Raiders Notebook: Injured WR Denarius Moore pushing to return for opener against Chargers

It was a familiar scene Monday at Raiders headquarters. While his teammates practiced on one field, injured starting wide receiver Denarius Moore worked with a trainer on another.

Moore hasn’t practiced since early in training camp when he injured his right hamstring, and he didn’t appear in a single preseason game. But there are signs he might make it back for the Raiders’ opener against San Diego in a week.

“Denarius was out running around today, and he’s had a couple of good days back to back, so I’m encouraged by that,” Raiders coach Dennis Allen said.

Moore has been running hard for weeks. Before the Raiders' third preseason game against Detroit, he ran pass routes on the O.co Coliseum field, catching passes from quarterback Matt Leinart.

Allen said he hasn’t pinpointed a deadline for Moore to return to practice in order to play Monday night against the Chargers, but he knows he needs to get some work in before suiting up.

“There’s a cutoff day for all of us as far as being ready to go,” Allen said. “What that day is, I don’t know. I want to get him out here and get him practicing, and that will determine whether he’s going to be ready to play in the game or not.”

Wide receiver and return man Jacoby Ford, who sprained his left foot at Arizona on Aug. 17, appears to be a much longer shot to play against San Diego. Allen said he has yet to resume running but is “making progress.”

In other injury news, center Stefen Wisniewski practiced for the first time since suffering a calf injury Aug. 13 against Dallas.

“Wisniewski was limited in practice today, but he moved around pretty good,” Allen said. “We’ll give him a little bit more work tomorrow.”

Allen said he expects Wisniewski to be ready to practice fully on Thursday, following the team’s day off.

Starting defensive tackle Richard Seymour, who missed the final two preseason games while nursing sore knees, practiced Tuesday. So did rookie wide receiver Juron Criner, although he hobbled while running his routes because of a sore ankle.

“I don’t really think it’s a big deal,” Allen said of Criner’s injury. “He was able to get out and run around pretty well yesterday. He’s a little bit more sore today. It’s a long time until Monday night, so we’ll be fine there.”

New faces: After two days off, the Raiders practiced Monday for the first time since establishing an initial 53-man roster then making four changes. Cornerbacks Joselio Hanson (Eagles) and Phillip Adams (Seahawks), offensive tackle Willie Smith (Redskins) and outside linebacker Keenan Clayton (Eagles) practiced as Raiders for the first time sicne being signed.

“We've got some work to do,” Allen said of the late roster changes. “But that’s why we’re here. That’s part of our job. And that’s what happens with every team. So it’s nothing new. But, yeah, we've got a few new guys back there that we've got to get caught up to speed, and we've got to get them caught up to speed quickly.”

Allen said there was no welcome-to-the-Raiders moment at practice.

“No, we just get to work,” he said. “We've got a job to do, and that’s the business of the NFL, getting ready to win games. We didn’t have any kumbaya moments. It was time to roll, so it was good.”

McClain’s take: Starting middle linebacker Rolando McClain talked to reporters for the first time since July 30, the day training camp opened, and gave the Raiders’ new attacking defensive scheme a thumbs up.

“I feel good about the defense,” McClain said. “It’s not just my game or anybody’s game in particular. I think it suits everybody on the defense from linebacker to D-line to secondary. We’re all able to make plays on the defense. We just have to make them when your number is called.

“I think the Raiders have been so accustomed to playing straight man (defense), with everybody knowing what we’re going to be in. Now it’s just being a little diverse. Changing things up will benefit us some.”

Follow Raiders reporter Eric Gilmore on Twitter: @CBSSportsNFLOAK.