Jack Del Rio Demanded Raiders Facility Uprades
- Al Davis‘ death staggered the Raiders and left them without a true GM for most of the 2011 season, but it ended up triggering the franchise’s steady climb back to respectability, Kevin Acee of the Union-Tribune writes. In addition to Reggie McKenzie drafting better than his predecessor, at least in the several years before his death, the Raiders hired a coach in Jack Del Rio who demanded facility upgrades, Acee writes.
Raiders Audition TE Rob Housler
Appearing on CSNNE (video link), Albert Breer of TheMMQB said that he wouldn’t be totally shocked if the Patriots decided to eventually trade tight end Rob Gronkowski. When healthy, Gronkowski is a game-changing force who can terrorize any defense. However, he has had trouble staying healthy and he can sometimes be a high-maintenance player. In the past, Breer notes that those types of players have not lasted long in New England.
Here’s more from the AFC:
- It appeared earlier this week that Broncos quarterback Trevor Siemian would miss at least one game because of an AC joint sprain in his non-throwing shoulder, but he could start Sunday against Atlanta, per Nicki Jhabvala of the Denver Post. Siemian resumed throwing on a limited basis during individual and seven-on-seven drills Thursday. That encouraged head coach Gary Kubiak, who called Siemian’s progress a “big step forward,” though he cautioned that the team will have to gauge the 24-year-old’s soreness on Friday. If Siemian is unable to play, rookie Paxton Lynch will make his first career start. The first-rounder from Memphis debuted in relief of Siemian in the Broncos’ 27-7 win in Tampa Bay last Sunday, completing 14-of-24 passes for 170 yards and a touchdown.
- While the NFL is reviewing a June incident in which Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib shot himself in the leg, potential punishment from the league probably isn’t imminent, according to Mike Klis of 9NEWS. Talib will play Sunday, and the league is unlikely to make a decision on his status by the Broncos’ game next Thursday in San Diego. The 30-year-old has already intercepted three passes, already equaling his 2015 total, and will match up against Falcons superstar receiver Julio Jones on Sunday.
- The Raiders worked out tight end Rob Housler, as Adam Caplan of ESPN.com tweets. The team has since promoted UDFA Ryan O’Malley to the 53-man roster, so Housler probably won’t be signing with Oakland at this time. The Raiders lost Lee Smith to injury earlier this week and he is likely done for the year after going on IR.
Connor Byrne contributed to this post.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/5/16
Today’s practice squad moves:
Baltimore Ravens
- Signed: WR Kenny Bell
Chicago Bears
- Signed: TE Rory Anderson
Cleveland Browns
- Signed: TE E.J. Bibbs (Twitter link via Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com)
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: LB Luke Rhodes (Twitter link via Mich Chappell of CBS4)
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed: TE Brian Leonhardt
- Cut: CB Tre Roberson (Twitter link via Matt Vensel of the Minneapolis Star Tribune)
New England Patriots
- Signed: G Chase Farris (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Mike Reiss)
- Cut: LB Quentin Gause
Oakland Raiders
- Signed: LB Tyrell Adams, LB Darnell Sankey (via Jimmy Durkin of the San Jose Mercury News)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: LB Josh Keyes
Raiders Move Lee Smith To IR
The Raiders will be without their top blocking tight end for most likely the rest of the season after making the decision to place Lee Smith on IR, Jimmy Durkin of the San Jose Mercury News reports.
Suffering a broken bone in his lower leg during the first half against the Ravens, Smith will be out at least eight weeks. He’s likely going to miss the rest of the year, with the Raiders already having starting defensive end Mario Edwards on IR. They are expected to bring him back when he’s eligible.
To take Smith’s place on the roster, the Raiders signed Ryan O’Malley, a rookie UDFA out of Penn, off their practice squad.
Smith’s been Oakland’s primary blocking tight end since coming over from Buffalo last year. He’s started all 19 games in which he’s played, and although the sixth-year veteran isn’t a prolific receiver (18 total receptions with the Raiders since the start of the 2015 season), he’s their primary tight end.
Pro Football Focus rates Smith as the No. 5 run-blocking tight end through the 3 1/2 games he played this season. Receiving tight ends Clive Walford and Mychal Rivera are not near the top of said list.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Raiders Audition Danny Lansanah
- The Raiders took a look at linebackers Danny Lansanah and Tyrell Adams, according to Caplan (Twitter link). Oakland eventually settled on Perry Riley as its new linebacker.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/4/16
Here are today’s practice squad moves:
Atlanta Falcons
- Signed: P Michael Palardy (Twitter link via Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com)
- Cut: LB Davis Tull
Buffalo Bills
- Signed: WR Corey Washington
- Cut: WR Matt Hazel
Chicago Bears
- Signed: RB Raheem Mostert (Twitter link via Brett Tessler)
Cleveland Browns
- Signed: OL Mike Liedtke (Twitter link via Tessler)
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: S Lee Hightower (Twitter link via Mike Chappell of FOX59)
New York Giants
- Signed: QB Logan Thomas
- Cut: LB Deontae Skinner
New York Jets
- Signed: S Ronald Martin
- Cut: FB Julian Howsare
Oakland Raiders
- Signed: DE James Cowser
- Cut: DL Demetrius Cherry, LB Darnell Sankey (Twitter link via Scott Bair of CSNBayArea.com)
San Diego Chargers
- Signed: T Brett Boyko, LB Deon King, WR Kevin Norwood
- Cut: TE Austin Traylor
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: DE Sterling Bailey
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: RB Russell Hansbrough (Twitter link via Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times)
- Cut: WR Jonathan Krause (Twitter link via Auman)
Raiders Sign Perry Riley
The Raiders have signed linebacker Perry Riley, as Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets. Riley was a cap casualty of the Redskins this offseason and was released in late August. 
