Silver and Black Report

Oakland Raiders wide receiver Chaz Schilens went through arthroscopic knee surgery. He will be out indefinitely, as head coach Tom Cable did not reveal the length of his recovery.

For a second straight campaign, Schilens is likely to miss the opener due to an impairment. He broke the fifth metatarsal bone in his left foot on August 18, 2009 and did not see action until the latter part of the campaign.

The 24-year old is looked at as the Raiders number one target, but why has he warranted such regard?

Schilens has only 44 career receptions for 591 yards and 4 scores and has only been elevated up the depth chart based on the weakness of the Raiders wide receiver corps.

By default, you can put the spotlight on Schilens. Darrius Heyward-Bey is still a project, Louis Murphy is in development as much as any other young target on the roster and every other wide receiver is either a special teamer at best or wouldn’t round out any other club’s receiving unit.

Schilens still has to prove he can play 16-games. Not just a full complement of games, but play at a high level against opposing starters that know that he’ll be getting the ball and that has the burden of being a ‘go to guy.’ Something he has never been and has not been able to prove at the pro level.

This just proves the fragility of the Raiders receiving department.

And if any one of these players miss extended time, regardless of who’s running the offense now, the aerial game will remain anemic.

• Alex Daniels switched his jersey number from 39 to 71. The move from lineman to fullback was not as expected. “I just didn’t feel like we made the improvement as quickly as I’d hoped,” Cable said. “He was brought in here, started out on defense to be a pass rusher, and obviously, it’s good to get a set of legs back over there. It just didn’t feel like to me it was working.”
• Langston Walker (back) Richard Seymour (triceps) and Samson Satele (ankle) did not practice yesterday.
• Jay Richardson expects to be ready for the opener after undergoing surgery on his meniscus tear.
• Bruce Gradkowski is expected to play in the final two pre-season contests.

Follow me on Twitter, click here.

Contact Author: Victor Cotto – SB Report Columnist