I'm still a little bitter over everything that transpired last week but I'll get over it. It's time to forget and start talking about the players. Here are some notes from Jerry McDonalds blog:

Cable was pleased to see Justin Fargas back on the field as much for the potential of positive yardage as his positive influence.

Cable sees Fargas as part of the equation when the Raiders are attempting to get first downs and work the clock with a lead.

“In this system, we use the term ‘Gain a blade. Gain a blade of grass.’ Everything’s positive. Typically we don’t have but maybe one, two, maybe three at the most negative runs in a game,” Cable said. “If you look at the last couple, we’ve been at three, four five. (Justin) will go in there and get something positive and make the chains move, somehow, some way. And he really is a terrific finisher. He runs so violent it’s a great change-up with him and Darren and now Michael, it’s a good mix with all of them. But he can definitely, definitely make something positive happen at the end of a game.”

– Fargas said he wasn’t quite 100 percent, but expects to face the Saints Sunday in New Orleans.

“I feel pretty good. I’m going to keep rehabbing it, keep treating it, and get ready to go,” Fargas said.

– Darren McFadden was being held out as a precaution, not because of any sort of setback, Cable said.

“We probably could have done a little with him out there today but we thought, ‘Hey, why not? Let’s just rest it, be smart about it, give him a couple more days off it with tomorrow off and then we’ll go for it Wednesday,’ ” Cable said.

– Cornerback DeAngelo Hall, the only Raiders player who attended the press conference last week during which Al Davis detailed his reasons for firing coach Lane Kiffin, said the switch in coaches is nothing like what went on in Atlanta last season when Bobby Petrino bolted for Arkansas after 13 games.

“When Petrino packed up and left . . . it was hard to put the pieces back together,” Hall said. I don’t think Tom Cable has to do a whole lot in terms of getting us to win games. It’s just a matter of finishing games and not getting into back-and-forths in the newspaper with the owner. I’m sure he can definitely do that.”

Hall said he was having some work done at his home on the player’s day off, was going to work out anyway, and that he had “heard there was something going on, so I’m going to come on down. And I came on down, and the circus was on.”

His reaction? Hall said he was stunned so much has gone on between the owner and the coach, adding, “Maybe I was naive about it.”

Not suprisingly, Hall is standing behind the man who authorized $24.5 million in bonus money on a new contract when he was acquired from the Falcons.

“I definitely think this is still a great franchise,” Hall said. “This is Al’s baby. He treats it like a kid. He wants the best for it. He wants the best the same way I do for my children and I’m sure you guys
do with yours. You can hear the way he talks about the Oakland Raiders. It’s a passion of his. That passion is his life. You have to protect it and cherish what is yours. That’s what he did.”

– Hall said he would have no problem recruiting free agents to come play in Oakland, but inadvertantly touched on one of the problems with a franchise in which the head coach is not viewed as the absolute authority figure with regard to the on-field operation.

“Obviously there’s going to be a whole lot of stuff this offseason with trying to figure out who is going to be the head coach and all that all over again,” Hall said. “From the top down, I like it. We answer to Al. Al knows us personally.

“It’s nice when you have that personal relationship with the owner as opposed to trying to kiss up to every head coach who comes in. That’s when you probably have a problem. When you can sit down and talk to the owner about any problem, it makes it a little easier.”

– It remains to be seen how it will all play out Sunday, but Cable sounds as if he wants legitimate balance. Kiffin never fully trusted his passing game, and would occasionally throw the ball in clusters _ he called for six passes in eight plays early against the Bills _ before reining it back in.

“I don’t want to go out there and have drives where we threw it three times and we’re out or we ran it three times and we’re out. I don’t want that anymore,” Cable said. “I want to see balance. I want to see us take our shots down the field, and I want to see us get the lead, then I want us to turn it over to that backfield.”

– Tight end John Madsen was surprised to find himself back in a Raiders uniform. One week after being inactive for the first time since early in his rookie season, he was inactive against the Chiefs.

He was informed of his relief while getting dressed following the Friday practice as the Raiders were getitng ready to depart for Buffalo.

“I thought it was the end of my Raider career, actually,” Madsen said. “It kind of came out of the blue.”

Madsen said he had a workout with Baltimore and had another scheduled for this weekend in Cleveland.

– Ben Troupe, the tight end signed when Madsen was cut, could practice Wednesday, Cable said. Troup has practiced one time since Sept. 19, injuring his foot halfway through his first practice.

The Raiders continued to take it easy with cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha (elbow) safety Gibril Wilson (back), cornerback Stanford Routt (ankle) and are expecting all to go Wednesday.

– As good as second-year man Johnnie Lee Higgins has been, rookie Tyvon Branch will get some work returning kickoffs.

“That was the plan originally before the injury,” Cable said. “Johnnie’s done a terrific job but one thing that Branch is going to give us now, he’s going to give us some depth and he’s going to give us a chance to have two returners that we feel good about. He’s a super fast guy that will hit it and hit it quickly. So I think that’s a big bonus for us.”

Among kickoff return specialists with 15 or more returns, Higgins ranks six in the NFL with a 26.8 average and a long of 69 yards.

– Hall of Fame defensive end, Raider legend and Fox analyst Howie Long thinks Kiffin shouldn’t have been surprised regarding Davis’ level of involvement.

“I played there 13 years and 95% of the time Al Davis was a great owner,” Long said on Fox NFL Sunday. “It’s been 15 years since I’ve been part of the organization so I can’t speak to the day-to-day operations. But if you’re Lane Kiffin, you should know what you are getting into. He has access to a guy like Jon Gruden who coached there. Don’t be surprised when the owner who coached in the league and built three world championships gives input on a day-in-day-out basis on the goings on of the football team. Don’t be shocked by that.”