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Cable quick hits

By Jerry McDonald - NFL Writer
Wednesday, July 28th, 2010 at 12:40 pm in Oakland Raiders.

For those of you who didn’t see it on Comcast, some quick hits from Tom Cable’s press briefing:

– Rolando McClain hasn’t signed a contract, but Cable is hoping he’ll be signed by the time the team practices Thursday.

– The Raiders will again have four days of “learning intensive” practices. It’s mostly choreography and footwork, deathly boring to watch, but Cable believes its of great benefit.

Other than the injury to Chaz Schilens, Cable liked the way the Raiders stayed healthy through camp, without the kind of soft tissue injuries sustained by other teams.

– Jason Campbell is the starting quarterback, information which was first leaked in a story on Raiders.com during a camp preview.

With Bruce Gradkowski not being around for three months, Cable said it was the only thing that made sense.

– Cable wasn’t shy about proclaiming the Raiders a factor in the division, regardless of preseason prognostications. He said the “changing of the culture” has been complete.

– The hiring of defensive assistant Greg Biekert was to retain a sense of Raiders tradition and bring in someone with the kind of attitude who can help with run defense as well as work with McClain at middle linebacker.

– Offensive coordinator Hue Jackson will call plays from the sidelines, not in the booth.

More to come later . . .

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  • http://Noknuckleheads! 909RaiderLifer

    FOUR effing days of hand holding! WTF?

    This means WE have to wait until monday for football.

    Dammit Cable, this ain’t a freaking tennis camp..

  • Que

    Freakin Carebear cable. run the camp like winning team do it. hit and beat the crap out of each other. This same soft learning stuff like last year and the team played how. missing tackles and stuff. football man

  • Que

    Let hue run the team

  • mistic1

    raider e

    Was that comment for me? Im talking football what are you talking about? Dont say something behind a screen name you wouldnt say to my face… thats for puzzies. What is this press return and grow a pair?

  • mistic1

    @ jtf

    and when you add our secondary in the mix, its gonna be nutz!

  • priesttj

    Mystic1

    Down and distance playcalling is the key. Knowing who can and who will. You have to have consistent packages as far as personnel so that players can get in a groove. When you play on HB 20 snaps this game and the next game he sees it 5 that doesn’t work. The starter is the starter the backup is the backup.

    Your short yardage package must be consistent and very efficient and effective. This team needs to have an identity and a personality when they walk on the field they have to have a swagger of confidence about themselves. That is what it takes. The leaders have been identified now they have to lead by example just as Seymour demonstrated.

    Greg Biekert is a great step in the right direction now let’s see what happens…..

  • mistic1

    @ preisttj

    couldnt have said it better myself. We havnt really seen what dmac or bush can do because they didnt get the ball enough. In college watching dmac I noticed like other greats backs he gets better as the game goes on, the same with bush. Its not the first 10 carries tis the last 10 carries when they do the most damage, im sure our new oc knows this. i think it can work like wheatly and kaufman.

    i

  • DKnight007

    I prefer OC’s to call plays from the booth above, cause I would think it would allow them to see the field better.

    Then again…Hue probably wants to be right there with the players and get in their faces if necessary and provide them with confidence on the sidelines.

  • J Wiggle

    When you play on HB 20 snaps this game and the next game he sees it 5 that doesn’t work. The starter is the starter the backup is the backup.

    ——————————————————

    I think a few things went into this last year. The “plan” obviously was to play Bush and McFadden based on the season opener. That was a PERFECT mix, IMO.

    McFadden getting hurt, not being able to pass, Gallery’s injury, Bush not being in top shape …

    Hopefully we do get some consistency at that position.

  • Plunketthead

    If Al wanted to install Air Coryell He probaly would have found someone to run it besides Hue.

    Good call on Art though. Round peg in a square hole.

    If he was still coach would we have been in the playoffs last year

  • DKnight007

    909RaiderLifer Says:
    July 28th, 2010 at 3:40 pm
    FOUR effing days of hand holding! WTF?

    This means WE have to wait until monday for football.

    Dammit Cable, this ain’t a freaking tennis camp..

    ^^^^^^^^
    Agreed…..I can two days of this learning curve crap….but 4 days??

    Wack!

  • buckeyeraider

    ‘Sup fellas?
    Four days of “learning intensive” practices, huh?

    Thought that was last year. Breaking the team down and starting over from square one. Concentrating on just footwork.

