Raiders Blog and Q&A

They're getting the band back together...or somesuch.

As expected, offensive starters Robert Gallery (left guard), Cornell Green (right tackle), Darren McFadden (running back) and Chaz Schilens (wide receiver) all practiced full on Wednesday.

Raiders coach Tom Cable dismissed the notion that having all three running backs available at the same time as having all three receivers could be a dangerous problem to have.

"You can do both," Cable said. "You can fit in the toughness inside of that explosiveness. The whole key is getting that explosiveness going. From there, once you get that started, the rest of it can fall into place."

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Cable also acknowledged he is contemplating starting three receivers - probably Schilens, Darrius Heyward-Bey and Louis Murphy - Sunday against the Chiefs.

"I think it just depends on the personnel that you're going to use to attack them," Cable said. "That's probably why I'm not going to answer that question, just because there's some things you want to do."

In his last four games, Murphy has caught only one pass from JaMarcus Russell.

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The Chiefs, meanwhile, will be without Raiders antagonist Larry Johnson, the disgraced running back who had rumbled for 938 yards in 10 career games against Oakland with 12 total touchdowns.

"Well, they still have good runners," Cable said of the Chiefs. "It's not like they're going to change their system or their scheme. The runner they got is a good player. Larry was a very good player. So, it impacts it to some degree. But in this business, it's the next man up."

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And today's oh-yeah-news-nugget, courtesy of Cable - defensive end Greg Ellis had his shoulder "scoped" over the bye in addition to his knee. Good to know.

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Then there was this - the Raiders had left-footed free-agent punter Ricky Schmitt booming balls after practice to Johnnie Lee Higgins. Probably to get the Raiders returner ready for Kansas City's left-footed punter Dustin Colquitt.

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And finally, the Raiders would allow media "football-questions only, no non-football questions" of Cable. So, no Cable thoughts today on if the NFL has contacted him. It's been reported the league wants him to undergo an "evaluation" in the wake of the Randy Hanson affair.

Join us for "NFL Tuesdays," a live chat at 12 noon with Raiders writer/columnist Paul Gutierrez. He'll field your questions, take your comments and offer some insight into the season.

Let's talk about the Raiders' 2-6 record at the season's midway point, their being as healthy as they've been all season, their upcoming game against Kansas City, coach Tom Cable now being accused of being violent by two women from his past on the heels of his not facing criminal charges for his alleged assault of former assistant Randy Hanson. Or, whatever you want to bring up...

Today at noon,

http://www.sacbee.com/live/

Back from a week of "mandatory" vacation, just in time for the Raiders to return from their bye week...

The 2-6 Raiders returned to practice at their Alameda facility Monday, "the healthiest this football team has been (all season)...no question, particularly on offense," coach Tom Cable told reporters.

Cable expects left guard Robert Gallery (broken fibula), right tackle Cornell Green (calf strain), running back Darren McFadden (knee) and receiver Chaz Schilens (broken foot) to all suit up and play against Kansas City on Sunday at the Coliseum.

"It was very good today, very good," Cable said of Monday's welcome-back practice. "In terms of having them all back, and into sync, and the energy in the huddle and all those things, it was good to have them back."

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The Raiders also welcomed back another familiar face in defensive tackle William Joseph, who was re-signed to give the defensive line some much-needed depth. Offensive lineman Paul McQuistan was cut in the corresponding roster move.

"We've gotten through this whole time with just three inside (defensive) players," Cable said, "and felt like the second half we needed a fourth."

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Schilens, meanwhile, has been down this road before...a couple of weeks ago. That's when the Raiders put out a press release trumpeting the second-year receiver's return from the broken left foot he suffered in a non-contact training camp drill on Aug. 18. But there was too much pain in the foot and the "four-to-six week" injury is one day shy of 12 weeks old.

Still, he's pretty sure he'll be on the field against the Chiefs on Sunday, even if there's some residual pain.

"Yeah, it's not 100 percent like I'd like it to be," Schilens said, "but I've just got to work through it."

Schilens knows there are certain expectations placed on him by Cable.

"I guess he expects me to do well," Schilens said. "I have to go out there and do my job, just like everyone else has to go out there and do their job. I think if we have a good week of practice and prepare - we know what Kansas City does, we play them twice a year - we'll go out there and play well."

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Cable said he was "surprised" the Chiefs cut running back Larry Johnson. But that doesn't mean the Raiders are interested in his services.

"We're fine with who we have," Cable said.

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And despite reports swirling that the NFL is going to make Cable submit to some sort of "evaluation" in light of the Randy Hanson assault allegations, but not, specifically, due to last week's ESPN report that Cable hit a former wife as well as an ex-girlfriend, Cable said Monday he has not been contacted by the league since last speaking to reporters on Wednesday.

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The injury report: WR Chaz Schilens (foot), LG Robert Gallery (fibula) and DT Gerard Warren (ribs) practiced full; RB Darren McFadden (knee), RT Cornell Green (calf), TE Tony Stewart (chest) and CB Chris Johnson (groin) practiced limited; KR Nick Miller (shin), LB Ricky Brown (ankle), DE Greg Ellis (knee) and DT Tommy Kelly (personal issue) did not practice; and LB Slade Norris tweaked a hamstring in practice.

Kelly is expected back Tuesday, Cable said.

LIVE CHAT
Join us for our weekly NFL chat at 11 a.m. Tuesday. Matt Barrows, The Bee's 49ers beat writer, will kick things off at 11 a.m., followed by Paul Gutierrez on the Raiders at noon. Sign up now for an e-mail reminder.
sacbee.com/live

A thousand, a million apologies for the lack of Blog updates and Tweets on Twitter yesterday...my connection at Qualcomm was so slow it made logging on near impossible.

In any event, just wanted to give you a heads up that this is my week for "mandatory" vacation, per corporate, and as such, the Blog will be dark until next Monday.

Until then...

PG

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And while I'm logged on, the Raiders have released a pair of statements regarding the allegations of past physical abuse by Tom Cable on a pair of women from his past, and one on ESPN, which reported the story Sunday morning. Enjoy...and type at ya next week.

"Over the last few days, we learned of the allegations made against Coach Cable and we are, of course, aware of his response thereto. In conjunction with the League office, we will undertake a serious evaluation of this matter.
We wish to be clear that we do not in any way condone or accept actions such as those alleged.
There have been occasions on which we have dismissed Raider employees for having engaged in inappropriate conduct. For reasons of privacy, we kept the basis for those dismissals confidential. We endured public opprobrium for the dismissals, all the while knowing our basis for them was appropriate."

And, the Raiders' ESPN release:

"ESPN's role in this matter must be carefully examined. ESPN routinely disseminates falsehoods about the Raiders. During the last year, ESPN (working with someone who was in this organization) engaged in a calculated effort to distort the truth about the Raiders, utilizing lies and innuendo."