Bee staff writer Jason Jones is at Raiders headquarters in Alameda as the team prepares for the season. Read his blogs daily at www.sacbee.com/raidersblog. Following are excerpts from Tuesday:
You've got to love Raiders coach Lane Kiffin's honesty.
When the Raiders signed center John Wade, Kiffin thought Wade would take the starting job.
But Jake Grove would have none of that.
So go ahead and make Grove the starting center on "Madden 09," as he's won the job in real life.
"It was very close," Kiffin said. "Both guys played extremely well in preseason, gave them both starts, gave them equal opportunities, and Jake – I wouldn't have guessed when we signed (Wade) – but Jake's rehab, the way he's come back, ended up beating him out."
Grove had microfracture surgery on his right knee in January. He spent much of the offseason in the weight room getting stronger to fend off another free-agent center.
Grove was beaten out by Jeremy Newberry last year.
But Grove feels healthy for the first time since his rookie season. He said he injured his right knee Sept. 18, 2005, against Kansas City, had surgery that year after the Raiders played the Cowboys and has never felt right since.
"I couldn't move right to left," Grove said. "I couldn't go to my left. I could go to my right; I just couldn't plant off my left. You can't tell the coach, 'Nah, let's just run right.' It doesn't work too good. Getting that thing fixed has been the biggest thing for me."
• OK, no need to panic.
Michael Bush will not be moved to fullback.
"Michael Bush is a tailback here," Kiffin said. "We're going to look at some things in some certain personnels to utilize him because he catches the ball so well and he is a bigger tailback. But don't mistake that. We claimed a fullback (Luke Lawton). We'll look for another fullback to compete with this guy or, depending on how this guy does this week, the final waiver cut. Michael Bush isn't here to be a fullback. … "
This is the right decision.
Bush's receiving skills make him a nice player to throw a wrinkle in a dual-halfback set. But his excellent feet and running would be wasted blocking for Justin Fargas and Darren McFadden.
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