Russell returns from elbow injury
By JOSH DUBOW, AP Sports Write
NAPA, Calif. (AP)—JaMarcus Russell returned to Oakland Raiders practice on Thursday after being sidelined for two sessions because of a sore elbow.
Russell took part in all team drills, but held back a bit in his throwing to make sure not to damage his elbow even more after banging it off the helmet of teammate Darren McFadden on Tuesday.
“I’m just trying to protect myself as much as I can,” Russell said Thursday. “I just wanted to get out here today just so I could get back in practice. I don’t really like sitting out and watching guys bust their behinds when I can be out there doing something.”
Russell said he felt fine after the practice and would be ready for the night session later Thursday. Raiders coach Lane Kiffin said Russell didn’t have his usual velocity but that there were no concerns that the injury was serious.
With Russell back with the first team, Andrew Walter returned to the backup role he has had for most of his time in Oakland. Once the quarterback of the future for the Raiders, Walter, 26, became an afterthought when the Raiders used the No. 1 overall pick on Russell in the 2007 draft.
“Am I happy with that? No. I want to be a starter,” Walter said. “I’ve always said I don’t want to be a backup in the NFL. … That’s not something I’m thrilled about but that is the role and I have to embrace it.”
Walter pointed to other late-bloomers at quarterback such as Rich Gannon, Kurt Warner and Steve Young and remains hopeful that he will get his chance someday, even if it has to be with another team.
Walter, a third-round pick by Oakland in 2005, sat out his rookie year under coach Norv Turner, but the team thought highly enough of him to pass on Matt Leinart in the draft the following season.
Walter got his chance in 2006 under coach Art Shell and offensive coordinator Tom Walsh in one of the worst offenses in NFL history.
Oakland scored just 168 points in 2006—the fifth fewest in a 16-game season—and failed to score on offensive touchdown in eight games on the way to a 2-14 season.
Walter had both wins but lost his six other starts, struggling with turnovers and accuracy while getting little protection from a porous offensive line. Walter threw 13 interceptions, lost nine fumbles and was sacked 46 times. He completed only 53.3 percent of his passes, threw for three touchdowns and had a passer rating of 55.8.
“I wouldn’t say it shook my confidence,” Walter said. “I would say it was a fiasco and I would say it was as clueless of a staff as I’ve ever heard. We had guys in the NFL with 200 years of experience in the locker room. Some guys 10 years, some guys 13, 15 years, talking to those guys, it was a complete joke. So, that was a hard situation. To be a quarterback who has never played, in that situation, certainly was difficult.”
Walter came into camp last summer competing with Josh McCown for the starting spot. Then with Russell holding out, the Raiders signed Daunte Culpepper. Kiffin soon decided to make it a two-man competition for the starting role with Walter left out despite having the best practice statistics.
That led to even more frustration for Walter, who just wanted to know what his role was in Oakland.
“I think at one point I was 10 points higher than everybody and a handful less picks, and obviously, it didn’t matter. So that’s disconcerting when you’re in a situation when it’s open competition and it doesn’t matter,” Walter said. “You take everything with a grain of salt.”
Once Russell signed, Walter hoped to get traded instead of being a fourth quarterback and even had two bags packed to be ready to move at a moment’s notice. Because of injuries to McCown and Culpepper, Walter remained in Oakland and only got a chance to play one game, late in a blowout loss at Green Bay.
Walter sat down with Kiffin after the season was over to find out whether he still fit into Oakland’s plans. Walter is still around and is competing with Marques Tuiasosopo for the backup spot.
“It was a long year for him,” Kiffin said. “It was a year where, at a couple of points, he was hoping to be traded. That didn’t happen, obviously. He came back and had a good offseason. It’s just been one thing after another. He played a little bit, then another guy comes in, then we draft JaMarcus, then we sign Daunte, so he’s had a lot of stuff to go through. It has made him stronger.”
Sore elbow sidelines Raiders quarterback
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP)—Oakland Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell was held out of all team drills during the evening practice Tuesday after banging his elbow off the helmet of teammate Darren McFadden earlier in the day.
Russell, Oakland’s starter this season after spending most of last season on the sidelines, complained of stiffness in his elbow after warming up and making a few throws early during the night session. The No. 1 overall draft pick in 2007 wore a thick bag of ice on his right elbow at one point. He watched as Andrew Walter and Marques Tuiasosopo split the reps with the Raiders’ first-team offense.
“We didn’t foresee it being an issue because when we checked him out after (the morning) practice he was fine,” Oakland coach Lane Kiffin said. “But he came out and warmed up, threw the ball and it just stiffened up a little bit on him. So we erred on the side of safety and pulled him out at that point.
“If we were playing a game he could have very easily played, so I don’t foresee it being an issue at all.”
Kiffin said he expects Russell to be able to practice when the Raiders hold an afternoon workout Wednesday.
This is Russell’s first training camp. He missed Oakland’s entire camp and the preseason a year ago while he was locked in contract negotiations with the team. He played in three games as a rookie, starting the season finale against San Diego.
Curry looks like Raiders’ best receiver…again
By Jerry McDonald Staff writer
Article Last Updated: 07/28/2008 12:07:39 PM PDT
NAPA _ Another training camp, another search for a No. 1 receiver. It is becoming an annual event as July turns to August on the fields behind the Napa Marriott, as predictable as the running of the Wine Train on the tracks alongside Highway 29.
It never happened in Oakland for Jerry Porter, whether it was his Cold War with Art Shell, an ill-timed injury or his own inability to step up and make the most of what seemed to be a top-drawer skill set.
Randy Moss, revered in New England, was reviled in Oakland for his disinterest in contributing to what he believed was a lost cause.
