By Paul Wexler
RaiderBeat.com Staff Writer
Defensive lineman Richard Seymour was excused from practice so that he could get a jump on spending time with his family on the East Coast.
Raiders coach Tom Cable granted Seymour the extra day, no doubt, because Seymour was traded to the Raiders from the New England Patriots just before the start of the season and didn’t have much time to make arrangements with his family as to where it wanted to live.
Wide receiver Chaz Schilens, left guard Robert Gallery and running back Darren McFadden practiced with “no issues,” Cable said.
Gallery and McFadden will play against the Kansas City Chiefs on Nov. 15, for sure. Schilens’ availability for that game remains fuzzy as he attempts to rebound from the broken left foot he sustained at training camp in Napa, Calif.
The presence of Gallery, McFadden and Schilens on the field was tangible, Cable said.
“It’s really good to have those guys in the huddle,” Cable said. “Robert has kind of jumped right back in and got into the flow, as has Chaz, as has Darren. I think the last piece there will be Cornell (Green), and we should have him on Monday. So I’m very pleased with those guys.”
The knee surgery for starting left defensive end Greg Ellis on Wednesday went fine, Cable said. That was the expected part of the news. The unexpected part came with Cable’s announcement that Ellis might play against the Chiefs.
“Next week would be questionable at this point,” Cable said. “There was nothing extensive needed to be done at this time. It was really more just go in and clean it up. If the wound and everything can heal, he’ll be ready to go for Kansas City.”
Cable said McFadden missed four games with after his knee surgery last month because it involved more damage.
“We had to go in and repair a meniscus with Darren,” Cable said. “And there wasn’t any repair, so to speak. So, it was just kind of clean it up, vacuum it out, that kind of deal.”
Gallery’s return after missing six games with a broken bone in his leg will solve more than one problem. His absence forced Cable to replace Gallery at left guard, which became a two-pronged problem once he determined that regular center Chris Morris was the best option.
“Well, you remember when it first happened, we talked about just that issue,” Cable said. “If it was a guy and you just plug a guy in, not so bad. When you’ve got to change a couple of spots, then there’s double the learning, double the change going on.
“Getting him back kind of solidifies that side of the line of scrimmage and then we’ll get the other side straightened up here quick.”
Cable has taken more of a hands-on role with the offensive line in recent weeks. The return of Gallery and right offensive tackle Green won’t necessarily change how much say Jim Michalczik has in things.
“We’re going to keep doing it the way we’re doing it until it’s back where it needs to be consistently,” Cable said.
Rookie tight end Brandon Myers caught his first passes of the season against the San Diego Chargers last Sunday.
However, it was the way Myers comported himself against linebackers Shawne Merriman and Shaun Phillips that impressed Cable the most.
“Very solid,” Cable said. “He was totally unfazed on Sunday. Merriman and Phillips didn’t bother him. He blocked them (well). We kind of knew what we had there, it was just when his opportunity came, would he be ready to do it? And he certainly was.”
Myers played more than usual because of a chest injury to backup Tony Stewart. Zach Miller remains the starter.
None of the players or coaches was pleased with Oakland’s 2-6 record the first half of the season. Just the same, that doesn’t mean there weren’t some positives to take from the first eight games.
Cable rattled off a handful of positives when asked the things that caught his eye most.
“How good we are offensively in short-yardage situations,” Cable said. “Probably the consistency of the run game in the last two and a half games.
“Defensively, how we are on the goal line. We got scored on three times on 11 snaps. They were all on fourth-and-less-than 1. Third down defensively has been productive of late. Third and long has still been kind of a sore issue for us. But anything from 3 to 10, we’ve been very productive for the last month.”
Specifically in terms of the players who surprised, Cable had the following assessment.
“(Center Samson) Satele’s development has probably jumped out,” Cable said. “Darrius‘ development the last two weeks has jumped out. Defensively, I’d say the two young defensive linemen have really stood out, right from the get go actually. It just seems to get better and better. Tyvon Branch has been as rock solid as you could ask him to be.”
The Raiders are off Friday, Saturday and Sunday for the bye week. They return to practice Monday morning in preparation for their next game, against the Chiefs at the Oakland Coliseum.
Loading ...
the only positive i have seen is that the jamarcus russell era is halfway over. only 8 more games left to watch his sorry fat ass.
Collins,walter.tui,Mcown,coulpepper,Now J-rock!come on Raider Fan.Open your eyes to the real Problem.
