The Oakland Raiders took care of some key business on Saturday as they finally convinced running back Michael Bush to report to camp on his restricted free agency tender. Bush was tendered at a first- and third-round level in March, although there were questions whether he would be restricted under the new CBA. Bush lost a year of accrued time because he spent his rookie season on the Non-Football Injury List, and thus has only three accrued years.
The return of Bush is significant given Darren McFadden’s current eye injury. McFadden is out approximately two weeks with the injury, which means he’ll probably miss the first two preseason games. Bush will take the first team snaps those two games. Last season McFadden carried the ball 223 times while Bush had 158 carries. McFadden has yet to have a full 16-game season, so it will be interesting to see how the Raiders work Bush into the rotation in 2011.