The latest candidate to put up Tim Brown-Jerry Rice numbers is Javon Walker, who is bringing in more baggage than Moss, if that’s possible. Walker departed Green Bay and Denver on bad terms, and conceded there is a perception that he leaves teams when unhappy.
He also said it is his right as an American to do just that.
The guess here is when it comes to third-and-8 and JaMarcus Russell drops back to pass, he won’t be any different than Kerry Collins, Aaron Brooks, Andrew Walter, Josh McCown or Daunte Culpepper in one regard.
He will look for Ronald Curry and keep the chains moving.
And the good news for the Raiders is that their leading receiver the past two seasons might also be their most improved player in 2008.
Freed from the maintenance and rehab that comes with serious injury, Curry discovered the weight room and muscles he never knew he had. He weighed 212 pounds last season and is now 204.
“He looks like he got skinny but he got cut,” strong safety Jarrod Cooper said. “Once you start seeing changes in your body, you buy into it.”
Curry never had any great aversion to weightlifting, but the demands of his roles as a college quarterback and point guard at North Carolina prevented total immersion. Now he is one often one of the last players to emerge from post-practice workouts and stretching.
“I guess I got caught into the quarterback-basketball way of lifting, not really too hard, more of not wanting to mess up the jump shot and stuff,” Curry said. “It kind of became me. But I don’t mind working. I like working, actually. It’s just something else to work toward. You get in there and see results and you feel results.”
The genesis of the new Curry was a bit of locker room humor, with the hard-muscled Porter chastising him about the shape of his body. Curry played the season with a bone spur in his left foot and still caught a team-high 55 passes for 717 yards.
But there were more dropped passes than usual, and at the end of the season coach Lane Kiffin told Curry he wanted more.
“Kiff came to me and said they would really like to see me hit the weights hard this season, so I did,” Curry said.
He had surgery to remove the bone spur _ small potatoes for a guy who may be the only athlete to have rehabbed from three Achilles’ tears and still compete at a high level.
The Raiders are letting him take off a practice now and then on double days, but Curry has been catching everything in sight. He looks more fresh and fast than at any point during his career in Oakland.
“He’s improved as much as anybody out here from the end of last season until now,” Kiffin said. “He’s changed his body structure completely. We just talked a lot about it toward the end of last season. He it took it to heart and he’s changed himself.”
Keep in mind the “old Curry” was pretty special. His athletic prowess in high school is unrivaled in Virginia, where he was Parade All-American in football and basketball. Corey Maggette, the newest Golden State Warrior, lost a slam-dunk contest to Curry at the McDonald’s All-America game.
Curry is the guy whose skill forced Tim Brown off the roster. He led the Raiders in receiving the past two years and owns two of the most spectacular catches in franchise history, his one-handed miracle in Denver in 2004 and a leaping catch of a Culpepper pass in Minnesota last season.
Last season, 30.9 percent of Curry’s receptions were third-down conversions. That’s a higher rate than Moss, Terrell Owens, Reggie Wayne or Chad Johnson and one of the best figures in the NFL.
Curry shakes of Achilles’ tears as if they were hangnails. Nothing he does surprises his teammates.
“He’s an anomaly to the game,” cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha said. “He’ll get injured, it will be the most serious injury ever, then he’ll come back and look like he hasn’t lost anything.”
Call off the search for the Raiders’ No. 1 receiver.
It’s the same guy it has been for the last two years.
Only better.
Raiders corner Asomugha about more than money
By Steve Corkran MediaNews
Article Last Updated: 07/27/2008 06:37:40 AM PDT
NAPA — Whenever an athlete says, “It’s not about the money,” most times you can be certain of one thing: It’s all about the money.
Raiders cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha gets a pass on this one. This much we know because Asomugha was going to be a very rich man whenever he decided to report to training camp, whether he signed a long-term contract or not.
Yet, in the end, Asomugha blocked out those advising him to miss all or part of training camp as a means of gaining leverage against the Raiders for a promise of freedom next season, or to reduce the risk of injury, in favor of continuing his quest to become part of the solution.
“Here’s a guy that very easily could have sat out,” Raiders coach Lane Kiffin said, “and a number of people, possibly his agent, were telling him to, and he decided it was more important to be with his team and to get ready for this season, and be with the guys. It shows his character and what he’s about.”
To be fair, Asomugha received a guaranteed $9,765,000 once he signed the one-year tender as the Raiders exclusive franchise player. He stands to earn $11,718,000 next season, if the Raiders use the franchise tag again.
Yet, for Asomugha, there’s more at stake than making a king’s ransom. It has been that way since he joined a Raiders team fresh from a Super Bowl appearance and was paired opposite four-time Pro Bowler Charles Woodson.
Young players such as quarterback
To ease their RB glut, Raiders release veteran Jordan
By Bill Williamson
ESPN.com 7/25/2008
The long LaMont Jordan saga in Oakland is over.
The team released the running back Friday after an exhaustive attempt to trade him since early June. Friday’s resolution concludes a turbulent end to Jordan’s three years in Oakland.
Oakland told Jordan, 29, to stay away from training camp and a June minicamp because it was trying to trade him. He had a pre-trade visit to Detroit earlier this month, but talks stalled. Jordan now joins a crowded group of veteran running backs looking for work, including Shaun Alexander, Ron Dayne and Cedric Benson.
Jordan’s stint in Oakland came to an end because the Raiders have a crowded running back crew, especially now after drafting Darren McFadden with the No. 4 overall pick and because of Jordan’s high price tag for 2008. Jordan had 1,025 yards rushing in 2005, his first season in Oakland after signing as a free agent from the New York Jets. However, he combined for just 984 yards in the last two years of Oakland.
