Raiders Notebook: Cornerstones Getting Healthy

Nov. 17, 2010GUTIERREZ ARCHIVERAIDERS PAGERAIDERS VIDEOPaul GutierrezCSNCalifornia.com

ALAMEDAFor the most part, the Raiders walking wounded have a little more bounce to their respective injured steps.Pro Bowl cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha (ankle) and tight end Zach Miller(foot), neither of whom played in the Raiders 23-20 overtime defeat ofKansas City on Nov. 7, and run-stuffing defensive tackle John Henderson(foot), who has not played since the home opener on Sept. 19, allpracticed limited Wednesday.It was a decent amount, hopefully it will be more Thursday, coach TomCable said of the workload the trio took on in practice. We want tokind of put them through some things today and see how they feelThursday. If they feel like they did at the end of practice, wereprobably going to get more and more out of them.Darrius Heyward-Bey (hamstring), meanwhile, joined fellow receiver ChazSchilens (knee) on the sidelines as he did not practice either.According to Cable, Heyward-Bey strained the hamstring in practice lastTuesday.
Its just sore, Cable said. Its a real slight strain, not realserious, but its one of those things where of you push it too much tooquick, it could become serious.Schilens has not played as all after undergoing surgery during trainingcamp. He appeared to be making progress before the bye week.Its not so much a setback, Cable said. Its responded really wellwhen were on the field running straight ahead. Its just a matter ofbeing able to cut and coming in and out of cuts. Still not very smooth.And still not very promising news for a receiver.Think the first-place Raiders, riding their first three-game winningstreak since 2002 and armed with the experience of beating the Steelersin their house last season, could enter Pittsburgh a tad overconfident?I wont let that happen, Cable said. We havent done a damn thing,and thats been our motto. We have got to keep grinding and fightingand going to work and cutting it loose and doing what we do.If I ever feel like we lose sight of that, Ill reel them back in. But thats not us. At least, not yet.Cable also acknowledged that there are a few doubters out there. And for good reason.Were 5-4, he said. We missed a kick in Arizona. We didnt score atouchdown in San Francisco. And those two things, from a coachsstandpoint, really gnaw it you because you kind of know what your teamshould be (record-wise, 7-2). But were not. So, in order to accomplishanything, we have got to keep doing our job, which is (keep) gettingbetter.The Raiders, like the rest of the football-watching world, took inSunday nights Pittsburgh-New England game and saw the Patriots offensespread out the Steelers and pick them apart.Naturally, you wonder of a blueprint, of sorts, was provided theRaiders. Thing is, the Raiders are really not built that way on offense.We have to be who we are, Cable said. At the end of the day, be who you are and you might mix in a few things.Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin said receiver Hines Ward (concussion) has been cleared to play.But were going to continue to monitor him day-to-day, Tomlin said,as always is the case as guys come off of that kind of injury.