Following Wednesday's walkthrough practice at the team's Alameda compound, coach Tom Cable said the starters would indeed start Thursday night's exhibition finale at Seattle.
"After what we went through last week, you want to get the bad taste out of your mouth and put it to bed and learn from it, and I think we have learned from it," Cable said of the 45-7 thrashing endured at the hands of the New Orleans Saints. "So we'll go out tomorrow night and just address the game just as we normally would, and go out and try to be right on both sides of the ball and get those guys out of the game."
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Cable also said there were "oh, eight spots" to be contested prior to Saturday's deadline to have the 53-man roster turned in.
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Darren McFadden will get his second start of the preseason at running back and Michael Bush will join him in the backfield for the first two drives at most, Cable said. Then, expect a steady diet of Louis Rankin and Gary Russell. Justin Fargas, who started the preseason opener against Dallas, is out with a strained hamstring. Cable, though, said he should be ready for the regular season opener on Sept. 14.
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Rookie safety Mike Mitchell, who has yet to play in an exhibition because of a hamstring injury, is progressing to the point where Cable expects to see him on the field next week.
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Offensive tackle Khalif Barnes is out of his cast and walking boot and his broken left ankle is "progressing very well," Cable said. "He's pain free. You just want to get him back going where he can pound on it. At that position it takes a lot of pounding, and then we'll get to Week 2 or 3 and see when he's ready to go."
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