    Kinda hoping we’d moved past that.

  • mistic1

    Im pretty sure jackson is going to rely on alot of the things he did as oc in washington 2003. My theory is based on our personale and speed. Three wides, one tight single back, spread attack. Think fouts chandler, joiner, winslow. Once he took over play calling from spurrier the offense scored alot of points. in atlanta he didnt have the weapons. Any spread 3 or four wides is a spin off of air coreyell sid gilman. If our guys can approach anything even close to those dudes watch out.

  • fat kidd

    Lorenzen Wright’s Body Reportedly Found in Memphis
    7/28/2010 5:30 PM ET By A.J. Perez
    Memphis homicide investigators arrived at the scene where the body of former NBA player and University of Memphis star Lorenzen Wright was reportedly found with multiple gunshot wounds on Wednesday.

    Police spokeswoman Alyssa Macon-Moore would only confirm to FanHouse that a body had been found in southeast Memphis and homicide investigators were on scene. The Commercial-Appeal reported that the body was indeed Wright’s and WHBQ-TV reported that Lorenzen’s body had sustained a dozen gunshot wounds. Both reports cited sources within the Memphis Police Department.

    “This is an ongoing investigation,” Macon-Moore said in an e-mail. “When further details are available we will update the media.”

    An investigator with the forensic medical company that serves as the medical examiner for Shelby County told FanHouse Wednesday night that detectives had not called for the body to be removed as of 7 pm CT.

    The apparent discovery of Wright’s body comes after his family reported him missing on Thursday.Wright likely had a lot of cash on him when he was last seen leaving his ex-wife’s Collierville, Tenn., home, fueling concerns he may be the victim of foul play, according to a Collierville police report released today.

    A source told The Commercial-Appeal that police are looking into a 911 hangup call from Wright’s cellphone left July 19 — the day he disappeared.

    Wright, the seventh overall pick in the 1996 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Clippers, flew in from Atlanta to Memphis to visit friends and his six children, friends told the newspaper.

    He was scheduled to catch a ride back to the Atlanta area July 19 with a buddy with his six kids in tow. He was last seen in the wee hours of that morning, at about 2 a.m., leaving his ex-wife’s home. His former wife, Sherra Robinson Wright, 39, told police she doesn’t know who he left with or what type of car they were in, according to the missing person’s report.

  • J Wiggle

    I actually like the idea of filmwork and walk throughs.

    Making sure everyone knows the plays, proper footwork off the first step, which shoulder to attack with, etc. is CRUCIAL.

    Cable said they are going to mix in more drill work during those 4 days than they did last year. Took player feedback from last year and adjusted some things.

  • buckeyeraider

    Like the Biekert hiring. The guy was a good player. And a smart one,too. I remember that game vs. the Colts. Colts jumped em like 21-0. Biekert figured out Peyton’s at the line calls and was audibiling right along with him. Great comeback win.

    See, Bellicheat, ya don’t need no stinken hidden cameras.

    Speking of, watching all those season highlight films on NFLN the other night. Everytime they mentioned a big Patriot comeback win, I would think HMMMM. Some 2nd half adjustments after a little halftime “film study” maybe?

    I think that taints everything they ever did. No matter how quickly the commish tried to sweep it under the rug.

  • Nnamdi21
  • mistic1

    Davis hired jackson partly becuase he is players coach, and mainly because he has experience under some disciples of the air coryell offense! Most recently cam cameron. Speed on the edges and in the seams with power running equals points on the board. for example joe gibbs redskins with the posse monk clark and sanders, or martz and the greatest show on turf, bruce holt and az-hakim

  • mistic1

    Beikert is the perfect hire for mclain as a mentor. beikert was an over acheiver. Mclain has his attitude plus talent beikert could only dream of. Air coryell spread vertical plus elephant man pressure. We have never seen anything like this before.

  • SnB offense defense specialteams

    priesttj Says:
    July 28th, 2010 at 3:54 pm
    Mystic1

    Down and distance playcalling is the key. Knowing who can and who will. You have to have consistent packages as far as personnel so that players can get in a groove. When you play on HB 20 snaps this game and the next game he sees it 5 that doesn’t work. The starter is the starter the backup is the backup.
    =======================================================
    Excellent post Priesttj. My biggest complaint about the running game last year. Running back by committee or starter by committee doesn’t work very well.

