As my favorite SOB and yours reported below, the Raiders receiving corps decided to take a three hour tour through the Bermuda Triangle. If you or anyone you know has any information regarding the whereabouts of any of the Raiders WR's please contact 1-800-OHH-SHIT.
It may not be quite that bad. The only injury that is being reported as serious is Jonathan Holland's ankle. Although Jacoby Ford (quad) and Paul Hubbard (hamstring) both have injuries that can linger.
Let's hope Ford doesn't miss any significant amount of time as he seems to have some nice momentum going. His quad is just listed as sore, but quads and hamstrings are fickle things. See Mike Mitchell 2009.
On the bright side, Nick Miller is still going strong and if there's one thing I've learned about Miller is that you can count on him being ready to play on Sundays.
Enough of this depressing course of conversation and on to brighter things: At least we're not the Broncos.
The rest of the Raider related tidbits. Day 8 of camp was not just the day following 7 and preceding 9, Day 8 was special. The professional liar was in for a visit. The Mort Report brought its bus into town for an intimate sit down with Al Davis. A telling interview that finds Al opening up on his deepest feelings and plans for the future.
Jump on in for a link to this breathtaking interview...
Wait, as I was looking at Rated-R's link below apparently the interviews were with Nnam and JC. Surprisingly it was a good and fair read and Mort even said later that the Raiders had a shot at the playoffs. Mort couldn't resist that Napa Kool-Aid. Here's a picture of Mort's bus leaving camp:
That a kid, Mort. We knew you'd see the light.
To celebrate this joyous occasion Coach Cable had a live (tackling to the ground) practice in the morning. Cable was not impressed with the action he saw, but was not surprised either. Cable:
It looked like the first time we had been tackled or tackled anybody, but that’s why we’re doing it because it’s obviously been since last January when we tackled anybody, so we’ve got worked to do.
- The WR issues may not be as concerning as they looked. DHB had limited work today. He is a little sore in the shoulder, but said he is fine. As Sons said, Murph has a bruise on his foot and Chaz is progressing nicely and cautiously.
- Darren McFadden and Michael Bush failed to gain more than five yards on any carry--all of which were of the inside variety. We all know how Cable loves sending McFadden up the middle.
- Apparently the FB's were on the WR cruise, too. Luke Lawton, Marcel Reese and Manase Tonga all missed practice.
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Alex Daniels got some work at FB in the live drills and apparently was enthusiastic about blocking. At one point Trevor Scott told him to "chill".
- I really hope Daniels gets the hang of the fullbacking thing. I am getting a Raider crush on this dude.
- The officials were there for practice today and were at such a loss as to which side to be biased against they didn't throw a flag on every play. Cable said there were six flags, but maybe he was just dreaming of amusement parks. Either way, he felt that was too many. Cable:
That’s still too many. You would like to dial this thing in where you’re so disciplined and so good before the ball is snapped on offense, and defensively have the discipline to cover with your feet.
- Nick Miller is turning heads again. Law of averages would seem to dictate he stays healthy?
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Rolando McClain is wasting no time. He was barking out "instructions" to other rookies today.
- For all of those hoping Kellen Heard is going to contribute, I'm sorry. He didn't practice today and here is what Cable had to say about when asked where he was:
That's a good question. He wasn't on my list.
- Heard was later seen limping around and presumably muttering like Eeyore.
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Robert Gallery went down awkwardly but bounced back. He had his foot taped and appeared fine.
- Bruce Campbell got some run with the first team again today and was reported to hold his own against John Henderson. I have no idea what to make of reports like this. Good statement about Campbell or bad against Henderson?
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Richard Seymour got the day off, because he is just that cool. It's good to be the king.
- Jeremy Ware also missed practice today with a heel bruise.
- Zach Miller got a bunch of TD's today. What a concept. Throwing to your stud TE in the redzone. That Hue Jackson is a genius.
- Day 8 had two practices. The first featured live tackling and the second such exciting things as the QB spike and fair catches. So, special thanks to the reporters who stuck it out to give us this wonderful info. McDonald, Tafur, Gutierrez