Silver and Black Report

The Oakland Raiders (2-0) will host the San Francisco 49ers (2-0) on Saturday evening. Both teams are expected to go with their starters for extended periods in the yearly Bay Area match-up. For San Francisco, two of their cornerstones on offense will see action for the first time. As for the Raiders, expect Jason Campbell to see first half action and then give away to Bruce Gradkowski who is fired up to finally get on the field. “Yeah, I feel good. I’m ready to rock and roll,” Gradkowski commented this week. “Shoot, I miss it. I’ve been champing at the bit. I’m just excited to get back out there this weekend.”

OAKLAND RAIDERS

On Offense:

Breaking News: Hue Jackson has spoken – publicly. Yesterday, the first year Raiders offensive coordinator briefed the media and gave a lot of insight on the 2010 offense for the Silver & Black.

“I hope it’s already looking different,” said Jackson when asked if the attack looked different. “The most important thing is we’re striving for balance. We want to be a team that we can run the football when we need to run it and we can throw it when we need to throw it. We’re a multiple formation team. We have some no huddle. We do a little bit of everything. We do whatever it takes to win football games. That’s the most important thing that I’ve stressed from our coaches to our players that whatever it takes to win that’s what we’re going to do.”

One of his more eye-popping statements was: “Honestly, we’re trying to build a bully here.”

This third pre-season game will go a long way in doing that. Oakland will start Jared Veldheer at centerfor the injured Samson Satele. Satele and the rest of the line has not been punishing opposing front-seven’s and if they want to run the ball as Jackson will like, they have to assert themselves quickly. Veldheer is a project and the transition to the pros as a rookie along the trenches is very daunting. But if Oakland can get any tough play in the interior with their mammoth draft pick, he may be their best option to start bullying opponents.

On Defense:

Everyone is all smiles on defense, so far. Oakland’s best player believes that this edition of the Raiders is headed into the campaign with as much positivity as any other club he has been on.

“We’ve accomplished a lot, and being able to put out good practices and win games in the preseason, it goes a long way,” Nnamdi Asomugha said. ` Just getting the wins, even though it’s preseason, it’s just getting those wins builds your confidence and gets you used to it.”

One player with loads of confidence right now is Kamerion Wimbley. His four-sack performance has injected a lot of high expectations for the rebuilt linebacker unit. “I’m just happy we got him,” Tom Cable stated  “I’m glad they didn’t want him, if that’s the case, and he’s ours.”

“Since I have been in the league, that’s what teams have been trying to stop with me,” Wimbley said. “Pressuring the quarterback. The momentum-changing sack. Beating up their quarterback.”

Oakland has pounced on quarterbacks 12 times this pre-season – most in the NFL.

A reason the Raiders look better on defense is the addition of Mike Waufle. His tutelage and experience has added a lot to a staff that already consisted of solid teachers such as, Defensive coordinator John Marshall, linebackers coach Mike Haluchak and secondary coach Lionel Washington.

SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS

On Offense:

Quarterback Alex Smith will have a full complement of starts around him this Saturday. Running back Frank Gore and second year target Michael Crabtree are expected to make their pre-season debuts against the Raiders.

“I just want to see our guys continue to take another step — just continue to execute and continue the progression,” head coach Mike Singletary stated.

Newly acquired running back Brian Westbrook is also slated to take some reps, but the athletically gifted tight end Vernon Davis will be out after an injury to his knee during the team’s first pre-season game.

On Defense:

One of the concerns for the 49ers in 2010 is their secondary and ability to defend the pass. Oakland does not feature a potent aerial attack so this could be a good match-up for them to start building their confidence.

Veteran linebacker Takeo Spikes has noticed that the defensive backfield is getting feistier this summer. “In the back end, guys are more competitive,” Spikes said. “I think we’ll have a better idea of what’s expected from us. And that’s the big thing. Everybody is playing together and everybody is understanding.”

Aubrayo Franklin is still unsigned. And the 6-foot-1, 317-pound defensive lineman is a vital cog to the defense. “I’m not going to try and dictate one thing or another,” Singletary said at the start of camp. “I’m just going to let him do what he has to do, and at the same time, we’re going to do what we have to do as a football team.

“But we will not sit back and say, ‘Is he coming in today? Is he coming in tomorrow?’ The most important thing we have to do is really continue to focus on what we control.”

GAME NOTES

Darrius Heyward-Bey on the game Saturday: “I mean, you always want to battle for it, you know, a team that’s in the same area as you,” Heyward-Bey commented in comparing it to Navy vs. Maryland . “At Maryland, we never had a chance to do that because we’re the only team in Maryland. Matter of fact, we play Navy this year so I guess that will be something.”