  • SnB offense defense specialteams

    4-days of walkthroughs. I guess if it works. On the surface I don’t like it. But its training camp and basically practice.

    Just as long as the team is ready to play physical when the season rolls around.

  • mistic1

    The walk through might be a good thing for our rooks. one of the biggest knoks on our draft has been the lack of foot work and polish for our o line men. Also helping the o line get a feel for jc and getting his drops together.

  • Just Fire Baby

    I don’t mind the walk-throughs in general, but 4 days straight seems extreme.

    How about throwing your team a bone and saying you are better than last year, so we only need 3 of these days?

    Or going two days with the hand-holding, than two regular days, than a last day of hand-holding to review what they did wrong the previous two days of hitting?

    Call me crazy, but after 3 days of this, I am worried guys will be dozing off in day 4.

  • SnB offense defense specialteams

    Isn’t “walk-throughs” what OTAs are for? Just seems a little gimicky to me, sort of like running a fake field goal.

    Not a big fan of creativity right now. I would prefer a back to basics approach to football here. Let’s just do things normally for a change.

    My concern is will they be ready to play because those walk-throughs did nothing discernable on the field to me last year.

    But I am not going to get worked up about it…and I am not there or a coach…but from a distance I would have recommended they junk it and just get after it.

  • http://www.oakglenisafuktard.com MistaBrown

    Cable actually sounded like half a football coach in this press conf. It sounds to me like he is much more on top of what they are doing and what they want to do. If this team takes off this year its because AL has stepped back. Last year Cable sounded like he was afraid to say something AL wont like. Its like night & day his attitude and demeanor.

  • Just Fire Baby

    Like I said, I can see the benefit of a day or two. Or occasionally throwing in a half-day of this stuff.

    Granted the team was fairly healthy heading into the season, and was physical opening night, so I guess Cable might be on to something.

    4 days just seems extreme to me.

  • Just Fire Baby

    Its like night & day his attitude and demeanor.

    ***************************************

    This is called the post-Jamarcus honeymoon.

  • Plunketthead

    Cable has been “impressive” with the press.
    He seems, determined, passionate and energized.

    My Cable jersey looks great!

  • http://www.oakglenisafuktard.com MistaBrown

    Im hoping its bigger than Jarmarcus. I hope AL is 100% not involved. Let Marshall & Jackson do what they want to do.

  • Plunketthead

    Survey says: One in five Californians say they need mental health care

    Only one out of five?
    They probaly didnt count the drug addicts and alcoholics in the survey

  • Plunketthead

    Who gets the credit for the upcoming year if we go 9-7
    or even 8-8?
    Cable or Hue or Al?

    I say Al

  • buckeyeraider

    Vegas,
    Yeah they came out physical in last years opener. Losing that game at the end like that was a heartbreaker. They gave the Chargers a good beatdown.

    Don’t take my word for it, take Hank Bauer’s. The former Charger FB/color analyst was on NFLN last year. When asked why SD were such slow starters he said…I don’t know about past seasons, but this year they opened in Oakland on a monday night against the Raiders, and that game was sooo physical, it took the Chargers about half the season to recover from it.

  • buckeyeraider

    Plunk,
    I vote for all three. Hell, don’t forget about Marshall. If they can get this ship turned around, and this proud franchise back to respectability there will be enough credit to go around.

  • RAIDERMAN99

    Camp has arrived and the regular season isn’t far behind.

    Some thoughts on the offseason and speculation on what lies ahead for the 2010 Raiders:

    This was a very good offseason for the Raids. I can say that with absolute certainty. Even though we can’t be sure of the ultimate success of the draft class or players we added through trades and free agency, we know we had a productive offseason.

    Why ? Because we dumped JaMarcus Russell !

    This offseason’s greatest addition was the subtraction of JaMarcus Russell.

    Without dumping Russell, this team had no hope of success.

    Now, at least there’s a chance.

    I’m not sold on Jason Campbell. I haven’t seen enough of him to make a definitive judgement, but from what I have seen – he’s a stiff.

    Anyone that watched the 4th quarter of last season’s Redskin/Eagle MNF game has to have serious doubts about Campbell’s capabilities.

    I hope I’m wrong, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see Gradkowski eventually unseat him as the starter.

    Haven’t seen enough of Gradkoswki to know how good he can be either, but he showed me more in one game in Pittsburgh than Campbell has ever shown me on an NFL field.

