Aug. 23, 2008

 Perhaps the biggest surprise at Rams Park this preseason has been the emergence of undersized Nick Leckey as a serious contender for the starting center job. “Nobody expected him to even make the team,” one source close to the team told PFW. “He’s gotten more playing time because Brett Romberg fractured his non-snapping hand, and he’s really done well. In the San Diego game, he had a (defensive) tackle in his face the entire time and more than held his own.”

 A Rams offensive line that had already been dealt an early blow with season-ending injuries to backups Mark Setterstrom and Brandon Gorin could be cause for even greater concern with the news that starting OLT Orlando Pace reinjured his right shoulder in the team’s second preseason game. “If there’s good news, it’s that he says he hurt a different part of the shoulder (than the part that was injured in Week One in 2007 and ended his season),” a team insider told PFW. “But you just don’t know about him. It’s still a real wait-and-see type situation.”

 The Cardinals are saying the high ankle sprains recently suffered by FS Antrel Rolle and TE Ben Patrick should take about a week to fully recover, but our sources in the desert believe that recovery date could be a bit premature in the case of Patrick, who looks like he might be sidelined for a spell.

 Heading into the Cardinals’ third preseason game in Oakland, it appeared that newly acquired Travis LaBoy had moved past veteran Bertrand Berry for the starting WOLB job. Cardinals LB coach Bill Davis recently told PFW that LaBoy is “relentless. He has only one speed, and it’s full-throttle.”

 We hear Niners WRs Bryant Johnson and Arnaz Battle, both of whom have been sidelined for an extended period with hamstring injuries, are expected to be able to see some playing time in the team’s final preseason game.

 Don’t be surprised if Niners OG David Baas, who we hear is ahead of schedule in his recovery from a torn pectoral muscle suffered while weightlifting, switches over from right guard to left guard with projected starting OLG Adam Snyder currently out with a right ankle injury suffered in practice. Word is Snyder was really struggling, primarily with his pass protection, even before hurting his ankle.

 If Seahawks fans have their way, we hear there would be no way diminutive seventh-round RB Justin Forsett would not make the team. Forsett, who accumulated 261 all-purpose yards in the preseason game against the Bears, has quickly become a crowd favorite. At the same time, we hear the natives have been more than a little restless regarding newly acquired veteran RB T.J. Duckett, who had failed to show much of an ability to move the pile halfway through the preseason.

 Daily Seahawks observers tell us no defender was as impressive in training camp as second-year CB Josh Wilson, who we’re told has made great strides in his ability to cover opposing slot receivers. In addition to growing up on the field, word is Wilson has become much more mature off the field, displaying a much more conscientious work effort than in his rookie season, when he was widely considered too cocky and a bit of a cut-up.