McFadden speaks about foot injury, goals, Rihanna
By Steve Corkran
Tuesday, May 15th, 2012 at 3:11 pm in Oakland Raiders.
Running back Darren McFadden practiced last month for the first time since he suffered a severe foot injury. On Tuesday, he met with the media for the first time since last October, when he went down with the injury against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Here is the entire transcript:
Q: How did it feel to be out there?
McFadden: Felt good, being able to be out there on the field, be with my teammates, be out there running plays and feeling like myself.
Q: Can you do everything you want to do?
McFadden: I’m full speed ahead.
Q: What have the last seven months been like, to have the week to week thing during the season?
McFadden: It was one of those things where you just hated it. Week after week you’re trying to get out there, and you can’t get out there because your foot won’t let you. One of those deals, you have to just keep going, keep pushing for it. Injuries like that take a lot of time to heal up so it’s not something you can just get back out there on too soon.
Q: A freak injury or something you have to worry about re-injuring?
McFadden: It was just a freak thing, you know. I’m going out there and playing like it never happened. I’m not going to worry about it. My thing is, just go out there and play hard. I can’t control the things that happen when you go out there and get tackled, so I just go hard every play.
Q: Did it hurt bad?
McFadden: At the time it happened it didn’t hurt bad. It hurt worse the next day than it did when it happened.
Q: What did it feel like when you tried to do things on it when it was hurting?
McFadden: When I first did it it was like a dull pain, then after that, the next day, I pretty much couldn’t get on my toes at all.
Q: How did you do it?
McFadden: Caught a checkdown over the middle and when I got tackled the guy fell on the back of my leg.
Q: When did you first know you were back, a month ago, two months ago?
McFadden: I just started running at the beginning of April, so I wouldn’t say I felt like I was all the way back then, because I was still having little problems, just sorness and stuff, but I guess within the last month or so I was feeling pretty good.
Q: How much did injury affect your personality. You get so much joy out of playing football, then to have it taken away . .
McFadden: It’ll get you down. Being out there and having injuries like that, it’s one of those things you want to be back out there playing and you can’t do anything about it so it can get you down a lot.
Q: How did it get you down, stay in room, look out a window . . . what were you doing?
McFadden: Avoiding the media.
Q: Did you do anything else?
McFadden: No, it was pretty much just staying out of sight. I didn’t want to be in sight if I wasn’t doing anything. Wasn’t no point for me to talk to the media. I wasn’t playing, so I didn’t feel a need to.
Q: You’ve got a rep of a player with a reputation of a terrific player who gets hurt and can’t play a whole season. Does that trouble you?
McFadden: Everybody has their own opinion, so, for me, I’m just going out there playing, going hard, if I get hurt, so be it. I could see if it was just going down the street, falling over, getting hurt, that’s different, but I’m out t here playing hard when I get hurt. Everybody got their own opinions, so, hey.
Q: Feel you’re that kind of player that tends to get hurt or think you’ve put it behind you?
McFadden: It’s all behind me. Like I say, I’m going out there, playing hard. If I get hurt going hard I can’t do anything about it.
Q: Two years here, scheme was exclusively zone, numbers not as good as following two years when got away from zone runs. Now going back to it. Greg Knapp, Kelly Skipper saying you can run any scheme? Did you have trouble running zone first two years?
McFadden: I’m like the coaches say. I feel I can fit in any scheme running the ball. Now I feel like I’ve got my feet wet in the NFL, now I have my confidence boosted, so it’s just, going out there and playing with confidence I’m going to go out there and run the ball.
Q: Do anything different running zone, power, same thing?
McFadden: It’s the same thing, running behind the blockers and making the right cuts, and making the right reads, and going.
First time with Carson Palmer. Feel good?
I am looking forward getting out on the field and playing games with him. I could see last year that he was a great quarterback and took control of the huddle. He made the right calls, the right reads and got us in the right situation.
What are your first impressions of the new offense?
Being out here, I see a lot of young guys making plays. I am looking forward to getting out there on the field and putting everything together.
What’s your relationship with the coach?
It’s a coach-player relationship.
What do you see from him?
He is a great coach. He is very intense. If guys something to get out of him, he is going to get it out of them.
You watch TMZ at all?
Every now and then.
You get a lot of flak from teammates about that report?
