T1B

Raiders RB Jordan confirms MCL tear will end seasonBy Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com


While there has been no such concession from team officials, Oakland Raiders tailback LaMont Jordan has acknowledged that his 2006 season is over, ended by the torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee, an injury sustained last week.

LaMont Jordan
Running Back
Oakland Raiders

Profile
2006 SEASON STATISTICS
Rush Yds TD Rec Yds TD
114 434 2 10 74 0


Jordan conceded to the Contra Costa (Calif.) Times that his focus now is on rehabilitating for the 2007 season. The acknowledgement confirms what league sources and people close to Jordan have hinted much of the week.

"I have to get ready to return to the football team next year," Jordan said. "Not to be selfish, but right now, I have to take care of myself, and make sure that I'm in the best position to help this team win next year."

The injury occurred in the first quarter of last Sunday's loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, at the end of a 12-yard run.

Medial collateral ligaments typically do not require surgery, only rest and treatment, to heal. It is believed Jordan's injury is limited to the medial collateral ligament, and that there is no structural damage to other ligaments or to cartilage. If that is the case, the rehabilitation should last several months.

Oakland has not yet placed Jordan on the injured reserve list.

In nine games this season, including eight starts, Jordan has carried 114 times for 434 yards and two touchdowns. He also has 10 receptions for 74 yards. Those numbers are well below Jordan's 2005 production. Last season, in his first years with the Raiders, he rushed for 1,025 yards and nine touchdowns and had 70 catches for 563 yards.

A six-year veteran, Jordan signed with the Raiders in 2005 as an unrestricted free agent, after spending the first four seasons of his career as the primary backup to New York Jets star Curtis Martin. He never started a game in four years with the Jets.

The former University of Maryland standout was essentially the centerpiece of the Oakland attack in 2005 but, like everyone else on the team, his production has waned in what has been a miserable season for the Raiders' offense.

Four-year veteran tailback Justin Fargas, who has just one career start, is expected to replace Jordan in the lineup.

On another injury front, an MRI on the dislocated left elbow of starting left offensive tackle Robert Gallery revealed no ancillary damage. Gallery is expected to miss three or four weeks and will be replaced by Chad Slaughter.



Say what you want but Jordan was one of the very few on this offense that showed heart. From his meltdown after his fumble against Denver to not being afraid to call out other players Jordan has showed that he cares about getting better and winning. Cant say that about Randy Moss can you?

I've got no problem with Jordan's attitude and approach.
He does things the right way.

That said, Oakland desperately needs a 'playmaker' at tailback.
Jordan is more of a plodder.
If LaMont makes it back I hope he's sharing duties with someone that's capable of busting off some big runs.

I'm interested to see what J. Fargas can bring for us the rest of this season.

This just about sums up the classy Raiduhs.

Give thanks, or not
From David White of The Chronicle staff

Happy Thanksgiving from Raiders headquarters in Alameda. The team is 2-8 and vying for No. 1 draft pick position, so let's check in and see what they are thankful for this season.

"Not a mother-- thing," wide receiver Jerry Porter said Wednesday, though it bears repeating today, just in case you missed it.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfg ... y_id=11252

I'm thankful to know that Wonderboy and Rat are both hanging from a tree with a fork up their @ss on Thanksgiving eve.

The Assassin wrote:Medial collateral ligaments typically do not require surgery, only rest and treatment, to heal. It is believed Jordan's injury is limited to the medial collateral ligament, and that there is no structural damage to other ligaments or to cartilage. If that is the case, the rehabilitation should last several months.

If it's only a partial tear, ligaments can heal with rest, but there's a high probablilty of scar tissue & adhesions in the joint. Full tears require surgical repair & rehab to reduce the adhesions. A partial tear can be taped & braced and played on, though

29, 2006, 9:55 PM ET
Shell lashes out at unnamed critic within Raiders campAssociated Press


ALAMEDA, Calif. -- The Oakland Raiders' soap opera season took another strange turn Wednesday when coach Art Shell accused a member of the organization of trying to undermine the coaching staff and rooting against the team.

Shell did not name the person, but he said it was not a coach or a player. He said the person has been calling media members around the country and criticizing coaches.

"I'm a fighter," Shell said. "I sit back and I watch things happen and then it gets to the point where you cross the line. That line has been crossed and I won't sit back and allow it to happen anymore."

Shell's latest comments came in response to questions about his decision Tuesday to demote Tom Walsh from his role of offensive coordinator to tight ends coach and replace him with John Shoop.

"When you root against me, you're rooting against the Raiders," Shell said. "When you root against Tom Walsh, you're rooting against the Raiders. And for someone to do that is unconscionable. It's unconscionable. It's detestable and I think it's an outrage."

The drama is the latest for a lost season in which star receiver Randy Moss has gone on the radio nearly every week with criticisms of the team and receiver Jerry Porter was suspended for insubordination after clashing with the coaching staff.

"How can you accept a paycheck from somebody that's given you a job and given you an opportunity to try to excel in life, and then turn around and call your cronies around the league and it gets back to me and I'm tired of it," Shell said.

Shell said the "character assassination" began soon after he was hired in February to begin his second stint as Raiders coach. He said the attacks have also been directed at owner Al Davis.

The internal strife is reminiscent of Shell's first stint as Raiders coach, which ended after the 1994 season when he believed he was being undermined by one of his assistants, Mike White, who ended up replacing Shell.

Shell went on to work as an assistant coach in Kansas City and Atlanta and never saw those sorts of problems.

"It shouldn't be like that," Shell said. "Every organization should be here on the same page, from the bottom up, from the groundskeeper on up. Everybody should be on the same page, trying to do the right things, trying to help this organization win. I went to Kansas City, that's the way it was. It was like that. Every individual was on board. Atlanta, every individual was on board. And it should be like that here."

But it hasn't been since Porter made public his trade demands and criticisms of the coaching staff at the start of training camp. Porter was inactive the first four games of the season despite leading the team in receptions a year ago and then was suspended for two games for insubordination after getting kicked out of practice.

Some players publicly questioned Shell's handling of the Porter situation, especially since the offense was struggling without him.

Moss went on his radio show days before the season opener complaining that things are "fishy" around the Raiders. He's also suggested that he would be better off if the team traded him and blamed his many dropped passes on being unhappy with the situation.

Oakland (2-9) has scored a league-low 132 points this year and is assured of a fourth straight losing season for the first time in franchise history.

The Raiders were last in the league in passing offense and total offense, 21st in rushing offense, and have allowed a league-high 53 sacks.

Walsh had come under criticism because he had been out of the NFL since 1994 and spent the past seven years running a bed and breakfast and serving as mayor of Swan Valley, Idaho.

Shell said it was very difficult to demote his friend.

"You have to be patient," Shell said. "I'm a very patient man so I'll take my time always before I make a rash decision. I felt at this time the decision needed to be made. It was very hard, very hard for me to do because I have a lot of respect for Tom Walsh. Tom Walsh has taken a lot, a lot of abuse from a lot of people and that has disappointed me."






wtf is this? young and the Restless? Is Art Shells evil twin Bart Shell going to pop up with a bad mustache and an evil plot? Jesus Christ just blow it all up and start from scratch,