NFL Player News

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Raiders running back Darren McFadden, who is coming off a season in which he averaged 3.27 yards per carry, is gearing up for the season already. "My offseason was over last month," McFadden said. "It's back to the grind, getting ready for the season. And getting used to everybody." The Raiders got rid of Greg Knapp and replaced him with Greg Olson as the new offensive coordinator. The Raiders are going back to a predominantly straight-ahead power scheme, one in which McFadden averaged 4.75 yards per carry his first four seasons. McFadden's "most effective years have been in a downhill, power scheme," second-year head coach Dennis Allen said. "That's why Greg Olson and Tony Sparano are here." Besides being held to 707 yards on 216 carries last season, McFadden was also stopped by injury again. He missed four games because of an ankle sprain and has missed 23 games in his five seasons - "just a fluke," he said, "because I am always going hard. I am not falling off the bench or anything."

Bernard Pierce isn't going anywhere as the backup to Ray Rice in Baltimore, but is he getting more credit than he deserves? After reviewing his film from late last season Pierce is indeed a physical runner but his burst isn't exceptional and he's not as electric as Rice. There's a reason why he's a backup. His stats are also misleading: Pierce saw very little work until Jim Caldwell became the offensive coordinator. He had 14 carries for 123 yards in a blowout win against the Giants with 78 yards coming on one run late in the game (he was stopped just short of scoring). He had another long run against the Colts in the Wild Card round, racking up 43 of his 103 yards in the fourth quarter to help the Ravens put up a score to put the game away. Pierce was a non-factor in the Ravens' other three playoff games. And of the 108 carries he had in the regular season, 22 came in a meaningless Week 17 game.

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports Dolphins coaches are concerned about running back Daniel Thomas' durability if given a physical role such as short yardage and goal line carries. The paper suggests the team will add at least one other back in the draft.

Saying the Chargers "needed" a fresh start, running back Ryan Mathews appeared on multiple NFL Network shows Friday to talk about his role on the team and his health. Referring to last season Mathews said the Chargers got "complacent" under Norv Turner and fell into a routine. The new coaching staff should change that and Mathews said he's looking forward to it. He also said that because of the new staff he doesn't "consider myself the No. 1 guy right now," adding that he has to prove himself."It's time. I've had flashes of good and I've had flashes of bad. This is something I need to do. I need to be more consistent with my solid play and how I play for the Chargers," he said. Mathews believes the new Chargers offense will be "a little bit more simpler than what we had." And as for his injury woes last year, Mathews blames bad luck. "Everyone always ask me if I am made of glass,” he said. “I just need to stop taking so many hits, I need to quit fighting for extra yards when I don’t need to. A little bit of bad luck too. I broke both my collarbones and that’s rare. I asked everybody how often does that happen and they say never. It's a bit of luck thing for me so I need to play my part and just keep doing what I'm doing and keep working."

The South Florida Sun Sentinel reports that Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland said in a conference call with season-ticket holders Wednesday that he's OK with Reggie Bush moving on to Detroit because he's excited about Lamar Miller and Daniel Thomas. The report says Ireland "wants to see both elevate their game" this year. "I have a high degree of excitement [in them]," Ireland said. "I hope Reggie has a great career, but at some point you have to turn over the baton. I like the youth at the position. I like the explosiveness at the position." Ireland did say he might use a draft pick to select another tailback this year.

Trent Richardson told ESPN Radio in Cleveland that he doesn't intend to change his rushing style "at all" in the wake of the new rules about running backs leading with the crown of their helmets outside the tackle box. More importantly, Richardson seemed happy with what he's been told about his role in the Browns new offense. "They told me I better be in the best shape ever. They told me they’re gonna run the shoes off of me," Richardson said. "They’re gonna pass me the ball more. … They’re going to do whatever they can … and they want me to be a leader for this team."

Dolphins head coach Joe Philbin said from the NFL Owners Meeting that if Daniel Thomas wants to be a bigger factor on offense, he needs to stay healthy and play well consistently. "It’s hard for players to really make the type of development you’d like them to make if they are not able to stay healthy," Philbin said. "[C]oaches value practice time, so if you’re not making progress and you’re injured, then you’re kind of slipping back. ... [I]f you look at him, we've got to eliminate the fumbling, he had one or two mental errors at critical times and I’m not saying he’s the only player that had a mental error, but he just needs to do some things; display that consistency, stay healthy and kind of keep that gradual climb upward."

Rams coach Jeff Fisher believes that Daryl Richardson will see more playing time in 2013 after seeing his reps diminish toward the second half of last season. Expecting a split with Isaiah Pead, Fisher believes Richardson could make contributions through the air. "We've got to get the ball to him in the passing game more so than we did (in 2012)," Fisher said to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "We were spreading it around, but we weren't necessarily going to the backs as much as we would've liked. It would be a great situation where that’s an extension of the run game, to get him out in space."

Rams coach Jeff Fisher is certain that Isaiah Pead's weak rookie stats were because he was parked behind Steven Jackson and Daryl Richardson on the depth chart. That's going to change with Jackson moving on to Atlanta. "He'll get his opportunity this year," Fisher said per the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. ... He's got a chance to make a lot of big plays for us."

Chris Johnson told The Tennessean that he's not a big fan of the Titans signing Shonn Greene this offseason. It's expected that Greene will take around 10 touches per game along with goal-line duties. “I have never been a big fan of the two-back system, so I don’t know how we plan on using him,” Johnson said. "I'm not afraid of competition, but I was thinking we'd maybe get a draft pick for the other back. And you don’t give a guy that kind of money to be just a goal-line guy and in tough-yardage situations. ... I don't mind a guy getting a carry or two. But if I am the main guy and it is supposed to be my team ... it shouldn’t be an issue."