With Justin Fargas cut in March, the Raiders' running game is all about Darren McFadden and Michael Bush. Perhaps now they will use Run DMC to the best of his talents - out in space - and have Bush pound between the tackles?
But I digress. McFadden spoke to reporters Sunday at the conclusion of the Raiders' three-day mandatory mini-camp in Alameda and was asked about Fargas being gone and how that changes the dynamic.
"It was great having him around," McFadden said of Fargas. "Me and Michael learned a lot from Justin. We're just going to take the torch from him and just try to keep it going and get better every year."
He was also asked about the ridiculous rumors that had him on the trading block on Draft Day.
"When draft day comes, it gets weird," McFadden said. "A lot of rumors go around. It's something I just tru not to pay attention to. I talked to coach (Tom) Cable about it. He let me know everything is fine, (that) it wasn't any big deal.
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Cable was asked what grade he'd give the team after three days and five practices.
"I'd give us a B-plus," he said. "Again, I would be more satisfied if there were less balls on the ground and yet, at the same time, the defense takes it away a few more times. It's kind of a tough one to answer but that is it. Everything else I like. I like what we taught, I like what we got installed, the work effort was very good. So it was very good that way."
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First-round draft pick Rolando McClain as held back Sunday as the middle linebacker was noticeably stretching his hamstring the afternoon before.
"He was a little tight," Cable said. "And, you know, I think, one of the things I'm probably most pleased about, last year we came out of minicamp with some hamstring issues, pulls and strains, things like that, we don't seem to have near those things this year."
A year ago, Darrius Heyward-Bey and Mike Mitchell seemed to carry those hammy issues throughout the season.
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Cable also said the Raiders are still working on a long-term deal with Richard Seymour, who has yet to sign his "franchise-player tender" and missed the mini-camp.
"I know both sides are working on it," he said. "I think that's the most important thing this early. Hopefully things will get done and everybody will be happy about it."
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And finally, Cable's final thoughts on the mini-camp: "I think, talk about what the plan is moving forward and tomorrow we'll start back into offseason program. On May 18, we'll start with OTAs, and we'll have four weeks of that and just kind of give an idea of what those will entail, a little bit more situational football, and really, just staying the course now. There's been a lot of work, it was obviously a productive minicamp, and yet, there's a ton of work to do."
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To get more of a "live" sense of the camp, check out my Twitter page and follow me on twitter @paulhgutierrez
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