Warriors in the Pros: C.J., Lelie, Colt, Bess

Third straight day of bad "WitP" news with the Buffalo Bills releasing C.J. Hawthorne.

Ashley Lelie returned to 49ers practice after being out for several weeks with a calf injury, and he has a very important preseason game on Friday.

Lelie, 28, returned to practice for the first time since suffering a torn calf muscle during the first week of training camp. Nolan said Lelie and Arnaz Battle (hamstring) will both make their preseason debuts Friday at Candlestick Park, barring setbacks.

It's Lelie's first and last chance to make an impression before the rosters are trimmed from 75 to the final 53 on Saturday. Asked if he was leaning toward keeping five or six receivers on the team, Nolan said "I'm on the fence." That means Lelie is on the bubble.

After a rough outing yesterday, Colt Brennan returned with a good practice today.

Brennan looked much better today, with a couple of terrific passes to Fred Davis (one off his hands, the other a touchdown in the back of the endzone). I’ll be honest: I hope to see Brennan play well tomorrow and then not take another snap until next August, but that shouldn’t be taken as a referendum on him as a player. Nice to see him back in form.

Colt also updated his blog.

I know I'm going to get a lot of playing time on Thursday. I'm going to be in the game quite a bit, so I know I need to be prepared. I want to end this preseason on a good note.

One of the best things that happened the past week is that I've really started to become healthy again. It's really encouraging. I'm really starting to run well again.

Going through hip surgery was real frustrating and scary. I didn't know how scary it was until I went through it.

Early in camp, I wasn't able to use all of the muscles that were affected in the injury and the surgery. Then I had to just jump right into camp with no rest--it was real tough.

And now, to be having success after that rehabilitation, it's a great feeling.

And things continue to look good for Davone Bess.

Beyond Ted Ginn Jr., Derek Hagan and Wilford, Davone Bess and Greg Camarillo are favorites for the other jobs, though Miami will have options on waivers. One Dolphins official said the staff sees Wes Welker-type potential in Bess.