Hawai'i quarterback Colt Brennan is expected to give it a shot — but not take a shot — for Saturday's game against Charleston Southern.

Brennan, who is recovering from a sprained right ankle, had crutches — although he used them infrequently — and his right ankle was heavily wrapped during yesterday's practice. But he said the swelling is subsiding, and he was hopeful of practicing as early as today.

"I'll see how it is in the morning," Brennan said. "I should be able to go Saturday if it feels right."

Brennan suffered the injury while playing catch during last Friday's walk-through practice at Sam Boyd Stadium. After receiving around-the-clock ice treatments and a shot of Marcaine, Brennan started the next night in a 49-14 rout of Nevada-Las Vegas.

But he said his right ankle was "really sore" when the pain-killer lost its strength. He said he aggravated the injury by playing on it, and that the pain-killers provided an artificial sense of comfort.

"I don't want to shoot up my leg to play or anything," Brennan said. "I just want to be able to go out and play naturally."

Brennan, who has led the nation in passing the past two seasons, does not anticipate any problems getting back into the groove.

"It's nice to take a full week of reps, but it's not going to be detrimental to me," Brennan said.

Meanwhile, starting left wideout Jason Rivers missed a second consecutive practice because of a "stiff" lower back. He is expected to play Saturday.

"It's just a little tight," Rivers said. "I'll be fine. It's nothing major."

He said he does not know how he suffered the discomfort, but it happened sometime during the UNLV game.

CALL HIM 'ALL-EUROPE'

While sequestered during training camp last month, some Warriors played, "Can you top this?"

"One day, everyone was having a conversation about who's No. 1, and this and that," said wideout Malcolm Lane, who attended an American high school in Germany. "Everyone said they were all-state. I said, 'Your all-state isn't anything. I was all-continent.' "

Lane, a sophomore, is proving that he is as good as any other UH receiver. Lane is listed as the top backup to Rivers and right wideout C.J. Hawthorne. With Rivers not practicing the past two days, Lane has worked out at left wideout for the first time in his career.

"Malcolm is a player," head coach June Jones said.

Asked about Lane's attributes, Jones said: "He's fast. He's very fast."

Lane was admittedly disheartened when Hawthorne, a converted cornerback, was selected as the successor to Ian Sample at right wideout.

"It hurt me, but C.J.'s a great player," Lane said. "But more than hurt me, it pushed me to become a better player."

Hawthorne said: "It would have hurt me, also. I think Malcolm works really hard. He's a great guy, and I believe he's going to be amazing in the future. He's going to be a future star here."

Lane said he is making the adjustment from the left to the right side. At right wideout, Lane's pet play is the inside screen, in which he runs diagonally toward the middle of the defense. At left wideout, Lane will run mostly slants and screens.

"I actually like to catch the screen better from the left side," Lane said. "As soon as I catch it, I get to tuck it in my right hand. I like running it more with the ball in my right hand."

Lane already has taken one job from Rivers. Lane now joins Ryan Mouton as the No. 1 kick returners.

"I'm glad I can make an impact somewhere," Lane said.

A.J. FEELING OK

A.J. Martinez, a part-time starter at cornerback last season, resumed practicing this week. Martinez recovered from a hip flexor suffered in a snowboarding accident last December.

"It feels good to get back in there, hanging with the boys," said Martinez, a senior.

He said he has been working out for six weeks.

"Just getting my legs back into shape, that's the key," Martinez said. "My legs felt about 100 pounds running those 110s. Everything is good."

The next step, Martinez said, is getting back into the playing rotation. He shares the same goal as Ryan Keomaka, who missed all of preseason training while completing school work.

"Keomaka and I are trying to shut 'em down on scout team," Martinez said. "We're fighting to be scout-team all-stars. We're having fun, man. We're going to make our own stickers."

Visit Tsai's blog at www.HawaiiWarriorBeat.com.

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.