SUNDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK

-Rick Serritella

While Oakland quarterback Josh McCown has declared himself ready to play, he did report some soreness in his fractured big toe this past week. The Raiders have announced Daunte Culpepper will get the start at Tennessee.

There was some talk that David Carr could possibly start against the Colts, but his back injury has not yet healed 100%. The ageless wonder, Vinny Testaverde will once again get the call and another solid performance would definitely stir some quarterback controversy.

The Texans Matt Schaub is not expected to start at San Diego Sunday. Sage Rosenfals will be the man and is considered a solid fill-in fantasy starter.

Don’t be surprised if David Garrard is out longer than expected with a severe ankle sprain, forcing the Jaguars to go with Quinn Gray. Unless there are zero starting quarterbacks sitting your league’s free agent pool, Gray has very little fantasy value.

A poor performance by Cleo Lemon in London could mean rookie quarterback John Beck makes his debut after the week nine bye.

Jim Sorgi will remain Peyton Manning's backup at least through the 2010 season. The Colts number two quarterback signed a three-year contract extension Saturday that will keep him off of the free agent market at the end of the season. He has made a career out of backing up Manning the past four seasons, totaling all off 90 pass attempts. Nice gig.

It looks as if Travis Henry will attempt to give it a go on Monday Night Football. He is considered a game-time decision. Whether Henry starts or not, you can expect to see a lot of Selvin Young. If Henry doesn’t play at all, you can begin to gauge who will get the carries behind Young when Henry begins serving his suspension. The candidates are Cecil Sapp, Andre Hall and we can’t forget Mike Bell if he ever gets healthy.

The Jaguars Maurice Jones-Drew will play in a limited capacity, meaning Fred Taylor may see extended work and/or Gregg Jones could see the goal-line carries. Try to avoid the Jacksonville running back situation if possible.

Cleveland running back Jamal Lewis will need at least one more week to heal his sprain foot. Jason Wright and Jerome Harrison will continue to split carries in his absence.

Packers running back DeShawn Wynn returned to practice this week after sitting out the past few games with a neck injury. He is expected to assume the starting role with Vernand Morency backing him up. Brandon Jackson remains hobbled by shin splints.

Tennessee has been quiet thus far on whether or not running back Chris Brown will play on Sunday. Brown said he expects to play, while head coach Jeff Fisher said he would take a wait and see approach. Either way, don’t expect Brown to do too much as LenDale White has gotten the majority of rushing touchdowns for the Titans this season.

Keep an eye on Buccaneers backup Michael Bennett this week. With Earnest Graham proving to be quite serviceable, it will be interesting to see how many touches Bennett receives as he continues to learn the Jon Gruden playbook.

With Ahman Green nursing a knee injury, Samkon Gado released (now with Dolphins) and Ron Dayne once again underachieving, look for Adimchinobe Echemandu to get a looksy Sunday, as the Texans continue to search for answers with their woeful running attack.

The Colts will be without wide out Marvin Harrison once again as he has been ruled out.

Bubba Franks has been declared out Sunday for the Packers game against the Broncos with a knee injury. Look for Donald Lee to be a viable fantasy option in his place.

Former Seahawks and Bengals wide out Peter Warrick is among the players trying out for the new All American Football League. Also trying out are notables Eric Crouch, Jackie Battle, Chance Mock, and Woodrow Dantzler. The AAFL will begin playing its 10-game schedule next April and features initial franchises in Alabama, Texas, Arkansas, Florida, Michigan, and Tennessee. Its championship will be played on July 3, 2008.

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