Yea like i said im glad this season is going by super fast cuz either DHB or russell suck!!! I still dont fucken understand why the fuck is cable and al davis gin=ving those two dum fucks day offs they need more fucken work then days off sorry as fucks!!!
man, i just hope they play good football immediately… they looked like shit in most of the games that we lost (shitty)… we played like shit in KC and still won…and the only games that we played Decent were: the opener against SD (Loss) and the Philly home game (Win)… Jamarcus needs to start throwing better passes, Not Great, just better than the shitty ducks he’s been letting loose all season… I think we can beat some good teams if we get healthy and bring some intensity… GO RAIDERS!!!!!!!
Headed to high school playoff game tommorrow night,team I pull for is playing against team that is quarterbacked by Phillip Rivers brother,and thier dad is an asst. coach..I’ll wear my Raider gear,probally a bunch of damn charger fans coming to town tommorrow night….Maybe we can beat them,did last yr by 21,but Rivers was at another school and transferred to Athens this season
its sad to say this but al cable and jruss have been in the way of us winning.. al for sticking his nose in schemes.
cable for being a dumb fuck and not playn the right players.. DHB?? kidding me??
jruss cant complete a pass for shit.
we should have kept garcia and maybe we would have a good record right now. we all seen what happens when jruss does NORMAL.. (PHILLY GAME)..
so some of you r right. jruss isnt the only problem. its al and cable aswell..
Cable is high, how can he be happy with anything from Heyward Gay???? The guy sucks, Murphy blows him away…….. DHB just blows. I wish I was Javon Walker, all that money and the best seat in the house game day………
Unless chucky is back to F**king with the Raidernation we need to keep cable and get a solid offensive coordinator to call plays a new quarterback and the ability to let our D-coordinator call plays last time he was allowed to call his own plays we beat the eagles sooooooo….ow and fuck crabtree he got a decent quarterback throwing to him give heybey a chance nobody can catch what jamarcus is throwing his shit is awful
lvr8der you forgot brooks
I say. we go after Delhomme as a Free Agent. We use our top 5 pick(not on Mays) but on the best OT available(RT) we sign T.O. also in Free Agency(He isnt the Distraction he was accused of by ESPN) also draft a Center or a RG(Carlisle is getting old) in the 2nd and 3rd Rd. Oline the first few picks. We shouldnt draft no more WRs. Also get the best KR with our other 3rd rd pick(Burgess pick).
We need veterans.. OLB,WR(eventhough we have Javon)RT,RG,C..
Or we can always go after Peppers and throw double the money he is getting now.
I dont see Asomugha staying here after next yr. He has seen enough and he knows we wont win until Russell is replaced. aka. 5yrs
WTF happened to Jerry Porter ?
This team needs so much, I don’t know where to begin. I would start by benching JBust and DHBust. We need to get rid of 3 out of the 5 0-linemen. Address the D-line for a big run stuffer in the middle. How much better would it be if the Raiders had drafted BJ Raji in the first round instead of no hands DHB? It is unbelievable the mistakes this organization has made with some of the first picks. Just wasted pick after wasted pick. Cable has got to go. He is a bigger distraction than the players, unreal…
I just cannot figure out how this organization can screw things up so bad. You would think just one of those first round picks would turn out to be a superstar. All of them are busts. I think the only guy that is worth a damn is Gallery. It is one of the most frustrating times to be a Raiders fan.
I just hope changes come in the offseason. If we continue to go with JBust, this team will just keep regressing.
Fed up Raiders fan!!!
Unfortunately no personnel changes are going to help this team until Al stops watching his reel to reel projector of his 60’s teams, and pops in dvd’s of other teams successful programs. So tired of Al trying to take good college players and have them play schemes used before they were even born. Nothing changes till Al butts out and lets the organization play like all the other teams do, you know progress,revise,develope,and adjust. Al, remake the team and become the innovator you once were. Hire the GM you alluded to in the off season, and let your coaches implement their schemes and play the players they deem worthy. 40 year follower, but like the rest of you, sick and tired of the same old same old. No one seems accountable, from the very top to the players. Just do what Al says and keep a low profile, and cash that check.
Insanitymike. Can you pass your doobie this way because it must be the best. Delhomme REALLY?!?!?!.
Serious puff puff pass with that comment.Get rid of JR for another.Draft Ndomakong Suh,and if he’s not there grab Jake Locker and move on.
BammaRaider, Thats interesting stuff…. If you don’t mind post what the outcome of the game is.. Thanks,-Rod
Delhomme??? Are you crazy Homie??? We have had enough heart breaking play from the QB…
AL DAVIS SUCKS..I WISH AL WOULD BRING OUT HIS OVERHEAD PROJECTOR AND FIRE HIMSELF…THE RAIDDERS ARE IN SUCH MESS.. ALL THANKS TO AL DAVIS …NO ONE ELSE…ITS COMING BACK TO YOU AL..FOR THE BAD THINGS YOU DID AGAINST YOUR PLAYERS AND COACHES.
