JaMarcus Russell at Raiders OTA: “Just cutting loose” and looking pretty good
It was, by design, a freer, more footloose JaMarcus Russell on display at the Raiders OTA today, especially in the long Red Zone session.

He didn’t look hesitant. He didn’t fire balls into the ground. It was just another workout in June, but Russell zinged a couple sizzlers right on the money–a beautiful ball to Zach Miller on a seam, another floater to Marcel Reese near the back line.

The point, as Russell related it later: Tom Cable wants to see Russell put the ball up–take a shot, drop the caution–when the Raiders get near the end zone.

They’ll probably run it from 20 to 20 (or throw it short to Darren McFadden and let him run around the secondary), but once the Raiders get into scoring position, the emphasis is on Russell to put the ball somewhere his receivers can get to.

Then see if they can get to it and keep it. At least that’s what Cable and Russell said today. (Partial transcripts below.)

Other notes from the OTA:

* Once again, no Jeff Garcia, which put the spotlight even more on Russell. I asked him if he was getting extra reps due to Garcia’s absence and Russell said he wasn’t, but also added Cable is working on everybody’s stamina in these sessions.

* No. 1 pick Darrius Heyward-Bey was back in his first public workout action since missing a few practices last week due to a sore hamstring (he was apparently back yesterday, during a closed session) after practice and media was gone(X).

DHB didn’t do much and certainly never ran away from coverage. Cable noted a drop or two. DHB is a work in progress.

And today at least, didn’t seem much of the Raiders’ declared intention to throw it deep at every opportunity. Times they went deep today in team or 7 on 7 drills: Zero, that I saw.

* CB Nnamdi Asomugha, not a usual OTA participant, was out there again, after showing up yesterday. You know the thing about athletic arrogance–Michael Jordan/Derek Jeter-level assurance on the field? Asomugha has that now, thanks I’m sure to the huge deal recently signed and his ability to beat everybody on the field at 80% effort.

That’s a good thing.

* Cable said the Raiders are planning for another scrimmage with the 49ers in Napa. Last year’s was one of the highlights of last summer.

OK, to the transcripts…

—JaMarcus Russell/

(Didn’t hear the question).

-RUSSELL: Coach kind of emphasized giving the guys a chance. Put it in the end zone. Gotta put it somewhere in a location where they just catch it. Give them a chance. He said, ‘We’re going to run the ball all day.’ (But) once he gets inside the 20, he’s going to take shots at the end zone.

That’s where we were lacking. We’d get down there sometimes, try to run the ball all three downs and had to kick a field goal. But if you don’t take shots at the end zone, how are you going to get there?

-Q: Some of your best throws today seemed to be when you were on the move…

-RUSSELL: That all comes along with the guys you work with each and every day. If a guy isn’t looking at the ball, could hit the side of his head. That’s what we’re working at, just cutting loose and giving everybody a chance.

-Q: We saw a lot of short passing stuff. We’re not seeing the deep throws. Are you doing that on the days the media isn’t watching?

-RUSSELL: We’ve been hitting some deeper routes, like you said, you weren’t out here for those. But we take chances when they’re there. Most of the time, we try to hit them. The more you work on them, the more you’ll have confidence in them in the game.

-Q: Will the shorter passes open up the longer ones?

-RUSSELL: They will. With the guys that we have in the backfield or Zach Miller, play-action… it always opens up other things.

-Q: You seem to be working Red Zone a lot.

-RUSSELL: Every day we switch it up. I think you guys have caught some of our Red Zone days.

-Q: You’re getting a lot of reps–is that because Garcia’s not here or is this the standard amount you get?

-RUSSELL: Standard amount.

-Q: That’s a lot.

-RUSSELL: Umm-hmm. Coach is trying to (improve) our endurance. I took a lot of reps yesterday. We moved the ball and calling plays… we went 12 plays on one drive. He’s trying to get our stamina up and be ready for those long-winded drives.

-Q: How did Heyward-Bey look today?

-RUSSELL: Better and better every day. He’s been out for a few practices. You know how it is when you come back, you want to do so good, but sometimes things don’t happen that way. He’s been showing great skills as far as hands… We know he has the speed. Just keep working with our coaches on the routes.

-Q: How good is it to see Nnamdi out here?

-RUSSELL: It’s fun. Not taking away from any of our other corners, but being the type of guy and the caliber player he is, I think it makes us work more, especially when you’re going at him. I mean, you can’t miss inside or outside or too wide or high. You never know what he’s going to do on the corner over there.

-Q: Is it fun to seee those young wide receivers go up against Asomugha?

-RUSSELL: It’s fun to go up against him. And once we get into the locker room, we’ll have something to talk about, as usual.

—-TOM CABLE/

(Sorry, my tape went blank for first part of the session. Am transitioning to digital, but not yet. This is a alarm bell for me–TIME TO DO GO DIGITAL.)

-Q: JaMarcus said you’re telling him just to let it go in the Red Zone, see if the receivers can make plays. Is that the emphasis?

-CABLE: To me you might retard a young guy by trying to be too cautious. So let’s rip it right now as you learn how to do this. And that’s how I think anyway. That’s the way I want to call it.

It’s just good to see him turn it loose–and find out who can make those plays, too, you know?

-Q: There’s such an emphasis on avoiding turnovers. Can you overdo that?

-CABLE: No, not right now. Obviously the issue of turnovers is obviously (big) in football.

But right now, it’s to get us to cut it loose. Be more expressive, if you will, in terms of trying to score points.

-Q: What can Asomugha do to improve?

-CABLE: Leadership. And leadership’s not defined by how much you make or how good you play on Sunday. It’s what you do during the week and in the offseason and how people see you and perceive you in terms of your preparation.

I think to me that’s the next big thing for him, is becoming a leader and a guy that people look at as the example all the time.

-Q: So him being here for something like this…

-CABLE: It’s good. It’s really good. Really good.

go raiders

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