Yeah, they’re all going to throw their jokes in there, but it is what it is.
Any comment on the Rihanna report?
I don’t have a comment.
Do you have to wear anything in the shoes, anything different? New shoes?
For the most part, I am going to stick with the steel plates in my cleats and make those work for me.
It was a freak accident that happened and there is not much you can do to prevent it.
First time with no Mike Bush
It’s going to be different but that’s part of the game. That’s my boy and we still stay in touch.
Filling his shoes on the field?
We have a lot of young backs that we brought in and I am sure they’re going to do a great job filling in.
Now that you’re healthy, do you ever think of how good you can be?
I think about it all the time. You want to be the best player. That’s the kind of guy I am, I want to be the best. I don’t want to just be out there. So I am going to keep working hard, look forward to the season and be the best that I can be.
You said you had numbers in mind last year. What were they?
I was hoping to get 1,800 rushing yards, but it didn’t work out that way. I will keep pushing for it this year and hopefully get to those goals.
Do you think your receiving skills could be utilized even more this year in the new offense?
Coach Knapp is going to have a lot of great plays in, getting the H split out, so I am looking forward to that. I am a very versatile player and I like getting out there wide and catching the ball.
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May 15th, 2012 at 3:12 pm
1 NATION
May 15th, 2012 at 3:13 pm
SPREE FOR THREE!
May 15th, 2012 at 3:13 pm
No-poaching clause AEG will sign I hear….guess what that means? They can’t try and re-locate Raiders to LA! Hahahahahahahaha….Home is where the Heart is
May 15th, 2012 at 3:15 pm
Coach Knapp is going to have a lot of great plays in, getting the H split out, so I am looking forward to that. I am a very versatile player and I like getting out there wide and catching the ball.
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I like it….Macth up hell for some lb…
May 15th, 2012 at 3:15 pm
Beecher….u never answered…are u gonna battle Nas or Jay Z? U gonna diss the east coast cats over the LA Kings? Are U Beecher Shakur? Beech Dawgy Dawg? Dr.Beecher? Suge Beech? Beech dillinger?
May 15th, 2012 at 3:16 pm
Brahs, one of the Beeech Dawgettes – The Beeech Diggity’s Collection of Fine, Fabulous Ladies – just came up with a sweet new VICTORY dance to do every time the Kings score a goal!
It’s called the Krappy Krapster Shake
This thing is going to blow up, probably be as huge as the macarena by Sunday
All you gotta do is shimmy to the left, then shimmy to the right, pop your hip out, then blog all night.
Try it, totally beats doing math homework
May 15th, 2012 at 3:16 pm
roflmao…..hahahahahahaha…WOW
May 15th, 2012 at 3:17 pm
hey cork, what are the odss of TP playing TE or WR?
May 15th, 2012 at 3:18 pm
Thec Says:
May 15th, 2012 at 3:16 pm
roflmao…..hahahahahahaha…WOW
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Directed at post 3….
May 15th, 2012 at 3:19 pm
hey cork, what say you on TP playing QB?
Cork you had him switching positions, get us a report on how wrong you are….
May 15th, 2012 at 3:19 pm
Cork <—-zero cred….
May 15th, 2012 at 3:21 pm
Semi Pro’s > cork jer and becker
May 15th, 2012 at 3:21 pm
Peemore Bust, you sure hauled tail pretty quick yesterday after I backed you into a corner!
Love your classic move – get roasted, disappear for a few hours, sneak back into the blog hoping everyone forgot
Don’t worry, none of my blog brahs ever do!
Totally hilarious flame out, thanks for more laughs
HOLLA BACK MO WIZZLE, OFF THE CHIZZY
May 15th, 2012 at 3:22 pm
Mental Health, Dumb Beeech.
It would be easy to dismiss trolls as mentally ill. Easy and wrong. Most would not score significantly on mental illness assessments. But most are simply immature. Fair enough in a teenager, and they have a chance of growing out of it (though the longer they leave it, the harder they may find it to break the habit). But in adults, it’s simply sad.
Once upon a time, they would have been called ‘inadequate psychopaths’; attention seeking loners, forever feeling sorry for themselves, but too bone idle to lift themselves out of their self-selected mire. Some live in a fantasy world, and find it hard to concentrate on real life; they can’t make eye contact, and will say just about anything, frequently contradicting a previous statement.
