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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
ATLANTA (AP) -- Ryan Leaf seems to have his career back on track.
The former No. 1 pick -- making his first start since Nov. 8,
1998 -- passed for 167 yards and a touchdown in the opening half as
unbeaten San Diego handed the Atlanta Falcons their first loss of
the preseason, 28-14 Friday night.
|  | | Quarterback Ryan Leaf made his first appearance in nearly two years for the San Diego Chargers. |
Leaf, whose first two seasons were plagued by inconsistent play,
temperamental behavior and injuries, clearly took a major step
toward reclaiming his job as the Chargers' No. 1 quarterback. The
only thing lacking is his anointment by coach Mike Riley.
"We will wait on that," Riley said, laughing. "There is no
need to say anything on that tonight."
Jamal Anderson, coming back from a knee injury, played the first
two quarters for the Falcons and seemed to have no problems. He
rushed six times for 17 yards and dragged along would-be tacklers
on a couple of runs.
"Slowly but surely, everything is coming together," Anderson
said. "I feel a little better now than I did last week."
Overall, the Falcons had a miserable night with seven turnovers.
Leaf connected on his first nine throws and finished his stint
14-of-20, including a 14-yard touchdown to Jeff Graham and three
completions of at least 21 yards. Overall, Leaf is 32-of-50 (64
percent) for 350 yards during the preseason, with two touchdowns
and one interception. He has overseen six scoring drives in 17
possessions.
"Ryan looked real sharp and had a good feel for the ball
game," Riley said. "He had quite a few nice drives."
Leaf lost the starting job midway through his rookie season and
didn't play at all last year after shoulder surgery. Besides going
through rehabilitation, he served a four-week suspension for
insubordination.
But Leaf got a chance to recapture the No. 1 job when 14-year
veteran Jim Harbaugh struggled in the first two preseason games.
Riley would like to have a starter in place before the final
exhibition game.
Leaf credited the offensive line for giving him plenty of time
to throw and said his shoulder felt good enough to "throw it 36
more times if I wanted to."
"Just being out there was good enough for me," he said,
clearly trying to change his image. "Right now, I'm not thinking
about anything other than what the coaches ask me to do. I'm just
trying to perform and whatever happens, happens."
The Chargers' victory was marred by injuries to starting
defensive end Raylee Johnson and quarterback Moses Moreno, who took
over for Leaf in the second half.
Johnson went down after scooping up a fumble by Chris Chandler
in the final minute of the first half. Just a couple of yards short
of the end zone, the defensive player was blindsided with a low
tackle by Falcons fullback Bob Christian.
San Diego safety Rodney Harrison went after Christian, feeling
he had delivered a cheap shot to the knees though no penalty was
called. Johnson had to be taken off the field on a cart and the
team feared a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.
"He has his year in jeopardy because a guy goes low on him,"
Chargers linebacker Junior Seau said.
Moreno completed 4-of-6 passes for 61 yards, throwing a 20-yard
touchdown to Mikhael Ricks. Then, while trying to slide at the end
of a scramble, Moreno was hit in the head by Falcons safety
Johndale Carty and had to leave the game with a concussion. Carty
was flagged for unnecessary roughness.
Harbaugh, who was supposed to get the night off, and JaJuan
Seider finished up at quarterback for the Chargers, who got their
other points on five field goals -- two by John Carney and three by
Jose Cortez.
Chandler threw a 62-yard touchdown pass to Tim Dwight but also
fumbled twice after blindside hits. The Falcons fell apart in the
second half, fumbling on two of their first four offensive plays.
Tony Graziani, battling for the No. 2 job behind Chandler,
didn't help his chances with three interceptions. He was picked off
in the end zone on first-and-goal at the San Diego 1, but also was
hurt by several dropped passes.
Graziani had one bright spot: a 55-yard touchdown pass to Eugene
Baker with 51 seconds remaining.
The Chargers improved to 3-0 in the preseason for the second
time in three years. The Falcons (3-1) were trying for their first
4-0 mark since 1990.
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ALSO SEE
NFL Scoreboard
San Diego Clubhouse
Atlanta Clubhouse
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Ryan Leaf is happy to be playing football.
wav: 90 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Mike Riley is pleased with Ryan Leaf's play.
wav: 109 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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