ALAMEDA -- Today's practice was as long as any practice lately.
The reason?
Lane Kiffin said he had to "restart a few things" because of mistakes.
Not exactly the best way to start practicing for Denver. But guys are a little antsy to play games that matter.
Rookie running back Darren McFadden said the mood was positive even though practice was over two hours.
"No one was making any complaints or anything about length," McFadden said. "So we had a pretty good practice, even though it was so long."
In case you didn't know, McFadden grew up a fan of John Elway and Terrell Davis. Does that mean any of you are now burning your No. 20 jerseys?
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Ashley Lelie has something to look forward to on Monday night. His family can watch the game in the stands comfortably.
"Every time you come into the Coliseum as an away team, the coach always gives you a speech about the fans, tell your family not to wear team colors," Lelie said. "So it's actually going to be kind of good where my family's gonna fit in, cause now they're rooting for the Raiders."
Lelie said the offense is similar to what he ran in Denver and some of the terminology is the same because he played under Greg Knapp in Atlanta.
That should aid his ability to get on the field for the season opener.
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So much for Denver signing former Raider Josh Shaw to get some inside tips on the Raiders.
Well, Kiffin isn't worried that Shaw will be giving the Broncos an in-depth scouting report of the Raiders' strategy.
"I don't that a D-tackle can tell you very much about the game plan," Kiffin said. "They just kind of line up and go. I'd be nervous if it was a quarterback especially. Not that Josh isn't a smart guy, but I don't think Josh can tell you much about our game plan."
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Don't expect quarterback JaMarcus Russell to be in awe of playing on Monday night.
Russell is always steady and that shouldn't change.
"Actually my first Monday night game was against Tennessee in conference play," is how Russell responded to being asked if he was ready for the prime time game.
Russell is expecting the Broncos to come at him with a lot of pressure.
That doesn't bother him either.
"Not knowing exactly what they're going to do, it's important for us to concentrate on what we're going to do," Russell said. "We'll have to react to whatever is happening out there. But at the same time, having a young quarterback out there, there's certain things you would want to do to him to get him rattled and upset in certain spots."
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DeAngelo Hall is willing to concede Denver's Champ Bailey is the best cornerback in the NFL.
As for the best tandem, he said it's easy.
Himself and Nnamdi Asomugha.
"Me and Nnamdi you can toss it up and pull it out of a hat, two and three," Hall said. "So there's no comparison. No comparison when you have two and three or one and whatever there's no comparison."
The whatever in this case is Hall's good friend, Dre' Bly.
Hall practiced without a cast on his right hand. He said he can't catch the ball like he normally does, but feels good going into the Denver game.
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*WR Javon Walker is "day-to-day" with a hamstring injury. Kififn said Walker intends to play against his old team, Denver, on Monday night.
DE Kalimba Edwards is also day-to-day with a groin injury.
Both were limited in practice.
*McFadden said he only catches punts during practice for fun. Kiffin added McFadden wouldn't return kickoffs so he could focus on offense.
*The team worked out free agent WR Chad Jackson on Tuesday. Nothing came of the workout as the team opted to sign Lelie.
--Jason Jones
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