MIAMI – In case you forgot, the wide receiver wearing No. 89 for the Raiders was Ronald Curry.
Curry led the Raiders with six catches for 73 yards in their 17-15 loss to the Miami Dolphins on Sunday at Dolphin Stadium. Curry entered the game with eight catches all season.
A team captain, he was benched after five games because of dropped passes. He hadn't caught a pass in two games, including last week's loss to Carolina in which he was inactive.
But on Sunday he looked a lot like the Curry who led the Raiders in receiving last season. Four of Curry's six catches were for first downs, including one on third down.
"Just because I (haven't) been playing doesn't mean I (haven't) been practicing," Curry said. "I've been practicing, doing a lot of scout team. That's one of the things, just work a little bit harder when I wasn't playing because I didn't know what my situation was."
Injuries to Javon Walker and Chaz Schilens gave Curry a chance to get on the field Sunday.
Curry's motivation to work hard? Just in case a team was interested in picking him up if the Raiders release him. It's a feasible notion considering Oakland waived high-priced cornerback DeAngelo Hall after eight games.
"I heard a lot about me being released and all that," Curry said. "So I wanted to keep my footwork ready so when I did get released, if I did have an opportunity to go somewhere else, I'd be ready."
Before Walker's season-ending ankle injury, Curry had no reason to believe he would see action for the Raiders.
Besides Walker and Schilens, who played with a bad ankle, the Raiders planned to play Johnnie Lee Higgins, Ashley Lelie and Todd Watkins at wide receiver ahead of Curry.
Interim head coach Tom Cable called Curry a possession receiver and that his knack for third-down catches wouldn't make a difference if they were long third downs because of Curry's lack of speed.
Cable said he wasn't surprised Curry played well.
"He's a pro," Cable said. "Because he has played the game for a while, and certainly guys who have done it have trained themselves that way, (to) have the ability to be out, come back and perform."
Read Jason Jones' Raiders blog at www.sacbee.com/ raidersblog.
What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com
Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)
Here are some rules of the road:
• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "report abuse" button to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand. If you want to discuss an issue with a specific user, click on his profile name and send him a direct message.
• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.
You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "report abuse" button to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them, but you may ask our staff to retract one of your comments by sending an email to feedback@sacbee.com. Again, make sure you note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us your profile name.
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.