By Paul Wexler
RaiderBeat.com Staff Writer
It took longer than expected, but offseason acquisition Samson Satele finally has developed into the player the Raiders envisioned when they traded away a draft pick for him to the Miami Dolphins.
Raiders coach Tom Cable said that Satele will replace Chris Morris as the starting center Nov. 15 against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Morris started the season as the center but moved to left guard four games ago to fill in for injured regular Robert Gallery. Morris is headed back to the bench now that Gallery has recovered from the broken leg he sustained against the Chiefs on Sept. 20.
Cable said that Satele lost the battle for the starting job at center because of how much time he missed during the offseason while recovering from shoulder surgery. Satele also struggled to grasp Cable’s zone-blocking scheme.
“I got this offense down,” Satele said. “Now I can just go and run with it … and it’s my job to lose, I guess.”
Cable was critical of Satele during training camp. These days, he said he has been impressed by Satele’s consistent play.
“Playing well, very well,” Cable said. “When you evaluate his play and Chris’ play when Chris was the center, it surpassed it. He’s been really a bright spot for us lately.”
This is just what the Raiders envisioned when they made the trade as a means of replacing departed starter Jake Grove.
“(With) him missing all that time because of the shoulder surgery, he’s had enough work in the system where he’s comfortable and can direct protections and all those things that really matter,” Cable said.
Gallery was among a handful of players working their way back from injury who were limited in practice Wednesday but looked good doing the things asked of them in a shortened session.
Wide receiver Chaz Schilens, running back Darren McFadden and linebacker Jon Alston also practiced and are making progress toward a return for the Chiefs game.
McFadden and Gallery are expected to play against the Chiefs, for sure. Schilens’ status remains sketchy because of a setback he had a couple of weeks ago in his return to practice for the first time since he broke a bone in his left foot midway through training camp.
Cable said it’s too early to gauge whether McFadden will resume the starting role he handled the first four games. Justin Fargas and Michael Bush have split the carries during McFadden’s absence.
“I haven’t really thought that far ahead, but we’ll certainly get him involved,” Cable said of McFadden.
Lo and behold, there’s even a possibility of the Raiders busting out the Wildcat formation for the first time. Cable admitted as much Wednesday, when he said:
“I don’t know,” Cable said. “We’ve got to get through the week. We’ll have some new things in. Whether that’s one of them, I don’t know.”
The Raiders used the Wildcat off and on last season, with McFadden the primary player lined up at quarterback. They haven’t practiced it in view of the media all season.
The bye week comes at a pretty good time for the Raiders. Then again, every coach and player says that each season.
“This team really needs to get fresh physically but also mentally,” Cable said. “We’ve had pretty good effort as a football team but if you look at us, we’ve got a lot of nicked up guys that we need to see if we can get over the hump.
“We need that group we’ve been talking a lot about to get over that hump and get all the way back as opposed to just being a day here and a day there and not certain on game day whether we have them or not.”
As for the bye coming at the midpoint, Cable is thrilled.
“It’s huge,” Cable said. “The ability, we’ve played eight games, and the ability to really rest your team up, it’s been physical and now it’s going to get even more physical in the second half. So, it’s imperative that we’re fresh physically, as well as mentally.”
The offensive inefficiency has nothing to do with the play-calling, Cable said, and everything to do with one factor.
“Well, there’s some things that need to be changed,” Cable said. “I don’t know if it’s necessarily how you call a play or whatever. Maybe it’s more completions, to be quite honest with you. When you look at the self scout, it really is all about completions.”
In other words, it’s all on quarterback JaMarcus Russell to complete more passes, keep alive drives and prevent the defense from being on the field so often.
Cable has a valid point. Several times against the San Diego Chargers, drives ended because of errant throws by Russell to wide-open receivers or Russell taking too long to deliver the ball.
The grades are in, and Cable assigned himself a rather modest mark.
“A C-plus, at best,” Cable said. “I just feel like, obvious issues that are out of our control, I’m not an excuse guy, but not having enough people healthy on offense has really hindered us. And I have to take responsibility for being 2-6. So, that’s the bottom line.”
The Raiders practice Thursday before taking a three-day break. Cable said Wednesday and Thursday were targeted for specific areas.
“Everything that we did in practice today and everything tomorrow will be directly related to what the negative issues have been thus for the first half,” Cable said. “So, it is very much focusing on just us, and where we’ve had problems and where they need to get cleaned up and trying to get some cleared some things cleared up for certain individuals.
“That’s the way it’ll be tomorrow, as well, and we’ll start to game plan and work on Kansas City, as well.”
The Raiders aren’t quite there yet in the passing game, but Cable said that he sees things getting better and on the verge of turning the corner.
“Actually, you can see the top of the mountain now,” Cable said. “But we’re not there yet. But you can see it now. I don’t think you can say that earlier. I thought we were coming out of camp, but we certainly haven’t played like it.”
Cornerback Chris Johnson, defensive tackle Gerard Warren, tight end Tony Stewart, right offensive tackle Cornell Green and wide receiver/kick returner Nick Miller missed practice.
