Oakland Raiders

Raiders defensive end Greg Ellis leaned forward and squinted his eyes in concentration. He was in the middle of answering a question about young teammates making him feel old when one of them went and made him feel old.

"They got music like that going," Ellis said, as rap music suddenly cranked to full blare behind him. "I guarantee that guy is not 30 years old, whoever's playing that."

Ellis isn't 30 years old, either. That was so three years ago. He'll turn 34 in 11 days. That makes the newest member of the Raiders one of the oldest members of the Raiders, all in the same June free-agent signing.

The Raiders brought in Ellis to act his age off the field. He has 12 years of experience with Pro Bowl credentials. This young defensive line (average tenure: 3.4 years) needs his leadership.

More urgently, the Raiders are now hoping Ellis won't act his age on the field. Former Pro Bowl defensive end Derrick Burgess is a training camp holdout with no arrival in sight. The void came out of nowhere.

Just like that, Ellis became the starting left defensive end, surrounded by 20-somethings, remembering the way he was when their age.

"Obviously, I'm the old man," said Ellis, who looks his age with a well-worn beard. "But that's how it goes. One thing they give me is their energy. It's a young team, so I need to pull off them for that."

Raiders owner Al Davis, who just turned 80, isn't sweating the birth certificate. He personally recruited Ellis when the lineman was released by the Cowboys, knowing some of Ellis' best work came when he was pushing 30.

At age 29, Ellis had a career-high nine sacks for the Cowboys. At age 32, Ellis topped that with 12.5 sacks to make the Pro Bowl as the league's comeback player of the year. All this came as a linebacker in a 3-4 scheme, when Ellis said he is more comfortable as a 4-3 defensive end.

Ellis added eight sacks last season, and that was with the Cowboys limiting his playing time off the bench. Ellis' eight sacks as a 33-year-old part-timer was three more than anyone on the Raiders last season.

"He's a veteran, he's a real pro," coach Tom Cable said. "We signed him for a purpose, to come in and play for us. Where it all worked out would be decided."

Burgess chose not to report to training camp in his contract year. He is being fined up to $15,888 a day. The Raiders show no indication they will end the stalemate by giving him a restructured deal, trading him or releasing him, according to a high-ranking team source.

If the Raiders hadn't signed Ellis, Burgess could have been the one with leverage right now. Burgess was the veteran leader with two Pro Bowls and 47 career sacks. No other defensive end on the roster has more than two years of playing experience or five career sacks.

Enter Ellis with 77 sacks in 11 seasons. Exit any worries the Raiders had when Burgess no-showed. If Burgess were to show up today, he'd most likely be on the second team.

"New beginnings, man," Ellis said.

Hitting time: The Raiders will finally put on the pads for contact today after four days of "teaching intensive" two-a-days, as Cable called them.

If the idea was to get these players amped to hit somebody, it worked.

"It's good that we'll finally be able to get our hands on the ball and judge how well we're actually doing," cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha said. "Because right now you really don't know.

"Maybe there will be a fight or two, get the juices flowing that way."

Briefly: Backup quarterback Jeff Garcia, 39, was limited in practice Sunday. He isn't injured but wants to stay fresh in his 11th camp. ... One benefit of non-contact practices: no injuries after five days.

Camp competitions

Here are the starting jobs up for grabs when the Raiders finally put pads on for hitting today at training camp. Keep in mind, running back and receiver will be by committee, for now.
Left tackle

Front-runner: Mario Henderson

Challenger: Khalif Barnes

Handicap: Barnes is the import with experience, but Henderson has Al Davis' seal of approval.
Wide receiver

Front-runner: Johnnie Lee Higgins

Challenger: Darrius Heyward-Bey

Handicap: Higgins hasn't been an every-down producer, DHB is getting paid to be one.
Middle linebacker

Front-runner: Kirk Morrison

Challenger: Ricky Brown

Handicap: Morrison is the team's leading tackler, but Brown will give some push.
Cornerback

Front-runner: Chris Johnson

Challenger: Stanford Routt

Handicap: Routt gets a chance here, just in case Johnson was a one-hit wonder for half of last season.
Free safety

Front-runner: Hiram Eugene

Challenger: Michael Huff

Handicap: Maybe Huff wins his job back. Maybe he gets cut. It's that hard to tell after three tough years.










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