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Upshaw activated and could play Sunday

By Janie McCauley The Associated Press
Thursday November 21, 2002

ALAMEDA — Oakland Raiders defensive end Regan Upshaw, the team’s sacks leader last year who’s recovering from knee surgery, might play again this season after all. 

Perhaps as soon as Sunday at Arizona. 

Coach Bill Callahan wasn’t ruling out that possibility Wednesday, but wouldn’t commit to playing him either, after announcing the 6-foot-4, 260-pound Upshaw had been activated from the “physically unable to perform” list to the 53-man roster. 

“We’re monitoring that day to day. We’re hopeful he’s closing the gap,” Callahan said. “We wanted to bring him up and get him going.” 

Upshaw tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during the team’s final minicamp in June and was thought to be done for the season. Yet the Raiders did not place him on the injured reserve — which would have forced him to remain sidelined all season — leaving open the possibility he would be healthy enough to return. 

The Raiders had to make a decision on Upshaw’s status by Wednesday for him not to go on the injured reserve. Yet they still have the option to place him on that list, and could deactivate him on game day. 

Upshaw had surgery soon after getting injured. 

The 27-year-old Upshaw had seven sacks last season and 31 tackles. He has been practicing for three weeks, and was cleared to take on blockers in practice. He will go through one-on-one pass-rush drills Thursday. The Raiders do not practice in pads on Wednesdays. 

Having Upshaw available provides Oakland (6-4) with another option since defensive end Tony Bryant went down. 

Bryant may not return this year. He was carted off the field after injuring his neck during overtime against the San Francisco 49ers on Nov. 3. He is out indefinitely, but said he will have a fourth MRI exam in a couple of weeks. 

The Raiders had kept their roster at 52 players for two weeks in order to have the option of adding Upshaw or another player, Callahan said. The spot came open when rookie Ronald Curry was demoted to the practice squad after playing in the loss to the 49ers. 

Curry had been activated to return kicks, but fumbled the second kickoff he touched, setting up Jeff Garcia’s 11-yard TD pass to Cedrick Wilson. Curry was a quarterback at North Carolina but was drafted by the Raiders this year as a return man. 

 

FOCUS, FOCUS: The Raiders have won two emotional games, and they are feeling pretty good again, almost like the momentum is back on their side. 

Yet they say the last thing they can afford to do is have a letdown against the struggling Arizona Cardinals (4-6) on Sunday. 

“I treat it with the same amount of importance as I did the two previous games,” offensive Lincoln Kennedy said. “In order for us to keep pace with the rest of our division, we have to win every game here on out.” 

The Raiders, who have beaten Denver and New England after losing four in a row, lost to Arizona at home last year in overtime. They’re still embarrassed about it, too. 

“The situation we’re in, we have nothing to relax about,” receiver Tim Brown said. “This is a dog fight, and I think everybody’s approaching it that way.” 

 

RUN THE BALL: The Raiders want to show the rest of the NFL that, yes, they can run the ball as well as pass it. Oakland used up the first 9:42 of the second half last Sunday in its win over New England — so the Raiders consider that a positive step. 

Quarterback Rich Gannon has led the Raiders’ impressive passing attack all year, but he’s still hoping for a little more balance. 

“We continue to search, we continue to strive to have that balance, and I felt we did a better job a week ago,” Gannon said. “We continue to push in that direction, and it continues to be a point of emphasis for us. You see how it really benefits your football team, not only from a time-of-possession standpoint but for ball control and keeping our defense off the field, and giving us confidence that we can do it. We’re going to need that down the stretch in November and December.”