Raiders Notebook: Darren McFadden, Mike Goodson and Richard Seymour ruled out

Raiders starting running back Darren McFadden, backup running back Mike Goodson and starting defensive tackle Richard Seymour were ruled out for Sunday's game against New Orleans.

McFadden and Goodson are recovering from high-ankle sprains they suffered against Tampa Bay and will be sidelined for a second straight game. Seymour injured a hamstring against the Bucs and will also miss his second straight game.

McFadden appears to be further along in his comeback than Goodson. He's out of his walking boot. According to the Raiders, he worked with a trainer on the sidelines Friday for the second straight day. Goodson is still in a walking boot.

Branch update: Starting strong safety Tyvon Branch practiced Friday for the first time this week but was limited and is questionable for Sunday's game.

Raiders coach Dennis Allen said Branch's availability for Sunday will be a game-time decision. Asked if Branch took a big step forward, Allen said, "It's a better step forward. It's better than (if) he didn't practice. But he was limited in practice."

Branch said he doesn't know if he'll be able to play and extend his streak of 57 starts.

"I'm not sure yet," Branch said. "It's a day-to-day thing right now."

Branch said he "came out on the bad side of a hit on one play" at Baltimore but didn't know how severely he was injured until he was on the plane ride back to Oakland.

"It's one of those things where I was on the plane and it just kept getting tighter and tighter," Branch said. "It's just kind of stiff. All-around soreness."

Branch downplayed the importance of extending his streak of starts, which began with the 2009 season-opener in his second season as a Raider.

"You don't want to miss any games," Branch said. "This is what we love to do, so I don't want to miss any games. It's not about streak; it's about missing a game."

If Branch can't play, backup strong safety Mike Mitchell will start Sunday.

Heyward-Bey sidelined again: Starting WR Darrius Heyward-Bey missed his second straight practice Friday after tweaking a hamstring on Wednesday. He's questionable for Sunday's game.

"He's feeling a lot better," Allen said. "It will be a game-time decision as to whether he plays."

If Heyward-Bey can't play, then Derek Hagan, his primary backup, will start against the Saints, Allen said. Rookie Juron Criner has also been working behind Heyward-Bey and would get more playing time if he can't play. Rookie Rod Streater, listed as Denarius Moore's backup, would likely also see more snaps.

Sneak preview: Raiders second-year tight end Richard Gordon said he's not surprised that Saints TE Jimmy Graham has become such a big star in the NFL, despite playing just one year of college football at Miami after four seasons of basketball.

Gordon was Graham's teammate at Miami and saw him quickly blossom

"I saw it all coming," Gordon said. "He was always around campus. We would always ask him to play football. He wouldn't ever come out. Once he did come out he was really good. His biggest (problem) was blocking. He was never scared of football when he first came out. Just his blocking was bad. Other than that, just him going up and getting the ball, he could do that all day."

The 6-foot-7, 265-pound Graham, a third-round draft pick in 2010, has become a huge matchup problem for NFL defenses. He caught 99 passes for 1,310 yards and 11 TDs last season. This year he has caught 45 passes for 533 yards and seven touchdowns.

"He's got real confidence, and right now he's aggressive," Gordon said. "He used to not want to get hit, but now he'll hit you. He changed a lot. He's blocking and everything now. That's the best thing of his game now. He's all-around."

D-line coach expected back soon: Defensive line coach Terrell Williams, whose son, Tyson, died last week of a illness at the age of 4, is expected to rejoin the team on Monday, Allen said.

"I talked to him. We talked about coming back on Monday," Allen said. "He's still got some of the funeral process to go through, but he'll do that in Florida this week, and we anticipate him being back, coming to work on Monday."

Eric Sanders, a quality-control coach on defense, has taken the "lead role" with the defensive line in Williams' absence, Allen said. "But everybody's had to take a little bit extra on to fill that role."

Allen said the death of Williams' son hit the Raiders hard.

"No. 1, first and foremost, you feel terrible for Terrell and Tifini for what they had to go through," Allen said. "You don't know how people are going to respond to that, but the biggest thing is you try to keep everybody informed of what's going on and be there for them in case they need something, and that's really what we tried to do. You can't help but have emotions about that, and it was a tough situation."

Extra points: LB Aaron Curry was fined $23,625 for his two personal fouls against Baltimore, and LB Philip Wheeler was fined $7,875 for a facemask penalty, ESPN is reporting.

Follow Raiders reporter Eric Gilmore on Twitter @CBSRaiders.