Daunte Culpepper woke up with a sore quad, Josh McCown dislocated two pinkie joints and JaMarcus Russell is as healthy as can be. Put it all together, and that puts Russell closer than ever to making his NFL debut Sunday against the visiting Broncos at a sold-out Coliseum. "I'm ready for whatever," said Russell, the No. 1 overall draft pick and Raiders future in waiting. "Had some fun out there today, got a chance to fly around a little bit ... just continue to prepare myself." Culpepper was limited in practice Thursday after waking up with a pain in his right thigh Wednesday night. He said the limited participation was a precautionary move, and Raiders coach Lane Kiffin declined to speculate on a quarterback pecking order until at least today. "I don't anticipate (Culpepper) being out but if he was, then we'll figure it out then," Kiffin said. "It was bothering him so we were safe with him."

Two head coaches known for their high-powered offenses have emerged as potential candidates to replace Houston Nutt, who was criticized during his tenure at Arkansas for being too conservative with his playcalling. A source familiar with the situation said Tuesday that Oakland Raiders coach Lane Kiffin could be a good fit for the Razorbacks. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Kiffin has wanted to coach at the college level. Kiffin is in his first season with the Raiders, but there is talk that he might be unhappy with the situation. Oakland is 3-8 this season, and the team has had quarterback issues despite using its first overall pick last April to draft former LSU signal-caller JaMarcus Russell.

Pick a streak. Any streak. If it's bad, the Oakland Raiders may have just snapped it. Getting 139 yards rushing from Justin Fargas and a big defensive stop on fourth down, the Raiders handed the reeling Kansas City Chiefs a 20-17 defeat Sunday that ended three different kinds of football failure. Until those final seconds ticked away, the Raiders had lost 17 straight AFC West games. They'd dropped nine in a row to Kansas City. And, they'd also lost six straight overall.

Raiders running back Lamont Jordan asked the team to release him this week, and he just might get his wish. Jordan told team officials Monday he wanted out after being benched the past two games, a source familiar with the situation said on the condition of anonymity. If the Raiders decide to release Jordan, they won't have to look far for a replacement. They must activate rookie running back Michael Bush by 1 p.m. today or place him on the season-ending injured reserve list. Coach Lane Kiffin said the team hasn't decided what to do with Bush, but if it wants to add him to the 53-man roster, a current player must go - and Jordan has already raised his hand for that. Jordan's request came after being put on the inactive list for Sunday's 29-22 loss at Minnesota - the first time he did not suit up when healthy in three seasons with Oakland, including his 1,000-yard debut in 2005.

Adrian Peterson watched from the sideline in a sweat suit perhaps seeing a little bit of himself in Chester Taylor's clutch performance. Taylor had 202 total yards and three touchdowns, sending the Vikings past former teammate Daunte Culpepper and the Oakland Raiders 29-22 on Sunday. Peterson was out with a minor knee injury, so Taylor did his best impression. He rushed 22 times for 164 yards, and Minnesota (4-6) pressured Culpepper into a costly turnover and four sacks. The Vikings turned the ball over four times in the first half, and Sebastian Janikowski followed their fumbles with three of his five field goals. He couldn't prevent Oakland (2-8) from losing its sixth straight game.

The JaMarcus Russell era in Oakland likely will begin December 2, sources told ESPN. Russell's "light came on" a couple of weeks ago, a source told ESPN.

Daunte Culpepper is getting a second chance as the starting quarterback with the Raiders. Raiders coach Lane Kiffin named Culpepper the starter for Sunday's game against the Vikings. Culpepper, who was a first-round pick in 1999, played for the Vikings for seven seasons. The move comes just three weeks after Culpepper had lost the starting position to Josh McCown, who had missed four games with a broken toe.

Josh McCown wasn?t at practice this morning. He injured his right thigh against the Chicago Bears, prompting him to jokingly ask if anyone wanted to ?trade quads? with him on Monday. If Lane Kiffin needed an excuse to play JaMarcus Russell, he?d have one if McCown were out. If Russell is the second quarterback, Kiffin could play Russell for a couple of series a half and make Andrew Walter the inactive third quarterback. Not wanting to make Russell No. 2 is the reason that hasn?t happened earlier. With NFL rules mandating the third quarterback can only play in the fourth quarter or if the other two are down, Kiffin didn?t want to be in position to have to play Russell yet. None of this will matter if McCown overcomes his latest injury enough for Kiffin to give him the start in Minnesota.

Raiders' head coach wants to kick the ball this weekend to Devin Hester -- kickoffs, punts, the whole 109 yards. "It's no fun to kick it out of bounds, so we're going to see how well we can cover," said Kiffin. "We're excited about the challenge. You know, we've started to play better on special teams the last few weeks. It's obvious he's probably the best returner ever to play the game."

The Raiders quarterback situation is far from dependable, but Lane Kiffin isn't ready to give JaMarcus Russell an opportunity to play on Sunday. "I think about playing JaMarcus all the time. I thought about playing him when we were down by 14," Kiffin said. "That dosn't mean it's what we're going to do. This isn't about this year when you look at everything. You've got to make sure JaMarcus is ready to play. This is our franchise. This is the guy you gave a lot of money to, the first pick overall. "You better make sure you have the right stuff around him, and he's ready to play at the right time, he knows what he's doing. You don't want to have to rebuild him. This is a guy who's not used to losing. This is a guy who's not used to the offense not playing well around him. The last thing you want to do with him is put him in when he's not ready. "Now you've got to rebuild him, his mentality. You've got to get him out of bad habits because he's playing with certain habits because he's not ready."