Cable said that Green has been cleared to practice next week and that he is ready to return to the lineup, as well.
Defensive end Greg Ellis has arthroscopic surgery performed on his left knee Wednesday, Cable said. It’s unknown how much time, if any, he will miss during his recovery. McFadden missed four games with his knee procedure.
Guard Brandon Rodd was waived from the practice squad. Wide receiver Shaun Bodiford was signed to the practice squad. Bodiford played 12 games for the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions in 2006 and ’07, when he caught one pass for 13 yards.
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YO AL if u read this do us fans a huge favor BRING BACK GRUDEN NEXT YEAR …. !!!
thanks for the report… hope we get our shit together soon… Go Raiders!!!
If your QB can’t complete a pass why are you sending him back out there? So when Al fire your ass what are you going to say it wasn’t my fault. If you are going to get fired at least be able to say i did it my way. This Raiders shit is ridiculous you talk about a dysfunctional franchise. You give a guy 32mil and surround him with a weak Oline and rookie receivers who couldn,t catch swine-flu if they were locked in the room with it. The Raider problems are far more than JRussell they have a outdated scheme on both side of the ball.JRussell should be in the shot-gun formation that gives him a little more time to read the D plus that is where he had success in college he his to big and slow to be under center until there’s an organizational change we will be bottom feeders for along time to come.
All I want is Jerry Porter on one side of the field and Javon Walker on the other side. and can we pls. use McFadden the right way? including: lining up as a WR, Wildcat(and not just to fake the run to fargas and run it himself, but for him to also throw the ball) anyone see Reggie Bush being utilized the right way in New Orleans(WR/Screens)?
I love T.Howard and he has an eye for the ball but we need to use him more as a blitz with his 4.5 speed.
thats such bullshit, our wide receiver breaks his broken toe, and I’m a med school student, that bone takes no longer than 5 weeks to FULLY heal, you could put pressure on it after 10 or so days.. and our tackle breaks his leg and is practicing before.
Cable gave himself a C+ lol…that guys grades on a wicked curve lol..id love to go to his school hahahahahaha
The Raiders will be fine. We have been unfortunate with the injuries to Chaz,Robert,Darren to name a few. Losing Gallery made our whole Oline switch positions and we struggled during the process. Chaz injury came on a bad time for us because we really believed he was the player that was going to help Jamarcus stretch the field. Without McFadden in the backfield the last few games has really made our game plans different. Now that we have all of our players back healthy we will be back were we left off after the Dallas game. The Raiders will be ok. I know its hard to believe from being in the outside looking in but we are going to be just fine. Jamarcus is still going through some growing pains as with our 2young WRs. Once we all come together in the end we will all play like we know we can. Sure it may be too late by now but isnt it better that DHB and Louis both have gotten all the reps that they have compared to them being on the bench and not seeing the field at all. Sure Higgins and Walker could easily make us a better Receiving team but once this two get it together and understand the fundemantals for the NFL we will be on fire. By then Higgins,Schilens,Murphy,DHB will all have the same reps in their resumate and Jamarcus will bring back the Vertical Game to were it all started.
Dont lose the faith.
GO RAIDERS
JR SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NO MORE JAMARCUS LEAF!!!!!!!!!
i dont care who they play at QB, but it cant be worse than jbust. he stares down his receivers or over throws them OR dumps off to the underneath route. im sick of this. 31st pass offense in the league with ONLY 2 TDs thrown. and dont give me the rookie WR shit anymore- z. milller, murphy, and walker. are all serviceable WRs. theres NOTHING wrong with the WR corps (if you need further proof look at SDs WR corp).
NO MORE JAMARCUS LEAF!!!!!!!!!!
What good will the wildcat be for us? Knowing Al/Cable, it will be McFadden lined up at QB only to run it up the middle for 1-2 yards. Maybe more completions would help? Ya think! Where the hell is Walker, never even giving him a chance is like throwing up our hands and saying we’re doing the best we can. You’re paying the man and you don’t even know if he could help( not fast enough in and out of breaks),but at least he can hold onto the ball and wouldn’t knock his own man down. Looking forward to Nick Miller’s return as much as any, our not so special teams are pretty pathetic, Holland looks tentative( minus that one return), and JLH never has any room or time to get moving.
Samson Satele has been doing a great job, now I just hope he rolls up and trips on Jabust knee cap after a snap, that $60 million arm has 2 passing TDs, 37 3 and outs, 94 yrds passing per game average, with a decent QB, we would have the youngest most promising trio in the NFL with Zack Miller, Louis Murphy and Chaz, and I don’t know who gave Cable that grade, sure was not us fans,
GO RAIDERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
AM SO SICK OF CABLE SAYING IT JUST AROUND THE CORNER WE ARE ALMOST THERE COUPLE MORE PLAYS AND WE HAVE IT … 2-6 RECORD AND THE TEAM IS NOT GETTING ANY BETTER…SOLUTION.GET YOUR NOSE OUT OF AL DAVIS ASS AND COACH THE TEAM
INSANE AL DAVIS SUCKS…FATASS RUSSELL SUCKS TOO
insanity20mike says:
November 5, 2009 at 12:11 am
The Raiders will be fine.
