Neal cut to make room for Baker
By Jerry McDonald - NFL Writer
Wednesday, August 19th, 2009 at 6:35 pm in Oakland Raiders.
That the Raiders would bring back Rashad Baker, a productive special teams player and safety last season, is no surprise.
The person they cut to make room is a different story.
Fullback Lorenzo Neal, a 17-year veteran and regarded as one of the premiere blockers at his position, was cut. Neal didn’t finish the first practice because of a hamstring pull.
Coach Tom Cable said Neal’s departure was the club’s decision, and not a voluntary retirement.
It means the club is confident enough in the health of Oren O’Neal, a third-year player who missed all of last season with a knee injury, to make him their lead fullback.
Keeping both O’Neal and Neal would be difficult in that they are the same style of player, meaning a younger player who can catch such as Marcel Reece, or a fullback/halfback such as Gary Russell, would have be sacrificed.
For those following my Twitter account, my phone would not allow me to post through most of the session . . .
More to come later . . .
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August 19th, 2009 at 6:41 pm
Great! Now lets get some payback on Sat!!!
August 19th, 2009 at 6:42 pm
Hey Jerry the your posting comments to quickly thing is getting hella lame.. Please talk to your people…. Thanx
August 19th, 2009 at 6:44 pm
DT – Who cares about LoNeal? I never really did. But when I heard Oren was back, then I got psyched.
If Reece beat him out like you say Priest then thats all the better. Reece is definitely more versatile – not sure how great his blocking is though.
August 19th, 2009 at 6:46 pm
Wow,..terrible idea,…Neal was only Raider with balls.
August 19th, 2009 at 6:46 pm
yo Jerry you should see if David White will let you borrow his phone.. It always seems to be working when yours wont.. Or Maybe we can all pitch in and get you a better phone.. I’ll put in like $10…
August 19th, 2009 at 6:48 pm
Hey Norco you going to the game on Sat?
August 19th, 2009 at 6:48 pm
Brien I may not be at opener,…when it gets ugly, charger fans mothin off,..I lay one out,..Im kicked out for the year, due to what I signed 2 years ago,…the opener will be a blowout. sorry man.
August 19th, 2009 at 6:49 pm
No san jose dude Im not,…would be in a fight in parking lot before game starts,..you enjoy yourself.
August 19th, 2009 at 6:51 pm
Norco
lets leave the violence to Coach Cable ok?
August 19th, 2009 at 6:52 pm
Will do keep ur head up bob it has to get better…
August 19th, 2009 at 6:54 pm
the niners have a hard core coach gettin them to play tough,..we got a fat tub of sh!t who sucks.
August 19th, 2009 at 6:54 pm
Candlestick, the jewel of the NFL stadiums
August 19th, 2009 at 6:54 pm
hahahaha… well good luck with that then… I wouldn’t mind havin the lil guy back tho…
August 19th, 2009 at 6:56 pm
hey lynn who cares if its a dump or a palace,..the teams what matters not the f*ckin stadium.
August 19th, 2009 at 6:57 pm
Lynn
I always have fun @ the stick.. Those caTS CANT TAILGATE @ all.. and I always see Hella Nation there… Good Times 4 sho… Ok we get into a few scraps now and then but…
August 19th, 2009 at 6:58 pm
“the niners have a hard core coach gettin them to play tough,..we got a fat tub of sh!t who sucks.”
Raiders: 31-10 over the Cowboys
Niners: 17-16 over the Broncos?
Com’on now Bob, your argument just aint flyin’
August 19th, 2009 at 7:00 pm
terp you twerp,…you know nothing…i promise you the niners will end up with a much better record,..singletary is hardcore,..our coach is a fat, puppet made of blubber.
August 19th, 2009 at 7:01 pm
Rashad Baker played well last year. I am glad he is back.
