SANTA CLARA – A team's third exhibition game is considered the most critical tuneup for the regular season, and on Monday 49ers coach Mike Nolan named J.T. O'Sullivan the starting quarterback for exhibition game No. 3 Thursday in Chicago.
Still, Nolan resisted the notion that it's now a foregone conclusion O'Sullivan, the former UC Davis star, will be the team's regular-season starter. Instead, he said O'Sullivan gets the nod against the Bears because of the short turnaround from Saturday's game against Green Bay.
"We've got a very short week," Nolan said. "I don't want to mess with things right now. I think it's best that we keep our focus on the Bears. It's important for a lot of guys to play well in this game."
The quarterbacks were unavailable to comment because Nolan's announcement came after the open locker room session.
Nolan said that if the Bears game were Saturday, former No. 1 overall draft pick Alex Smith might have started.
"If it was a longer week – possibly," Nolan said.
Considering how much O'Sullivan has been working with the first-team offense in recent weeks, however, it's hard to see anyone else starting a exhibition game or winning the starting job.
O'Sullivan first entered the training-camp competition July 30 when offensive coordinator Mike Martz decided to rest quarterback Shaun Hill, who had what was described as a tired shoulder, for 1 1/2 practices. Two days later, Smith's arm was rested and O'Sullivan received more practice repetitions.
Until Aug. 6, there had been a steady rotation among the three quarterbacks as far as who ran the first-team offense. On that day, O'Sullivan practiced with the first team and has done so in every practice since. He also started the team's first two preseason games, playing the first half of the Green Bay game and finishing with 154 passing yards, a touchdown and an interception.
But Nolan said it was still feasible for Smith and Hill to start the regular season despite their lack of work with the first-string offense in recent weeks.
"They've all gotten a good amount of work," he said. "If something happens, somebody gets sick, gets a little flu bug or something, we'll be fine. I'm very confident in all three guys. I like all three."
Nolan said the rotation for Thursday will mirror that of the Green Bay game: O'Sullivan will play the first half. Smith will start the third quarter, and Hill will finish out the game.
He also said the starting unit could play more than usual during the exhibition finale Aug. 29 against the San Diego Chargers. Last year, the first-team unit was expected to play just a series or two in the finale, but poor play forced them to play longer than planned.
Read Matthew Barrows' 49ers blog at www.sacbee.com/blogs.
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