Bartel, who never had played in an NFL game before he came to Arizona late last season, had touchdown pass plays of 19 yards to LaRod Stephens-Howling and 48 yards to Chansi Stuckey.

“We’ve got guys showing up all over the place making plays,” Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt said. “That’s probably the thing that was missing last year.” Quinn, who started the NFL game, was just 4 of 12 for 26 yards with one interception in his two quarters.

“It was the offense, I think, all the way around,” Quinn said. “We need to run the ball better, I need to play better as far as making throws and we need to catch the ball. We didn’t make the plays when we needed to, and unfortunately it was a bad game to end the preseason.”

Tim Tebow came on after halftime to complete 7 of 11 for 116 yards, including a 43-yard touchdown pass to rookie Eron Riley ith 2:57 to play. “Going into this game I didn’t know exactly when I was going to get in there.

When I was going to play or how long,” Tebow said. “With my opportunity, I tried to make the most of it, try and figure a way to get the team in the end zone, which I was able to do, so that was good.

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According to The Star Tribune. Vikings coach Leslie Frazier said if Harvin is unable to practice Thursday, he’ll likely sit out Week 2 of the NFL preseason. “It was a little sore a couple days ago,” Frazier said after Wednesday’s practice.

“We just felt it would be wise to hold him back, let him completely heal, as opposed to getting bumped or hit. We don’t want any setbacks.” There are roster spots to be won at the wide receiver position, and with both Harvin and Greg Camarillo (groin) possibly out Saturday.

Fringe NFL players could get their chance to make an impact against first-teamers for Seattle. Frazier said Donovan McNabb could be behind center until midway through the second quarter.

Harvin’s health has been a continuous concern for Minnesota. He missed time last season dealing with recurring migraine issues, finishing 2010 with 71 receptions for 868 yards and five touchdowns.

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Added cornerback Charles Woodson: “If there hadn’t been a lockout and we’d come around for OTAs and offseason workouts, guys would have kind of been living high off the hog, so to speak.

We’d be together talking about the Super Bowl, throwing parties here, throwing parties there. With the lockout, guys were in their respective corners trying to figure out what was going happen, where they were going to work out. It kept everybody focused.”

2. Aaron Rodgers is good. In surveying a handful of NFL quarterbacks over the summer, I asked which one had the biggest arm. Somewhat to my surprise, several said Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. I knew he had a gun and was accurate but when I visited practice.

I specifically watched to see if his peers were exaggerating. They weren’t. I don’t know why I never took note of it before, but Rodgers can pump it in tight spots on a rope or deliver it deep with as much velocity and touch as the best quarterbacks in the NFL game.

3. Desmond Bishop wants another chance to visit the White House. Bishop, an inside linebacker, might rival cornerback Charles Woodson as the straw that stirs Dom Capers’ defense. Bishop, who made Nick Barnett expendable, is a thumper in the running game, can cover a ton of ground in the open field and can even cover tight ends.

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He erased every tight end the Packers faced in the playoffs, allowing Capers to do other things with Woodson that confounded offenses. Packers’ tight end Jermichael Finley, who is as athletic as they come, said that Bishop is the only linebacker in the NFL who can cover him — and it drives him crazy.

Looking poised and comfortable in Cleveland’s new West Coast offense, McCoy outshined Super Bowl star Aaron Rodgers and was nearly flawless as the Browns beat the Green Bay Packers 27-17 on Saturday night, making Cleveland rookie coach Pat Shurmur a winner in his first NFL preseason game.

McCoy completed 9 of 10 passes for 135 yards, one touchdown and compiled a 152.1 passer’s rating — just a few points shy of perfection. The Browns, who have spent the past decade in a frustrating search for a franchise quarterback to lead them back to respectability, are hoping McCoy may finally answer their prayers.

He’s off to a nice start. “Pretty good,” McCoy humbly said in assessing his performance. “We understand we have a long way to go.” No doubt. But for the first time in ages, the Browns, who have just one playoff appearance since 1999 and lost at least 10 NFL games in seven of the last eight seasons, seem to be headed in the same direction. And, they’re counting on McCoy to lead the way.

Needing to get up to speed on the complex offense during the off-season, McCoy sought advice from a West Coast master. Brett Favre was happy to help. As the league’s labor lockout dragged on, McCoy went to Hattiesburg, Miss., and spent a few days with the three-time NFL MVP, who learned the West Coast system while playing for Browns president Mike Holmgren in Green Bay.

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Running back Steven Jackson noted all teams are playing catch-up after the lockout, but felt good about the team’s progress in the new system. Jackson often had to slog for yards in last year’s conservative attack that eased quarterback Sam Bradford into the NFL.

But there’s anticipation he’ll be more of a receiving threat this year. “I think Coach McDaniels is going to allow for myself to be displayed in places that we’ve all seen before,” Jackson said. “It may be a refresher to some, but nothing different, nothing new, just help me be a better player overall.

