Oakland Raiders

The Raiders walked through another unexciting practice Sunday. The good news, for those wanting breaking developments, is this the fourth and final day of non-contact, "teaching intensive" practices at training camp.

The pads come on Monday, and so begins actual competition for starting jobs on both sides of the field.

Quarterback Jeff Garcia, for one, was resting up Sunday to give JaMarcus Russell a good push from here on out.

Garcia hardly practiced Sunday morning. This, after not throwing during Saturday's p.m. workout.

Garcia said he's fine, just staying fresh in advance of Monday's big practice. Raiders coach Tom Cable said this is how it'll be for Garcia at this late stage of his career.

"Kind of saving things for tomorrow to get out there and be fresh," Garcia said. "Being a little older these days, kind of letting the other guys get some good work and mental work and physical work. We're not doing a whole lot of throwing anyways."

** Lots of people are asking how rookie safety Mike Mitchell. The answer: as inactive as anyone else in practices where hitting, passing and executing plays is disallowed.

"A guy that's getting lined up right, making the right calls, really not too much again until we get rolling tomorrow," Cable said when asked what he was seeing of Mitchell.

** And yes, Cable noticed the players are ready to just hit someone. He'll have a talk with the team tonight to remind them these are their teammates, so not so rough.

"Like today, we did short-yardage goal line so the edge is there to not have the offense not get in the end zone and yet it's controlled," Cable said. "Yeah sure, they're itching. We want to light it up and have the purpose, the right kind of purpose behind it. The most important thing is to stress these are your teammates."

And this from Nnamdi Asomugha: "Intensity is good, though, and aggressiveness is good, and maybe there will be a fight or two. Maybe we'll get the juices flowing that way, but it will be good."

** Passes aren't thrown in team drills, but it's worth noting Darrius Heyward-Bey is almost always with the first-team offense and almost always covered by Asomugha.

** Speaking of competition, Cable said that, yes, he will still consider moving the loser at left tackle over to right tackle to compete with Cornell Green during camp.

So far, Green is taking all the first-team snaps with Erik Pears exclusively on the second team.

** No Derrick Burgess update from Cable as the holdout reaches Day 5. He can be fined up to $15,888 a day for not showing up to camp while under contract.

If Al Davis doesn't go ahead and cut Burgess soon, the former Pro Bowl defensive end may end up reporting if only because the fines pile up.

** Unusual drill of the day: the Raiders ran a 2-minute offense, except they never threw the ball.

How? The play would develop for about 3 seconds, a whistle gets blown and Cable yells out a result.

"First down, gain of 10, out of bounds!" "Gain of 9, second down!"

The Raiders weren't perfect in the simulated drill. "That's a sack!"

The imaginary highlight was Todd Watkins' 20-yard gain on the left sideline against Asomugha.

** Wondering if this camp format is going to translate on the field? We'll see over the next eight practices after today.

The Raiders will go back to everything they did Day 1 and do everything all over again, only at game speed with pads.

At least Cable knows this is an unorthodox way to get ready for a season. Asked what his coaches first thought of all this, Cable said, "They sat there and looked at me at first."

** And lastly, behold the power of Twitter: "Do you know how long it takes to (pee) test 25 dudes, at one time, with a 2 man crew, and only 2 urinals?"

Probably a lot longer than it took for him to thumb together that thought on his Blackberry.


Raiders Pro Bowl cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha is ready for some real football, and so are the rest of his teammates.

After opening camp with four straight two-a-day practices without contact, the Raiders will practice in pads Monday for the first time. Asomugha expects practice to get heated.

"It will. I guarantee it will," Asomugha said after Sunday morning's workout. "Intensity is good, though, and aggressiveness is good, and maybe there will be a fight or two. Maybe we'll get the juices flowing that way, but it will be good."

Raiders coach Tom Cable used the first four days of practice to review the team's offensive and defensive schemes. Now the "learning phase," as Cable called it, is ending, and the hitting phase is about to begin.

Running back Darren McFadden said practicing four days without pads "just builds the tension up" for Monday's practice in pads. "I'm very anxious. We've been out there kind of half speed. You're ready to get out and get going full speed and see if this learning will pay off for us."

Asomugha said he's looking forward to playing defense against quarterbacks who actually get to throw the ball, unlike the first four days.

"I think guys are really ready to start going and ready to start hitting," he said. "As far as the corners, we don't hit that much anyways, so we're pretty much doing what we'll be doing anyway. It's good that we'll finally be able to get our hands on the ball and be able to judge it and see how well we're actually doing, because right now you really don't know."

Cable said he'll warn his players not to get too physical against fellow teammates.

"We want to light it up and have the purpose, the right kind of purpose behind it," Cable said. "The most important thing is to stress these are your teammates."

GARCIA TAKES A BREAK: Quarterback Jeff Garcia didn't take snaps or take part in any throwing drills during Sunday morning's practice, but he said he's not injured.

"Kind of saving things for tomorrow to get out there and be fresh," said Garcia, 39. "Being a little older these days, kind of letting the other guys get some good work and mental work and physical work. We're not doing a whole lot of throwing anyways."

EXTRA POINTS: Defensive end Derrick Burgess still hasn't reported to camp — it's Day 4 of his holdout. ... Cable said he expects rookie safety Mike Mitchell to push for a starting job. "Has to," Cable said. "Competition starts tomorrow. It's on. And everyone's got to fight for a job. ... So I expect him to push everyone and anyone who's at his position." ... Defensive tackle Ryan Boschetti, a free-agent pickup, has been getting some work at defensive end. "He's done that in his career," Cable said. ... Cable said that the loser of the battle at left tackle between current starter Mario Henderson and challenger Khalif Barnes might move to right tackle, where Cornell Green is working with the first unit. Barnes, though, said he hasn't worked on the right side since college. Asked if he'd be comfortable moving to the right tackle, he said, "To be honest with you, no. ... I've been so used to being in this stance for so long, it'd be awkward to be over there," the former Jacksonville Jaguar said.







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