Post by TheShadow on Dec 5, 2003 21:55:43 GMT -5
www.oaklandtribune.com
By Bill Soliday, STAFF WRITER
ALAMEDA -- Just when it looked as if the Raiders might be at relatively peak health for a change, another crisis may have cropped up.
Neither center Barret Robbins nor right guard Mo Collins practiced Thursday, and coach Bill Callahan said that their prospects did not look good.
Robbins will be downgraded from questionable to doubtful on today's NFL injury list. Only once this year has a Raider who was deemed doubtful ended up playing (safety Rod Woodson in Week 3 at Denver).
There was no change on Collins' status on the injury report, but Callahan said he was "very questionable" for Sunday's game in Pittsburgh.
"Mo's situation is very similar to Barret's," Callahan said. He cited wear on tear on surgically repaired knees as the mitigating problem.
If Robbins cannot play, the starting center would be Adam Treu. Treu was part of a three-way battle for the center position in training camp. Ultimately Matt Stinchcomb (now on injured reserve with a shoulder injury) won the job. Four weeks into the season, Robbins replaced him.
Callahan said if Collins also was unable to play, left guard Brad Badger would probably move to right guard and Frank Middleton, who has not played since Oct.12 at Cleveland, would return to left guard.
Badger also would be the center backup.
TRIED AND TREU: When Stinchcomb and then Robbins moved ahead of Treu on the depth chart after Treu started in last January's Super Bowl, the coach said long snapping was part of the decision-making process.
In effect, Treu's opportunity to start was compromised in part because he was too good at something else -- all of which leads to frustration.
"I think that had a lot to do with it," Treu said.
But he added a second reason.
"This is a business and Player X is supposed to make Y amount (of money) ... how are they going to have him not play?" he said.
Stinchcomb, a first-round pick, and Robbins, a Pro Bowler, have contracts that dwarf Treu's. Needless to say, Treu has been frustrated over having lost his chance to start.
"But it is a job and in the long run, maybe it will keep me around longer," he said. "I am old enough to understand that and to realize this is my seventh year. Unlike some other guys, I haven't hit a big payday and don't know if that will ever happen. But longevity can make up for that.
"This is an opportunity to go out and put some stuff on tape so hopefully they will keep me around."
PARRELLA'S PLIGHT: Callahan conceded that it was unlikely defensive tackle John Parrella would recover from his groin injury sufficiently to figure in the team's plans for the last month of the season.
"It has not improved," Callahan said.
Asked if there was any chance he might play this year, Callahan said it was "unlikely if it doesn't respond."
He also said Parrella had not been placed on injured reserve because the player was holding out hope he could return.
"Is he fighting us on that? Yeah, he wants to come back and is trying very hard to come back," Callahan said.
EXTRA POINTS: Meanwhile, the other tackle, Dana Stubblefield, practiced for the second straight day Thursday and Callahan said his status for Pittsburgh was "looking very good." ... Another defensive tackle, Sean Gilbert (groin), did not practice Thursday. ... All other players, including safety Derrick Gibson, did practice.
By Bill Soliday, STAFF WRITER
ALAMEDA -- Just when it looked as if the Raiders might be at relatively peak health for a change, another crisis may have cropped up.
Neither center Barret Robbins nor right guard Mo Collins practiced Thursday, and coach Bill Callahan said that their prospects did not look good.
Robbins will be downgraded from questionable to doubtful on today's NFL injury list. Only once this year has a Raider who was deemed doubtful ended up playing (safety Rod Woodson in Week 3 at Denver).
There was no change on Collins' status on the injury report, but Callahan said he was "very questionable" for Sunday's game in Pittsburgh.
"Mo's situation is very similar to Barret's," Callahan said. He cited wear on tear on surgically repaired knees as the mitigating problem.
If Robbins cannot play, the starting center would be Adam Treu. Treu was part of a three-way battle for the center position in training camp. Ultimately Matt Stinchcomb (now on injured reserve with a shoulder injury) won the job. Four weeks into the season, Robbins replaced him.
Callahan said if Collins also was unable to play, left guard Brad Badger would probably move to right guard and Frank Middleton, who has not played since Oct.12 at Cleveland, would return to left guard.
Badger also would be the center backup.
TRIED AND TREU: When Stinchcomb and then Robbins moved ahead of Treu on the depth chart after Treu started in last January's Super Bowl, the coach said long snapping was part of the decision-making process.
In effect, Treu's opportunity to start was compromised in part because he was too good at something else -- all of which leads to frustration.
"I think that had a lot to do with it," Treu said.
But he added a second reason.
"This is a business and Player X is supposed to make Y amount (of money) ... how are they going to have him not play?" he said.
Stinchcomb, a first-round pick, and Robbins, a Pro Bowler, have contracts that dwarf Treu's. Needless to say, Treu has been frustrated over having lost his chance to start.
"But it is a job and in the long run, maybe it will keep me around longer," he said. "I am old enough to understand that and to realize this is my seventh year. Unlike some other guys, I haven't hit a big payday and don't know if that will ever happen. But longevity can make up for that.
"This is an opportunity to go out and put some stuff on tape so hopefully they will keep me around."
PARRELLA'S PLIGHT: Callahan conceded that it was unlikely defensive tackle John Parrella would recover from his groin injury sufficiently to figure in the team's plans for the last month of the season.
"It has not improved," Callahan said.
Asked if there was any chance he might play this year, Callahan said it was "unlikely if it doesn't respond."
He also said Parrella had not been placed on injured reserve because the player was holding out hope he could return.
"Is he fighting us on that? Yeah, he wants to come back and is trying very hard to come back," Callahan said.
EXTRA POINTS: Meanwhile, the other tackle, Dana Stubblefield, practiced for the second straight day Thursday and Callahan said his status for Pittsburgh was "looking very good." ... Another defensive tackle, Sean Gilbert (groin), did not practice Thursday. ... All other players, including safety Derrick Gibson, did practice.