--The Raiders had two delay of game penalties, two false starts and three offsides penalties, accounting for seven of their nine whistles in a 16-13 win over Minnesota.
"I hate to go back to last year, and I know people hate talking about the past, but that's what we did last year," running back LaMont Jordan said. "Pretty much the same things have been preached, but what we have to do is actually go out there and get the job done."
--Wide receiver Randy Moss caught one pass for 16 yards against Minnesota, then created a mini-controversy that probably didn't deserve the attention it got when he complained about being taken out in the middle of a series.
Moss never raised his voice, but the comments were construed in some outlets as Moss having "ripped" the coach.
Shell didn't seem to mind.
"Randy is no different than any other ballplayer," Shell said. "Fred Biletnikoff used to be frustrated. Young Cliff Branch used to be frustrated. All those guys were frustrated. They all wanted the ball and I understand that. That's good. That means he's competitive and he wants to do well."
--Undrafted free agent tight end John Madsen, a converted wide receiver, is impressing the Raiders with his overall athletic skill. That comes as no surprise to 49ers quarterback Alex Smith, who played with Madsen at Utah and remembers watching him at 4-on-4 basketball tournaments.
"At the end there would be a slam-dunk contest," Smith said. "Here's this guy from Utah up there doing these 360 degree windmills, throwing them down, putting on a show. To see him do that was amazing."
--Sebastian Janikowski, having gone from 265 pounds to 249, hit his first six kicks of the pre-season, including dead-center efforts from 55, 51 and 50 yards.
There was talk after last season, when Janikowski missed a third of his 30 field goal attempts and missed eight of 15 from 40 yards and beyond, that he could be looking for a new team.
Instead, Shell did the opposite.
"I told him when I first met him, `I'm going to count on you,' " Shell said. "I expect you to be a Pro Bowl kicker this year. You have the talent to do that, and I expect that will happen."
Janikowski maintains he struck the ball well for the most part last season, but simply had little or no luck.
"I thought I hit the ball good, it just didn't happen," Janikowski said. "It's like a golf swing -- you hit the ball good but it goes left and right."
Speaking of golf, Raiders punter Shane Lechler thinks Janikowski's hot start could lead to something big.
"He plays golf the same way," Lechler said. "If he birdies one, look out. It's going to be a long day."
--Jerry Porter remained on the roster and was making the occasional practice, although he has stopped talking to the media since making his trade demands public at the beginning of training camp.
Safety Jarrod Cooper, when asked if Porter's problems were a business issue as opposed to a team issue, minced no words regarding the unhappy wide receiver.
"I've been in this league six years. I've been the third safety, the second safety, the first safety," Cooper said. "If you have someone who is upset because he's running at three, but he's still contributing to the team, you really don't want that person. You want someone who's contribute any way they're asked, no matter where it's at. That's what you want. If they're not like that, they can get out of here. It's about winning as a team, it's not what you're doing."
QUOTE TO NOTE "I don't see it. Hell no, I don't see it. It seems that way in practice, but when we get into the games, it doesn't seem like we're moving in the right direction." -- Raiders wide receiver Randy Moss when asked if the team's offense is making progress following a win over Minnesota.
Copyright (C) 2006 The Sports Xchange. All Rights Reserved.
Silver and Black legends have eye on young players David White, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, July 7, 2009 (07-06) 19:52 PDT -- Oakland rookie Mike Mitchell remembers well his first peek behind the eye patch at Raiders headquarters. The Lombardi Trophies shined, the team slogans resounded, the black-a
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So I was sitting on the sh*tter thinking about how good Heyward-Bey could potentially be considering his "attributes" and potential and got to thinking doesnt this guy represent every element of what you want in a first rounder.
I mean when you think of late rounders, these are guys that lack the measurables like size and speed or a nice combination of both and its all hit and
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I keep looking at the Raiders schedule for this upcoming season and I keep thinking we got screwed!. This upcoming season will be tough. I know Denver wont be strong after losing Cutler and Shannahan. The Chargers should improve with Merriman back, and the
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Afternoon fellas & Nis ( if your still out there ) as I sit in my office today, bored outta my mind Im thinking how nice it would be to just shut all the haters up this year, obviously. I was watching NFL live the other day and Mark "uber homer" schelerth was sputting off at the mouth claiming that he was on board with the moves that the donks made this offseason, and
More crap from the BSPN crew. You'd think they'd be able to find something else to discuss, but they continue to make it sound like such a huge deal that JaMarcus Russell wasn't at the last OTA day. I'm sorry, but didn't OTAs end a couple weeks ago. There's no story there. There could be a very good reason
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The Judge in the trial of confessed Killer Mohammed Haroon Ali, has ordered a retrial, claiming that the prosecuter was racist in dismising the only "two black potential" jurors. So lets see a proseuctur , who had nothing to do with selecting the jurors selected in the intial pool, dismisses some jurors, and now he/she has to consider that hey even though the juror
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NOT a fan of Sapp. Let's start there. The question came up to Sapp, "will Garcia see much playing time this year?" Sapps reply was he thinks he will start for the Raiders this year? He thinks he's got some type of in with them still. I don't think he's got too many fans on that team anymore. It sounds that the private workout w
By now, everyone on this board has got their taste of this idiot who pretends to be a fan of the Raiders! I for one am sick of him spewing his nonsense of how Russell won't be good, Heyward-Bay could of been gotten in the second round, Javon sux(well until he proves otherwise, this isn't 06, I'l agree), that Sapp is right bout everyth
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i know this is a sore-subject to all of us, but i was watching america's game on NFLN the other night & they had on the snow-bowl game where we lost to NE on the BS tuck-rule. i just wanted to reflect on that game for a moment. every entity, be-it teams, nations, heritages, have history and while they all may not be positive, they do sculpt what is to come. when our country went thru pearl har
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Afternoon from the beach nation. I just read several posts regarding our potentialy shopping terdel sands this 4th of july weekend. My proposal- package him and burgess and ship them out to NE for Vince Wilfork. The logic: its pretty clear that belicheck doesn't wanna pay wilfork and using a 2nd round-pick on a stud NT in
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This is more a question than anything else. Has anyone heard anything about the private workout between the QB's and WR's . When? where? How did it go? Was Garcia there ? Any news will help me get thru this waiting game. Thanks!
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i am bored out of my skull today @ work so i figured i'd make this poll up. if you had the opportunity to RIGHT NOW trade STRAIGHT-UP Darren McFadden & Michael Bush for
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