ALAMEDA - Some news and notes from the Raiders locker room this morning. There was no practice today so players will be back on the field Wednesday.
*QB JaMarcus Russell said his MRI showed a lot of bruising to his sprained right ankle.
Russell was injured late in the second half of last Thursday's 34-7 loss at San Diego. He's wearing a walking boot on his right foot fulltime, he said.
Russell also addressed the fuss that was made about him missing a television production meeting with the NFL Network.
"That was kind of funny to me because once we first got there they were sort of waiting for me to get relaxed and get my stuff to my (hotel) room," Russell said. "They called and I wasn't going to rush down stairs, I was just getting off a plane flight. By time I got down there, they was gone. If they want to go on with it, then that's they're job and I'm not really too much worried about it."
It's funny that interim head coach Tom Cable said Russell felt bad about missing the meeting. Cable said it was a big deal to him and that Russell understood that.
It makes you wonder if he really has a pulse for the team.
*WR Drew Carter reports rehab on his left knee is going well. He admitted he questioned whether he really wanted to go through rehab after a fourth ACL injury (he's torn it in each knee twice).
He thought it might be time to move on to the next phase of his life without football.
"I almost went into a little depression stage but, luckily, I had my family there," Carter said. "They just kept me up. But it was hard. When I did it, it felt like it was surreal. I was like, 'There's no way I just did this again.'"
Carter signed a one-year deal in the offseason and said he'd be interested in returning to the Raiders, especially if receivers coach James Lofton is still on the staff.
He said talks of a new contract wouldn't happen until the end of the season.
*WR Ronald Curry said it would be good to see "18" this weekend when the Raiders host the New England Patriots.
"18" is Randy Moss, who wears 81 for the Patriots.
"I don't know him as 81," Curry said.
But wouldn't we all have liked to have seen more of 18 playing like 81?
No. 18 was traded for a fourth-round pick because it looked as if his days of being a dominant receiver were over.
But since arriving in New England, No. 81 has been the star the Raiders never saw, especially after he was injured during the 2005 season.
But with all the madness that goes on with the Raiders, there was little chance of 18 looking anything like 84 (from Minnesota) or 81.
So don't lose sleep wondering what would have been because it wouldn't have been in Oakland.
*And a final word on the fake field goal from the Kansas City game.
K Sebastian Janikowski said the way Maurice Leggett played the kick safely would have made a first down tough, even if he'd caught the ball.
Leggett didn't lie out to block the kick. Instead he took a route to the ball that was wide and put him in position to get Janikowski.
"I thought it was like fourth-and-2, fourth-and-3," Janikowski said. "I didn't know it was fourth-and-10. I just run out there and Shane (Lechler) said, `Bass.' That was the name of it. My eyes just lit up, I got excited, I went too early."
There will be more to come after Cable speaks.
--Jason Jones
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