Tom Cable is still the Raiders coach - for now, and I'll opine on that in tomorrow's paper - as he met with the media today in Alameda. He said he'd only take draft-related questions, which seemed innocuous enough.
But as I was putting the finishing touches on my column, the Raiders Tweeted they had signed free-agent quarterback Kyle Boller, the No. 19 overall pick of the 2003 draft by the Baltimore Ravens.
Now, I don't think they brought the former Cal star to compete for the purportedly "open competition" under center, but it does give some perspective to Cable's tepid endorsement of JaMarcus Russell in the Q&A.
"He's here," Cable said of Russell. "He's working. He's doing everything that everybody else is doing, has been here since the start of the second week. Has been doing
it like everybody else. That's all I can tell you."
Meanwhile, Cable could not say enough to praise the work and development of receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey this offseason.
"You guys will be excited when you see us in OTA's, the improvement Darrius has already made," Cable said. "That guy has jumped out at us since winter program, or offseason program, just the quality of work he's done. What he did between the end of the season and when we started on March 17 is phenomenal, and probably no one is more excited about a guy on our team than Darrius right now. He really, really has taken this thing leaps and bounds, further probably than what we thought we could go with it this quickly. It will be nice to get him on the field and get him into coverages and get him into route concepts and doing those kinds of
things."
Cable wasn't done recruiting for the DHB Fan Club. Asked if he thought DHB being over his rookie season jitters was a factor, Cable smiled.
"I do," he said. "That's the biggest part of it. It's like, 'Hey, man, you went through it. We picked you where we picked you, everybody said we shouldn't have, and, oh, my God, you carried the weight of the world on your shoulders, you don't want to embarrass your family and all this and
that. And then you get hurt.'
"It is what it is. So, you come back, you go to work. Having gone through that and put it behind him. That's a guy, I'm watching him work out on Tuesday doing dumb bell press at 130
(pounds). He's a wide receiver. That's impressive. His speed, his catching ability, looks like a totally different guy to me than what I saw last year. So, again, I'm really excited for him. He's going to be just what we hoped he would be."
Maybe he can find a connection with Boller? In seven seasons, Boller has started 46 of the 60 games he's played in with a record of 20-26 and compiled a career passer rating of 70.6. He has thrown for 8,745 yards with 48 touchdowns and 50 interceptions while completing 56.8% of his passes. He started four games for the St. Louis Rams last season, going 0-4.
***********************************************************************************************
Follow me on Twitter @paulhgutierrez
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.