ALAMEDA -- Head coach Dennis Allen promised the Raiders would be better prepared this week if concussed long snapper Jon Condo isn't cleared in time to play against the Dolphins. The Raiders just announced they have signed long snapper Nick Guess to the practice squad. Guess, a first-year player who was cut by the Chargers in camp, started at long snapper the final 25 games of his college career at Tennessee.
It figures the Raiders will wait as long as possible this week for Condo, who must be medically cleared before he can return to the field and wasn't seen at practice this morning. The Raiders also announced they signed a defensive lineman, Brandon Bair, to the practice squad. Defensive tackle Vaughan Meatoga and linebacker Nathan Stupar were released to clear the spots. Earlier this morning the Raiders cut receiver Brandon Carswell from the practice squad and signed cornerback Coye Francies.
Incidentally, Dolphins head coach Joe Philbin had his conference call with Bay Area reporters this morning and was asked about how much work his backup long snappers get in practice. (The Raiders' backup, Travis Goethel, said after struggling in the role Monday night that his was very sparing). Here was his answer:
"We have some guys that work at that on a continual basis," Philbin said. "In practice, if (regular long snapper) John Denney is going to get 90 to 95 percent of the quote-unquote live work, we'll always have a second guy ready to roll to the best of our ability. Obviously he's probably not going to be as good as John Denney or he'd be doing that job. You always have to have a Plan B in place."
-- Matt Kawahara
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