ALAMEDA, Calif. -- The Oakland Raiders signed Roy Helu to be a third-down option.
Now, they finally get to put that plan in place. Helu, signed as a free agent from Washington, returned to practice Wednesday after missing all but a couple of workouts because of a hamstring injury. He will try to work his back to form and be a playmaker the Raiders signed him to be when they gave him a two-year, $4.1 million deal.
Helu averaged 5.4 yards a carry on 40 rushes and he averaged 11.4 yards on 42 catches last season. Oakland quarterback Derek Carr is excited about the Helu dimension that will be added to the offense.
"He's very smart, so he's going to be great in protection," Carr said. "He's not a guy, 'Hey, do you see it coming?' He'll know. He's also a very good receiving back -- very good hands. He has a good feel in the screen game. There's a lot of things that he does really well, and that's all outside of him running the ball, which he's obviously very good at, which he did great at Nebraska and has done good in the NFL."