49ERS Garcia expected to return next week

The veteran quaterback will miss Thursday's exhibition game with Oakland.
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) -- For the first time since high school, Jeff Garcia wasn't in uniform while his football team played a game. He didn't like it one bit.
Garcia watched the San Francisco 49ers' exhibition opener last Saturday from his couch. He yelled at the television and kicked a cushion or two, but mostly he rested the sore back that's kept him out of training camp for a week.
Garcia will miss the 49ers' next exhibition game against Oakland on Thursday, but after two epidural painkilling shots and nearly two weeks of rest, he thinks he'll be ready to return to practice on Saturday.
The three-time Pro Bowl selection still doesn't believe his bulging disc will hinder him in the regular season -- but that hasn't made the recent days any easier.
"I've never missed practices. I've never missed a game," Garcia said. "This is totally new to me, and it's frustrating to me. I don't like this feeling."
Starting streak
Garcia has started 53 consecutive games for the 49ers, joining Terrell Owens in leading their recovery from consecutive losing seasons to consecutive playoff berths over the past four years.
Though he plays a risky, mobile style that often includes effective scrambling, Garcia hasn't been seriously hurt since, well ...
"We would have to go back to, I believe, high school, where I fractured an elbow in the middle of my senior year," Garcia said. "There was one game I missed in Canada (in the CFL) because of a sprained ankle, but I was back the next week."
Garcia will see a back specialist today. He initially aggravated his back in a private workout a week before training camp.
He began practicing during the first week of camp when the injury calmed, but he might have jumped back into a full workout schedule too soon. The injury flared up again on Aug. 4 while he made a simple throw to receiver Nate Jackson during an innocuous one-on-one drill.
Garcia said his lower back "locked up," and he hasn't thrown a pass since.
With Garcia out, backup Tim Rattay has moved up with the first-teamers. The 49ers are hoping to decide between Brandon Doman and rookie Ken Dorsey for their third quarterback spot, and Garcia's absence has given all three reserves more time to prove themselves.
Though Dennis Erickson kept nearly every aspect of Steve Mariucci's offense intact, Garcia needs time to learn his new coach's predilections, among other things.
"He's frustrated," Erickson said of his quarterback. "He's very competitive, and he hasn't been hurt (before). He hasn't missed anything, and that's frustrating. He now understands that he has to watch himself to see what he can and can't do."