c-ap

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) -- San Francisco quarterback Tim
Rattay will have surgery to repair a torn muscle in his groin and is
expected to miss up to four months.
Rattay was injured Friday while attempting a pass during the
opening session of the team's first spring mini-camp.
"The muscle came off the bone and they're going to go in and
attach it in the groin," 49ers coach Dennis Erickson said Saturday.
"It's a temporary setback. It's not a season-ending injury by any
means. He'll be here for training camp. Tim Rattay should be our
starter when we play our first game."
NFL training camps open in late July and the 49ers play
their first regular-season game Sept. 12.
Team doctors will operate on Rattay on Tuesday.
Rattay is slated to be the team's starter in place of Jeff
Garcia, who was released in March in a salary-cap move.
Second-year player Ken Dorsey is Rattay's backup and will
step in with the first-unit.
But the injury means the 49ers do not have a healthy
quarterback on their roster who has taken a snap in an NFL game.
General manager Terry Donahue said the team would wait until
after Rattay's surgery to determine whether it will attempt to
acquire a veteran quarterback.
"We obviously are thinking about possibilities as I speak,"
Donahue said Saturday. "One of the possibilities is we don't do
anything."

c-ap

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) -- San Francisco quarterback Tim
Rattay will have surgery to repair a torn muscle in his groin and is
expected to miss up to four months.
Rattay was injured Friday while attempting a pass during the
opening session of the team's first spring mini-camp.
"The muscle came off the bone and they're going to go in and
attach it in the groin," 49ers coach Dennis Erickson said Saturday.
"It's a temporary setback. It's not a season-ending injury by any
means. He'll be here for training camp. Tim Rattay should be our
starter when we play our first game."
NFL training camps open in late July and the 49ers play
their first regular-season game Sept. 12.
Team doctors will operate on Rattay on Tuesday.
Rattay is slated to be the team's starter in place of Jeff
Garcia, who was released in March in a salary-cap move.
Second-year player Ken Dorsey is Rattay's backup and will
step in with the first-unit.
But the injury means the 49ers do not have a healthy
quarterback on their roster who has taken a snap in an NFL game.
General manager Terry Donahue said the team would wait until
after Rattay's surgery to determine whether it will attempt to
acquire a veteran quarterback.
"We obviously are thinking about possibilities as I speak,"
Donahue said Saturday. "One of the possibilities is we don't do
anything."
The other alternative, Donahue said, is to seek a trade for
an experienced veteran or consider an experienced free agent.
The team's options are limited. The 49ers are only about
$1.3 million below the salary cap.
"We have other considerations we have to look at -- our cap
and our cash," Donahue said. "There are a lot of different things we
have to weigh when we are looking at this."
Dorsey had a quarterback rating of 82.5 and threw three
touchdown passes during the preseason last year as a rookie. He did
not play in the regular season as the team's No. 3 quarterback
behind Garcia and Rattay.
"My outlook on the whole deal hasn't changed," Dorsey said.
"But I feel a lot more prepared. I can do things on the field to
help this team win. Tim's going to be back and I just have to keep
doing the things that I need to do to make myself better. That's
important because now, with the first team, you've got a lot of guys
depending on you and you've got to go out and perform."