Report: Davis encouraged McFadden to speak to coaches

ALAMEDA -- A report by Yahoo! sports says Raiders owner Mark Davis urged running back Darren McFadden to talk to the coaching staff two weeks ago about his struggles in the newreturning zone-blocking system."The coaches went back to a more favorable system and McFadden responded with 114 yards against Kansas City," the report read.Indeed, the Raiders did use a mix of McFadden's favored power-blocking scheme, behind which he averaged 5.4 yards per carry last season, and the ZBS against the Chiefs. Before suffering a high-ankle sprain against Tampa Bay last week that has him in a walking boot and kept him from playing in the Raiders' 55-20 loss at Baltimore on Sunday, McFadden was averaging a career-low 3.3 yards.Take away his two longest runs of the season -- the 64-yard touchdown against Pittsburgh and a 28-yard sprint at Kansas City -- and his average falls to 2.7 yards.Raiders coach Dennis Allen was asked about the report in his weekly Monday media gathering."We visited with Darren specifically," Allen said. "Greg (Knapp, offensive coordinator) has visited with Darren on a week-to-week basis about what runs does he like. Weve tried to incorporate more of those runs that he likes as we have gone on throughout the game plans."