O'Sullivan to start against Raiders

SANTA CLARA — J.T. O’Sullivan will get the first chance to wear the title of 49ers’ starting quarterback this season.

O’Sullivan is scheduled to start the 49ers’ exhibition opener Friday night against the Raiders, coach Mike Nolan announced after practice Wednesday. Nolan said the decision to start O’Sullivan does not mean he is atop the depth chart.

The 49ers are holding an open competition this summer for the starting job. Alex Smith, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2005 draft, has 30 starts. Shaun Hill’s only two starts of his six-year career came last season. O’Sullivan has not started an NFL regular-season game.

“I’ve got experience with Shaun (Hill) and Alex (Smith) in game situations, and we do not have that experience with J.T. O’Sullivan,” Nolan said.

Of course, new 49ers offensive coordinator Mike Martz has never worked with Smith or Hill in a game. O’Sullivan played under Martz with the Detroit Lions last season. O’Sullivan attempted 86 passes for the Lions in the 2007 exhibition season, and he threw 26 passes in the regular season.

O’Sullivan will work with the first team for the first quarter to quarter-and-a-half Friday, Nolan said. Smith is scheduled to play the remainder of the first half and start the third quarter, and Hill will finish the game, Nolan said.

“I’m excited about our quarterbacks,” Nolan said. “I’m excited about all three of them. They’ve done a very good job. I continue to feel better and better about the possibility of us actually having three guys who can play and win games for us during the season.”

When asked if this is an indication that each of the quarterbacks will start an exhibition game, Nolan said, “We’re taking it a day at a time. We’re just dealing with this one right now.”

The first unit will be in the game as long as O’Sullivan, Nolan said. Receiver Josh Morgan and Jason Hill will see a lot of action with the first unit. Bryant Johnson (hamstring) and Ashley Lelie (calf) are likely to miss the game because of injuries, and Isaac Bruce might be held out of action as a precaution.

Running back Michael Robinson, who sustained his right knee injury on July 27, is doing the Tour de Santa Clara. He is riding the stationary bike as a major part of his rehab. Robinson expects to start running next week.

“If we were making a push for the playoffs, I could probably play right now,” Robinson said. “But there’s no reason to push it now.”

Robinson said he’ll definitely be back for the start of the regular season. He is expected to miss another 2 to 4 weeks.

The 49ers quarterbacks got the plays radioed to them — much like they’ll do when the games begin. Martz will be calling plays from the coaches’ booth. The person in charge of sending in the plays to the quarterbacks from the sideline appears to be Adam Gase, who is in his first season with the 49ers. Gase was offensive quality control coach in 2006 under Martz with the Lions. Last year, he coached Lions quarterbacks.

Kicker Joe Nedney will be inducted into the San Jose State University Sports Hall of Fame on Sept. 12. Nedney begins his 13th NFL season. He is the San Jose State record holder for career scoring. His shining moment came in 1992 when he booted a 60-yard field goal with no time remaining to provide the winning points against Wyoming.

For more on the 49ers, go to Instant 49ers at 49ers.pressdemocrat.com. You can reach Staff Writer Matt Maiocco at 521-5492 or matt.maiocco@pressdemocrat.com.