The injury report for the Oakland Raiders heading into the all important game against the San Diego Chargers may be the shortest list we’ve seen all year. That’s especially good news for the Silver and Black who have their postseason on the line with this final game of the regular season.

Jacoby Ford, Oakland Raiders
Wikimedia Commons

There are just three players who are definitely out, and that’s quarterback Jason Campbell, who wasn’t really expected to return after suffering a broken collar bone in week six, running back Darren McFadden, whose chances were already slim to none, and defensive tackle, Big John, John Henderson, out with a knee injury.

The players who are listed as questionable, are likely to see at least some time on the field, and receiver Jacoby Ford and safety Michael Huff have already been pretty adamant about getting in the game.

Ford commented, “It was definitely a positive week for me so I feel good going into the game. If I practiced this much this week and I’m not out there, I’d be mad.”

He could become a big factor in a victory for the Raiders. Ford and Palmer displayed a great rhythm together. In Palmer’s second outing with the team as they faced the Denver Broncos in Oakland, Ford made an incredible catch in the end zone for an 18-yard touchdown. Just days later in San Diego, he somehow grabbed a 41-yarder, making it look easy.

Huff is the player who saved the game for the Raiders against the Texans when he interception Houston’s Matt Schaub in the end zone. A healthy Huff will bring much needed improvement to Oakland’s defense.

Running back Taiwan Jones is a little more questionable. He’s been battling a hamstring injury, but it’s likely he’ll see time on the field as well. Michael Bush, once again, will be given the opportunity to show what he’s made of.

The Chargers’ wide receiver Vincent Jackson was reportedly not likely to be in the game due to a groin injury, but it looks like that has changed, and he’s now listed as probable. Jackson is one of the Chargers star players, but against the Raiders he caught just one pass for 22 yards. In their recent game against Detroit he had just two catches for 41 yards. He may be trying to play through pain, and I don’t think he’ll be a big concern for the Raiders on Sunday. San Diego’s running back Ryan Mathews is still questionable, with running back Mike Tolbert as probable.

Just one day before we find out the fate of the Silver and Black, things continue to look brighter. As always, whoever is on, or off, the field, Just win baby!

K.C. Dermody grew up in the Bay Area of California, and has been an Oakland Raiders fan from the time she could walk. She has continued her loyalty to the team through its many ups and downs over the decades, and has been privileged to meet several of her favorite players, including famed quarterback, Jim Plunkett . Follow her at www.facebook.com/KCDermodyWriter, Twitter @kcdermody, or www.kcdermodywriter.com.

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Oakland Raiders’ quarterback Jason Campbell seemed to be on his way to leading his team to a winning season this year, until a stroke of bad luck and a hard hit by the Cleveland Browns’ linebackers left him with a broken collarbone in week six.

Oakland Raiders QB Jason Campbell.
Wikimedia Commons

Just the week before the Raiders’ lost their iconic owner, Al Davis, who passed away at the age of 82. To lose Campbell just as things were coming together was not only a blow to the Silver and Black, but to the quarterback’s career in the NFL.

Head coach Hue Jackson was hyped up when he spoke about Campbell just before the start of the season. He was frustrated when reporters continued to ask who his starting quarterback was, and finally remarked in late July, ” You did not ask me that question. He did not ask that question out here today. Does anybody not know who the starting quarterback is of the Raiders? Are you kidding me? Doesn’t he wear No. 8? His name is Jason Campbell. He is the starting quarterback of the Raiders’” period. Any other questions?”

Campbell had an 84.2 quarterback rating and was doing a good job at taking the Raiders back to where they needed to be just before his injury, when unfortunately, fate took Campbell in another direction, and he’s been unable to return to the field while still recovering from the injury.

Now, although the news isn’t too surprising, the San Francisco Chronicle has reported that Campbell will not return at all this season. Jackson had remarked last week that his former starting quarterback was further from recovery than some had thought, so while it certainly isn’t shocking, it leads to a bigger question, and that is, will Campbell ever return as a Raider?

It doesn’t look likely. Coach Jackson has been vague about the situation, stating that they’ll deal with it when Campbell is back at 100%. But after the team traded a first- and -second round pick for quarterback Carson Palmer and Campbell becoming a free agent at the end of the season, it sounds like the injured quarterback will have to find a new team to all home.

Campbell commented that the injury “was very frustrating,” but in this business you have to understand that injuries are a part of it.”

While it’s sad news that he’ll have to start over again next again, I think he’ll do a good job wherever he goes, and he’ll finally get his time to shine in the NFL. Just not as an Oakland Raider.

K.C. Dermody grew up in the Bay Area of California, and has been an Oakland Raiders fan from the time she could walk. She has continued her loyalty to the team through its many ups and downs over the decades, and has been privileged to meet several of her favorite players, including famed quarterback, Jim Plunkett . Follow her at www.facebook.com/KCDermodyWriter or on Twitter @kcdermody.

