Cal in NFL: Chase Garbers Impressive; Kuony Deng Waived

Former Cal quarterback Chase Garbers is still a long shot to make the Las Vegas Raiders' regular-season roster, but he did about as much as he could to impress his coaches on Saturday.

Garbers was the Raiders' quarterback for their final offensive series in Las Vegas' 31-16, preseason loss to the Cowboys, and he completed his first five passes. That included a perfectly placed deep pass to Kristian Wilkerson along the left sidelines that produced a 29-yard gain.

Garbers' lone incompletion came on his final play, a failed pass on a fourth-and-12 play from the Dallas' 21-yard line.

Garbers finished 5-for-6 for 48 yards. That's not bad, but he is still fourth on the depth chart at quarterback, and teams almost never keep four quarterbacks. Sometimes they only keep two.

Former Cal players elsewhere this weekend:

---Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers played in a preseason game for the first time since 2018, and he did not get hurt, which was the biggest concern. He played just two offensive series, but was 5-for-8 for 47 yards, including a 14-yard touchdown pass to Garrett Wilson.

---The Pittsburgh Steelers waived outside linebacker Kuony Deng on Saturday, five days after they signed him. Deng had previously been waived by the Chicago Bears, so he is in search of another team.

---Chicago Bears' second-year safety Elijah Hicks was in the starting lineup again in the 24-21 loss to the Bills. He recorded five tackles on defense and two more tackles on special teams, giving him a good shot to make the Bears' regular-season roster again.

---Linebacker Jordan Kunaszyk was in the Browns' starting lineup in their 33-32 loss to the Chiefs, and he produced one solo tackle.

---Running back Patrick Laird is getting a good look by the Buccaneers. He had three carries for 27 yards (including a 21-yard run) and one pass reception for 1 yard in a 26-20 win over the Ravens.

---Dolphins' running back Christopher Brooks, who played his first four college seasons at Cal before playing his final season at BYU, had six carries for 33 yards and one reception for 10 yards in Miami's 31-18 loss to Jacksonville. Brooks scored two touchdowns in the game, both on 4-yard runs.

Cover photo of Aaron Rodgers by Ed Mulholland, USA TODAY Sports

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