NFL News: Oakland Raiders New Players And Injuries

No one would have ever guessed there were quarterbacks both dropping and popping up in NFL. Oakland Raiders signed Cal product Kyle Boller pretty much as Cable spoke, it was announced later. Then Thursday night, it was learned that Raiders quarterback Bruce Gradkowski tore a pectoral muscle while lifting weights on Wednesday night.

Bruce Gradkowski will undergo surgery for the injury on Friday but is expected to be fully healed by the start of training camp in July, his agent, Ralph Cindrich, confirmed in an e-mail. The injury was first reported by ProFootballTalk.com. Bruce Gradkowski provided an immediate spark after replacing Russell, leading Oakland to comeback victories in two of his first three starts. 

He got hurt midway through his fourth start, suffering a torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee and a partially torn MCL in his right knee, and did not play the rest of the season. He completed 54.7 % of his passes with six touchdowns and three interceptions on the season. 
 

Meanwhile, Bruce Gradkowski set to compete with JaMarcus Russell for the starting job, will have surgery today, a league source said. He is expected to resume throwing in four weeks. The team did not say if Boller, 29, would have a chance to compete with Russell and Gradkowski. Russell, the No. 1 overall pick in 2007, lost the job midway through last season. Gradkowski started three games and Charlie Frye, who is also back, started three games.

Kyle Boller has 50 interceptions and 48 touchdowns in 46 career NFL starts for Baltimore and St. Louis, has one thing going for him. The former first-round pick has a history with new Raiders offensive coordinator Hue Jackson, who was Baltimore's quarterbacks coach in Boller's last season there, 2008. Kyle Boller was the starter in the preseason before sustaining a season-ending shoulder injury. Of course, the Ravens had drafted quarterback Joe Flacco that year to eventually replace Boller, the 19th overall pick in 2003. His best season was 2004, when he started every game and passed for 2,559 yards with 13 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.

"He's here. He's working, He's doing everything that everybody else is doing. ... That's all I can tell you." Raiders head coach Tom Cable said.

Oakland Raiders head coach Tom Cable calmly walked to the podium Thursday, addressed the beat writers in a predraft chat and then was on his way. Earlier, Cable broke away from his just-draft talk mandate to praise receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, who struggled in his rookie year.

"You guys will be excited when you see ... the improvement Darrius has already made, That guy has jumped out at us since winter ... just the quality of work he's done. Probably no one is more excited about a guy on our team than Darrius right now. He really, really has taken this thing leaps and bounds, further probably than what we thought we could go with it this quickly. It will be nice to get him on the field and get him into coverages and get him into route concepts.” Raiders head coach Tom Cable added.

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Clippers Wins Against Lakers With 107-91

Bad day for the Lakers, who lost another player to injury, got drilled by their cross-town rival and angered the NBA basketball All-Star forward on the team they'll face in the first round of the playoffs. Since the LA Laker's Ace star Kobe Bryant sat out for the fourth time in five games to rest several injuries, including a swollen right knee and a broken finger on his right shooting hand and a Andrew Bynum missed his 13th straight game with a strained left Achilles'.

Clippers star player Steve Blake scored 23 points as part of his first career triple-double, Chris Kaman added 22 points and the Clippers beat the Lakers 107-91 Wednesday night. Steve Blake finished with 10 rebounds and 11 assists for the Clippers, who ended with a 29-53 record to miss the postseason for the 15th time in 17 years. Interim coach Kim Hughes' contract ends June 30, and he doesn't know if he'll be back next season.

"It was a great way to end the season,We were a well-balanced team all the way around." Steve Blake said.

On the Lakers side, Lamar Odom led the Lakers with 21 points despite being in foul trouble. Pau Gasol had 18 points and 17 rebounds, and Shannon Brown added 18 starting in place of Kobe Bryant. However, Sasha Vujacic didn't return after spraining his right ankle in the second quarter. Lakers spokesman said it was severe, although X-rays were negative. He'll have an MRI on Thursday. He left the locker room on crutches and was driven off in a cart.

The Lakers finished the regular season with a 3-6 skid and lost Sasha Vujacic to a high ankle sprain when he landed on the foot of Clippers guard Mardy Collins after a shot with 2:51 left in the second quarter. Sasha Vujacic was helped off the court by trainer Gary Vitti and reserve guard Jordan Farmar, who sustained an injury of his own the previous night with a strained left hamstring and played 1.3 seconds against the Clippers so he could officially say he played all 82 regular-season games. 

 

"He could miss the first round, It'll hurt." Said LA Lakers coach Phil Jackson. The Lakers finished with a 57-25 record and the No. 1 seed in the West. The defending champions have lost six of 10 heading into the playoffs. They will face No. 8 seed Oklahoma City beginning Sunday at Staples Center.

"I said at the start of the season if we don't win 60 games, we'll be disappointed, and we're disappointed in our team's effort at the end of the season," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said.

The Clippers dominated the fourth quarter, hitting four 3-pointers — three by Blake — to pull away in what was a tight game until early in the third. The Lakers trailed by three to start the third quarter, but were outscored 15-5 as the Clippers built the first of two 13-point leads. From there, the teams each scored 11 points to close the period, with the Clippers ahead 78-65.

