Eli Manning will start for the New York Giants in Thursday night’s game in Carolina, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the first pick in the NFL draft has beaten out Kurt Warner for the team’s starting quarterback job.

“It’s a rotation that I planned to do all along,” coach Tom Coughlin said. “It’s Eli’s turn. Eli will go. He’ll start. Last week was Kurt. This week it’s Eli.”

Warner, signed by the Giants after being released by St. Louis, started the Giants’ first game, a 34-24 win over Kansas City last Friday.

“The decision coming in was that they were going to compete for the job,” Coughlin said. “Therefore, we were going to give both of them the opportunity to start, and this week is Eli’s opportunity.”

Manning hopes he’s ready for the challenge.

“I didn’t know what their feeling was; how they were going to go into the preseason,” Manning said. “I guess they want to give me a shot to see how I do against a starting defense and see if I can manage a game well.”

Colts

Indianapolis got a scare Tuesday when Marvin Harrison took a big hit.

The five-time Pro Bowl selection and NFL’s single-season reception record holder caught a ball over the middle and got caught between Anthony Floyd and Joseph Jefferson. When Harrison got up, he flexed his right arm a few times, walked behind the line of scrimmage and took a few plays off. He returned to practice after a brief break.

Harrison said the arm was OK then practiced in the afternoon.

The Colts lost starting safety Idrees Bashir with injured ribs after a collision with tight end Dallas Clark. Coach Tony Dungy was uncertain how much time Bashir would miss.

Eagles

Defensive end N.D. Kalu will miss the season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee at Tuesday’s practice.

Kalu had to be carried off the field by teammates after he hurt himself during a scrimmage at the team’s practice facility.

Kalu started all 16 games for the Eagles last year and finished third on the team with 51/2 sacks. He was a fifth-round pick by the Eagles in 1997 and spent three years with Washington before returning to Philadelphia in 2001.

Coach Andy Reid said Derrick Burgess will start at right end, with Jerome McDougle getting additional playing time.

Redskins

Washington cut Ifeanyi Ohalete, who started 15 games at strong safety last season.

Ohalete was beaten for a 68-yard touchdown pass in a 23-20 overtime loss to Carolina on Saturday night. He already had lost his starting job when the Redskins drafted Sean Taylor with the fifth overall pick in April’s draft and shifted Matt Bowen to strong safety.

Panthers

Tempers started to show at Carolina’s camp in Spartanburg, S.C.

Derrick Strong, an undrafted rookie defensive end from Illinois, threw a punch at veteran defensive end Brentson Buckner. Wide receiver Steve Smith spent most of practice jawing with cornerback Hank Poteat, and the two got into several shoving matches before the session was over.

“It is a physical game and it gets testy at times,” coach John Fox said. “When you are operating at a high level and are pushing at a high level, sometimes that happens.”

The sparring between Smith and Poteat went on so long, Fox finally grabbed each around the shoulder for a lecture.

“It is like running a family,” he said. “Sometimes you have disagreements and you talk about it.”

Jaguars

Veteran guard Mike Compton is scheduled for surgery on an injured thumb that will keep him out 10 days to two weeks.

And coach Jack Del Rio said that Tony Brackens, the franchise’s career sack leader, could be out longer than the expected week with a strained muscle in the back of a knee.

Starting defensive tackle John Henderson, however, is expected to return to practice Wednesday after spraining an ankle Monday.

Ravens

Could Deion Sanders be ready for an NFL comeback?

The former standout defensive back hasn’t played in three years, but is considering the possibility of returning as a nickel back with the Baltimore Ravens.

“Never say never,” Sanders, 37, told The (Baltimore) Sun when asked if he was serious about returning. “It would be a wonderful thing if I got the opportunity to play.”

Sanders, selected seven times to play in the Pro Bowl, wants to see if his body can take the punishment. He has spoken to Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis about a comeback, and has been working out at home in an effort to get in football shape.

Publicly, the Ravens have said only that they would be interested in talking to Sanders if he decides to come out of retirement.

Sanders’ agent, Eugene Parker, said no timetable has been set for a decision, according to ESPN.com. Sanders last played in 2000 with the Washington Redskins.

Chiefs

The family of former Kansas City Chiefs star Derrick Thomas is not entitled to any money from General Motors Corp. for the January 2000 crash that killed the nine-time Pro Bowl linebacker, a jury ruled Tuesday. Thomas’ mother, Edith Morgan, his seven children and their five mothers sued GM, seeking at least $73 million. They claimed Thomas was fatally injured when the roof of his Chevrolet Suburban caved in during the crash.

But the automaker’s attorneys said during the monthlong trial that Thomas was driving too fast for the snowy conditions, and was ejected from the sport utility vehicle because he was not wearing his seat belt. Thomas was paralyzed from the neck down. He died from complications 16 days later.

His best friend, Michael Tellis, who also was not wearing a seat belt, died at the scene. A third person in the vehicle – who was wearing a seat belt – walked away unharmed.

Michael Piuze, the attorney for Thomas’ relatives, said he wasn’t surprised by the decision.

“The problem with this case is that in the last four years since he got hurt, there has been an awful lot of publicity that Derrick Thomas was at fault, that Derrick Thomas was not wearing a seat belt,” Piuze said.

Morgan, who started the “Buckle Up for Derrick” campaign soon after her son’s death to urge Kansas City motorists to wear seat belts, said she was disappointed in the decision.

“We’re going to be strong and fight the good fight of faith,” she said. “It has been very, very tough to relive these incidents all over again. Even if they would have awarded something, it couldn’t have taken the place of my son.”

She said she would take her campaign to strengthen automobile roofs to other NFL cities where she frequently has spoken about the need to wear seat belts.

“I will tell NFL mothers I don’t want any other mothers to go through what I’ve gone through,” Morgan said.

General Motors attorney John Hickey said the ruling sent a message that drivers should wear seat belts and drive safely.

“All we wanted to do is defend our car,” Hickey said. “I feel bad for the Thomases. Mr. Thomas, unfortunately, was driving too fast.”

Two of the 12 jurors voted to award damages, including one who is a Chiefs season-ticket holder.

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