Tom E. Curran • E-mail

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Uncertainty. Elevated expectations. Vengeance. In 2008, they’re all in play for so many of the NFL’s starting quarterbacks.

When there are 32 teams in the league, there’s bound to be a little bit of each sprinkled around, but this year the subplots are everywhere.

There are questions surrounding the condition of “elites” like Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, neither of whom played in the preseason.

There’s curiosity about whether the always-intertwined Philip Rivers and Eli Manning can follow up their playoff runs of 2008.

There are two rookie starters: Matt Ryan in Atlanta and Joe Flacco in Baltimore; there are old dudes trying to prove there’s something left in the tank: the Lions’ Jon Kitna, the Cards’ Kurt Warner, the Bucs’ Jeff Garcia; and there are the young guys still trying to get a toehold: Vince Young in Tennessee, Jay Cutler in Denver, Jason Campbell in Washington and JaMarcus Russell in Oakland.

But the most quarterback storyline for 2008 will be in the spotlight right off the bat: Brett Favre with the Jets and Chad Pennington – the man Favre replaced in New York – with the Dolphins. The two teams meet in Miami on Sunday.

Pennington says he’s not out to prove anything.

“On the outside, I’m sure with the hype around the game ... one would think it’s a revenge game or it’s a statement game, but I don’t approach it that way,” said Pennington, who reunited with Miami overlord Bill Parcells when Favre entered the picture for the Jets. “I approach it as opening day. I approach it as the first of a 16-round fight. It’s a long season. I think I would be doing myself a disservice as well as my team for me to get all emotional about it and to act like this is the only game left in the season.”

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He doesn’t have to look at it that way. Fans and the media will take care of that, checking their scorecards Sunday night to determine who comes out on top in Round One between those two.

Among the league’s upper echelon quarterbacks, the only one who enters 2008 without lurking uncertainty is probably Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger. Think about it. In the AFC, Brady has a bruised foot, Manning’s coming off bursa sac surgery in his knee, Cleveland’s Derek Anderson suffered a preseason concussion and missed time, Favre’s in a new conference and Carson Palmer’s best Bengals receiver Chad Ocho Cinco (I’ll play along) has a bum shoulder. In the NFC, Drew Brees is coming off a down 2007 in terms of results, Philly’s Donovan McNabb was less than 100 percent in 2007 and Dallas’ Tony Romo is 0-2 in the playoffs and needs to prove he can put the Cowboys on his back and lead them to something better than an impressive regular season.

And then there’s a pile of relatively unproven quarterbacks needing to come up big to justify the commitment management’s made to them. At the top of that list is Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers. Mike McCarthy and Ted Thompson walked the plank for Rodgers, basically locking out Favre in favor of a guy who hasn’t “peed a drop” as they like to say around the league. A faceplant by Rodgers could mean disaster for Thompson, McCarthy or both.

Never mind what’ll be said in New York about GM Mike Tannenbaum and head coach Eric Mangini if the Jets end up underneath the Dolphins in the standings.

It’s going to be a season in which the men under center are under the gun and – in many cases – the men who put them there will join them.

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QUICK SLANTS
1. Redskins left tackle Chris Samuels told me after Thursday night’s season opener that he apologized on the field to Giants defensive end Matthias Kiwanuka after Samuels took Kiwanuka down from behind on the game’s final play. “I didn’t mean to do it, I feel badly about it and obviously, he’s in my prayers,” said Samuels, who drew a holding penalty on the play. Kiwanuka said that he didn’t speak to Samuels on the field, although his head was down when the Redskins veteran leaned over him to seemingly check his condition. While the Giants are ultra-sensitive about their defensive linemen given the spate of personnel issues they’ve had there, Samuels isn’t that kind of guy.

2. Earlier this week, the Jets rehired special teams coach Mike Westhoff, who stepped away last December because of medical concerns (he’s reportedly been fighting bone cancer for a long time). A nice story takes on a cynical twist, though, since Westhoff spent a number of days with the Miami Dolphins in the offseason both at OTAs and training camp. Who do the Jets play Sunday? The Dolphins. I don’t know Westhoff, but given what he’s battled, he probably has things in reasonable enough perspective to do the right thing when it comes to providing the Jets with inside info he gleaned while Bill Parcells and the Dolphins were extending him a courtesy. And it would be nice to assume that a) Westhoff gave the Fins full disclosure that he may still rejoin the Jets and b) the Jets wouldn’t pump Westhoff for information. But even assuming all that nicety took place (and that’s a leap of faith), for an NFL that’s going to the mat to preserve the integrity of the game this year, the Jets should at least get a phone call about the appearance of opportunism and low-rent behavior. There’s a reason teams aren’t allowed to attend each other’s training camps and practices.

3. Another issue the integrity police are sleeping on was mentioned to me by three different executives last week. That’s the practice of teams waiting until their released player clears waivers before talking to them (or their agents). According to sources, teams are releasing players they want to re-sign to their practice squads, and then monitoring their mindsets before all the waiver claims are made. Innocuous offense? Kind of. But you can’t pick and choose which offenses – or teams – you’re going to enforce or monitor. In for a dime, in for a dollar.

4. Throw poor Rosey Colvin on the heap of ex-Patriots who can’t find love, luck or success outside New England. The Texans released the former Patriots linebacker last week before the final cuts. The list of ex-Pats who figured in Super Bowl wins but have fallen relatively flat elsewhere is pretty amazing. Deion Branch signed a six-year, $39 million deal with the Seahawks in 2006 and hasn’t been the same player he was in his final year with the Pats. David Givens went to Tennessee in 2006, signing a five-year, $24 million deal. He played five games for them and was released in February. Daniel Graham signed a five-year, $30 million deal with Denver in 2007, making him the highest-paid blocking tight end in history. Going further back, there was Drew Bledsoe, Lawyer Milloy, Damien Woody, Joe Andruzzi and Marc Edwards, to name a few. Really, the only released Patriots that have found personal or team success at their new joints are kicker Adam Vinatieri (Colts), corner Ty Law (Jets, Chiefs) and defensive lineman Dan Klecko (Colts, Eagles). In other words, beware, Asante Samuel.

5. Washington guard Pete Kendall, one of the NFL’s best, no-bull realists, told me this about his Redskins offensive performance Thursday night. “You’d love for (the learning curve adjusting to Jim Zorn’s offense) to happen quick but the reality is, it’s a new system. You hear people talk about (Seattle’s Matt) Hasselbeck being a perennial Pro Bowler now. He got benched in his first year. They say it takes a couple of years. The expectation is to go out and win every game. The reality is you’re not going to be able to do that. We just need to be better every week and hopefully next week (against the Saints) we do that.”