FB Gary Russell, going into the Raiders' surprising 13-9 win over the Philadelphia Eagles, summed up his philosophy this way: "Get on them before they see you," Russell said. "Once they see you, they're coming downhill on you and it makes it more difficult." Russell was talking about blocking assignments against the myriad blitz packages employed by the Eagles, but he could have been talking about his involvement in the receiving game as well. Because when it was all over and the Raiders had broken a three-game losing streak, the Eagles didn't know what hit them. Russell, making his first start at fullback, caught five passes for 55 yards, the most by an Oakland fullback since Jon Ritchie in 2000. Included was a 13-yard swing pass from quarterback JaMarcus Russell on a late third-and-10 that enabled the Raiders to kill the clock in a victory formation. "You saw that in camp," coach Tom Cable said of Russell's skill as a receiver. "He pretty much got caught up in a numbers game with the amount of tailbacks we had. But he's a guy with a little bit of size to him, and he certainly showed he's capable in his short time being back here." Russell rejoined the Raiders just last week because of injuries to running back Darren McFadden and injuries to Oren O'Neal (injured reserve with an ankle injury) and Luke Lawton, out for the Eagles game with an ankle injury. At 5-foot-11, 215 pounds, Russell was predominantly a short-yardage back with the Pittsburgh Steelers, scoring the first touchdown in the last Super Bowl. He led the Raiders in rushing in the preseason with 155 yards on 28 carries, but was needed to start at fullback against the Eagles. As a receiver, Cable was confident of his abilities, but the stark reality is that Russell had only one career reception with the Steelers going into the game and it lost two yards. Russell expressed confidence going into the game regarding his blocking, having played the Eagles before, as well as the Baltimore Ravens, 10/20/2009

The Oakland Raiders have bolstered their backfield by signing Russell and fullback Lorenzo Neal.
05/08/2009