Seymour's struggles lead to meeting with coach

ALAMEDA -- Richard Seymour was off to a fast start in this, his 11th NFL season.In the Raiders' first five games, the six-time Pro Bowler had five sacks, 15 tackles and three assists. But a knee injury suffered in Oakland's victory at Houston in Week 5 has severely limited the defensive tackle.Consider: in his last five games, Seymour has one sack and one tackle. Total. That's it. In fact, he has posted clean stat sheets the past two games, blowouts in which the Raiders fell behind by a cumulative 68-0 before scoring at Miami and Green Bay.
It all prompted a recent meeting between Seymour, the unquestioned leader of the Raiders locker room, and rookie coach Hue Jackson.
"I'm not going to say it's anything other than...Richard's fine," Jackson said. "He'll be fine. Me and Richard had a great conversation and I feel very comfortable with him and where he is. Richard's a pro. I know when you say (his stats), the thought is he needs to step his game up. I think Richard would be the first to tell you, he knows what he needs to do and I do, too. We'll get it done, and it's crunch time now, it's time to play."Not that it wasn't before, but we know what it is now, so let's go."Seymour, 32, has not missed any games -- he did not start at Minnesota on Nov. 20 but came off the bench -- but has missed a slew of practice time. He also missed much of the second half against Miami after being ejected for throwing a punch.
"It's just been tough for me just because I haven't been able to practice much," he said. "It's just tough pushing through injuries. Earlier in the year, I felt good, it was going.The Houston game ensued."Then I was just battling through practices and just trying to manage it going through games," Seymour said. "Your health is very important, especially when you are playing on the inside. You've got to be able to fight off guys and be explosive, and personally I haven't had that the last couple of weeks."But, um, I am getting better. And that's all you can do, stay in the weight room, stay with the trainers. I have been at it a while, so it isn't like I haven't had good games...You want to be consistent in your play. That's what it is."