August 19th, 2009 at 7:02 pm
Last time i went to a game at the stick Napoleon Mcallum got his leg twisted all the way around and Ken Norton was the guy who did it . OWW
August 19th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
408RAIDER Says:
August 19th, 2009 at 6:41 pm
Great! Now lets get some payback on Sat!!!
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LMFAO..”payback”???
so, in other words, even though you stated that practice means “nothing” you now want “payback’??
Guess you got a little ruffled because your boys were so manhandled?
You’ll get over it.
Bad news for ya…those that did the bitchslapping? Most won’t be on the field come Saturday.
When Gore pancaked both Raiders?
Sorry, Gore won’t even be suiting up.
August 19th, 2009 at 7:04 pm
If hard core means dropping your pants I’ll take the coach that knocks the spit out of your mouth
August 19th, 2009 at 7:05 pm
hey guy when did I ever say practice means “nothing”
tard
August 19th, 2009 at 7:06 pm
good news….
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-broncos-marshall&prov=ap&type=lgns
go get em AL
August 19th, 2009 at 7:07 pm
thisis garbage. jhill you said it but its our worse nightmare
August 19th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
freakin shame
August 19th, 2009 at 7:15 pm
I think everything is right on track. It’s preseason, for goodness sakes. Things are playing themselves out on the field. Morrsion and Eugene are not getting the job done in practice against another team. That is not surprising. The backups, Brown and Huff are playing well by all accounts. Ellis is playing well in place of Burgess. Alston is playing well, and so is Richards.
Come opening night, all these things will shake themselves out, and our defense will be just fine.
August 19th, 2009 at 7:15 pm
Damn shame to know Russell dont give care if he wins or not. If that first game is an asswhipping, you know the season is done and I wont watch a damn game with Garbage-cia starting. The games will mean nothing
August 19th, 2009 at 7:16 pm
Neal did look 40ish on that swing pass he caught from Jamarcus. I think they like Gary Russell as well, but you would think they could get rid of a DB first.
Maybe they wanted to give Neal a chance to latch on somewhere else.
August 19th, 2009 at 7:17 pm
Jhill its bad. The team is lost a warrior today who will not be soft. Russell doesnt give a damn man. Cant you see that?
August 19th, 2009 at 7:17 pm
Now Russell doesn’t care about winning and losing?
Here we go ….
August 19th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
Damn were counting preseason wins now, how long do the starters even play. Wasn’t leaf like 4-0 and Spurrier was running up the score , how their seasons turn out. Just don’t get nobody hurt.
August 19th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
Warrior?
Neal?
Won’t lose a MINUTE of sleep over cutting Neal. Oren O’Neal is obviously healthy, and Reece has looked really good.
August 19th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
VR, also if they signed a safety what is that saying about our current group?
August 19th, 2009 at 7:22 pm
I don’t know why but i’ve got a reeeeal good feelin that the raiders just may be baitin the niners… I believe they’re testing new plays to see how thwy work aginst an opponent but come game time the raiders are gonna show the plays they know thst does work and that they’ve been scheming the 9ers all along…
August 19th, 2009 at 7:22 pm
No, I can’t see that Russell doesn’t give a damn. He played well to me in the Dallas GAME, and last years GAMES as well.
Perfect? Not at all.
But not bad at all for a 2nd year player.
August 19th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
I like baker, he helped beat the bucs,..losing neal is way stupid,..mitchell already has bust written on him.
August 19th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
not bad jhill?…not bad for a overall number one pick?…forget it, russell and his mink could care less about winning.
August 19th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
It’s saying that Mike Mitchell is hurt, Ricky Manning is not an option as a backup, and the UDFA Boyd is not ready.
August 19th, 2009 at 7:28 pm
408RAIDER Says:
August 19th, 2009 at 7:05 pm
hey guy when did I ever say practice means “nothing”
tard
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Better still..you ADMIT it DOES mean something to you??
lol..
Classic.
So if you actually lose on Saturday? Raiders starters against Niners backups?
