DHB: ‘I'm not going to miss a beat'

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ALAMEDA -- Darrius Heyward-Bey returned to the practice field for the Raiders on Tuesday and said he felt "close" to normal after missing last week recovering from a concussion and neck strain."Just out there, running routes, catching the ball a little in practice," Heyward-Bey said."Weve got a plan for me, and today was step No. 1 and I feel pretty good."Heyward-Bey said he plans on playing after the bye week, at Atlanta on Oct. 14. He was injured against Pittsburgh on Sept. 23 when he took a helmet-to-helmet blow from Steelers safety Ryan Mundy in the end zone. No flag was thrown on the play by the replacement referees but Mundy was fined 21,000 for the hit.Last year, Heyward-Bey was carted off the field in Minnesota after a blow to the helmet, but he played the next week."But that was a lot more of a neck injury than a head injury when it came to that one," he said. "For each person individually its different. Everybody works differently, everybody is a different personality so (I've) got to look at it that way."Im not going to miss a beat when I get back. Im just going to be the same guy, working hard and trying to make plays."Heyward-Bey has nine catches for 98 yards and one touchdown in three games.He also said the Raiders offense is "close" to clicking."Were one cut block away, were one cut away, one block down the field," he said. "We showed a little bit of it against Pittsburgh and we had a little bit here and there. You just have to keep grinding. If you give up on things youll never see if its good or not."So I asked him if he was surprised the offense was struggling this year after being a strong point last year. "I mean, when you have any new offensive scheme, it will be a little bit of a struggle," Heyward-Bey said. "Last year was last year, this year is this year. Look at some of the teams that went to the playoffs and are starting off rough. Its football. Its going to be good or its going to be bad. Were just a team thats trying to get it going."

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