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75th NFL Draft 2010 Kick Off

The NFL draft will kick off in prime time for the first time in 2010, it was announced Thursday. The first round of the 2010 NFL Draft will start on Thursday, April 22 at 7:30 p.m. ET, with the second and third rounds on Friday, April 23 at 6 p.m. ET, followed by Rounds 4-7 on Saturday, April 24 at 10 a.m. ET. The draft will continue to be televised by ESPN and NFL Network site. The 2010 NFL Draft -- the 75th draft in NFL history -- again will be held at Radio City Music Hall in New York.

"We continue to look for ways to make the draft more accessible to more fans, Moving the first round to prime time on Thursday night will make the first round of the draft available to fans on what is typically the most-watched night of television." NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said.

McCoy To Enter NFL Draft

Oklahoma Sooners Defensive Tackle Gerald McCoy gave us all shocking information that he will enter his name into the NFL draft. After his Sun Bowl game Gerald McCoy will prepare for this NFL career. This kid is being talked about like he could end up being one of the best ever at his position. I have heard that way to many times before so I will wait and see before I anoint him the best tackle ever.

Campbell to Enter Draft

Alright this guy from what I read is like the ultimate warrior of the weight room. Players and coaches nicknamed him “Zeus” but the kid can not stay out of the trainers room. No this is not because there is a hot nurse either, the dude is always injured. Bruce Campbell announced today that he will leave Maryland to see how he can fair in the NFL. Guy could be special if he can stay healthy and it should be interesting to see where he lands.

Top 5 NFL Draft Prospects

Here are my top 5 NFL Draft prospects as of today.

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  Ndamukong Suh, Nebraska, Defensive Tackle

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  Eric Berry, Tennessee, Safety

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  Dez Bryant, Oklahoma State, Wide Receiver

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  Gerald McCoy, Oklahoma, Defensive Tackle

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  Joe Haden, Florida, Cornerback

This list will obviously change as the NFL Draft approaches but I see these guys as the best available. I plan on having my Draft Board done by the Latest Tuesday Evening, so stay tuned for that.

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NBA Star Kobe Bryant Will Not Play For Final 2 Game

Shortly after proclaiming to reporters Sunday he would play the Lakers' final two regular-season games, guard Kobe Bryant sent a text message at 8 p.m. to LA Lakers Coach Phil Jackson that suggested otherwise. He sat out games last week at Denver and Minnesota to rest his finger, along with a swollen right knee and a sprained ankle. 
 

That means the next time Kobe Bryant suits up will be Game 1 of the first round of the NBA playoffs, an absence a team spokesman said was because of Bryant's four-month-old fractured right index finger. After the Portland game Kobe Bryant told reporters he planned on playing in Los Angeles' last 2 games this week to "sharpen up" against Sacramento and against the Clippers but the 12-time All-Star changed his mind Sunday night, relaying in a text message to head coach Phil Jackson that he "probably shouldn't play the last two games the way he felt," Jackson said. 
 

LA Lakers 12-time All-Star Kobe Bryant, who didn't talk to reporters after Monday's practice, has felt dinged up all season, playing through assorted injuries including a fractured right index finger, back spasms, a sprained left ankle and a sore right elbow. He recently sat out two games because of a swollen right knee, only to return Sunday in the Lakers' 91-88 loss to Portland. In that contest, Bryant scored 20 points on only eight of 23 shooting and missed two key free throws in the final minute. 
 

LA Lakers guard Kobe Bryant has also played through a strained right elbow, lower back spasms and a strained groin at various points of the season. Kobe Bryant ticked past the vaunted 1,000 career-games plateau this season and has played 44 playoff games over the course of the past two postseasons, in addition to his service to USA Basketball in the 2007 FIBA Americas championship in Las Vegas and the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

He ended his consecutive games played streak of 235, the fifth longest among current NBA players at the time, because of his left ankle injury, missing five games plus the NBA All-Star Game at Cowboys Stadium, a spectacle played in front of the largest crowd ever to witness a basketball game.

"A lot of it I think was Kobe's choices of shots, specifically referring to his guard's 8-for-23 shooting total Sunday, stretching Bryant's three-game shooting slump to a dismal 21-for-70 (30 percent). "He's taken some tougher than natural or normal type of shooting chances and I think that's contributed to his poor shooting." LA Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said.

Kobe Bryant has an avulsion fracture, in which a tiny fragment of bone tears away near a tendon or ligament. The former MVP has been slowed by the injury since he first broke it in a game against the Timberwolves in early December. Kobe Bryant hurt the top joint on the index finger on his right hand while reaching for a pass along with Minnesota's Ryan Gomes.

The defending champion LA Lakers are the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference playoffs. Kobe Bryant was the highest vote getter in the Western Conference. He will be replaced by a hometown player — Jason Kidd of the Dallas Mavericks. Also out is Allen Iverson, due to a family matter, to be replaced by the Knicks David Lee.

Kobe Bryant sprained his ankle when Lamar Odom stepped on his foot during the LA Lakers win over Charlotte. He sat out the next three games, saying his ankle was too sore to push off and run on. The Lakers still won those three games, with Pau Gasol leading the way and improved Lakers defense over all.

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The Worst Fight Of Maia; Silva Still Hold The Middleweight Title

The UFC broke new ground all night long in with its first show in Abu Dhabi and its first show outdoors. Until Anderson Silva hit the cage, at least. That's when Dana White should've told everyone, "You can leave if you want, we're going to show the champ's fights from UFC 90 and UFC 97”. Silva, clearly not challenged nor feeling threatened at all, by Demian Maia, danced, clowned and fooled around for the United Arab Emirates' royal family and the fans who paid up to $1,007. But he didn't do what the truly great fighters do: Go for the finish. 

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