When the Raiders open the exhibition season Monday night against Dallas, starting running back Darren McFadden will probably get no more than a handful of carries. Backups Taiwan Jones (hamstring) and Mike Goodson (neck) probably won’t suit up.
Come on down, Lonyae Miller.
“I would expect that he would be tired after Monday night’s game,” Raiders coach Dennis Allen said of the former Dallas Cowboy and Fresno State Bulldog.
Miller worked with the second string during practice Wednesday.
“I’m just glad to have the opportunity, glad to be out here and be a Raider,” Miller said. “I’m coming in every day and working hard, pretty much showing what I can do out here.”
So far in camp, Miller has shown himself to be a decisive, powerful runner and a decent receiver out of the backfield.
“I’ve been impressed with what Lonyae’s been able to do,” Allen said. “He’s a different type of back than the other backs that we’ve got. He’s a little bit more of a downhill, pounder type guy. He doesn’t have quite the same explosiveness as those other guys, but he’s been a consistent runner. What I’ve seen and what he’s done in the zone (blocking) scheme is, he’s understood what his reads are, he’s made the proper reads, got his pads downhill and made some yards.”
Miller, who went undrafted out of college, spent time on the Cowboys’ practice squad in 2010 before being promoted to the 53-man roster for four games. He didn’t get a carry but saw time on special teams. The Cowboys released him during camp last year, but the Raiders signed him to their practice squad on Dec. 7.
Goodson update: Running back Mike Goodson, who suffered a scary neck injury during practice Tuesday, missed practice Wednesday. Goodson was released from Queen of the Valley Medical Center on Tuesday evening after a CT scan and MRI test were negative.
“Goodson is, obviously, doing a lot better,” Allen said. “He’s still a little sore, so we’ll have to monitor him and see where he’s at.”
Allen said he was “extremely” relieved when Goodson was released from the hospital and allowed to return to the team hotel. “We care about all of these guys. Nobody wants to see anybody get hurt, especially as serious as a neck injury.”
Allen said he doesn’t know how long Goodson will be sidelined, but he doesn’t expect him to be out for weeks.
“But obviously we’re going to make sure he’s fully healthy before we get him back out here,” he added.
Allen said that based on a review of practice videotape, Goodson did not have a “helmet to helmet” collision with linebacker Philip Wheeler.
“It was a little bit of a freak deal,” Allen said. “Mike kind of ducked a little bit. Philip kind of led with his shoulder a little bit and kind of lunged at him. It’s things that happen in the game of football. It’s an unfortunate occurrence. Fortunately Mike is fine and we move on from it.”
Lee gets a promotion: Cornerback Pat Lee, a free-agent pickup from Green Bay, moved from third string to second Wednesday, swapping spots with Chimdi Chekwa.
“He’s been improving every day,” Allen said of Lee, a fifth-year pro out of Auburn. “That’s the things that we look for. When guys step up and they make some plays, they earn the right to move up the depth chart some.
“Like I’ve said before, nothing right now is set in concrete. When guys earn that right, we’ll move them up and give them an opportunity and see what they do with it.”
Extra points: The Raiders were scheduled to hold their seventh straight full-padded practice but instead practiced in shorts, shells and helmets. “We felt like the team has been giving us everything they’ve got, and it was time for us to kind of take a little bit off of them,” Allen said. … K Sebastian Janikowski (illness), WR Denarius Moore (hamstring), WR Eddie McGee (hamstring), RB Taiwan Jones (hamstring), DT Richard Seymour (knee), DE Jack Crawford (foot), P Shane Lechler (knee) and LB Aaron Curry (knee) missed practice.
Follow Raiders reporter Eric Gilmore on Twitter: @CBSSportsNFLOAK.