”Danny Amendola and free-agent pickup Mike Sims-Walker were Bradford’s top targets in a scrimmage last Saturday and lead a much deeper wide receiver corps than the Rans had in coach Steve Spagnuolo’s first two NFL seasons.

Guard Harvey Dahl adds another well-regarded big body to the line and rookie Lance Kendricks looks like an upgrade at tight end. For the first time in his career, Jackson has two capable backups in free agent pickups Cadillac Williams and Jerious Norwood.

“The sky’s the limit for us,” Sims-Walker said. “I think we’ve got all the tools to be great.” Spagnuolo has been impressed overall with Bradford’s command of the offense, although he said Bradford struggled in practice on Wednesday.

“I think he’s picking up a lot of the mental stuff pretty well and he seems to be running that huddle extremely well,” Spagnuolo said. “I look at the whole picture, how are they are meshing?

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1. The NFL Picks offensive line is pretty good. As I watched every play of the last 10 practices I became more impressed with the Rams offensive line. Left tackle Roger Saffold is a star in the making.

Left guard Jacob Bell is trying to keep Renardo Foster from taking his job. Center Jason Brown has his moments, like when DT Gary Gibson threw him aside, but in general he competes. Right guard Harvey Dahl is just what the doctor ordered to instill toughness.

Right tackle Jason Smith needs to be more consistent and not get caught waist-bending, but he’s better than average. The Rams can get away with a significant amount of five-man protections this NFL season, and putting five receivers in the routes will make it tough on defenses.

2. There isn’t a No. 1 receiver, but there are a number of quality No. 2s. There’s no Calvin or Andre Johnson on this team, but there wasn’t one last year either as Bradford threw for 3,512 yards as a rookie. This year, Bradford has better weapons and is taking more shots down the field. Brandon Gibson, Mike Sims-Walker and Danario Alexander (when he gets healthy) give the Rams three guys who can all go deep.

3. Sam Bradford is getting the new system. I’ve watched every throw Bradford has taken in practice, and it’s clear that he is really starting to understand the Josh McDaniels offense. In the intersquad scrimmage Wednesday he threw a seam route touchdown to TE Billy Bajema that was second to none.

Sam needs plenty of reps in this new offense but the progress is remarkable, and get ready to see Danny Amendola playing the role of Wes Welker in the newest imitation of the Patriots offense.

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Rivera told the Shelby Star on Tuesday that both quarterbacks could start during the NFL preseason, which begins for Carolina on Saturday with a home game against the New York Giants. “We want to see how each guy looks with each offensive line,” Rivera said.”

It would be unfair to have one guy with the ones, one guy with the twos, one guy play against a one defense and the other guy play against a two defense and say one looks better. So we’re most certainly going to mix and match, and we have to so it’s a fair competition.”

Rivera said Clausen was more consistent than Newton during Tuesday’s practice. “Cam threw some nice balls and threw some balls that were a little bit late, threw off his back foot, stuff like that,” Rivera said. “Again, it’s a work in progress for both of them.” Clausen started 10 games for Carolina last NFL season, completing 52.5 percent of his passes for 1,558 yards, with three touchdowns and nine interceptions. The Panthers’ third quarterback is veteran Derek Anderson.

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Bradford completed 13 of 20 passes for 140 yards and four touchdowns against the NFL Picks second-team defense. He had one interception.

“We did some good things out there and obviously, there’ll be some great things to learn from the tape,” Bradford said. “We made a lot of mistakes, but that’s what camp is for and this is what scrimmages like this are for.

“Bradford’s favorite target was Danny Amendola, who caught eight passes for 70 yards. Mike Sims-Walker caught three passes for 71 yards and a touchdown. The scrimmage involved running plays, third-down situations and red-zone work before an estimated crowd of 6,200 at Harlen C. Hunter NFL Stadium.

The temperature reached 94 degrees with a heat index of 108. “The offense looked fairly smooth to me,” St. Louis coach Steve Spagnuolo said. “Sam’s very confident. I don’t think the new system is bothering him very much.

I like the interaction between (offensive coordinator) Josh (McDaniels) and him.” In the red zone, Bradford was 4 of 5 for 47 yards and four touchdowns. “The red zone was real important for us,” Spagnuolo said.

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NFL Picks News: During the past four years, New York Giants running backs Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs have been somewhat inseparable.

Best of friends and lunch buddies at Popeyes, they pull for each other on and off the field.When Jacobs lost the No. 1 running back spot to Bradshaw last NFL season, their friendship never wavered.

“He loves me and I respect him more than anything for doing that,” Bradshaw said Thursday in his first news conference since signing a four-year, $18 million contract on Tuesday.

Manning opened training camp on the physically unable to perform list as he continues to make his way back from surgery on May 23 to repair a bulging disc in his neck.

But Mike Chappell of the Indianapolis Star reports that Manning might not be far off. Per the report, Manning was seen running and throwing on Wednesday night with “decent velocity.”

Under rules, Manning is prohibited from participating in practices in Anderson, Ind., until he passes his physical and is cleared to be promoted off the PUP list.

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