Total meltdown?
August 19th, 2009 at 7:29 pm
So if he was the #20 pick would he be worth keeping on the team?
August 19th, 2009 at 7:35 pm
Not one to usually comment, just read. I couldn’t help but throw my 2 cents in…
Unless this is a “handshake” move and Neal comes back for the opener, this is as bad a move as I have seen Al make…and he usually doesn’t let talent go. This team sorely needs more excellent veterans who can contribute. Letting Neal go in favor of a special teams player at best is a poor move in my opinion. They lost depth and a contributor for a career backup… Oh my. I guess not renewing after 15 seasons is looking like the right move…Maybe 2010??
August 19th, 2009 at 7:41 pm
Tells me that the I formation is not really in the plans, which I don’t have a problem with at all.
Only thing I care about is what happens on the field. Russell is playing just fine in the games. Progressing a little bit? I see a lot of progression. The guy was at the facility for most of the offseason. Chaz says that he has been working out with Russell all off season.
It is what it is. You guys don’t like his laid back style, I understand.
August 19th, 2009 at 7:42 pm
Cooper Carlisle and his drive killing penalties are more of a concern to me than Russell.
August 19th, 2009 at 7:45 pm
Briens right, as usual….russell has been paid,..he has his,..his rolls,..mink,..wtf does he care about winning?…he doesnt…period…tim tebow 2010.
August 19th, 2009 at 7:47 pm
jhill, its cool you are going to support russell forever,..but the brass knows they messed up drafting him,..on top of it all, the worst part,..russell doesnt want to be here and never did!!!
August 19th, 2009 at 7:48 pm
The guy completed over 60% of his passes the last part of the season. Led our team to 2 big wins to close out the season. Looked like he picked right up where he left off from last year. As soon as he gives me a reason to think he won’t make it as our QB, I will have no problem moving on.
August 19th, 2009 at 7:49 pm
Need more than laid back attitude, fat, mink coats, and other non football related stuff. Let me see it on the field, and then I’ll be right there with you.
August 19th, 2009 at 7:51 pm
Russell puts out a “Whatever” vibe and anyone with half a brain can see that. Bottom line_ if the Raiders were as confident in the kid as some of you are, Jeff Garcia would not be on the club.
August 19th, 2009 at 7:57 pm
First post…
I liked Baker last year, toward the end of the year he played as good or better then any of our other safeties, good to get him back.
There are probably other players I’d cut before Neal since it seems like the offense could use a vocal, veteran leader… At least it looks like the other guys are playing well, hopefully Oren stays healthy this year
Did everyone else get stuck with a ridiculous password? Mine is 12 characters long with an assortment of punctuation marks mixed in the various letters… seems a bit overboard… I’ll never remember that
Dmac20, I hope you’re right, the practice reports against the niners haven’t sounded so good… Maybe the raiders can sign Allen Iverson to give post practice speaches
August 19th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
Pat Kirwan and Tim Ryan did their Sirius show from Napa today and talked nothing but Raiders for the whole show. They interviewed a ton of players and broke down damn near every main guy on the roster. Guys they really liked- All 3 backs, Chaz, JLH, Gallery, Nmamdi, Hackett and Garcia
Guys that werent impressing- Sands(running 3rd team) Kelly, Warren, Hayward-Bay and Russell.
These guys arent haters and went out of their way to say so. Kirwin did a real thorough break down of Russels game and was really critical of his ability to read Ds and how long he holds the ball. Went so far as to use a stop watch on him.
August 19th, 2009 at 8:04 pm
jhill Says:
August 19th, 2009 at 7:48 pm
The guy completed over 60% of his passes the last part of the season. Led our team to 2 big wins to close out the season. Looked like he picked right up where he left off from last year. As soon as he gives me a reason to think he won’t make it as our QB, I will have no problem moving on.
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Bush bailed out the TB game, and both Houston and TB had injury problems with their defense.
