The Oakland Raiders had a few guests at their Napa Valley Training Facility on Tuesday. The San Francisco 49ers made the 80-mile trek north to the Silver and Black's Napa Valley Training Complex to partake in a series of four inter-squad practices starting with Tuesday's morning practice.
Coach Cable met with the media to talk about the first practice of the day.
"The competition is there. You get away from knowing each other and each other's calls. You can really dial in fundamentally. How good can you get? Be really fundamental," Coach Cable said.
Robert Gallery, who missed the early part of camp and the pre-season opener, says he is fully recovered from the emergency appendectomy he underwent before reporting for camp.
Coach Cable is happy with the progress of the offensive line and Gallery in particular. "I am very happy with the way Robert practiced today. He is healthy and feels good. He started working a bit last week," Coach Cable explained.
Gallery agrees with his coach and admits that it is not only good to be back but to also hit someone other than his fellow Raiders teammates. "It's good to go against somebody else. It's good to go against new guys and a different scheme. They play a 3-4 so it is good work for us," Gallery said.
Former Raiders center Jeremy Newberry was on hand to take in the sights and sounds of practice and to support his former teammates. "JaMarcus (Russell) has made some great strides. The team has great running backs and that is a good problem to have. The offensive line is playing well," Newberry said.
One of those running backs is seven-year veteran Justin Fargas. Fargas, the team's leading rusher the past two seasons, enjoyed the practice and found practicing against players in a different uniform productive.
"It was good. Good to compete against some other guys and see some different faces out there and get a different look," Fargas said.
Another player who is finding the joint practices productive is free safety Michael Huff, who had the play of the game against the Cowboys intercepting a Jon Kitna pass in the second quarter.
"It's good to go against another team. You go against your team mates all OTA's and all Minicamps. These practices have a different environment to it," Huff said.
Tight end Brandon Myers made a wonderful catch during Tuesay morning's session. The 6'2", 240-pound tight end out of Iowa says he is ready to do what it takes.
"I'll do whatever they tell me to do. When my number is called I just try to produce," Myers said.
The Raiders and the 49ers continued their joint practices Tuesday afternoon and have two more practices on Wednesday.
The Raiders and the 49ers face off for the Battle of the Bay on Saturday, August 22, at Candlestick Park. The 5:15 p.m. game marks the 37th time the two teams have faced each other in preseason.
