Rhodes Says Detmer Is Eagle Starter

Ray Rhodes made it official, selecting Ty Detmer as the Philadelphia Eagles’ starting quarterback for Saturday’s exhibition against Baltimore and the season opener against the New York Giants.

The move was not a surprise. Although Rhodes said Detmer and Rodney Peete, who lost the starting job to Detmer last year after sustaining a season-ending knee injury, would compete in training camp, it was believed it was Detmer’s job to lose.

But neither quarterback stood out over the past three weeks, leaving Rhodes to go with “my gut feeling.”

“Both guys were sharp,” he said after practice. “It was not a situation where one guy was so far ahead of the other guy.”

“I feel good about it,” Detmer said. “I feel comfortable, like I’m getting better each week and I’ll continue that.”

Peete took the news in stride, although he did say that, with the rash of quarterback injuries during the exhibition season, he wouldn’t mind a chance to play elsewhere.

“I want to play,” he said. “Nobody likes sitting on the sidelines.”

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Robert Brooks insists his return to the Green Bay Packers’ lineup only 10 months after shredding his right knee is no big deal.

The Super Bowl champions know better.

His return to pre-injury form--or even close to it--could do wonders for two-time MVP Brett Favre.

Brooks, who had blossomed into one of the NFL’s brightest young stars before his injury, will play flanker Saturday when the Packers face the Buffalo Bills at SkyDome in Toronto.

“I’m not worried about the first hit. It’s not a big deal,” said Brooks, who didn’t take any vicious shots in his first full-contact drills this week. “I’m not going to be scared if I get the first hit. . . . I’m just going to go out there and play.”

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Dwight Clark, the San Francisco 49ers’ vice president of football operations, has apologized for suggesting that Stockton has a crime problem.

In discussing potential sites for the 49ers’ training camp next year, Clark said that the team’s three favorite options--Stockton’s University of the Pacific, and the cities of Reno and Rocklin--each had drawbacks.

Clark said the UOP proposal was attractive, but added: “There’s this issue of crime that has kind of come up lately.”

Stockton city officials have been working hard to overcome the city’s image of high crime and gang activity, and the remark from the high-profile sports executive stung.

“That’s one of those image things that has kind of stuck with us, and we’re doing all we can to work on that,” Stockton Mayor Gary Podesto said.

Clark told the Record of Stockton that his comment “was a huge mistake on my part.”