Tom Cable on the end of Camp: “We came with our plan, we got through everything, we installed everything that we wanted to. The mission was to try and get better every day, not have those days where you’re really disgusted or disappointed as a coaching staff, that, ‘Man, we really went backward today.’ We didn’t have any of those days.

“So, well done by this football team. Now the real issue is to continue that when we go home. Eliminate the distractions that come with living back at home and all those kinds of things, travel and such, and being able to handle that and eliminate those distractions.”

GAME INFO

When: Saturday, August 28 – 9:00 pm ET

Where: Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, California

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Contact Author: Victor Cotto – SB Report Columnist

Not much stands between Jason Campbell and the top of the depth chart

The Oakland Raiders just wrapped up their first full squad minicamp this past weekend. And after the three-day event, I stand by my opinion that Jason Campbell should be the starting quarterback for this club.

Bruce Gradkowski’s absence was noticeable. And his performances leading up to the season will influence what happens during the open competition. But no passer on this Raiders squad has the ability and capabilities of Campbell.

In an article published on April 25^th, I stated that Oakland should empower the former Redskin and make him feel at home, hand over the keys to the signal caller and give him something Washington was never able to do – security.

Competitions are always good for a job and no one is denying that Oakland needs to pick the best players for the job based on performances. But in this case, solidifying the quarterback position and giving Campbell a definitive nod will allow him to work at ease with Hue Jackson and bring to Oakland what they have needed since Rich Gannon retired…

A capable starting passer in the NFL.

OFFENSIVE LINE CHATTER…

Rookies Bruce Campbell and Jared Veldheer are imposing talents. And they appear to be viable candidates to either compete for starting jobs by the time the summer comes around or contribute in their first seasons. Campbell saw action at guard this weekend in trying to get him more reps with the second team and exposing the chiseled lineman to as many situations as possible. “We need to expose him a little bit,” Cable said. Samson Satele looks to have a nice gap between himself and anyone who will try to take his job atop the depth chart.

Robert Gallery is entrenched at left guard and Mario Henderson will go into 2010 looking to improve upon his first full campaign at left tackle.

Veldheer and Campbell talk during the minicamp

D-FENCE

Jay Richardson talked about his coordinator in an exclusive chat with SBReport.net last week, stating, “It’s fun. He plays an attacking style defense. John Marshall is a fundamentally sound coordinator. He wants everything done right all the time and he has a lot of personality. He does the best he can to try to get us going throughout the week, even though it gets tough sometimes, he sticks with it and he’s just one of those guys that is relentless. He has fun with it. We have a good time with coach Marshall.”

This weekend, Marshall was seen chewing out his unit during drills along with defensive line coach Mike Waufle. Oakland expects big things out of their trenches. Lamarr Houston comes off a solid first weekend and if he is able to make an impact immediately, the Raiders could have a nice mix when Richard Seymour comes back. Houston’s development under the supervision of Waufle will be a major storyline in 2010.

DMAC AND BUSH…

“Me and Michael (Bush) learned a lot from Justin. We’re just going to take the torch from him and just try to keep it going and get better every year.” Those were the words of Darren McFadden, who now has the duties of carrying the rock with Michael Bush now that the veteran is off the roster. The duo at running back will be pushed by Hue Jackson all summer and expected to be the back-bone of the offense.

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Contact Author: Victor Cotto – SB Report Columnist

In this second installment of SBReport’s exclusive interview with Oakland Raiders defensive end Jay Richardson, the 26-year old talks about his head coach coming back for one more campaign, the off-season and the Silver & Black’s fan-base among many other topics.

SBREPORT: You’ve been around a lot of solid veteran defensive linemen since you arrived: Warren Sapp, Derrick Burges, Greg Spires, Kalimba Edwards, Greg Ellis…what have you learned from those guys?

JAY RICHARDSON: “That’s a good point you make, I’ve had the privilege to be around a lot of good defensive ends, just good leaders, good players and all very different. All guys you can learn from.  When it comes to leadership, Greg Ellis was just one of those guys that is going to take charge, he’s just a perfect model for what a pro is supposed to be. But when I first go there, Derrick Burgess was here, and he was kind of like the man at the time, and who you wanted to look at, to see how to do things and the way he rushed the quarterback…he was just a real special athlete. I had the privilege of watching him rush every day, just trying to take what I could, such a tough player, just started to rub off on me. Obviously, we have [Richard] Seymour now, and he’s like a champion. A guy who has three rings, he’s been to the big show and I think it just helps a lot. It valuable to have someone like that on your team.”

