Jackson confident in his abilities as he moves beyond Vikings

For Tavaris Jackson, it's quite simple. The Minnesota Vikings aren't giving him a chance to be their starting quarterback, so it's time for him to find a new home.

"It's probably time for a change," Jackson told The Star Tribune on Tuesday. "I'm grateful for the opportunity to play up here the last five years. ... (But) I'm not trying to be a backup. I'm trying to go somewhere where I have a chance, and I don't feel like I'd get that chance here. It's time to move on. No hard feelings or anything. It's a business."

When the Vikings selected Jackson in the second round of the 2006 NFL Draft, he was viewed as a raw player who had the skills to develop into a star. But Jackson never found consistent success as a starter in 2007 or 2008, and he was moved into the background when the team acquired Brett Favre before the 2009 season.

Favre's retirement ostensibly opened the door for Jackson to return to a starting role in 2011, but the Vikings showed their hand when they drafted Florida State quarterback Christian Ponder 12th overall in April. Minnesota didn't offer Jackson a contract before the NFL lockout, another sign the team had moved on at quarterback.

The decision to draft Ponder was met with derision from some Vikings fans, and Jackson says he can sympathize with how Ponder may feel about that.

"Since Day 1, I don't really think I was really welcome here anyways, because nobody really knew who I was, being from a smaller school," said Jackson, who attended Alabama State. "A lot more things probably play into it, too. It's just the way things are. I can't help that."

Asked to elaborate on his comments about the fans, Jackson added: "Just the way things happened, like the way I was thrown into there, the way where it was me or Brett (Favre) or all this stuff. Just a lot of different things played into it that kind of soured our relationship. Fans are going to be fans."

On-field performance likely also played a role in Jackson's reception from fans. He was 10-11 in 21 starts with the Vikings, including the playoffs, and he threw 24 touchdown passes and 23 interceptions.

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Jackson, 28, is moving forward, and he has been participating in workouts organized by Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald at the University of Minnesota. He has been moving well in the workouts, according to the Star Tribune, and appears fully healed from the foot injury that put him on injured reserve at the end of last season.

Jackson is talking like a player who knows his career is at the crossroads, and he's trying to do something about it.

"This reminds me of me transferring from Arkansas to Alabama State," he said. "Like (I have a) sour taste left in my mouth. It really, really motivated me to try to get to the NFL, and it really motivated me to try to be the best. I think this situation, the ways things happened here, it adds a lot of fuel to the fire."

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Smith confident in place with 49ers despite free-agent status

Alex Smith is leading throwing sessions in the San Francisco 49ers' players-only workouts -- a completely normal development if not for the business of the quarterback technically being a free agent.

It's just another unusual aspect of a very strange NFL offseason.

Smith will be an unrestricted free agent once a new collective bargaining agreement is reached, but new 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh's public and private comments about the quarterback have left the six-year veteran comfortable that he'll be in San Francisco next season.

"I wouldn't be doing it if it wasn't for the relationship there, to be honest with you," Smith told the Bay Area News Group on Wednesday. "For the feeling I got from Harbaugh, the offensive coaching staff, from every time I've been in there, from before the lockout, from when the lockout ended that day and a half. ... But I have such a good feeling. I feel they've been up front about everything they've told me."

Harbaugh has been so vocal in his support of Smith that the NFL reportedly told the 49ers to stop talking about the quarterback or any free agents during the lockout.

"I laughed when the article came out that they told Harbaugh to stop talking about me," Smith said.

Smith said it felt good to read about Harbaugh's positive thoughts on him.

"You know, this is the first for me, to have an offensive head coach, especially someone who played the position and really knows what it's like to sit back in the pocket and all the different things that can impact your play," Smith said.

Smith told The Sacramento Bee that plans are in the works for a minicamp-style practice involving the 49ers' offensive players. Smith said the session would begin "shortly" and that the 49ers could have a number of them throughout the summer, depending on the status of the work stoppage.

"Becoming familiar with the terminology, the formations, the motions, the concepts -- things like that," Smith said when asked to describe the goal of the workouts. "So that whenever this (lockout) ends, you're not having to re-learn that."

Harbaugh might have great faith in Smith, but that doesn't mean the 2005 No. 1 overall draft pick has a long future as San Francisco's signal-caller. The team drafted Nevada quarterback Colin Kaepernick in the second round of the 2011 NFL Draft in April.

Is it strange to have Smith's future replacement stand next to him during these workouts?

"No question," he said. "Oh, it's new. I guess I've slowly dealt with it, though. I don't think I've had a year without competition really in the last four years, though."

Smith spoke about the circle of life for an NFL quarterback, thinking back to when he was the hotshot from draft day.

"It did remind me a lot of when I came in, and Tim Rattay, to be honest with you," Smith said, referencing the quarterback whom he replaced in the 49ers' starting lineup. "... And I did think back about how good Tim was. How easy it would be to be bitter and to be an ass. Those guys did it the right way with me, and I'm going to do the same thing."

Kaepernick might be the future, but it appears that Smith remains the present in San Francisco. But he's not assuming he's the No. 1 guy just yet.

"I don't really view it like that," Smith said. "You're going to get into camp, and anywhere you go, the best guy's going to play. I mean, that's the way it's going to be. That's the way I view it. I know he (Harbaugh) said that, but for me, this is going to be wide open, and I'm going in with that mentality."

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Scott sees Super Bowl-or-bust situation for confident Jets

Bart Scott believes the bravado-filled New York Jets need to win a Super Bowl or risk being considered "a joke."

The linebacker told ESPN that Jets players support coach Rex Ryan's latest "guarantee" that the team will win the Super Bowl, but they know they have lots to do to make it happen.

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"That's what we got when we hired him, and we love it," Scott said in an interview posted Friday on ESPN.com. "That's his personality. We back him 100 percent. Because I know if he's out there writing checks, I'm going to have to help him cash them, so I know I'd better have my butt ready ... because the target's going to be on our backs as well. We embrace it, we embrace the challenge.

"I think it's about time we get it done and see this thing through, because, after a while, people are going to start looking at it as a joke."

Scott also touched on other subjects, including:

» Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez: "I think it's time for him to take that next step ... to the upper echelon of quarterbacks in this league. ... He's had his ups, he's had his downs, but he's stayed positive through it. He's one of the hardest-working -- not quarterbacks, but hardest-working people I've ever seen. It's time for him to take the next step and really take control of this team and not so much have to hold onto the steering wheel but actually guide the car."

» Frustration with the NFL lockout: "I think we're bordering now on the verge of insanity. ... Fans don't want to hear about the lockout, they don't want to hear about people arguing over $9 billion. They want the bottom line, because at the end of the day, these guys are saving up throughout the entire year to come out and spend their hard-earned money to see football, and we're telling them they can spend their hard-earned money, but we're not playing until we figure it out.

"I listen to (New England Patriots owner Robert) Kraft, and I don't agree with the Patriots on a lot of things, but I agree with him that we're really on the verge of really irritating our fan base and damaging the fabric of the game."

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