God bless, u Jerry. Thank you for sharing all of your memories of you and your pops..

Maybe, I’ll do the same 1 day…

but not today. Today is for your father…

LANE KIFFIN INTERVIEW:
6-18-08
Raiders Head Coach Lane Kiffin: Tomorrow we go more to a team format and try to have fun with the guys, divide them up and let them play a little bit. I feel good about where were at right now as a team. We have a lot of work to do, but we have added some new guys who have been really good out here and they’ve made it much more competitive at each position. We’ll continue to stress to our guys about how important the next month is for them, to come back in shape, and so we can have a great training camp. As far as Javon Walker, I spoke to Javon this morning. He sounds really well and he’s doing well. He’ll be on a flight this evening back here.

Q: What’s Jake Grove’s prognosis? I assume he had surgery after the season last year, is he still rehabbing from that?
Coach Kiffin: Yes he is. Jake is doing extremely well with what he can do as far as the weight room and rehab. We have a lot of expectations for Jake to come right into this thing and battle for the starting spot; we’ll always look to play our best guys. He’s going to have a good opportunity and I know he’s looking forward to it.

Q: Is he a little bigger this year?
Coach Kiffin: He’s really done a great job in the weight room and his upper body has gotten a lot stronger. He’s stronger than he’s ever been since he’s been here. So I’m excited about it.

Q: Is there anybody you’re worried won’t be ready for Napa at this point?
Coach Kiffin: We’ll monitor [Tommy Kelly] and look at his progress, as we get closer. It could possibly be a one-a-day thing, but we’ll be ready to rock and roll.

Q: We see Cooper back out there, it’s one thing to have him on the sidelines but on the field he seems to bring a little extra energy. Is it nice to have him back out there, just to hear him?
Coach Kiffin: Yeah, it’s good. We’re giving him a shot on defense. The last thing I want to do is to cut ourselves short of a guy that could help us somewhere else. He’s not here just to play special teams, we’re giving him the shot to play defense and see how far he can take it.

Q: In terms of the energy…will he pick up a little where Warren Sapp left off? He’s somebody out there who keeps things agitated.
Coach Kiffin: Well, they are different, everybody is different from Warren, but he does bring a lot of energy. He’s done it in the meetings this whole off-season. It’s good to have him back out there.

Q: Is he cleared to do everything?
Coach Kiffin: Yeah, pretty much. We’ve basically put him in just about everything; we just monitor how much we do with him. He could actually play this week, if we were playing.

Q: How does Marques Tuiasosopo look?
Coach Kiffin: Really good. He’s done a great job, especially in moving the ball around and getting it to the right people. It feels like he’s been here for a long time. After tomorrow’s practice were going to sit down and look at everything and see if there are some different spots in other areas, we may move some people around. We’re happy with their progress right now and were not trying to figure out the depth chart right now. We’re just letting them play ball. It’s been good and it’s been good for Andrew [Walter], too.

Q: After going through a full year as head coach at the NFL level, are you going to change anything, tweak anything for training camp?
Coach Kiffin: Well, I don’t think that you change very much, but you can’t be stubborn. You always have to evaluate at the end of the season and through the off-season of what we did last season and what we can do to get better. We’ll always be looking to change and we’re trying to find a competitive edge. There are not a lot of wholesale changes, by any means, that we’re going to do. There are little things, here and there that we’ll continue to improve on that will put us in the best position to win.

Q: With JaMarcus [Russell], are there specific things, improvements you can see compared to a couple months ago?
Coach Kiffin: It’s everything really. Right now he’s really working so hard off the field as well as on the field. He’s done a great job, just like a lot of our other players.

Q: Do you coaches have time off? Do you have vacation?
Coach Kiffin: Yes, there is about a month there where there is some time where they’re in and some time where they’re off. It’s good for them to get right, and then get ready to go.

JAVON WALKER:
Damn, they never learn.
Something like this happened previously in J-dub’s life and he still went out to make it rain in Vegas. Where was his security?
Eh, I’m sorry, kid. We as fans don’t know the entire situation…

but damn..

I guess sometimes all you can do is pray for a quick recovery and hope he doesn’t flex nuts in the near future…….(yet, again..)
The following was the latest reported by the associated press:
LAS VEGAS — Oakland Raiders wide receiver Javon Walker remained hospitalized with a concussion and a battered face Tuesday, one day after he was beaten, robbed and left unconscious on a Las Vegas street after a night of partying.
Police said a large amount of cash and some jewelry were taken from Walker, who suffered “a moderate concussion and significant injuries to his face.”
Police Lt. Clinton Nichols said detectives are retracing Walker’s activities in the hours before he was found injured Monday morning on a street off the Las Vegas Strip.
“We don’t believe this is a random act,” Nichols told the San Francisco Chronicle, adding that police believe Walker was alone at the time of the attack. “They knew who he was and [Walker] presented a target.
“We did get a surveillance [video] of a vehicle and suspects that may have been involved. We know there were suspects, possibly two [but] we haven’t identified anyone yet.”
According to the Chronicle, Walker told police he had about $3,000 in cash and $100,000 in jewelry stolen. The jewelry included a watch, a necklace and earrings.
According to reports published Tuesday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Walker visited a nightclub, Tryst, at the Wynn Las Vegas resort on Saturday night. He spent Sunday night at another club, Body English at the Hard Rock hotel-casino, before leaving about 3:30 a.m…

yawn, is it pre season, yet????!?!?!!??!
peace,
-DR