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ALAMEDA, Calif. -- With DJ Hayden out for the first portion of the year and Chimdi Chewka also injured, the Oakland Raiders will likely have to give a young unknown player a chance to be the No. 3 cornerback. Rookie, seventh-round pick TJ Carrie and Neiko Thorpe, a 24-year-old who was in the CFL last season after being cut by the Chiefs, have stood out in the preseason. They will compete to be the No. 3 cornerback. The likelihood is the winner of that battle will play outside and veteran pickup Carlos Rogers will play the slot. “There’ve been some players that step up like TJ Carrie and Neiko [Thorpe], and that battle will still be going on this week, two days from now,” Oakland defensive coordinator Jason Tarver said. “I’m excited to see these guys play, because they both did some good things last week and they’ve both done good things throughout camp.” In other Oakland notes: The Raiders claimed former Cal kicker Giorgio Tavecchio off waivers from Detroit and they cut kicker Kevin Goessling. Tavecchio will kick Thursday. Oakalnd kicker Sebastian Janikowski is dealing with a right quad injury. The team is hopeful he will be able to play Week 1 at the Jets. Offensive coordinator Greg Olson said new right guard Austin Howard is getting better each week. The free-agent pickup was a tackle with the Jets. Several UFC fighters attended Tuesday’s practice.
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