In the meantime, tight end Zach Miller will do just fine.

Miller, a second-year player out of Arizona State, caught four passes for 48 yards from Russell in a 17-16 loss to the Tennessee Titans.

During a 61-yard, six-play scoring drive, Russell had catches of 22, 14 and 10 yards, with the last 10 yards converting a third-and-goal from the 7. It came when Russell broke to his left to avoid pressure and fired a bullet which Miller caught on a dive for the touchdown.

"I feel like he trusts me to make the right decision on the field, whether he's scrambling, whether he's throwing it into tight coverage, that I'm going to come down with it," Miller said. "I feel like we have a connection out there. He has good anticipation of where I'm going to be on the field."

Installed as a starter immediately by coach Lane Kiffin, Miller quietly led all NFL rookie tight ends last season with 44 receptions for 444 yards. The 44 catches was an Oakland rookie record, surpassing Tim Brown's mark of 43.

He did it despite playing with four different quarterbacks and being asked to do a lot of pass blocking because of pass protection issues.

Late in the season, with the Raiders finishing off a 4-12 season and trying to get Russell a head start going into the offseason, the tight end and the quarterback began to develop an on-field bond.

In an otherwise deflating 49-11 loss to Jacksonville, Russell, who came off the bench and had an otherwise awful game, directed a late touchdown drive that culminated in a 2-yard flip to Miller for his first NFL touchdown pass.

Then, in a 30-17 loss to San Diego to close out the season, Miller caught a game-high eight passes for 84 yards -- more than a third of the 23 passes Russell completed that day in his first NFL start.

"We've had a good feel for each other from the beginning," Miller said. "Once you get that quarterback's trust, it keeps building and getting better and better. I want to earn my trust and I feel I did that toward the end of the season last year and throughout camp."

Russell said he immediately felt comfortable with Miller.

"I figured that out from my first time playing for a long time," Russell said of sitting and watching for most of last season. "My first start, me and Zach hooked up on eight passes. He's a great athlete. He has a knack for getting open. Once you put it in his vicinity, he's going to catch it."

CAMP CALENDAR: The Raiders broke camp at the Napa Marriott when they left for Tennessee and resumed closed practices with a one-a-day format at their club facility in Alameda.