Locker shines in Titans debut
In Nashville, Tenn., Jake Locker threw a 45-yard touchdown pass in his NFL debut, and the Tennessee Titans beat the Minnesota Vikings 14-3 Saturday night to make new coach Mike Munchak a winner in his preseason opener.
Matt Hasselbeck started for Tennessee, and the veteran signed to a three-year contract to mentor Locker and make the Titans competitive this season looked sharp in his lone series. The former Seattle Seahawks QB completed 5 of 6 passes for 55 yards in an opening drive marred by a botched handoff leading to a 30-yard loss.
Locker, the eighth pick overall from Washington, had his moment, too. He dropped the ball off the snap before picking it up, rolling to his right and throwing a perfect pass to Yamon Figurs for a TD. Locker played one series into the third quarter, and he was 7 of 10 for 89 yards with a passer rating of 130.8.
Bears 10, Bills 3
Bears quarterback Jay Cutler played just one series and watched as Chicago beat visiting Buffalo, even though the offensive line did little to ease any lingering concerns.
The Bills got two sacks from Shawne Merriman and nine in all, but the Bears prevailed on a soggy night in which both teams pulled their starters early.
Nathan Enderle, who played at the University of Idaho, led Chicago in passing with 110 yards on seven completions with one interception.
Browns 27, Packers 17
Super Bowl MVP Aaron Rodgers threw a touchdown pass before swapping his helmet for a baseball cap in the first quarter as the defending champion Green Bay opened the preseason in Cleveland with a loss to the Browns.
Rodgers got off to a rough start, but finished 6 of 8 for 74 yards and threw a 21-yard TD pass to Greg Jennings.
Rams 33, Colts 10
Sam Bradford produced 17 points in four possessions with big help from a defense that jumped on Peyton Manning’s backups for a pair of early interceptions as St. Louis opened the preseason with a victory over visiting Indianapolis.
Curtis Painter and Dan Orlovsky threw costly interceptions early.
Panthers 20, Giants 10
In Charlotte, N.C., Cam Newton led a pair of field-goal drives in his NFL debut, and Jimmy Clausen threw a touchdown pass to Greg Olsen to help host Carolina beat New York.
Newton, the Heisman Trophy winner from Auburn and top overall pick in the NFL draft, had mixed results. Newton completed 8 of 19 throws for 134 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions, including a pair of completions of at least 30 yards.
Rookie Colin Kaepernick will get his shot to compete with Alex Smith for the 49ers’ starting quarterback job. While coach Jim Harbaugh still considers it Smith’s spot to lose, he said nobody has earned the position so far in training camp. … Mike Patterson, who collapsed and suffered a seizure at practice just 10 days ago, returned to the Philadelphia Eagles. The defensive tackle did not practice, but was in uniform doing strength and conditioning drills. … David Garrard’s sore back is getting better. Jacksonville’s quarterback hopes to play in next week’s preseason game against Atlanta. Garrard returned to the practice field Saturday after missing more than a week of training camp.