SBREPORT: Not to many people know about your defensive coordinator. What’s John Marshall like during game days, the week leading to the game and now, in the off-season during camp and OTAs?

RICHARDSON: “It’s fun. He plays an attacking style defense. John Marshall is a fundamentally sound coordinator. He wants everything done right all the time and he has a lot of personality. He does the best he can to try to get us going throughout the week, even though it gets tough sometimes, he sticks with it and he’s just one of those guys that is relentless. He has fun with it. We have a good time with coach Marshall.”

After a six-year stint with the New York Giants, Oakland brought back defensive line coach Mike Waufle this off-season. He was on staff when the Raiders and Giants were in the Super Bowl and has been credited for helping the careers of many successful defensive linemen. Tom Cable also has a connection with the tough coach, spending six years with Waufle at the University of California. Richardson talked about Waufle and answered a question regarding Cable’s return after speculation of his demise after the 2009 season.

SBREPORT: Mike Waufle is your new position coach. He was with the New York Giants when they won the Super Bowl recently and worked with many good linemen. Have you talked to him during the off-season and what do you expect out of Waufle?

RICHARDSON: “’Waf’ is real military man. He’s a serious guy, but he knows his stuff. He’s one of those guys that knows how to play defense. He’s been doing it for so long, he’s so technical about it and he has the formula down for everything. He knows exactly how he wants things done. It’s good to play for a coach like that because; you know when you are making a mistake, you know there is no gray area. As long as you do things the right way, you’ll be fine. He’s a very smart coach.”

SBREPORT: How does it feel knowing that Tom Cable will be back another season?

RICHARDSON: “Its good for us. You want some consistency. There can’t be a new coach every year; it makes it hard on a team trying to hold on to its identity. Under Cable, we’ve kind of grown as a team and we are still trying to polish it up. But he’s helped a lot in trying to get this team to, rallying the troops if you will and getting us all on the same page. Getting us all to understand what it’s going to take for us to win in this league and be successful as a team and not a group of individuals. So I think he’s very important to our team success.”

SBREPORT: When Jay Richardson is not playing football or training, what’s your day like during the off-season?

RICHARDSON: “Not nearly as exciting as you think. I do some grocery shopping, I play some video games. I relax, I try to do as little as possible. I’m out there paying bills, making sure my family is ok and just do the day-to-day normal stuff.”

SBREPORT: How do you approach the off-season; in terms of balancing your time off and recovering from the season, and working-out and trying to get better as a player?

RICHARDSON: “It’s been fun. I took it a little different this particular year. I took it a little bit more serious. Obviously a contract year and all of that. I just, I felt like this year, I had to be in the best shape of my life and you know, I didn’t do as much hanging out as I probably have done in the past years because this is a big year, not just for myself, but for this team, this organization and I think this is going to be a pivotal year in Oakland Raiders history. This is going to be a big one for us. So I just wanted to be ready for it. As far as my preparation goes, its at an all-time high when it comes to focus and trying to make it happen this year.”

During the draft weekend, Oakland parted ways with veteran linebacker Kirk Morrison. A teammate of Richardson since 2007, the defensive end gave his thoughts on his former teammate and what he meant to the squad.

“Captain Kirk man, I know…that’s the man. We are all going to miss Kirk. Kirk is just a good stand up guy. A good linebacker. A good player. A good smart guy. Any team that gets him, obviously, it was Jacksonville. They are fortunate to have him. He’s a real good guy in the locker room. Kirk is going to do his job and he’s a real classy guy. So, he’ll definitely be missed out here in the Bay Area.”

SBREPORT: The team is taking on a new look: Jason Campbell was acquired, the new draft picks, and JaMarcus Russell looks to be on the way out. What are your thoughts on that?

RICHARDSON: “Yeah, its crazy man. You just don’t know and as they say: you don’t know what you don’t know. All you can do is just worry about yourself. But at the same time, Jason Campbell, from what I have seen of him the last few years, it’s a pretty solid guy, a solid quarterback who knows what he’s doing. He needed a fresh start it seems, this was the best place for it to try to re-establish his identity at quarterback in this league and jump-start his career. I think there is a lot of potential in him, he’s a smart guy. You know, we have a good stable of quarterbacks. Charlie Frye can play. Bruce Gradkowski, we all saw last year, can go out there and hold his own and win games for us. It’s just going to be an interesting dynamic for us this year, going into camp with a lot of talent out here.”