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Heyward-Bey is coming off the best game of his young career. He had eight catches for 155 yards and a touchdown in last week’s loss to Detroit — the most yardage for a Raiders wide receiver since Jerry Rice in 2003.

He doesn’t see games like that as vindication.

“I don’t care about what critics say. All I care about is me, and my teammates and my coaches, that’s all I care about,” Heyward-Bey said. “To me it’s just been building. You could look at certain games or a certain play where I felt like OK, but other than that I think it was a steady progress forward.”

While his 51 catches for 775 yards are more than his combined total from his first two seasons and the most yards receiving for any Raiders wideout since Randy Moss topped 1,000 yards in 2005, he still lags behind some of the receivers picked behind him in his draft class, including Percy Harvin (72 for 787), Hakeem Nicks (70 for 1,096) and Mike Wallace (67 for 1,100).

But his numbers are very similar to those of the player most pundits thought the Raiders should have taken with that pick, Michael Crabtree, who has 59 catches for 703 yards for San Francisco.

But there are still some of the lapses that plagued him his first two seasons, including a fumble that killed a potential scoring drive and a late dropped pass against the Lions.

“I’ve seen steady progress,” coach Hue Jackson said. “I told you guys at some point in time it was going to just go this way, because the guy works extremely hard. He’s a talented player. Last game, he was very close to being the player of the game, if you don’t fumble it. Obviously he had a sensational game, so something he’s got to continue to work on. But he’s getting closer, he’s working hard, he’s gotten better and his numbers speak for themselves.”

After catching just nine of 40 passes thrown his way as a rookie and 26 of 65 a year ago, Heyward-Bey has become a reliable option for quarterbacks Carson Palmer and Jason Campbell this season. He has caught 51 of 91 balls thrown his way, 56 percent, up from a horrid 33.3 percent his first two seasons.

The difference in Heyward-Bey’s performance this season has been starkly obvious to his opponents. Perhaps his lowest moment as a rookie came against Kansas City, when he allowed a pass to bounce off his hands, fall to his knees and deflect right to Mike Brown for a game-sealing interception with the Raiders driving for the winning score.

“He looks more confident in himself and in his hands,” Chiefs cornerback Brandon Flowers said. “Before, it was like he was trying to do too much, he was trying to concentrate too hard when he was catching the ball instead of just relaxing and playing like he did in college when he was making all types of plays. But I feel like the game slowed down for him, he gets very relaxed out there and he’s growing into his own as an NFL receiver.”

The next step for Heyward-Bey is to use that game-breaking speed that helped him become such a high pick to become a deep threat in the passing game.

Most of Heyward-Bey’s success this season has come on short and intermediate routes, where he can use his size to create space and then has the ability to run after the catch.

Deep balls have been a different case as he struggles to get open down the field despite his speed and still has trouble adjusting to the ball in the air.

“When he starts making those uncommon plays that we all know that you look for at that position, that’s when he’s arrived,” Jackson said. “ He hasn’t arrived yet, regardless of what the numbers are, but he’s still working. But I think the sky’s the limit for him if he continues to work like he is.”

The Raiders have attempted 15 deep passes in his direction this season with the only completion coming in a Week 4 loss to New England.

Palmer said part of the problem is that opponents fear his speed so much that they play off Heyward-Bey. Palmer believes that connecting on more of the shorter routes should open up the deep ball.

“Everybody knows he can run,” Palmer said. “He’s not going to sneak up on anybody and people just turn and run and do a good job of taking away the deep stuff because they know that’s something that’s very difficult to cover.”

Notes: RB Taiwan Jones practiced for a second straight day as he recovers from a hamstring injury. … RB Darren McFadden (right foot), S Michael Huff (hamstring) and WR Jacoby Ford (left foot) all remained sidelined with injuries.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Read More: Jason Campbell (QB – OAK), Carson Palmer (QB – OAK), Darren McFadden (RB – OAK), Jacoby Ford (WR – OAK), Oakland Raiders, Kansas City Chiefs

Still a whole lot of bad news coming from Oakland Raiders practices these days as Silver and Black insider Steve Corkran had some not so cheerful tweets coming from Wednesday’s media portion of practice in Oakland. 

First off, we start with this tweet: 

not incredibly shocking, yet still highly disheartening. Corkran would continue to mention how any sign of Run DMC this week was unfathomable, and his outlook the rest of the way this year is grim. McFadden was looking like he could have had himself one monster of a season, but now, all he can really do is focus on his health and his future as a football player. 

Next, we move on to this tweet: 

More disheartening news, because he too was having himself a decent season. But with the price paid to get Carson Palmer and Terelle Pryor in waiting, Campbell will unfortunately be the odd man out next season. 

And finally, an update on Jacoby Ford: 

Ford’s elusively speedy kick returning skills are really hampering Oakland’s special teams attack, setting up Carson Palmer and the offense in less the opportune situations more often in his absence. Hopefully he can get it going again this week, at least start returning to practice. 

For more on the Raiders, head over to Silver and Black Pride.