missed the last quarter of the session. Tedford doesn't consider any of the injuries serious. ... Receiver Cameron Toler, the son of Burl Toler Jr. and brother of Burl Toler III, was removed from the roster. Though he has a year of eligibility remaining, he graduated with a degree in architecture and is no longer enrolled.

 

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