Moore brings life to Raiders practice

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ALAMEDA -- There was a slight smile on the face of Carson Palmer following practice on Wednesday. And for good reason.The Raiders quarterback had one of his favorite targets back as rookie playmaking receiver Denarius Moore had returned to practice after being out since Nov. 20 with injuries to his right ankle and foot."It was good, it was good," Palmer said "He didn't get a ton of work, but he looked good, and for a Wednesday it looked good. He's still got a handful of days to get ready and kind of get back in the swing of things. Catching balls and (being) on the field with the defense coming at him...it was good for him."Officially, Moore was listed as "limited" in practice. He was not available for comment.
Still, his merely being on the field lent a certain promise to the day, said coach Hue Jackson."I was glad to see him back out there, but again, I don't want to push him too far, too fast," Jackson said. "But just to have him back out there, catching balls, running around, that was a good start for him."The next step to Moore possibly playing Sunday against Detroit is his recovery on Thursday."Obviously, when you come out and run around at full speed, do those things, I think the next day is what's important, just making sure that you still feel good," Jackson said. "Again, it was great to have him back out there...I think his teammates were glad to see him back out here, gave us a little life."Moore has caught 24 passes for 410 yards with a team-high four touchdown receptions in 10 games.But he has been inactive since getting injured returning a punt at Minnesota. And with Jacoby Ford, Darren McFadden and even Taiwan Jones being out, Palmer has had precious few explosive playmakers with which to work.And Jackson's playcalling has been as limited as the Raiders defense has been porous the past two weeks.Ford and Jones did not practice, but they were on a side field working with a trainer at the start of the day.Moore returning, though, would at least give what has become a predictable offense a spark."Obviously," Jackson acknowledged, "he's one of our better players. I think any time you get one of your playmakers back, it gives you a tremendous boost. Again, this is going to be a football team game. It won't be just one guy. One guy can't change where we need to be. It's got to be our team. Our team on offense, our team on defense, our team on special teams. We've go to do a better job, period."Again, just, it's tough for one man to do it. It's got to be a team effort."

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