Losman leads starters in preseason snaps

Updated: September 5, 2006, 2:06 PM ET

The number of snaps a starting QB takes in the preseason varies widely depending on the team and the circumstances, writes Len Pasquarelli.

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By Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com
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It will come as small consolation for Pittsburgh Steelers fans fretting over the loss of starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for Thursday night's regular season opener against the Miami Dolphins. But the man who will replace Big Ben, eight-year veteran Charlie Batch, actually has logged more career starts, 48, than 11 of the quarterbacks who will be starting for their teams this weekend.

In a snap
Here are the six starting quarterbacks who, by ESPN.com's unofficial count, worked more than 100 snaps during the preseason schedule: • J.P. Losman -- Buffalo -- 124 • Brett Favre -- Green Bay -- 109 • Philip Rivers -- San Diego -- 105 • Alex Smith -- San Francisco -- 104 • Tom Brady -- New England -- 102 • Drew Bledsoe -- Dallas -- 101

In fact, Batch got more snaps this preseason than did Roethlisberger by a wide margin, 71-43, and worked nearly as many plays, on average, as did the other projected starters around the league.

Determining how much work a quarterback requires during the exhibition schedule in preparation for the rigors of the regular season is a tricky and often subjective thing. Some quarterbacks can be ready, well, in a snap. Others, depending upon factors such as tenure, how much time they have been in an offensive system and how long the coaching staff has been around, need more extensive playing time.

The other most notable league-wide determinant of preseason playing time is how much a team wants to insulate its starter from the potential for injury.

"It varies, but you do what you have to do to get yourself ready to play," Baltimore quarterback Steve McNair said. "I mean, if I was still in Tennessee, maybe I wouldn't have taken as many snaps in preseason as I did here (84). But in a new offense, with a new coaching staff, you want to get as much work as you need to reach a comfort level. And that depends on individual circumstances."

That subjectivity is reflected in the divergent amount of work that the NFL's projected starters got this summer.

Buffalo third-year quarterback J.P. Losman, who early in camp jumped out to a large lead over Kelly Holcomb in the competition for the starting job, registered a league-high 124 snaps in four preseason contests working with a new offense installed by first-year coordinator Steve Fairchild. Philip Rivers, the first-year starter in San Diego as he steps in for the departed Drew Brees, got 104 plays, one of six starting quarterbacks to get into triple-digit snaps. Another 100-plus snap quarterback was Brett Favre, who was working in a new offense under first-year coach Mike McCarthy, and who acknowledged in minicamps that he would need a lot of preseason repetitions just to get a handle on the nomenclature.

The snap numbers are unofficial, and were compiled by ESPN.com from play-by-play books for each of the 65 preseason games.

At the other end of the spectrum, Cincinnati's Carson Palmer, who missed the first two preseason games while he rehabilitated his surgically repaired left knee, got 42 snaps in his two appearances. In three games, Roethlisberger had just 43 snaps, and both Trent Green of Kansas City and Atlanta's Michael Vick logged fewer than 60 plays each.

"It varies, but you do what you have to do to get yourself ready to play. I mean, if I was still in Tennessee, maybe I wouldn't have taken as many snaps in preseason as I did here (84). But in a new offense, with a new coaching staff, you want to get as much work as you need to reach a comfort level. And that depends on individual circumstances."

Steve McNair, Ravens QB

If recently-acquired Kerry Collins starts the Sunday opener for the Tennessee Titans, he will do so with less than two weeks of exposure to coordinator Norm Chow's playbook, and having participated in just 23 plays with his new team. Billy Volek, the presumptive starter for Tennessee entering training camp, but seemingly bumped to the No. 3 spot on the depth chart now, had 81 snaps. First-round pick Vince Young actually registered the most snaps for the Titans in preseason, 122.

None of this is to suggest there is a predetermined level of exhibition work necessary to prepare for the start of the regular season. Readiness is pretty much defined by the starting quarterback and his head coach. As noted, the standards vary by situation.

"You pretty much know," said Mike Martz, the former St. Louis head coach and current Detroit offensive coordinator, "when your guy is ready to go."

For Lions' starter Jon Kitna, "ready to go" translated into 78 preseason snaps.

Not counting the Titans, the only franchise for whom the No. 1 spot remains in question for this weekend, the average number of preseason snaps for the 31 league starters this season was 80.2. That amounts to about five quarters of work, based on the average number of offensive plays recorded by teams over the past three regular seasons. Sixteen starters were below that 80.2-snap average in preseason. And nine of those logged fewer than 70 plays.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com. To check out Len's chat archive, click here .