** There's a real, live competition going on at middle linebacker. Honest.
Kirk Morrison may be the team's returning lead tackler, but he spent a ton of time on the second team during team drills while Ricky Brown rolled with the starters.
The job is still Morrison's to lose but, for whatever reason, he won't get to assume the starting position in this camp. Same goes for cornerback Chris Johnson, who ran second team behind Stanford Routt for a day.
"We want to push Kirk, and we want to push Ricky, and we want to get the right combination in there, so you know, we just want to give everyone the opportunity when it fits, and when they've earned it to do that," Cable said.
Asked if Morrison may move to outside linebacker, Cable said they aren't ready to go there yet but he acknowledged it's been discussed.
Rookie safety Mike Mitchell came close to delivering a KO during team drills Tuesday morning, putting a huge thud on running back Gary Russell on a screen pass. It was the loudest hit of camp, to be sure, and good luck remembering the last time a Raiders safety made a play like that -- in practice, or otherwise.
Imagine what would have happened to Russell if players were allowed to follow through with tackles.
"I've been waiting to do something a little bit but I'm still kind of scared because coach always says don't take any shots on anybody," Mitchell said. "But I'm going to have to try to get loose out here because it's no fun when you can't play like yourself. Hopefully I won't get in too much trouble but I want to start taking some shots."
Mitchell was just as impressive in coverage, which is no small thing for the small-school player out of Ohio. Remember, Mitchell missed all but one week of OTAs because school was still in session.
He looks anything but behind out there. He had two pass breakups Monday morning. He also picked up a coverage read where he charged to play the run, saw tight end Zach Miller peel out on a pass pattern and chased after him.
Mitchell will be the focus of tomorrow's newspaper story. He's everything else that won't fit in print.