Call it like it is.
Ok, fine, let’s call it like it is. Russell was the worst starting qb in the league last year. Worst in passing yards. Worst is 3rd down conversions.
So…off season…what exactly does Russell do to be better? To show he’s a leader? To live up to his #1 pick?
GAINS WEIGHT..and admits it..stating he came into camp out of shape.
You’re ok with that?
No, not talking about him hanging out with 100,000 worth of bling hanging on him..belly hanging out..talking about him showing up, letting the team, and the fans know he’s serious.
He didn’t.
While Garcia, and most of the team, was running from drill to drill in mini-camps, Russell was walking.
Oh..BTW..you said “laid back attitude, fat, mink coats, and other non football related stuff”
Laid back attitude and being FAT are football related, and at this point it’s painting a picture many don’t want to see..well..except you through those rose colored (read: BLIND) glasses.
August 19th, 2009 at 8:28 pm
# Norco Bob Says:
August 19th, 2009 at 7:00 pm
terp you twerp,…you know nothing…i promise you the niners will end up with a much better record,..singletary is hardcore,..our coach is a fat, puppet made of blubber.
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Dude, do you hate life THAT much?
I’ve never seen so much freakin’ negativity in my life. So, let me get this straight:
1. You think the players on this team are junk.
2. You think the head coach is junk and “fat”
3. You think the owner is junk.
So. . . .tell me again why exactly you choose to root for this team? You know, there are 31 others you could choose to your liking.
Dudes like you give a bad name to the NATION.
And another thing.
J-Russ. . . .13 TD’s, 8 Int.
Go compare that to Aikman’s, Elway’s, S. Young’s, and P. Manning’s rookie years.
J-Russ made way less mistakes in his “rookie” year than any of those dudes did.
Hell, Manning thew 26 picks! Aikman won 1 game & lost 15.
I doubt there were chants of “how ’bout them cowboys” after that rookie year.
But, I’m sure there were a ton of pessimistic dudes like you and Brien the General who ripped the team to shreds, only to come hoppin’ on the bandwagon when the cowgirls started winning games.
You people are a disgrace to real fans.
I have no problem with being objective and calling it as it is when we have a weakness.
But, to constantly make these stupid generalizations when we haven’t even played a game yet, is so freakin’ amateur.
August 19th, 2009 at 8:47 pm
Yeah this caught me by surprose a little. Either Neal is finsihed or one of our other guys is progressing.
August 19th, 2009 at 9:06 pm
How big a role WILL Marcel Reese play?
http://www.raidernationstation.com/exclusives
August 19th, 2009 at 10:51 pm
[...] by ESPN.com’s Bill Williamson The Raiders surprisingly cut veteran fullback Lorenzo Neal. He signed with the team in the spring and he seemed like a [...]
August 19th, 2009 at 11:08 pm
I saw Reece aganist Dallas look like had He some get-up for a full back Lorenzo looked pretty slow will miss the Leadership but need to get the best 53 we can’
As for Russell he is laid back that how he is i heard Schillens taking how he is the same in the huddle calm & cool some guys are like lets go RA RA and others are just lets just play that russells approach nothing wrong with that.. Singaltary is mister hardnose yell master so they did good in practice I did not see anything special aganist Denver we will whip them up Saturday and all the boys will be back saying how good we look ect…
August 19th, 2009 at 11:16 pm
[...] Read more. [...]
August 20th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
jhill Says:
August 19th, 2009 at 7:42 pm
Cooper Carlisle and his drive killing penalties are more of a concern to me than Russell.
^^^^^They need give Marcus Johnson some more reps with the first team Offense at RG.
They should have cut Luke Lawton instead of Lorenzo Neal…..Lo Neal is tough as nails, has balls, plays hard and is a LEADER!
If the Old Man picks up one more freakin DB….I’m gonna PUKE!
They need to pick tough as nails D-Linemen who play with nastiness and intensity!