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October 18, 2007

More special teams changes?

ALAMEDA – Running back Dominic Rhodes might get his hands on the football in a new role.

Rhodes worked as a kick returner during practice this morning. Of course, that doesn’t mean that he’ll do that on Sunday, but such a move would make sense.

The Raiders have only three healthy safeties (Stuart Schweigert, Michael Huff and Jarrod Cooper) meaning cornerback Chris Carr could take on a bigger role at safety in addition to returning punts and kickoffs.

Rhodes handling kickoffs would be one less thing for Carr to worry about on special teams.

Rhodes hasn’t returned a kickoff since 2005. But after watching most of the game in San Diego, Rhodes might welcome the notion of returning kicks just to get himself involved.

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Half of the Raiders’ starting defensive line (Warren Sapp, Gerard Warren) weren’t practicing. Warren (quadriceps) did run laps around the practice field.

Sapp (ankle) wasn’t dressed to practice. Starting offensive linemen Cornell Green (knee) and Jeremy Newberry (ankle) returned to practice.

--Jason Jones

Posted by Ahmed Ortiz at 12:08 PM | Comments |