Kyle Boller will start at quarterback when the Baltimore Ravens open the NFL regular season in Pittsburgh next Sunday, winning the job from incumbent Chris Redman.

The Ravens’ selection of Boller defies a couple of the league’s unwritten rules. Rarely are rookies thrown in at the start of their careers, especially on teams seeking to make the playoffs.

John Elway and Peyton Manning struggled when they were made immediate starters, and both played on teams without high expectations.

And seldom do rookies earn a starting job after holding out. Boller missed a week of training camp.

But Ravens coach Brian Billick said those rules didn’t apply to the 19th overall pick in last April’s draft.

“The physical skills are obvious; anyone that’s seen the kid — even in a practice — can recognize that,” Billick said “But his ability to absorb the offense has been shocking to me, and I’ve been doing this for a while.”

Teams continued to cut down their rosters in preparation for today’s deadline, when they must be at 53.

Washington made an unlikely move — releasing quarterbacks Danny Wuerffel and Gibran Hamdan. That leaves the Redskins with only starter Patrick Ramsey and backup Rob Johnson on the active roster.

“Right now, we’re planning on dressing out two and hoping and praying that Patrick doesn’t get hurt — or both of them don’t get hurt,” coach Steve Spurrier said.

Redskins owner Dan Snyder appeared to have a major say in the decision to release Wuerffel.

The Redskins also released running back Kenny Watson, who averaged 4.6 yards per carry last year and was their second-leading rusher

Atlanta made a similar move to Washington’s — cutting fourth-string quarterback David Rivers. That leaves Doug Johnson as the starter in the season opener and Kurt Kittner as the backup while Michael Vick recovers from a broken leg that is expected to keep him out at least four games.

“Ideally, you want to have three healthy quarterbacks,” said vice president of football operations Ron Hill. “But for the short period of time we’re talking about, we felt it was best to do this so we could keep players for other spots.”

The Philadelphia Eagles announced that defensive end Jerome McDougle, their first-round draft pick, will miss at least the first two games of the season. McDougle injured his ankle, knee and hip in Thursday’s exhibition loss to the Jets.

The Eagles also traded wide receiver Freddie Milons to Pittsburgh for an undisclosed future draft choice.

Jacksonville released two veterans, defensive end Marco Coleman and wide receiver Donald Hayes.