    That being said, Campbell is still a huge upgrade at QB. If he can provide some consistency and keep turnovers to a minimum, the Raids should be competitive. If the Raids can actually show a marked improvement in the ability to put points on the board, then this is a very dangerous outfit that can win the AFC West.

    Unfortunately, I don’t believe enough has been done to improve one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL for the Raiders to be a force on offense. This looms as the main area of concern for 2010.

    If the OL can step up, pass protect and open some running lanes, I’m convinced we have enough good young skill players to put points on the board even with average QB play.

    And the ability to score points is what’s going to determine the fate of the 2010 Raiders.

    The defense is going to be fine. In fact, this might develop into one of the better units in the NFL. But they can’t be on the field all day due to the non-existent offense the Raids have fielded the past 5 years.

    In summary, this is a team moving in the right direction. Put some points up, catch a few breaks, and there’s no telling what the ceiling is.

    Probably won’t happen this year, but Al might very well be hoisting Lombardi number 4 before he’s done.

  • http://raiderthoughts.com RaiderThoughts.com

    the Tenn opener is so damn important. everywhere you turn there is talk of ‘new attitude’ and high hopes. much to be expected this time of year. Lets face it, Jackson, Marshall, keeping cable in a reduced head coach role to look over everything and connect the dots…and now a braun and brains type that did us well, beikert, coming in to get out there and make guys not only hussle, but think….if you follow the player tweets at RaiderThoughts.com you’ll see that DMAC is back broadcasting some play by play info. He and bush are roomies in Napa…a good thing.

  • Just Fire Baby

    Not familiar with Hank by name, but when I lived in Vegas the sports radio station carried the Chargers.

    Those guys were the biggest homers I ever heard. Suprised the guy had anything positive to say of us.

  • SnB offense defense specialteams

    Raiderman99,

    I am quite sure that in Campbell’s 55 starts are some pretty good games that matched Gradkowski’s one exceptional game against Pittsburgh.

    If Gradkowski is so good, he should have NO PROBLEM beating out Campbell right?

    Raiderfan has a penchant for attaching himself to a lot plodding players that flash a game or two but have a good attitude. This ain’t little league man.

    The Raiders had to go get a QB to compete/start. Contrary to popular opinion, going in with just Gradkowski as the lead QB would have been unacceptable.

    Let him beat out Campbell.

    Grads has 2 games…of any note. You don’t turn over the keys to a journeyman QB with just 2 games.

    Ever heard of Sean Hill? JT O’Sullivan? Jon Kitna? Tyler Thigpen? Comeon

    Bruce Gradkowski was the saddest person in the room when JaDavis got cut.

  • Just Fire Baby

    Of all the week 1 games, we are the biggest underdogs on the board I believe (8 points).

    If we can field a competitive game, and maybe pull out a victory we should be set for an improved year. The next week we will hammer the Rams, so we should be 1-1 again.

    Than you just need to win most all your home games and splash in a win in Denver and maybe another place or two, and we can should be at least playing meaningful football in late Nov/Dec.

    Just don’t fall behind early in Tenn and get rolled. That’s all I ask.

  • buckeyeraider

    LOL, Vegas. I’m sure they all are though. The Bengals radio guy is former lineman Dave Lapham. He offers a little insight. But mainly he’s just a big cheerleader. He gets so excited you can almost hear the big bastard jumping up and down in the booth.

  • Plunketthead

    Buck

    After that monday night game I thought the Chargers season was done. And it did take them awhile to get things in gear again.

  • RAIDERMAN99

    Snb, I’d hope that Campbell did have a few games out of 55 starts that matched Gradkowski’s performance in Pitt.

    If he had enough games like that, the Skins might not have given up on him. 55 games should be enough for a franchise to evaluate what they have. Obviously, the Skins decided he wasn’t going to get it done and were content to take a 4th rd pick in exchange for Jason.

    I hope they’re wrong and Campbell can be a very good NFL QB, but nothing I’ve seen leads me to believe Campbell is going to be anything more than just average.

    But like I said, I haven’t seen enough of him to make a definitive judgement.

    Likewise, I haven’t seen enough of Gradkowski to know how good he can be.

    Never said Gradkowski is that good, or that the Raids should have been content going into the season with him as the starter.

    Bringing in Campbell was the right and smart move.

    We’ll find out soon enough what they both bring to the table.

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