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Friday, June 11, 2010
Slap me two times
Most of you have probably seen this before, but in case you haven't ... here is new Raider John Henderson's pregame ritual while at Jacksonville. I wonder if Oakland trainers will come up and volunteer for this job, or just wait to be asked. My guess is the latter.
| Jun 11 at 03:09 PM
Another Big move (update)
Former teammate Quentin Groves says John Henderson has a lot of run-stuffing tackles left in him
Big John Henderson's deal with the Raiders is a one-year deal, which means there is little risk for the big reward of a veteran's bounce-back season.
Just talked to Raiders linebacker Quentin Groves, a former teammate of Henderson's at Jacksonville, and he said the 6-foot-7, 335-pound Henderson "is excited" about coming to Oakland.
Here is Scouts Inc.'s Matt Williamson on Henderson, as told to ESPN's Bill Williamson:
Williamson: "Henderson is a big, wide body that will clog up the interior. I don't think you will see him on passing downs, but he will help against the run for 25-35 plays a game. He is not a difference maker at this point. But he could be an above-average player for Oakland. I like this signing."
Oakland needed a defensive tackle since releasing Gerard Warren in March. Henderson could play alongside Tommy Kelly in the 4-3 defense, with Richard Seymour, Matt Shaugnessy and Lamarr Houston rotating on the outside.
(Earlier post:) The Raiders have reached agreement with former Jaguars defensive tackle John Henderson on a one-year deal, a team source told ESPN's Adam Schefter. Jacksonville released the eight-year veteran days after the NFL draft. Henderson, 31, is a two-time Pro Bowler who was regarded as one of the best players remaining in the free-agent pool.
A run-stuffer, Henderson started in 120 of 124 appearances with the Jaguars. He registered 329 tackles, 29 sacks and eight forced fumbles.
| Jun 11 at 01:11 PM
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Cruisin' for the Community
Raiders guard Robert Gallery will be leading a cruise for military families Saturday in his customized 1954 Cadillac Coup de Ville.
What will Gallery have on the radio when he is cruising?
Gallery is giving back to four local military families who have lost a parent fighting to protect our country. The cruise will be held Saturday and will take participants on a cruise throughout the Tri-Valley area starting in Dublin at 4120 Koll Center Dr. (Corner of Tassajara Rd and 580) before ending at Revolution Rod & Kustom, 3737 First St. in Livermore for a car show.
Hundreds of classic 1970 and earlier American classics and motorcycles are expected to join the cruise. All money raised will go directly to the families.
All Bay Area classic car and hot rod owners are invited to take part in Cruisin' for the Community. Entry fee is a $30 donation per car. Registration begins at 9 a.m. and the cruise will start at 10:30 a.m. The general public is invited to the car show, auction/raffle, and Fuddruckers catering at Revolution Rod & Kustom in Livermore, which begins at 11 a.m.
| Jun 10 at 06:45 PM
Thunder and Lightning
(Here's today's story in the paper about Chaz Schilens.)
Michael Bush said Hue Jakson's motto is 'build a bully' -- maybe a two-headed one
New offensive coordinator Hue Jackson doesn't disguise his feelings well. During one goal-line drill on Wednesday he yelled, "We're going to run the ball every freaking time. I WANT them to know we're going to run the ball. Every time!"
Jakson's influence also may mean that the Raiders may rotate both running backs Michael Bush and Darren McFadden when they're pounding defenses. That's different than coach Tom Cable's original plan of having one starter emerge, and he spoke to that.
"They feed off each other and that's what you want," Cable said.
Cable said both backs are doing something exciting each day.
"Whether it's running the ball or pass protecting," he said. "Each one of them has their own strength but they both show up every time we come out here. I actually think their both (starting running backs) and I think it’s a great deal we got going here."
Bush said he has no idea what's going on, as far as a competition goes.
"But I know we're going to come out and fight for the job," he said. "(Cable) told us earlier this year it's an open competition. We both believe that because in the past...you've seen we've been rotating guys in, starting and stuff like that.
"At the same time, we're still two different guys, two different running backs, two different type of players. Hopefully they just use us the best that they can."
