DHB: Fundamentals out the window
By Jerry McDonald - NFL Writer
Wednesday, November 18th, 2009 at 12:16 pm in Oakland Raiders.
Darrius Heyward-Bey sounded like a veteran as he owned up to a rookie mistake Wednesday during the Raiders open locker room session.
Surrounded by cameras and tape recorders, Heyward-Bey calmly and rationally broke down the droppped pass from Bruce Gradkowski at the 9-yard line which helped the Kansas City Chiefs hang on for a 16-10 win.
“That play exactly, fundamentals went out the window,” Heyward-Bey said. “You know, that’s me being a rookie, getting so excited. Everything I’ve been working on since Day 1 went out the window. And that’s something that I know, so that’s something that I can improve on. And everything I work on in practice needs to carry over into the games.”
Heyward-Bey said he has received text messages of support from friends on other teams throughout the league, as well as from his own teammates.
“My teammates, they had my back. And they supported me, telling me that don’t look at it as it’s my fault that we lost the game,” Heyward-Bey said. “They just want to remind me of that. And I appreciate that from my teammates, that they said that and they support me 100 percent.”
Will he start again this week against the Bengals?
“Until someone tells me otherwise, I’ll be out there,” Heyward-Bey said.
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November 18th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
bench cable…start J-Russ.
November 18th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
damn second!
November 18th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
Hes owning up to it its a good sign one can have hopes again Cin.
November 18th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Now if only we could send DHB, McFadden, and Russell out the window along with their fundamentals.
And, fates willing, Al will dive out the window after them.
November 18th, 2009 at 12:28 pm
jhill Says:
November 18th, 2009 at 12:27 pm
So Gradkowski got increased work last week and was still not effective with the WRs when he got in the game?
Can we see Frye? The guy who Jerry said WAY back in Preseason was by far the best looking of the 3? The guy who Cable says we are blessed to have? The guy who could easily be the coach on the field?
Hmmm!
November 18th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
Only in Oakland can ANYONE think that Gradkowski or Frye can play.
I know Russell is out…the Raiders ruined him and his own slothfulness put him out…but he did show to the draft combine overweight so its not like Al didn’t know.
Gradkowski and Frye CAN’T PLAY EITHER. Should they start…Don’t know and at this point don’t care.
But I expect nothing from a couple of guys that was cut and traded as a starter in week 1….cut by seattle, cut by Tampa and Cleveland.
Those guys are garbage too!
This team is condemned as long as Al Davis is making the decisions!
November 18th, 2009 at 12:33 pm
Who the hell is Sanjay Lal? Never heard of him until this season. Backround?????
November 18th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
DHB seems to be a positive kid. I think he’ll grow. He’ll never do enough to merit #7 overall, but as a project, he needs time. The coaches just shouldn’t put so much weight on his and Murphy’s shoulders. Walker would have more catches and yards by far than what we have seen if they would have started him. The Raiders fell in and out of love with Javon too fast on both extremes. Chaz caught, what, 3 ball for 27 yards? One of the WR positions need a non-rookie starter, period. Rotate the rooks in and out and have certain plays that are their plays for the next opponent. Let ‘em gain some confidence. QB play aside, I didn’t like Lane’s approach last year when it came to playing younger WRs, and I don’t like Cable’s method this year of stubbornly sticking to the rookies. Too extreme on both ends.
November 18th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
SnB,
We have to get past the Al Davis rhetoric! Does the CEO at your job impact how you go about your job everyday?
CMON!
Too easy of an out for everyone else.
The bottom line is that Cable and his staff are failing miserably!
When you see the coach say that he shouldn’t have done something BUT HE wanted be agressive, then WTF?
When you see that Monday thru Friday is NOT producing results, WTF?
Knapp and the QB coach from last year had Russell looking like an NFL prospect at the least, last year. Rathman had our running game in the top 5. We never saw so many drops last year with the WRs. WTF?
If Kiffin and Gruden could have some success coaching the players here, Cable has no excuse!
November 18th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
YEAH!!! Keep it comin’ Jerry!!!
November 18th, 2009 at 12:42 pm
DHB has the work ethic,, and is a Raider, so I am without question rooting for him AND Murphy. Hopefully they will be better in the future for their struggles this year.
DMAC and Bush are NOT being given the opportunities to succeed, IMO. Not Fargas’ fault, but the RB situation is a mess!
November 18th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
Gradkowski, aka. “The Polish Pop Gun.”
November 18th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
seriously, how good does kerry collins sound right about now?
November 18th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
[...] Read more. [...]
November 18th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
Using one from 16yrold16yrfan.
DHB = Drops Hella Balls.
November 18th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
JHill,
Al Davis has his fingerprints all over this thing. The coaches are bad AGAIN! Not a once in a while event.
DHB being drafted…Davis picked that 40x sprinter
DAvis allows the QB to come in slothful and get away with it!
Sure, the CEO is not responsible for day-to-day….but he is responsible for the results. Why? Because he is responsible for putting the pieces together to make the organization work profitably.
Davis could care less. He meddles with coaching and scouting and the draft…he makes all sorts of decisions that should be delegated…
Davis messed this up AGAIN!
November 18th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
this is al davis committment to excellence
November 18th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
on a side note i feel an upset is coming the raiders will beat da bengals i sense a philly type effort
November 18th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
Maybe if we had starting blocks for heyward-bust to use from the line of scrimmage he could remember his fundamentals… Draft someone with sound football fundamentals and catching a pass is automatic and they don’t have to even consciously think about it!!! Sure they will have some drops but this is pathetic…
Look at all the other top receivers drafted after him,and how they are performing. THEY ARE FOOTBALL PLAYERS!!!
November 18th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
Darrius Heyward-Bey = James Jet
November 18th, 2009 at 2:08 pm
either start frye or scrap this vanilla offence, players become frighten to even run the routes of this stoneage crap ,unless the QB is a master of his craft,its not happening
id drop the ball to .if i was gonna lose my freakin head to those lay-up`s or ankle catches Jamarcus throws…
install the wild-cat ,lets take our fumbles and toilet training now,let bush and dmc throw passes to stop defences keying on jamarcus slant -pass and give these young players a chance to win ..
November 18th, 2009 at 2:27 pm
AL DAVIS SUCKS!!!!!
November 18th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
DHB looks and sounds like being a good kid.
But he must know that he is straining everyone’s patience VERY much… Just catch the ball, Baby! Don’t try to be a hero. Catch it and roll over if you must. Heroics you can do later once have learned to reliably catch in clutch situations…. Maybe go look for a private coach, forget that unproven Sanjay Lal dude.
November 18th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
I’m telling you guys that the problem with DHB is that he has these really, really, tiny hands like the guy on the burger king commercial. He’s afraid to eat a whopper in public.