"Despite being pummeled and pounded with the Buffalo Bills, Trent Edwards never gave a second thought to all the punishment his body took.

The bigger concern for the Raiders' newest quarterback, in light of concussions in 2008 and 2009, was being of sound mind.

"I love football, don't get me wrong, but if I can't function properly after it's over, it's going to be devastating," Edwards said. "I don't want to put everything on the line and then not be able to walk straight."

Not one to feel sorry for himself, Edwards won't blame the concussions or supporting cast for his career going off track in Buffalo or during his time at Stanford from 2003-06.

He blends an old-school, no-excuses mentality with a modern approach for dealing with the head injuries that have long been part of the NFL and are only in recent years being taken seriously for their long-term effects.

While Edwards worked out as he has since his days at Los Gatos High to prepare himself for the opportunity that arose with the Raiders, he also was training his brain.

During the offseason, Edwards took part in 25 sessions at Neurotopia, a Southern California-based company specializing in "performance brain training," according to its website.

"The way they see it, if you do receive hits and go through head trauma, there are certain neural pathways that are shut down, and to get those back up and running, and even create new neural pathways, is to go through these workouts," Edwards said.

So Edwards was hooked up to a monitor and put through a variety of mental exercises, 45 minutes at a time. He reports no lingering symptoms from the concussions and has set his mind to mastering the Raiders offense as he competes with Kyle Boller to back up starter Jason Campbell.

Receiving the most playing time of the quarterbacks in Thursday's 24-18 loss to Arizona, Edwards was 10 of 19 for 140 yards and one touchdown, a perfectly thrown 18-yard corner route to rookie tight end David Ausberry."