Darrius Heyward-Bey is looking forward to playing the Chiefs. The last time he played at Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium, he went deep and caught a 53-yard bomb. (US Presswire) |
Wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey has great memories from his last game at Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium.
On the first play from scrimmage in overtime, Heyward-Bey went deep and caught a 53-yard pass from Carson Palmer for a first down at Kansas City's 23. Three plays later, Sebastian Janikowski kicked a 36-yard field goal, giving the Raiders a 16-13 win.
"That was big, because right there, we had a chance to go to the playoffs the next week if we won. So making that play, and I remember telling everybody, (former coach) Hue Jackson called one heck of a call. That takes a lot of balls to call that play. I like to do stuff like that, and I wouldn't have called it on the first play."
Heyward-Bey had four catches for 70 yards that day. The next week against San Diego, he caught a career-high nine passes for 130 yards and one touchdown.
Back to work: Backup TE Richard Gordon, the team's best blocker at that position, returned to practice Wednesday after missing the past three games with a hamstring injury. Reserve running back Taiwan Jones, who missed Sunday's game with a knee injury, also returned to practice.
"I felt good," Gordon said. "They're working me back in slowly. I'm happy to come back and get back on special teams and help out and work myself back into the offense."
Lechler's slow start: Seven-time Pro Bowl punter Shane Lechler started training camp late because of offseason surgery on his left knee and has struggled a bit through the first six games. He ranks ninth in the NFL in punting average (48.2) and 27th in net average (37.3).
"I don't know if the knee's affecting him at all," Raiders coach Dennis Allen said. "He's still an extremely effective punter. He wants to kick it 70 yards every time, and reality says you're not going to be able to do that. I think he's still plenty effective for us."
Rough practice: Three players were hurt during practice Wednesday and added to the injury report under "limited participation." Starting defensive end Matt Shaughnessy suffered a shoulder injury, backup safety Mike Mitchell an ankle injury and backup wide receiver Juron Criner a hip injury.
Shaughnessy suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in Week 3 last year against the Jets. Is Allen concerned?
"Well, I’m not sure exactly," he said."I didn’t even ask which shoulder it was. I just know that he had a little shoulder irritation, and we held him out the last period or two of practice. So, we’ll get in and check him out, see where he’s at.”
Extra points: LB Aaron Curry began his second week of practice since coming off the PUP list. The Raiders have a 21-day window to decide whether to activate Curry, release him or place him on IR. "We’ll wait until the end of the week and we’ll make a decision at the end of the week if we need to do something as far as activating him," Allen said. ... Starting CB Shawntae Spencer (sprained right foot) and OT Khalif Barnes (groin) missed practice again and appear likely to miss their fifth straight game.
Follow Raiders reporter Eric Gilmore on Twitter @CBSRaiders.