Uhmm, can I borrow your rose colored glasses? I broke mine weeks ago. Also, that ritalin or whatever your on must be some good stuff. I wish I could dismiss reality that easily!
That’s a good one, JaMarcus Leaf. I am going to use that. Cable giving himself a C plus is an absolute joke. This team SUCKS!!! It is because of very poor drafting and scouting in the early rounds, namely round 1. JBust and DHB are total busts, these guys will never succeed in the NFL. In the offseason, we need to address the 0-line, get a veteran QB, get rid of some of the players(DHB) that can’t play the game. Some guys are track guys and some guys are football players. It is a shame that this team has been so poorly managed and coached from the top down. Once they clear out JBust and DHB we can move on and get some football players.
The season is already over for the Raiders and we have not even reached game 9 yet. Unbelievable!!!
Fed up Raiders fan!!!
I cant believe we go rid of garcia.It doesn’t penetrate through my brain how a move like that could br made.Chaz is still not healed we need that guy NOW.RAIDERS 4 EVER.
I’m suprised the Raiders don’t use the wildcat formation. Afterall, it’s actually an offense that NFL teams used regularly decades ago. Thus, the perfect Raiders offense.
I said it once and I’ll say it again…This Schilens injury s a load of crock…
I have tried to ignore all the stupid comments that are being made, but I cant take it anymore. Russell is part of the problem. I dont know if his work ethic is the problem, but is any coach on our offense or defense considered to be in the top 10 in their positions? The answer is no, the one who is great is the head coach who is a great position coach, still to be determined whether he will be a good head coach. Many coaches including Gruden had their teams struggle their first couple of years. Russell has had to learn three different offenses and no one is helping him focus on the fundamentals. When he sits by himself, why is the QB Coach or the Passing game coordinator not in his ear giving him advice or a reminder to not throw off his back foot. Cable’s playcalling is partly to blame. Calling Passes for 6 straight plays and then runs for 6 straight plays is not balanced. Does anyone wonder why we struggle with two rookie receivers? It is because the passing games is about timing. Rookies struggle. Reggie Wayne is the perfect example, even Jerry Rice struggled in his rookie year. I’m not saying our two will be HOF material, but give our team a break. Whoever said that SD recievers show why ours arent the problem. None of SD receivers are less than 3 years in the same offense. Russell has a tremendous amount of talent and needs a good position coach and some consistency. Manning, Rothlisberger, Brees, McNabb, Brady, Eli Manning all have something in common consistency between coaches when they were young. Russell has a rookie head coach, two rookie recievers and two who should not be playing, a very thin oline, and apparently a poor position coach. He is not playing well but he is not being set up for success. Yes our starters have just as much talent as any team in the league but our depth is the problem. We have a converted receiver playing the fourth corner. Chris Johnson seems to not care whether he gets beat. When Andre Johnson beat him and huff had to make the tackle, he knew he got beat and just quit running. He slacks often on the field. We have a ton of young talent playing and if they stay together with the same coaching, our team should have a long playoff run. Anyone who calls a player a bust in their first year is a complete idiot. By the way when you draft you draft talent. Wanna know why because you are paying your coaches to get the best out of them. Our second round pick got hurt early and the starters are playing well. Third and fourth round pick look really good so far. Murphy has been inconsistent, but having to be covered by #1 corner can do that. If Schillens had played the first eight games our record and Russell’s production would look a lot different. We would probably be .500 with three legitimate threats on offense (murphy, miller, schillens). I think our weak link on defense is Gerard Warren by the way. He is constantly blown off the ball or turns sideways to take on a block and lets the running back rub right off him. He was let go by how many teams? If we had someone other than an undrafted rookie free agent behind him he would sit the bench. There is no way a NT should get blown 7 yards off the ball. Our drafting has been tremendously better the last two years. We have people who should provide depth and eventually be starters, like most teams do. Anyone who thinks Garcia should have never been let go, if he was good he would have started over Kolb at KC, but he was let go and has not been picked up by any team in the league, really says something. Gradkowski is a good back up, but will never be an all-pro. Jamarcus has potential but he was very raw coming out of college as a junior, and has been continually put in a position to fail. Why do people get on here day after day and post the same negative, idiotic things. There is a reason you are a fan and not being paid to make the decision in the NFL. You do not see practice, the meetings, personal time, etc. You take the word of announcers and columnist whose job it is to get ratings, so they make assumptions and say things for shock value. These are the same people who say that clutch is when you lead your team on a drive late in the game to put your team in position to win the games but, scorn Jamarcus for the first two games. Trying to stay positive. GO RAIDERS! Still believe that we will finish 7-9.
thanx for the thesis there tom cable, ERR “twarrick86″.
stop babying him. this clown is the biggest bust in NFL history.
NO MORE JAMARCUS LEAF!