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Evening AFC West news and notes

ESPN.com – AFC West – Blog
Evening AFC West news and notes

Posted by ESPN.com’s Bill Williamson

Marshall has tried to put on a happy face during the past few months. He didn’t practice Wednesday because of an illness.

Former Broncos offensive lineman Erik Pears will start at Robert Gallery’s left guard spot against Denver on Sunday. Gallery is out four to six weeks with a broken fibula.

Javon Walker still wants to be a factor in Oakland, but will he?

Former Oakland quarterback Rich Gannon continued to be critical of the Raiders on his Sirius NFL Radio show. His target was current Oakland quarterback JaMarcus Russell, who has struggled with his accuracy in the first two games of the season. Here’s what Gannon had to say:

“A couple of things are very glaring. I think you see a lot of times he falls away from throws. He seems to bail. I think a rush up inside bothers him. He needs to get more bend in his knees when he throws. He’s very upright and not a lot of bend in his knees. It may have something to do with his weight. He seems to be more comfortable operating out of shotgun than he does under center. He doesn’t do a very good job seeing out in front of throws and I think that comes with experience, really understanding and anticipating coverages. So that’s not something he does. When you look at the offensive game plan, the passing game, I think they’ve condensed the plan. It’s not very complicated. Fundamentally, right now, he is not very sound. His mechanics, his footwork, it’s inconsistent.”

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