Walking a fine line in bye week, DHB cleared; Spencer still in boot

ALAMEDA -- The line between resting up and getting away from football while staying focused on the task at hand during a CBA-mandated four days off on a bye is a fine one, indeed.So how did the Raiders do it, so to speak?"Just know your priorities," said fullback Marcel Reece, who, along with Darren McFadden, Taiwan Jones and Jacoby Ford made an appearance at the Raider Image Store at the Universal City Walk outside of Los Angeles this past weekend."Your priorities are faith, family, football, know what I'm saying? And you spend a little time with your family, because they need it and you need it, and in the back of your mind you still got football on your mind because you know what you've got to do. Now it's 16 weeks straight, Lord willing."Reece was talking about the Super Bowl, of course."Yeah. I thought our guys came back, I thought they worked well, I thought they competed," said coach Dennis Allen. "We still worked a lot on ourselves, and we'll spend a lot of time really working on Atlanta, really, starting Wednesday."Defensive tackle Tommy Kelly said it felt like the first day of the season for the Raiders, who are 1-3 but picked up half-of-one-game on the rest of the AFC West as San Diego, Denver and Kansas City all lost on Sunday.But from the coaches' perspective, they bye weekend was not merely a chance to exhale."We did our work," Allen said. "We did the things that we had to do. And then all of us had an opportunity to go home and be family men because we've got lives, too, outside of football. So we got a chance to do that, too, which was good."Allen said receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, injured in the Raiders' victory over Pittsburgh on Sept. 23, has passed the concussion protocol and been cleared for contact.Cornerback Shawntae Spencer (right foot) is still in a walking boot."Its really about what we expected," Allen said of the injury, which occurred on Sept. 16 at Miami. "Were hoping hes out of the boot soon. Im hopeful that the process speeds up once he gets out of the boot."Allen said Spencer, along with right tackle Khalif Barnes (groin) and tight end Richard Gordon (groin) were "week-to-week."Allen said the Raiders did not work out any free agents over the bye, but acknowledged there was a "potential" they could do so this week.

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