Terdell Sands, long-distance runner
by admin
Coach Lane Kiffin has talked about the fine shape that defensive tackle Terdell Sands is in, at least compared to last season, and Sands himself has seconded the notion. I admit to being skeptical. Watching the behemoth perform during training camp, I’ve thought he looks winded at times, and he hasn’t really stood out with a lot of dynamic plays.
Give Sands his due, though. When Stanford Routt picked off J.T. O’Sullivan’s errant pass early in the second quarter, then coughed up the ball on his return, it was the defensive tackle who pounced on it – 31 yards past the line of scrimmage.
“Yeah, I got a pat on the back,” Sands said in the locker room afterward. “It was good hustle. I wanted to block. I was looking for one of them offensive linemen. I didn’t want the ball, I wanted one of them. And I just happened to be down there.”
Sands admitted that he probably wouldn’t have been able to make the play a year ago.
“I probably wouldn’t even have ran down there,” he said. “I probably would’ve picked one of the ones up in the front area. I got more endurance and energy.”
On a conference call this afternoon, Kiffin didn’t exactly shower Sands with love, focusing more on the defender’s penalty for unnecessary roughness. “It’s never outweighed for a bad decision,” Kiffin observed. “He knew it was late, and he knew it was a poor decision. He came over and said right away that it was all his fault.”
It was just one portion of one meaningless preseason game, but Michael Bush’s performance created a buzz in the press box and the locker room. Justin Fargas is an established 1,000-yard runner. Darren McFadden is a potential superstar. If Bush can look anything like the back that ran through and around the 49ers on Friday night, the Raiders are truly loaded at halfback.
His bullish touchdown run was one thing. His nimble moves and 23-yard pass reception may have been even more exciting.
“I used to hate to be labeled as a power back,” Bush said afterward. “I would like to show I can catch the ball and come out of the backfield, that I have the footwork to avoid defenses as well, but at the same time handle my business.”
But if the team is stacked in the backfield, how must it have made Kiffin feel to watch Ronald Curry limp off the field during warm-ups with a hamstring injury, then Drew Carter leave the game with a sore knee.
That attrition left Javon Walker as the only Raiders wide receiver with substantial NFL experience, and Walker is – how shall we put it? – possibly crazy.
On the bright side, Johnnie Lee Higgins and unheralded free agent Todd Watkins continue to make strides. Higgins had two superior punt returns, one of them called back by a penalty, the other a touchdown. And Watkins led the Raiders with three catches for 39 yards.
Robert Thomas got the start at strongside linebacker, a position he has manned before for the Raiders. But you have to wonder if Ricky Brown would have lined up there if he had been healthy.
Lest it be lost in the shuffle: Andrew Walter completed 10 of 12 passes for 82 yards with the second team, leading the Raiders to their only offensive touchdown. Kiffin went out of his way to praise Walter, who is having a superb camp.
The coach also said he doesn’t expect the backup QB to continue to suffer from the tired arm that took him out of a few practices recently. “Anytime you play a game, you actually start to get your arm back,” Kiffin noted. “Because you don’t throw the day before and you don’t throw the day after.”
The Raiders ran five offensive plays on fourth down. That’s what happens when you have a kicker who flew in to join the team the night before the game, and one veteran punter who doesn’t need a lot of preseason work. Oakland converted just one of those attempts, by the way.
I haven’t completed my research, but Greyson Gunheim is believed to be the first Sebastopol product ever to end an NFL game with a sack.
Phil Barber covers the Raiders for The Press Democrat, uncovering news and features despite the team’s best efforts to keep everything a secret. He’ll keep our online audience up-to-date and informed with his blog “Instant Raiders.”
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