SBREPORT: You’ve gone through tough seasons, but in all, what are your impressions of the fan-base and your start of your career?

RICHARDSON: “They are unbelievable. I remember when I got drafted, I never knew how many Raiders’ fans are nationwide, globally, they are really. I never watched a tons of Raider football in the Midwest, you just didn’t see too much of those games.”

“For a team that has had the lack of success, I guess I have to say, over the last half decade, no fans cheer harder, no fans travel better than our people out here and that’s a testament to the fans, that they believe in us no matter what’s going on, no matter what the situation is. I think that is just awesome. That kind of stuff gives us the energy, especially on game day, like those tough games, the Philly game. We went out, at home, against a playoff team that we beat, most of that you tribute to the fans just being there for us and giving us energy.”

He continued to talk about the direction of the club, stating, “Things are about to turn around. This team is so close to turning the corner and becoming a potential playoff contender year in and year out. We are a few pieces away, I think we have to gain our identity as a team this year and do it early on in the year and establish ourselves our first eight games and I know for a fact that we can do that. I believe it is going to happen this year. I think it’s going to be a huge year for us.”

SBREPORT: What are the next few weeks looking like in terms of mini camps etc.?

RICHARDSON: “We got mini-camp this weekend, we finally get to have the whole team together. This whole new team we have here. Have good practices: we have two on Friday, two on Saturday, one on Sunday and kind of see where we are at. Get everyone up to speed and then the next few weeks, we’ll be polishing that up, working out and building some sort of chemistry and get guys going. It should be fun.”

SBREPORT: You are also a spokesperson for “The Right to Read Foundation,” can you talk about your contributions there and your countless hours of work with The United Way and the local Boy Scouts.

RICHARDSON: “For me its fun. This was all stuff I was involved in, in my life growing up, so it only made sense that once I had a chance to help give back, to help kids that may have been in similar situations that I was in growing up –  it just made sense. As soon as I got out west, out here, my rookie year, there was an opportunity to, on Saturday mornings, to go to children’s hospitals. It was always voluntary. But I signed up. At least every other week, just because I can relate to a lot of the stuff kids are going through. Plus, it’s always just nice to go in there and cheer the kids up, especially in the hospitals. There are a lot of kids in a lot tougher situations than we are. And I think sometimes, our lives get stressful and we focus so much on ourselves and wondering how we are getting out of the situations we put ourselves into and we never stop to look back at the situations other people are in. Especially kids. Doing stuff like that keeps things in perspective.”

RICHARDSON NOTES:

• Participated in 48-league games; tallying 109 combined tackles and 7.0 sacks.
• While at Ohio State, the collegiate majored in African-American studies.
• Selected in the 5^th round (138^th overall) in the 2007 draft.
• His mother, Deborah Johnson, attended Ohio State, where she played rugby and graduated in 1979.

Here is a link to Jay’s Official Web Site & info about his foundation:

JayRichardson98.com

Contact Author: Victor Cotto – SB Report Columnist

Oakland Raiders head coach Tom Cable talked to the National Football Post while he was observing action in Mobile, Alabama during Senior Bowl activities.

He applauded the Raiders decision to bring in Hue Jackson as their offensive coordinator.

“I think it’s a good decision by the organization,” Cable stated today. “It’s someone that I’m familiar with. It’s someone that I think can help us take the next step, so we’re all pretty excited about it.”

He sounded like a coach fully entrenched in his job with no worries about any of the rumors regarding his demise.

“Well, I think we have a chance,” Cable said. “I think we’ve gotten to that level of competitiveness that it takes. The next step will be the hardest, and that’s getting to the playoffs. But that will be the goal.”

“We’ve been meeting constantly and talking about how we can get better,” Cable commented about the struggling Raiders, who have now compiled seven straight seasons with 11 or more losses. “We’re continuing to do that as we get ready for the draft.”

Also, on the official Raiders web site, the Silver & Black officially acknowledged the additions of offensive coordinator Hue Jackson and defensive line coach Mike Waufle.

Johnnie Lee Higgins participated in the 2007 Senior Bowl

The 60^th annual Senior Bowl will be played Saturday, January 30 at 4:00 pm ET at Mobile, Alabama.

More importantly, the practices begin January 25. And there is where hundreds of NFL coaches, personnel directors, scouts and many other staffers from professional clubs go to observe and evaluate potential draft picks and talent that will be available in the coming months.

