It's Getting Hot in Here. So Scope Up All Your Knees

Tuesday marks the start of the last week of training camp for the Raiders and Mother Nature brought the heat. Temperatures were reported to reach roughly 175 degrees in Napa on Tuesday. This should provide at least a little taste of what conditions will likely be like for the season opener in Tennessee. Cable:

...we’ve got to go and open at Tennessee, so we’re going to need to be in this kind of environment a little bit. And it was good for it. I really am excited how we handled it today as a football team

Other than the heat, the big news of the day was the reporting of the Raiders injury status. Of course, what the Raiders say about injuries really doesn't mean much, but it's all we got.

Chaz Schilens had his knee successfully scoped. The Raiders didn't give any timetable for his return. It was, however, similar to what Jay Richardson had done a couple of weeks ago. J-Rich told reporters today that he expected to be back by Week One. This would put his recovery time in the 3-4 week period.

Applying this timetable to the Schilens conversion, I think we can expect Chaz back in week 3...of next year. Maybe it'll be sooner, maybe it'll be never. Who knows? I am just going to stop thinking about him and any time he plays, I'll consider it a cool door prize.

The WR corp was not all doom and gloom on this day as the worlds scariest roller coaster was climbing back up after it's latest free-fall. DHB was back on the field and looking good. Well...I am glad he is through with that bout of fatigue. When asked about his absence Darrius put forth little effort to keep the thinly veiled ruse going. Of course, maybe he was just too tired to do so. DHB:

Just fatigue, same thing coach Cable said. Whatever he said.

Players were actually joking with DHB about it all. At one point, after catching a TD pass JLH said "I'm tired," in DHB's direction. We'll probably never know what was going on.

As Winston Churchill once said about the Raiders reporting of such situations, "It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma."

Whatever, I am just glad he is back and that he performed well. I am not expecting anything, but how gratifying would it be to see him outperform Michael Crabsinhistree on Saturday?

McFadden was back at it as well and should be on display for the first time in Hue's offense on Saturday. Cable wouldn't comment on his workload and it'd be just fine with me if it was light. Let's keep him healthy. Give him about five carries and a couple of passes and call it a day.

Samson Satele is out for Saturday, but his ankle sprain is not serious. It sounds like we will be seeing him in Week One. The bigger question now is, who is going to take his spot on Saturday? Cable wouldn't commit to Morris or Veldheer.

Cable had enough confidence in Veldheer to put him in against Julius Peppers, so why not try him at Center this week? Whenever he comes in, Veldheer should see a lot of snaps at Center this week.

Part of me worries that by splitting Veldheer's duties like this that it will stunt his growth as a Tackle, which is ultimately where I hope he finds his success, but Cable has always been a big proponent of Offensive lineman versatility and if there is any chance he can upgrade the Center position this year, I'll be all for it. We should have a much better idea if this is a possibility after Saturday. 

Other news and notes:

• Chris Johnson is still sitting out practice. There is no official word, but I'd be surprised if he played Saturday.
• Also missing Tuesday's practice were, Richard Seymour who was listed as rehabbing a tricep.
• Langston Walker only had limited participation, because of lower back issues. My back would hurt too, if I was 568 lbs. and it was 229 degrees out.
  
• Alex Daniels was moved back to DE. Cable said he hasn't progressed as he hoped. Total bum-out on that one.
  
• For those of us who may wish to gamble a bit, here are some odds courtesy of SBR Forum:
  
• 80-1 for Super Bowl Champs. 40-1 for AFC champs. 8-1 AFC West Champs.
• Death Ro' is 10-1 to win NFL Rookie of the year. This makes him the highest defensive candidate and the fourth overall.
  
• Apparently Ro' is going to have to win over fans by his play on the field, because according to Mr. Tafur, he hasn't signed any autographs this camp. Hopefully he will sign at other times and/or show some love to the Nation in other ways.
  
• The sources: McDonald and Tafur