I really don’t think Al has a good eye for talent. I wander if Al even knew who DHB was befor the combine. So we can’t draft our way out of this. free agents don’t want to come here, and good coaches don’t want to come here. I’m afraid this will be bad for awhile nation.
I don’t get how Cable can say DHB has been solid in the first half of play.I wonder if he really belives this or if he’s just saying what Al has told him to say?That’s what sucks ,Al dosen’t give his coaches a real chance to show what they can do!It wouldn’t matter if we had Vince Lombardi,Don Shula and Bill Walsh all coaching us!With Russell at qb. we would suck!How can Al not see this?I wonder if he really thinks he’s a good qb. or is he just not willing to admit he blew it?If Al wants this team to win as much as he claims he does he should put his ego aside for once and reach out to Jon Gruden and Bruce Allen.I suppose that’s wishful thinking huh?Thanks for listening nation. GO RAIDERS!!!!
insanity20mike MAN i see where you got you name, u must be truly insane DELHOMME, you are freakn hilarious!! I cant believe you had the nerve to post that on this site!! Im glad youre not the GM!!! Go Raiders lets make it happen 2nd half!!!!!
I would love to see Gruden and Allen come back. I just don’t see that happening. The front office has done such a poor job of drafting in the early rounds, it takes years to recover from the deadbeats we have as players, DHB, JBust, and DMac are all brutal. If you scrap some of these players and just move on to guys who have some heart, it would be a great thing. Unfortunately, the Raiders have to much money invested in terrible players. It continues year in and year out, it is so frustrating being a fan of this team. In other sports, you can look at your team in the beginning of the year and say maybe we have a chance, but with the Raiders, you just know the front office is so bad that they will find some way to screw it up big time. DHB, are you kidding me, he was not even the best player at his position. It is so bad when you have a QB that has no accuracy, and a running back that goes out when he is touched. I am so pissed off at this organization for running this team into the ground. Start fresh, get rid of some of these players, or put them on the bench. It will at least help the fans that care about the Raiders have some hope. At this juncture, I have no hope or faith in this team. Cable is a bigger distraction to the team than any of the players. How can that be?
Maybe when the economy starts to recover the Raiders may turn it around. 3 years at least!!!
Delhome wasn’t a bad QB, but may have lost somthing after the sholder/elbow surgeries. He might be done in the NFL.
But how about some guy like Todd Collins or Troy Smith?
Wish List For Me
Corey Williams (DT-Cleveland, Playing out of position in 3-4 Defense, VERY UNHAPPY IN CLEVELAN)
Aaraon Kampdon-DE/LB currently playing out of position in 3-4, still a stud.
Keith Bullack-MLB-Tennessee, Free Agentnext year-Great Team Leader. If we re-sign Morrison and Howard. Could be pretty awesome group.
NEED TO DRAFT NT!
delhomme,that guy just signed a huge contract.he’s done.he can’t even get the ball to one of the best WR’s in the game!
here’s a list of unsigned QB’s that we could sign-jp losman,john beck,tyler palko,graham harrell,cullen harper.
losman,a former starter for the bills.tyler palko-short,smart left hander that was behind drew brees.graham harrell-the best TT QB of them all(diamond in the rough).cullen harper-played for clemson and would have lit it up at another school.john beck-parcells’ drafted him from BYU.
my favorite is brady quinn,trade our highest third round or even 2nd for him.DONOVAN MCNABB,we can get him with our first round pick.the eagles don’t keep older players,especially when they have drafted a player as a future starter(kolb).
LIKE SETH FROM ” SUPER BAD” SAYS, JABUSTUS SHOULD BE SUCKING ON MY BALL SACK!!!!!!!
I SAY WE BRING BACK VINCE EVANS…………
Cable always says a player is coming back soon just like he did with Chaz, don’t listen to a word of it. I see no improvement from DHB like Cable does and I don’t think the oline will do much with Gallery back since we didn’t run that well before his injury. I love Myers but of course he had to get hurt early and doesn’t get to help until were right back at 2-6. Here’s a hint Cable, get more depth for the oline with quality players so you know if a lineman gets hurt a good player is waiting to take his place, and it helps if the starter is actually good to begin with. I haven’t heard anyone talking about how great the Raiders oline is in the past seven years.
PianoGuy…
Megacool Blog indeed!… if anyone else has anything it would be much appreciated. Great website Enjoy!…