Cable also said the team is working with McFadden on breaking tackles and developing a "mentality" not to go down upon contact. That's the rap on McFadden and "he hears it and wants to do something about it," Cable said.
Also: I tweeted yesterday that the Raiders won't be having any scrimmages with the 49ers or Cowboys this summer, but forgot to put it in the paper. Cable says that scrimmages just weren't going to work out calendar-wise. The fact that Oakland plays each team during the regular season had nothing to do with it, he said. ... More on Robert Gallery's Saturday fundraiser for familes of the military later this afternoon.
| Jun 10 at 11:15 AM
Wednesday, June 09, 2010
NFLPA shuts team down next week
While most of the participants seemed to be enjoying practice today, somebody hasn't been and blew the whistle.
The Raiders have been told to cancel two days of off-season practices next week, as the NFL Management Council and the NFL Players Association resolved a dispute. The Raiders' (overworked?) players are now not permitted to be at the facility next Wednesday and Thursday, but will be paid for the sessions.
The club cannot reschedule the cancelled practice days.
The Ravens recently lost two days of practices after six players were found to be in meetings too long, while two practiced over the time limit as outlined by the current collective bargaining agreement.
| Jun 09 at 02:49 PM
Monday, June 07, 2010
McClain ready to roll
Raiders No. 1 draft pick Rolando McClain told his hometown paper in Alabama that he is not planning to hold out, which is not news but always nice to hear. The inside linebacker is being picked by some ESPN experts and some of the preseason magazines hitting the shelves to be the defensive rookie of the year (and why not, he could be on the field a lot).
While it's hard to take a lot from no-pads practices in May and June -- Oakland has three more this week starting Tuesday, with the media welcome on Wednesday -- McClain has definitely looked the part of an impact player. His main job will be to stuff the run and adjust the defense to what he sees the offense doing before the snap. He is a thumper and he is smart -- any concerns over his pass-coverage skills are ill-founded as that takes time and teammates' help on the field before a rookie gets a feel for it.
"He can help us a lot," cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha told Comcast's Greg Papa. "He can help us against the run -- he's a bigger guy that can stuff fullbacks in the hole before they even get started.
"He's a smart guy, an athletic guy ... so that's going to help us out in the passing game. ... It's very early for him. Training camp can always be difficult for a rookie, so there's going to be a learning curve."
There is a great track record for Southeastern Conference linebackers taken in the first round of the NFL draft. You learn your craft in the most physical conference in the college football, you're in pretty good shape -- especially like in McClain's case, if you were one of the leaders on a national championship-winning team.
In no particular order, here are some of the SEC linebackers drafted high over the last 20 years: Derrick Thomas, Cornelius Bennett, Patrick Willis, Takeo Spikes, Jerod Mayo, John Abraham, Al Wilson ... Georgia's David Pollack would have also been a good one but had to retire from the Bengals due to vertebrae issues.
ALSO: Due to popular demand, I am going to start tweeting from practice on Wednesday. I was going to wait until training camp because again, I think football without pads and hitting is a little like 9 1/2 weeks without Kim Bassinger. Darren McFadden is the best running back in the world if there were no pads, and I will be tweeting all of his 25-yards runs starting Wednesday. ... There was a recent story about how good tackle Mario Henderson looked, but that was after a pratice of mostly 7-on-7 drills ... with no pads. C'mon people. Have we set the bar so low that the offensive line gets a thumbs up if no quarterbacks get maimed in May?
| Jun 07 at 10:39 AM
Wednesday, June 02, 2010
No-help All Stars
Raiders defensive lineman Richard Seymour still hasn't signed yet (and why would he before training camp?) but he got some love yesterday from the guys at Football Outsiders. He is on the No-help All-Stars, as one of the team leaders in hurries in the NFL who got the least amount of help from a teammate up front.
Seymour had 17 hurries, with Gerard Warren second on Oakland with 11. Warrren, who missed a lot of tackles last season, was released in March and signed with the Patriots.
The Colts' Dwight Freeney led the NFL with 34 hurries, while the Vikings' Ray Edwards came in second with 33. I almost typed in 'underrated' for Edwards, but with Jared Allen, Kevin Williams and Pat Williams getting all the attention in the trenches, I almost picture Edwards skipping into the backfield on occasions.
