NAPA, Calif. — In an offseason full of changes for the Oakland Raiders, perhaps the most positive development has been the health of a returning star.
Running back Darren McFadden has opened training camp the way he looked in offseason workouts, showing the speed and ability that has made him one of the NFL’s dangerous backs when healthy.
The problem for McFadden and the Raiders in recent years has been his health as he has missed 19 games in his first four seasons with foot, toe, shoulder, knee and hamstring injuries.
“If somebody’s got an answer for it I would love for them to tell me because I need that,” McFadden said when asked how to avoid injuries. McFadden’s most recent injury came last Oct. 23 while he was catching a pass early in a loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. The Raiders originally described the injury as a sprained right foot and designated him week-to-week. But it was actually a more serious Lisfranc injury that cost him the final nine games of the season and was a big reason why Oakland missed the playoffs.
Matthews sore after car accident
SAN DIEGO — Chargers running back Ryan Mathews is listed as “day to day” after being in a two-car crash. Mathews told reporters he banged an elbow “a little bit” and was sore Tuesday.
He said the accident occurred while he was driving a familiar road on his way to the team hotel after watching a movie at his home. “A California Highway Patrol officer said Mathews might have been driving too fast, but no drugs or alcohol were involved in the crash. The other driver wasn’t hurt.
Peterson back from allergy scare
MANKATO, Minn. — Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson resumed his rehabilitation after a scary allergic reaction that sent him to the hospital.
Peterson picked up where he left off in his recovery work on his surgically repaired left knee Tuesday, the day after eating jambalaya in the team’s training camp cafeteria caused shortness of breath and his face to swell.
This time? He had hot dogs.
Peterson said he eats jambalaya with seafood all the time, so he is not sure why his body reacted the way it did.
“Like 20 minutes after I ate, I went to lay down and felt my throat itching and my ears itching and all of a sudden my face swelled up. I couldn’t breathe out of my nose,” Peterson said. Peterson, who is on the physically unable to perform list, is awaiting blood tests to determine the source of the allergy.
Around the league
PACKERS: Green Bay tight end Jermichael Finley was cleared to return to full workouts Tuesday, saying he was thankful trainers pulled him out of practice last week and put him through the requisite concussion safety protocols. He was hurt when he fell while running a pass pattern in Thursday’s practice.
That’s not what happened to him when he was in college at Texas, though, when he absorbed a huge hit and was diagnosed with his only previous concussion. “It wasn’t nowhere near like this,” Finley said. “The one I had in college, I didn’t know nothing. This was pretty mild.”
STEELERS: Seven months to the day after tearing the ACL in his right knee, Pittsburgh running back Rashard Mendenhall said Wednesday that he’s “right on schedule” with his rehabilitation. When asked if he has any idea what, exactly, that schedule entails he responded, “No, none at all. Mendenhall is one of three veteran starters who sustained torn ACLs in January. Nose tackle Casey Hampton and offensive tackle Max Starks each went down during Pittsburgh’s wild card playoff loss in Denver on Jan. 8.
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