Wisniewski sounds off on Penn State, uncle's departure

NAPA -- A year ago, Stefen Wisniewski declined to comment on the goings-on at his alma mater.Monday, the second-year Raiders offensive lineman addressed the penalties levied at Penn State in the wake of the child sex abuse scandal in Happy Valley and the collateral damage it has caused the football program."Its been really tough," Wisniewski said. "It makes me really sad and a little bit angry too with some of the things. But like we said, Penn State sticks together. Im really impressed with the way the players have been handling themselves. They look like theyre going to stick together and fight through that with most of the guys staying there. Im really proud of that."The NCAA, they cant kill Penn State. Penn State is going to be a great place. They might wound us for a little while but Penn State is still going to be a great university and football program."Wisniewski was also asked if it hurt that Penn State had a certain negative stain to it."Its hard not to notice something different," he said, "but to be honest, I still love Penn State and thats never going to change."There has been change, however, in regards to the Wisniewski family, as the current lineman's uncle Steve officially resigned his post as the Raiders' assistant offensive line coach last week."Yeah, it's weird," he said. "Definitely miss him. Definitely miss him a lot."He told me he's going to be around game days and he'll be around a little but here at practice. So we'll still see him."Until Monday, the younger Wisniewski took nothing but "mental reps" as the new Raiders center as he recovered from shoulder surgery. That changed with the first training camp practice, as he ran with the first-team offense in the shorts and helmet workout."Weve got to get him caught up to speed," coach Dennis Allen said of Wisniewski. "Obviously he missed a lot of time in the offseason so these reps will be critical to him and just on first glance I thought he had a nice day but well go in and look at the tape and really evaluate how he did."The team hits in pads for the first time on Wednesday, which is when all involved will have a better idea as to how the offense reacts to the zone-blocking scheme."You just prepare for what youre going to do," Wisniewski said. "Certainly prepared for a lot more zone, as opposed to the power stuff that we used to do. At the end of the day, its still football, its still run block and pass block and youre just moving your feet a little different, depending on what your scheme is."The biggest difference is probably a lot of outside zone, and I think that suits what our O-line and what Darren McFadden can do well, and thats get running, get the defense running and make some cuts and gash 'em."