May 15th, 2012 at 3:24 pm
Brian the Genital, if the Kings get straight fizzle with the Rangers in the Finals, The Beeech Diggity Dawg will come full force at ALL East Coast ballers
WRECKS N EFFECT STYLE, WHUT WHUT?
Yo, first up is Woody Allen, I’ll be taking that playa to school, mo wizzle
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Method To My Madness Says:
May 15th, 2012 at 3:15 pm
Beecher….u never answered…are u gonna battle Nas or Jay Z? U gonna diss the east coast cats over the LA Kings? Are U Beecher Shakur? Beech Dawgy Dawg? Dr.Beecher? Suge Beech? Beech dillinger?
May 15th, 2012 at 3:29 pm
I am hoping DMAC stays healthy all season…I was hoping the same last season. DMAC not commenting about Rihanna possibly means that they are kicking it. I hope his relationship will not hinder his work. Anyway, Thanks for the Q&A interview with Darren…Steve. The Live Chat was really good today and I missed it…darn it.
May 15th, 2012 at 3:29 pm
The Beeech Dawg Says:
May 15th, 2012 at 3:07 pm
Peemore Bust, you sure hauled tail pretty quick yesterday after I backed you into a corner!
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Run away from you biachi?? Come on, you must have me confused with some dude that doesn’t want the herp.
May 15th, 2012 at 3:42 pm
Criner doing it like Denarius did. Great news…
“The biggest defensive play came when a Palmer pass bounced off the hands of Rashawn Jackson and then was juggled among several defenders until Aaron Curry held on to it and ran into the end zone for a touchdown.”
ah well, lets get the turnovers out of our system now….
May 15th, 2012 at 3:45 pm
Wow, no clarification on the TMZ report? Guess its another sleepless night wondering if it’s true or not.
God I hate the offseason. Give me some freakin football already.
May 15th, 2012 at 3:53 pm
“i have no comment” isn’t “talking about Rihanna”
misleading!!
May 15th, 2012 at 5:23 pm
[...] asked about it on the Inside the Oakland Raiders blog, McFadden made no comment on the Rihanna story and basically said nothing about the gun [...]
May 15th, 2012 at 7:14 pm
so sad to see this website going the way of espn…who the hell cares if theyre dating, very dissapointed in steve, expected way more, he should leave these topics to skip baseless and stephen a.
May 15th, 2012 at 7:48 pm
Jesus Christ…….April?!?!
May 15th, 2012 at 8:27 pm
Come game time Mcfadden, dont bust a romo, wit that gf drama!
May 15th, 2012 at 8:28 pm
Come game time Mcfadden, dont bust a romo, wit that gf drama! Hahhhahha, RAIDERSSSSS
May 15th, 2012 at 8:59 pm
Still have no faith in McFragile playing a full season. In grown toenail will cost him three games and a pimple will most him another. He’s soft. Hope I’m wrong and he leads all RB’s in every category.
May 15th, 2012 at 10:30 pm
While most people are gonna shy away from Run DMC in FF this year because of his injury history… Im going to draft him with my first pick. This will be year DMAC make it through a full season top 3 RB in the league and a Pro Bowl. Most of DMAC’s injuries have been rare and uncommon for the most part and just been a bit of bad luck. But you can tell that his confident about his abilities. Last years injury was a “freak injury” (as he described it) that you hardly ever hear about. I’m also encouranged by coach Allen’s approach and understand the value of DMAC and has said that they while motor him and will do everything possible to keep him fresh and healthy. Like Bynum with the Lakers,this will be the year McFadden will be over his early career injuries and jump on the scene to be the dominant elite player we expected of him when we drated him.
Go Raiders!!
May 16th, 2012 at 11:19 am
So this was the tease?
“Any comment on the Rihanna report?
I don’t have a comment.”
Oy, vey!
May 16th, 2012 at 11:31 am
If politics is off limits on the Raider blog shouldn’t BS stories about the possible love life of any of the Raider players be discouraged as well?
May 16th, 2012 at 11:33 am
Whoever gives a rip about who DMAC is screwing anyway? This ain’t “Access Hollywood” or access Rihanna for that matter. No one gives a sch*t!
May 16th, 2012 at 11:34 am
Does anyone here expect it’ll be another 10 weeks for MCSoftie to recover from a blister on his pinky toe?