The Oakland Raiders took to the field for another "Fast Friday" practice as they made their final preparations for this Sunday's home game against the Denver Broncos. As per usual, the CBS broadcast team calling the game stopped by to take in practice and conduct their weekly production meeting.
Greg Gumbel and Trent Green will call a Raiders game for the second week in a row. Green says that he'd like to see the Raiders clean up the mistakes that cost them the game in Chicago a week ago.
"The turnovers were a big problem, they were right in position, you look at the final drive the Bears converted the 4th down to Bennett, Raiders had great coverage it was just an unbelievable play on Cutler and Bennett's part, so they were in position to win that game," Green said. "I just like the attitude of the team, you can see the way that the team carries themselves; you can see the presence that they have. There's a different bounce, there's a different feel to the team, there's a different feel to the staff, the energy around the team."
Green, who played against the Raiders in the midst of the Silver and Black's last dominance of the AFC West, says he sees some parallels between the Rich Gannon led Raiders and the Derek Carr led Raiders with some key differences.
"I see a lot of parallels, Rich [Gannon] was a veteran player at that point in time, the receivers he had - Tim and Jerry were veteran guys at that time, to see where the Raiders are right now with Derek Carr, I obviously think he has a bright future ahead of him, to put him in that class right now with a Rich Gannon, he had a an MVP during that stretch, but he's definitely on his way," Green said. "I see a lot of similarities in terms of his mobility, in terms of his arm strength. I like the young receivers, I like [Amari] Cooper, I think he does a good job, I'll still say Crabtree is a young guy even though he's in year seven. I think that those guys present a lot of problems for defense. Latavius [Murray] is a good young big back that can cause a lot of problems for defenses. I like the balance they have as well."
Green, who played with the Kansas City Chiefs for six seasons, says that the AFC West rivalries are rich in history and date back to the days of the AFL.
"Being a part of the AFC West for six years, it's deep-rooted going back to the AFL days, the history of this division you can understand why the competition is the way it is. It not only trickles down from ownership to the players and the staffs as well," Green said. "It was really a history lesson every time you would get ready for those games, to make sure the young players understood what the importance of these games were because of the history that the organizations had against one another."
You can catch Greg Gumbel, Trent Green and sideline reporter Jamie Erdahl on the telecast Sunday at 1:25 p.m. on CBS (KPIX CBS 5 in the Bay Area).
Injury Update
Defensive tackles Justin Ellis and Denico Autry, along with cornerback TJ Carrie and running back Taiwan Jones have been declared out for this game. Larry Asante should see plenty of action this week. Click here for the full injury report for both teams.
Song of the Day
Today's Song of the Day, heard during the stretching period is Schoolboy Q's Studio. Apparently Schoolboy Q's lady is waiting for him to finish making a record.
