Oakland Raiders

Up to today, the Raiders had gone through OTA's and training camp without a hitch. Besides Derrick Burgess' hold-out, Robert Gallery's appendectomy, and Javon Walker having an unannounced surgery in an undisclosed location, the offseason has been quiet and uneventful.

Today, that might have changed.

Several players were shaken up in practice and one may be out for an extended period of time. Khalif Barnes went down towards the end of the morning practice when Ryan Boschetti was blocked into his knee by James Marten on a passing play. Barnes was taken for an MRI on his knee and ankle, but no word at this time on the results.

Mike Mitchell came off the field, shaken up after breaking up a pass thrown by Charlie Frye to Todd Watkins. His awkward landing gave him a helmet full of grass, but he was able to come back in after a few minutes.

Mark Wilson left the field after getting back spasms during a pass rush drill, but it shouldn't be an issue going forward.

The biggest news was that of Nnamdi Asomugha going down with what appeared to be a hip pointer. Asomugha left the field and was attended to by trainers for several minutes as they stretched his legs. Asomugha came back on the field and didn't seem to have a problem running, but he was still holding his hip. Later, when asked about it, he said that his hip flexor had tightened up on him and that he was fine.

Oh yeah, my hip flexor was tight. Oh, nothing gets past you all. Nothing gets past you. It was a little tight, but I'm -- it's fine, it's nothing, I just need to stretch a little more.

- Asomugha telling reporters about his non-injury after practice Tuesday morning

Here are this morning's quick hits:

* Jeff Garcia was wearing a jersey and a ball cap, but he wasn't wearing pads or a helmet during the day. Coach Cable did say that he was, "progressing very well." After practice, Garcia was working on his legs with weights and isometric excercises and he didn't look like he was having too much trouble with either.

* Robert Gallery and Javon Walker are still out, but they are not expected back for another week. Gallery was on the field watching his teammates, but I didn't see Walker until after practice when he was walking out of the weight room.

* Justin Miller, Nick Miller, Samie Parker, and Johnnie Lee Higgins all practiced catching punts from the juggs machine.

* Mark Davis, Steve Wisniewski, Zack Crockett, and William Thomas were all watching at the start of practice.

* The beginning of practice starts out similarly to the 'learning intensive' sessions that the Raiders went through until Monday night. The defense was practicing blitzes, but only at walking speed. Ricky Brown is getting work as the starting middle linebacker.

* Nick Miller continues to impress. During passing drills, Miller went out on a 20-yard crossing pattern and the ball looked like it might be thrown too far ahead of him. It was almost as if he had another gear when he sped up and made the catch. At 5'9" and 180 lbs., he's easy to root for, but many don't see him with a shot at cracking the 53-man roster. I don't agree. If the media is anticipating his next catch, chances are that the coaches are too. Later in practice, while being covered, Charlie Frye threw a 35-yard pass over to the right sideline. Again, the pass looked out of reach, but Miller got there, dove and caught the ball in his outstretched arms to a chorus of 'oohs' and cheers from his teammates and onlookers.

* Louis Murphy continues to put in solid days. He has deceptive speed and he doesn't drop many balls -- if any. While he hasn't been the story of camp, he has shown to be, quite possibly, the Raiders' best draft pick of 2009.

* While we're on receivers and draft picks, we may as well talk about Darrius Heyward-Bey. On a go-route down the left sidelines, Charlie Frye threw a beautiful bomb of about 35 yards that would've caused DHB to catch the ball over his shoulder. Frye hit his receiver in stride, but the first-round pick's hands careened the ball into his helmet as if they were made of cement. I would estimate that during camp he has dropped about 40% of the balls thrown to him -- a percentage that shouldn't be anywhere near 10% when you are the seventh pick of the draft as a receiver.

* JaMarcus Russell looked better today, but we didn't get a chance to see him throwing many intermediate routes, a definite weakness of his. In fact, the few routes that he had trouble with were 10 to 20 yards. His consistency needs to improve and that may have to do with his footwork. Some of his throws were without setting his feet, which caused some of his passes to sail off-mark.

* Starting offensive line had no changes, with McQuistan playing left guard. He and Chris Morris are still rotating.

* Jay Richardson was playing with the first team. Greg Ellis started practice, then he was stretched out, but he never returned to the field -- at least not with a helmet on. He watched with everyone else not playing. Cable was asked if Ellis was just getting rest, "Yeah, that's all, just being smart with the veterans, and you'll see that as we go now. If there's someone that's not dressed it may not mean they're injured or anything like that, just want to make sure we're taking care of their bodies." We'll see later today how accurate that answer was.

* Ricky Brown took most of the snaps at middle linebacker with Thomas Howard on the weak side and John Alston on the strong side. It's hard not to read anything into it, since the Raiders attempted to get a middle linebacker this offseason in the draft and with undrafted free agents. We'll chalk it up to coincidence for now, but we'll keep our eyes open too.

* The defense looked much better today. They seemed to pressure the quarterback regularly and stopped the run better than we are used to seeing. The only problem is they are still having breakdowns. On one play, Cooper Carlisle cleared a hole so big that an actual Mack Truck could have fit through it. On another play, Louis Rankin busted through another huge hole on the left side of the line and scampered for a 70-yard touchdown. These breakdowns are a problem, but IT IS only the second day with pads on. There was a period where the defense was making their way by the offensive line with ease. Jay Richardson had what would've been a sack if it were an actual game, Matt Shaughnessy had one, Ryan Boschetti and Shaughnessy rushed Charlie Frye out of the pocket on consecutive plays and a few plays later, Morrison blitzed into the backfield to get to Rankin. This prompted Cable to instruct the offensive line, which seemed to help.

* Hit of the day was a pop that Mike Mitchell gave to backup halfback Gary Russell. Russell stayed upright and kept running, but Mitchell eased up on the hit. Russell had performed a nice cutback run when Mitchell came zooming over and the two met with a thunderous "POP". Mitchell has looked good in coverage, minus some rookie moments. As of yet, there is nothing to indicate that he wasn't worth the second-round selection.

* After practice had ended and Cable had addressed the team, a fight broke out between Tony Stewart and Jon Alston. No punches were thrown and nobody confirmed that it was a fight, but one reporter overheard Stewart telling another teammate that Alston had brushed his facemask during a play in practice that he thought had ended. I tried to get Stewart after practice, but like a good receiver, he was able to juke me and make it to the parking lot before I or anyone else could ask a question.

* Terdell Sands and Tommy Kelly have been putting some time in on the cardio machines after practice. I don't know if they need to lose weight...yet. They are definitely getting a better workout after practice than they do during the course of practice.







................................................................................