BEREA — Quarterback Derek Anderson missed the afternoon practice Friday with what appeared to be a leg injury.
He worked with trainers and watched team drills as Brady Quinn took all the snaps with the first team. Anderson and Quinn are competing for the starting job.
Coach Eric Mangini met with the media between practices, before Anderson was out. Mangini doesn’t discuss injuries anyway.
Anderson had his lower right leg in a sleeve for both practices. After he scrambled in the morning practice, he hobbled but remained in the drill. On his way to work with trainers in the afternoon — along with receiver Braylon Edwards, running back Jamal Lewis and tight end Steve Heiden — he struggled to jog.
Quinn struggled early in Anderson’s absence but rallied. After a few bad throws, he made a nice one to tight end Aaron Walker down the seam. And in the two-minute drill, he went 4-for-4 to set up a winning 37-yard field goal by Phil Dawson.
That was an improvement over the morning session, when Quinn botched the clock management in the two-minute drill.
He converted a fourth down, but followed with a critical mistake. Needing a touchdown with 12 seconds left and no timeouts from the 26-yard line, Quinn completed a short pass over the middle. Time ran out before he could run another play.
“It’s a great teaching scenario where the quarterback and the receiver and everybody have to understand what we’re dealing with,” Mangini said. “If the ball is completed inbounds short of the end zone, the game’s over.”
Mangini uses different end-of-game scenarios in practice to test his team. He even has John Elway’s “The Drive” on his list.
“You can do a great job for 58 minutes and not do a great job in those last two minutes, and everything changes,” he said. “So many games come down to it year in, year out — Super Bowls, conference championships, playoff games, getting into the playoffs.
“There’s always stuff to coach off of, because variables change. I’m trying to keep improving it.”
Anderson’s morning try in the two-minute drill ended with a Mike Adams interception.
Brett Ratliff took the second-team reps in the afternoon and led a field-goal drive.

The lone leg

Punter Dave Zastudil had a shaky morning practice, when he would follow a booming punt with a short wobbler.
“I’m OK,” he said. “I’ve kicked a lot and some are a little off-line when you’re getting in rhythm. I’m working on a few (technical) things.”
Zastudil, a Bay native, had career bests in gross (45.5 yards) and net (39.4) last year. He’s the lone punter in camp, so he gets a lot of work with Mangini’s attention to special teams.
“I don’t think we do any more than anybody else does,” Mangini said. “Brad (Seely, special teams coordinator) has got a lot of experience in terms of how many reps a guy should get. I have a lot of confidence in the numbers that we’re asking him to execute are within what’s going to give him the best chance to move forward.”

Rookie praise

Mangini had nothing but good things to say when asked about rookie receiver Mohamed Massaquoi (second round) and rookie running back James Davis (sixth round).
“I thought he had a really good two-minute drive (Thursday),” Mangini said of Massaquoi, singling out a leaping grab down the sideline. “He caught about four or five balls and showed excellent awareness in terms of the blitz. He’s diligent in the classroom. He absorbs as much as he can.”
Davis has shown a nice burst out of the backfield.
“He’s really done a good job,” Mangini said. “He’s picked up things quickly. He doesn’t often repeat the same mistake the next day, which is a positive. There’s a great example of a young guy getting a lot more reps than he normally would and he has maximized that opportunity.”

No defense

Special teamer/receiver Joshua Cribbs has yet to try defense or running back under Mangini. He held out of the first “voluntary” minicamp in a contract dispute, returned with no new deal and has been performing strictly on special teams and as a receiver.
“We wanted to do that to get him the most familiarity with the system,” Mangini said. “Like all the guys, there’s good things and there’ve been things that aren’t as good. Some of it’s just familiarity — new system, new routes, new expectations. We’ll keep moving down this path, see how it goes and, at some point, hopefully build the flexibility to where he works on defense as well.”

Vick a Brown?

The Falcons released Michael Vick on Friday, so Mangini was asked about him.
“I didn’t know his status,” Mangini said. “I wish him well. I’m really focusing on guys we have here.”
Would he ever consider signing Vick, after all his troubles?
“We look at all players,” he said. “It’s not specific to him or anybody else. We look at all players who we think can help us and it works within the context of the guys that we are bringing in.”

Extra points

Mangini said rookie linebacker Kaluka Maiava, a fourth-round pick, was excused from this minicamp for personal reasons. He spent most of the voluntary minicamps with the trainers.
♦ There were a lot of dropped passes in the morning practices, including two by tight end Robert Royal. He also made a nice catch on a pass behind him.
♦ Guard Eric Steinbach was whistled for a holding penalty and had to run a lap. During the lap, the disc jockey played the theme from “Chariots of Fire.” The music combined with the slow pace of the lap reminded some of the slow-motion running scenes in the movie.
Contact Scott Petrak at 329-7253 or spetrak@chroniclet.com.

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