The Niners' Justin Smith had a nice season last year and came in fifth with 28.5. The Chiefs' Tamba Hali had the highest percentage of his team's hurries, with 33 percent (or 26 of 80).
As for Seymour, he is likely to sign the exclusive franchise tender -- which will pay him just under $12.4 million this season -- and be in camp on time. He is not sweating missing any summer practices.
OFF THIS WEEK: There are no practices this week, and the team returns to the field next Tuesday-Thursday. The media clowns like myself get to show up and watch on Wednesday.
PORTER'S BACK: The Raiders have bolstered their receiving corps by burying the hatchet and bringing back Jerry Porter ... uh, wait a minute ... they signed former UFL cornerback Joe Porter.
Porter, 24, has played for the Las Vegas Locomotives -- one of the worst team names out there -- as well as NFL stints with the Green Bay Packers, New Orleans Saints and the Cleveland Browns. He also was part of a 4x200 relay team at Rutgers that set a national indoor record.
| Jun 02 at 01:41 PM
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Money-back guarantee?
The Raiders filed a grievance against former quarterback JaMarcus Russell in an effort to get back $9.55 million of the $39 mil they paid him.
The Raiders say the contract was changed at one point and that he’s not allowed to keep all the money he collected before his May 7 release. Oakland contends that some of the money was actually an advance on his salaries for the upcoming three seasons.
Not so, Russell's agent said.
"The money in question was fully guaranteed. That is why JaMarcus was forced to hold out and miss all of training camp as a rookie," Eric Metz told Yahoo! Sports. "The Raiders know that and this is our only comment."
Meanwhile, the Raiders did practice in the rain on Thursday. While there was no media access, safety Tyvon Branch did weigh in.
"We was out there grindin in the rain today," Branch said on Twitter. "Nuttin is gunna make us detour off this path of success."
Thanks again to David White for filling in Wednesday while I was vacationing on the lakes of Minnesota.
| May 27 at 05:47 PM
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
DHB, Hue, Dallas and OTAs
I got to fill in for Vic Tafur at OTAs today, just like old times only what a difference a quarterback makes.
I got this tidbit from a player: the Raiders and Cowboys are talking about having joint training camp with the Cowboys before their Aug. 14 preseason opener at Dallas.
The Cowboys train in San Antonio until Aug. 6 and move to Oxnard Aug. 12. Their website does not account for the week of the Raiders visit, so it could be both teams practice together a few days in Dallas before the game.
I can't see Dallas flying to Oxnard for joint practices if they have to go right back to Dallas for the game. I'm told the Cowboys and Raiders have done the joint practice thing back in the day in Oxnard, but back then my world as all Fresno State, all the time, so I can't share any memories there.
This, by the way, would effectively kill any chance of the Raiders and 49ers sharing practice in Napa a third straight year. That deal was begging for a hiatus since the teams play in the preseason and regular season this year.
Here are my impressions after being on the 49ers beat for two months ... Read More »
| May 26 at 12:28 PM
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Seymour update plus a new field
Coach Tom Cable said there is no progress on contract talks with Richard Seymour. He was asked if there was any chance that the defensive lineman would attend any of the 12 practices this month and next.
"I don't know that at this point," Cable said.
Cable had sounded more optimistic at the minicamp, and really there may not be more to read into this than a veteran taking the summer off. The exclusive franchise tender would pay Seymour $12 million this season.
^ The non-profit Friends of Oakland Parks and Recreation organization will receive a $200,000 NFL Grassroots Program grant, facilitated by the Raiders. It will be used to install a synthetic turf field and drainage system at Sobrante Park, a multi-purpose field located in East Oakland, designed to serve more than 14,000 young people in the area.
"The kindness of the Raiders to recognize an area that sorely needs their support will, in no small amount, have a tremendous impact on the lives of these kids," President Pro Tem of the Oakland City Council Larry Reid said.
Matching funds will be provided by the City of Oakland and Oakland Unified School District.
| May 20 at 02:59 PM
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