Veteran defensive end Greg Ellis, who underwent minor surgeries to both a shoulder and a knee during the bye week and sat out last week's loss to Kansas City, expects to start against Cincinnati.
"I'm a team guy," Ellis said in a chipper Raiders locker room on Friday. "I feel like I want to do something to help us get a win here. So I push. Coaches, they don't have to push me and say, 'Come on Greg, give it a shot.' That's not my thing. That's pretty much where I'm at.
"I'm not 100 percent, but my intention this week is to go ahead and play. Just as a competitor you want to get out there and try to help get a win. That's what I want to do."
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Coach Tom Cable said benched quarterback JaMarcus Russell, who has been nowhere to be found during media access periods this week, did not take any first-team snaps this week.
"He took the normal backup quarterback reps," Cable said, "which is two or three per period."
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I asked Justin Fargas how he was handling the 55 points Stanford put down on his USC Trojans last week. After a deep breath and insisting he was over it, he acknowledged he had paid off his two locker room bets.
Two? Well there's Cardinal product Jon Alston. And...?!?
"Stanford" Routt," Fargas sighed, pointing over at the defensive back's locker. "Because his name is Stanford."
Rimshot, please.
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Cable said underachieving kick returners Johnnie Lee Higgins (punts) and Jonathan Holland (kickoffs) have kept their jobs.
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Receivers Javon Walker (hamstring) and Nick Miller (shin) and linebackers Ricky Brown (ankle) did not practice and are all out for the game. LB Ike Ekejiuba (ankle) was limited and is questionable for the game.
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