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Following up on an item touched upon in last Sunday's Fantasy Notebook. ... Despite rampant speculation to the contrary, Joey Harrington believes he is secure in his role as the Lions' starting quarterback.

According to Detroit Free Press sports writer Curt Sylvester, Harrington said Tuesday he does not feel his position was undermined by the acquisition of veteran West Coast offense quarterback Jeff Garcia.

"I knew they were going to bring somebody in," Harrington said. "I mean that was no surprise to me -- Brad Johnson, Jeff Garcia, whoever it was going to be.

"Jeff's experience and successes and knowledge of the offense provides a great safety net, and that's how it was described to me. Our roles at this point have been clearly defined to me."

Harrington and Garcia have been working together in the off-season conditioning program. They are the only quarterbacks on the roster since the team declined to re-sign Mike McMahon and Rick Mirer.

The Lions signed Garcia in March and, despite comments by head coach Steve Mariucci that Harrington would be the No. 1 quarterback going into training camp, there has been speculation that Garcia would soon be the starter.

As Sylvester went on to suggest, the speculation is based in part on the fact that Garcia played four seasons under Mariucci at San Francisco and because Mariucci has been reluctant to endorse Harrington as the quarterback to lead the Lions back to respectability.

That Ted Tollner replaced Sherm Lewis as offensive coordinator adds to the intrigue. According to Detroit News staff writer Mike O'Hara, there is an expectation that Tollner will expand what has been a conservative offense.

In case you missed it, Tollner was an assistant coach for Garcia's last two seasons in San Francisco.

But that's not all. The Harrington saga has taken some other unusual turns this offseason.

As outlined by O'Hara, a published report -- vigorously denied by Lions management -- in February claimed the Lions were considering releasing Harrington. He has a $3 million roster payment due in June, and his base salary for 2005 is $4.95 million.

Immediately after the story came out, Harrington said he got calls from owner William Clay Ford, president Matt Millen and Mariucci voicing their support of him.

"Mr. Ford and Matt and coach Mariucci called and said, 'That's completely ludicrous,' and, 'We haven't even considered that,'" Harrington said.

Asked if he had any doubt he would still be on the roster to collect the $3 million summer bonus, Harrington said: "I don't care about it. That's flat-out honest, I don't care. If I get cut, at any point, the last thing I'm thinking about is the money I didn't make. My No. 1 goal here -- and anywhere I go -- has always been winning football games.

"And we haven't won football games yet."

Meanwhile, the rumors intensified last week when Alex Smith, the highly regarded University of Utah quarterback, visited the Lions facility for a pre-draft interview.

As Booth Newspapers beat man Tom Kowalski noted, what made Smith's visit interesting is that the Lions initially told local reporters that it was Stanford tight end Alex Smith -- not the quarterback -- who was visiting. When the truth was finally revealed by other sources, the Lions explained it as a miscommunication and said there was no attempt to deceive the media.

Regardless of whether they were trying to keep it a secret, it's interesting the Lions would have an interest in yet another high-priced quarterback.

"Draft him, bring him in. Let's make it a three-way competition," said Harrington, who really didn't put much stock in Smith's visit. "There are plenty of teams that brought me in that had no intent of drafting me.

"It's part of the game. I don't look at it in any other way. Even if you don't end up drafting a kid, you bring guys in to see what they're like down the road. It's all part of the scouting process in the NFL."

Whatever the case, expectations in Detroit will be higher this fall than they've been at any time since the Lions drafted Harrington with the No. 3 pick in 2002.

In the end, Harrington believes he has only one person to worry about: Himself. He knows that -- even as the announced starter -- training camp will bring a battle.

"Everybody has to win their job in camp. Nobody walks in and is handed a job," Harrington said. "We'll have a little competition. I see no issues. It doesn't change anything I have to do. Jeff's presence here doesn't change my preparation at all and doesn't change anything I have to do on or off the field. It just means that we've got another guy here.

"If something changes months from now, it's because of something I've done or haven't done. If something changes months from now, it's because we're not winning football games. ..."

Also of interest. ...

According to O'Hara, receiver Roy Williams has recovered from recent surgery on his left ankle and ran routes in an informal workout last week, Harrington said. Williams was hurt in the fourth game at Atlanta last season.

Fellow wideout Charles Rogers, who was in for only three plays in the opening game before suffering a broken right collarbone for the second straight year, has put on about 15 pounds of muscle.

Although he's said to be noticeably thicker and stronger, the additional weight reportedly hasn't come at the expense of his still blazing speed.

"He looks good," Harrington said. "I can tell he wants to be out there. I know he's going to do it."

In fact, Rogers' biggest hurdle this year could be getting over the mental aspect of hurting his collarbone again.

But according to the Sporting News, that fear will be helped by the titanium plate that was placed around the bone during surgery this time. After the first injury, the bone healed on its own.