Riley was slated to make a little more than $5MM in the coming year and that was too rich for Washington’s blood. The Redskins dropped him, allowing them to save $4MM against the cap. There wasn’t a place for Riley this year as the Redskins saw Will Compton as their starting inside linebacker next to Mason Foster.
Riley may not be a bonafide starter at this stage of his career, but he can be an effective sub. In nine games last year, Riley totaled 43 tackles and two interceptions. He has not recorded a sack since 2014.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Raiders To Place LB Ben Heeney On IR
The Raiders will likely be without linebacker Ben Heeney for the rest of the season. He hasn’t been formally placed on IR yet, but coach Jack Del Rio indicated that’s coming for him and tight end Lee Smith. It’s not clear exactly when Heeney suffered his injury, but a team spokesman tells the AP that Heeney is dealing with an ankle injury. 
“Both of those guys are likely to go (on IR),” Del Rio said Monday. “As they finish the work that is done on those guy with our doctors and all the experts looking at it, if we determine that the time is such that we won’t be able to get them back they could in fact go down. It’s not officially done but it’s headed in that direction,” the coach said (via Michael Wagaman of The Associated Press).
A fifth-round pick in 2015, Heeney started at middle linebacker for Oakland’s first two games this season. In Week 3, he was leapfrogged by rookie Cory James, pushing him to more of a special teams role.
James led Oakland with 15 tackles in the win over Baltimore while Heeney played mostly on special teams. Del Rio didn’t say when or how Heeney got hurt but a team spokesman confirmed that Heeney had suffered an ankle injury.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Raiders’ Lee Smith Could Be Done For Season
6:00pm: Smith will have surgery, but the Raiders aren’t going to place him on IR just yet, according to head coach Jack Del Rio (Twitter link via Scott Bair of CSNCalifornia.com). While allowing that Smith’s season is “jeopardy,” Del Rio said Oakland is “hoping for good news.”
12:28pm: Raiders tight end Lee Smith could be done for the season after suffering a “fractured bone in his lower leg,” a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Smith appeared to have hurt his ankle after being hit by Ravens cornerback Jimmy Smith in the second quarter of yesterday’s game.
Smith doesn’t catch a lot of passes in the Raiders’ offense, but he is highly valued for his blocking skill. Since joining the Raiders in 2015, Smith has just 18 catches for 99 yards and one touchdown to his credit. He is currently in the midst of a three-year, $9MM deal that he signed prior to the ’15 season. Before coming to Oakland, Smith spent his first four years in Buffalo.
On the other side of the ball, the Raiders are waiting for additional word on linebacker Malcolm Smith‘s groin injury.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Osemele: Ravens’ Offer “Didn’t Get Close”
While speaking to Baltimore-area reporters Wednesday, Raiders guard Kelechi Osemele had some less-than-kind words for his former team, the Ravens, writes Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun. Osemele’s current and previous employer are set to meet in Baltimore on Sunday.
After spending the first four seasons of his career with the Ravens, Osemele headed to the Bay Area over the winter as a highly sought-after free agent. It took a five-year, $58.5MM deal for the Raiders to land Osemele, who commented on the Ravens’ offer Wednesday.
“We didn’t get close at all,” he said. “I wasn’t really offered much at all. I pretty much knew right away I was going somewhere else. Some of the things that were being brought back to me, borderline, they can hurt your feelings sometimes.”
Osemele’s assessment runs contrary to what head coach John Harbaugh said in February, notes Zrebiec. Back then, Harbaugh stated the Ravens had been “really aggressive” in trying to re-sign Osemele and he added that the offer that was on the table at the time “shows a lot of respect for K.O.” Regardless, Osemele knew entering last season that it might be his last in Baltimore.
“I talked to Torrey Smith about it and some other guys that ended up leaving and they kind of told me that it might be a situation where Baltimore won’t pay me enough for me to stay, and it’s something that does happen with that organization because they’re able to find so many young players,” he said. “I was prepared for it. There were even some people in the organization that approached me about it and told me about it prior to the year.”
Like Osemele, Smith parlayed a four-year Ravens tenure into a sizable payday in the Bay Area. Smith is with the 49ers, though, having inked a four-year, $40MM contract with the club in March 2015.
Osemele also revealed Wednesday that there’s a Ravens coach he didn’t get along with during his time there, but he declined to identify which member of Harbaugh’s staff it is. Despite both that and his unhappiness with the Ravens’ efforts to retain him, Osemele doesn’t have hard feelings for the franchise.
“I love the city and I love the organization,” he said. “I believe in what they do for the community and what they represent. But I’m somewhere else now. I’m 100 percent all in with the Raiders’ organization. We’re going to go in there on Sunday and put on a good performance.”
It’s early, of course, but Sunday’s matchup could have playoff implications down the line. The Osemele-less Ravens are off to a 3-0 start, while the Raiders have begun 2-1 as they look to break a 13-year postseason drought.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.