In the past, Oakland Raider coaches have spearheaded the staffs in charge of the squads. Here is a list of those that donned Silver & Black that were at the helm of a sideline during the Senior Bowl:

2008 – Lane Kiffin

2005 – Norv Turner

1999 – Jon Gruden

1992 – Art Shell

What will be interesting is whether or not the Raiders will send a large contingent to Mobile for scouting?

One team – the New York Giants – have already reportedly decided not to send their coaches next week due to varying reasons such as the economy, the new stadium and pending labor situation states the NJ Star Ledger. But I guess that is not a crippling thing, since they didn’t either two years ago right before their Super Bowl winning season.

Oakland still has a staff in place, and Tom Cable is technically still the coach of the Raiders.

Al Davis has not announced his fate, but at this point, isn’t safe to say that Cable is still the head coach until further notice? If there’s even a need to make that publicly.

Mike Waufle has been hired, Hue Jackson has been bantered about and Cable is still on board.

With the Senior Bowl work-outs around the corner, maybe things will become clearer over the next couple of days.

Tommy Kelly and co. should be happy with Mike Waufle

Several media outlets on Friday reported that the Oakland Raiders have hired Mike Waufle to coach the defensive line.

Waufle was the Silver & Black’s defensive line coach from 1998-to-2003 and was in that same capacity the last six campaigns. The Giants fired him earlier in the year.

Waufle was one of the more beloved coaches on the Giants staff for some time. His teaching techniques were applauded by standouts such as Michael Strahan, Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora – players who strived and were very productive linemen within his schemes.

Tom Coughlin admired his style – tough work ethic – as the former Marine was methodical in his approach with his players.

“I am extremely saddened by it,” Umenyiora reported to The Associated Press in an e-mail after his firing. “He is a great coach and we have a special relationship. I’m sure he will be OK though because there should be very high demand for a coach of his caliber.”

Waufle, 55, will inherit a unit with a lot of young talent.

But the biggest key will be the return of Richard Seymour. If Seymour is back in Oakland and Matt Shaughnessy and Desmond Bryant can continue to develop into competent contributors, this bunch could be very good.

Veterans like Greg Ellis, Gerard Warren and Tommy Kelly should benefit from Waufle’s arrival.

But the keys here is how he will improve their discipline, gap control and make them a better run stuffing unit.

The Raiders have had one of the worst run defenses since 2003:

2009 – 29^th in the NFL – 155.5 yds/g

2008 – 31^st in the NFL – 159.7 yds/g

2007 – 31^st in the NFL – 145.9 yds/g

2006 – 25^th in the NFL – 134.0 yds/g

2005 – 25^th in the NFL – 128.1 yds/g

2004 – 22^nd in the NFL – 125.8 yds/g

2003 – 32^nd in the NFL – 156.9 yds/g

Dwaine Board was the Raiders defensive line coach last season.

So far this off-season, Oakland has done a great job adding good coaching to their sideline. But this is just one move – hiring Waufle. There are many to go, and one of utmost importance that we have awaited for weeks.

Insidebayarea.com posted a report that former Oakland Raiders wide receiver Jerry Porter had $312,000 worth of jewelry stolen.

Porter told officials that someone took his jewelry from his vehicle while he went for a facial at a Bay Area salon.

According to staff writer Peter Hegarty, Porter was going to speak to the Alameda police about the happening this afternoon. Porter did not show up for the meeting and officials are still sorting out the details of the robbery.

The 31-year old still resides in Oakland.

He was cut by the Jacksonville Jaguars at the start of the 2009 campaign after signing a six-year, $30 million contract with them in 2008.

Porter’s best season came in 2003 when he tallied 688-yards and 9 touchdowns, being a key cog in Rich Gannon’s league MVP campaign. He teamed up with hall of fame bound targets Jerry Rice and Tim Brown to form the most prolific offense of that season in reaching Super Bowl XXVII.

In 2004 an 2005, Porter compiled 140 catches for 1,940 yards and 14 touchdowns. But in 2006, he publicly feuded with Art Shell and demanded to be traded. He was deactivated and inactive for most of the season even suspended without pay for conduct detrimental to the club for four games.

“There’s guys every year that might not want to be on a team, but, hey, part of this business is you play with who you’ve got,” Shell stated that season. “If we have somebody on this team that’s here, whether he said he wants to be here or not, if he’s doing what he’s supposed to do, then we’ll go to work.”

The NFLPA intervened and the suspension was dropped to two games.

Porter was drafted in the second round of the 2000 NFL draft.

OTHER NEWS

• Steve Corkran confirmed a story that had the Raiders interested in rehiring defensive line coach Mike Waufle.
• Earlier in the day, Jon Condo was added to the Pro Bowl roster.