McFadden, Ford absent at practice

The two most talked-about feet in Silver and Blackdom were physically absent Monday but metaphorically front and center when it came to the Raiders' injury report.Running back Darren McFadden, who has not practiced, let alone played, since suffering a right mid-foot sprain in Oakland's opening series against Kansas City on Oct. 23, was out of his walking boot Monday morning.However, receiverreturner Jacoby Ford, who suffered a sprained left foot Thursday in the Raiders' 24-17 primetime defeat of San Diego, was still utilizing his walking boot."I have a team to coach and I can't worry about all the injuries and those things," coach Hue Jackson said when asked if he monitors injuries on his own, or is he prefers to just be told when a player is ready to play.The Raiders play at Minnesota on Sunday."We have a team of doctors that handle that," Jackson added. "They're normally going to tell me when a guy can play and I trust their judgment and what they do. That's their job. I'm not a doctor. There are times when I want to know right away because as you start to build a gameplan you need to know."But we're early in the week -- it's Monday. By tomorrow when we really start laying all the foundation for a gameplan, I have to know who has a possibility of playing, at least. Nobody's been ruled out as of now, so we'll go through the week and see where we're at."On Friday, Ford spoke to reporters while on crutches and in his boot."It's feeling a little better than it did last night," Ford said at the time, "so that's a positive."It happens. You have to keep your head up and keep pushing forward."Ford was injured after catching a 41-yard pass from Carson Palmer in the first quarter and trying to spin away from the tackle of Dante Hughes. It appeared as though his foot was caught in the grass and underneath Hughes.Helped off the field, Ford was carted into the Raiders locker room but returned after halftime on crutches.He was also asked if his injury was similar to McFadden's."Nah, I don't think it's like his," Ford said. "I think it's something different. Hopefully it's not severe."In Ford's absence, rookie Denarius Moore had another breakout game with five catches for 123 yards and two touchdowns. And rookie Taiwan Jones returned kickoffs.Michael Bush, meanwhile, has wracked up 99-, 96- and 157-yard rushing games with McFadden sidelined. Plus, his 242 total yards from scrimmage against San Diego on Thursday was the most since Bo Jackson had 235 against Seattle in 1987 and the most by a Raiders player since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger.Jackson said McFadden is "getting closer" to returning."When I saw him he wasn't (wearing the boot)," Jackson said. "That doesn't mean that he's not using it, but when I saw him he was not in the boot at that time. I know we're getting closer to getting him back out here. I know he's working his tail off."When I saw him this morning he looked good. Until we get closer later on in the week and we know exactly where he is, I don't want to speculate."And Ford?"We're going to know more as we move through the week," Jackson said. "I don't know exactly what it iswe're going to just evaluate as we move through the week and see where he is."