ALAMEDA, Calif. -- The Raiders are expected be without tight end Lee Smith and former starting middle linebacker Ben Heeney for the rest of the season after both players were injured during Sundays win in Baltimore.Neither player has been placed on injured reserve yet and both were continuing to be evaluated by the teams medical staff but Oakland coach Jack Del Rio was not optimistic about either Smith or Heeney returning this season.Both of those guys are likely to go (on IR), Del Rio said Monday. As they finish the work that is done on those guy with our doctors and all the experts looking at it, if we determine that the time is such that we wont be able to get them back they could in fact go down. Its not officially done but its headed in that direction.Smith was injured after catching a short pass from quarterback Derek Carr midway through the second quarter. Smith had his back turned to the defense when Ravens cornerback Jimmy Smith tackled him low from behind, causing the tight ends body to bend back awkwardly with his right foot stuck in the turf.Lee Smith had to be helped off the field and did not return. He was initially diagnosed with an ankle injury that was later changed to a lower leg injury.Del Rio didnt go into details about Smiths injury but said he is almost certain to require surgery.Theres some damage there, Del Rio said. Exactly how long it will take for him to recover and be back to full speed, Im not certain of that. I would say its tracking in the direction of him being unavailable to us. If that is the case then hell end up going on IR.The Raiders already have defensive end Mario Edwards Jr. on the injured reserve list with plans to bring him back, meaning any other players placed on IR will be done for the season.Losing Smith would be a significant blow to the NFLs No. 2 offense. Smith has six receptions but is Oaklands best blocking tight end who also doubles on special teams.While the Raiders still have Clive Walford and Mychal Rivera, Del Rio didnt rule out adding another tight end to the roster if Smith is out.It will take several people in all likelihood to fill his shoes because of all that he did, Del Rio said. Mainly the blocking, the dirty work, kind of an unsung kind of hero kind of role where hes just very tough, very determined.Heeneys situation is a little more uncertain.A fifth-round pick in 2015, Heeney was the Raiders starting middle linebacker for the first two games this year before being benched in favor of rookie Cory James. James led Oakland with 15 tackles in the win over Baltimore while Heeney played mostly on special teams.Del Rio didnt say when or how Heeney got hurt but a team spokesman confirmed that Heeney had suffered an ankle injury.Outside linebacker Malcolm Smith also had to come out of the Ravens game with a groin injury.At this point I dont have an update on that, Del Rio said. Were hopeful. Ill know more when I see him moving around tomorrow.The Raiders (3-1) are off to their best start since winning the AFC championship in 2002.Oakland was without its top three right tackles against Baltimore, forcing Vadal Alexander to make his first career start. The rookie was called for four penalties, including three for holding, but Del Rio defended the seventh-round draft picks performance.Those holding calls , there were a couple that were called on him that it was really tough to see any kind of holding going on there, Del Rio said. I thought he did a heck of job. I know that Khalil (Mack) would love to see all those type of things called every time hes held. It was tough. I think the young man played really well.----Online:AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL Jodie Meeks Jersey . Jason Zucker and Matt Cooke also scored for Minnesota, which has won five of six. Kuemper made five saves in the first, nine in the second, and nine in the third. The rookies best save came with 2:17 left in the third period when he denied former Wild forward Matt Cullen from just outside of the crease on the right side. Marc Gasol Jersey . The 15th-ranked Canadian men lost the opening two games of their European tour: 19-15 to No. 17 Georgia and 21-20 to No. http://www.nbaraptorsonline.com/Authentic-Kyle-Lowry-Jersey/ . Anthony Calvillo, through 20 CFL seasons, was frequently invincible and largely stoic in the heat of competition. But underneath the professional exterior he was, and is, compellingly human. Toronto Raptors Jerseys . While hell be dialed in to that tournament on a course he loves, you can forgive him if his eyes glance down the calendar just a bit, towards April. Patrick McCaw Raptors Jersey . Datsyuk will miss Tuesdays game against New Jersey and could be sidelined longer, while Cleary will likely miss at least the next three games. Its been an injury-plagued season for Datsyuk, who has suited up for just 39 games. Yorkshire 166 for 6 (Williamson 65)beat Derbyshire 165 for 8 (Rutherford 44, Rashid 3-20) by one runScorecard Yorkshires NatWest Blast hopes still hang by a thread - and the margins are getting tighter. Five runs in a feverish Roses match against Lancashire, two runs - and a few doubts about that - against Warwickshire on Friday night and now the closest of all: victory by one run in a match that was Derbyshires for the taking.Twenty-five off the last three overs with six wickets intact made Derbyshire favourites, even allowing for a sluggish Derby pitch and slow outfield, but they contrived to lose four wickets in 10 balls for eight runs and, by the time Matt Critchley swung the last ball from Azeem Rafiq for six, the match was settled. Yorkshire go fifth, the return from England ODI duty of Adil Rashid, David Willey and Liam Plunkett reviving their optimism. Derbyshire, by losing by one run for the third time this season, are now as good as eliminated.Kane Williamson is fighting fatigue, according to Yorkshires director of cricket Martyn Moxon, but one of crickets consummate professionals is not the sort to wear his responsibilities lightly. There are few greater loads to bear than energising Yorkshires Twenty20 cricket, but he stood up to the challenge, his 65 from 45 balls the guiding force in Yorkshires 166 for 6.It has been a difficult season for all of Yorkshires T20 batsmen with only Joe Root having passed 50 before Williamsons intervention. Alex Lees own contribution on this occasion was a first-baller, caught at the wicket driving at Shiv Thakor, but his first season as Yorkshires T20 captain remains alive and he will take sustenance from that.Williamson will soon depart; the Australian Travis Head has just landed in England. In the NatWest Blast, players come and go so often the county grounds should have their own runway: another alternative perhaps to Heathrow expansion. Thanks to this victory, Heads involvement will at least have some relevance to it.That Williamsons efforts almost came to naught owed much to a second-wicket stand of 73 in 49 balls for Derbyshire between two New Zealand compatriots, Hamish Rutherford and Neil Broom. Rutherfords six over extra cover against Willey, who is now contending with shin splints after only just recovering from a side strain, was as good as it got, and with Broom taking a fancy to Plunkett, Derbyshire were 76 for 1 off nine.Rashid intervened in the nick of time, having Rutherford stumped attempting a slog sweep in his first over, and trapping Broom lbw at the start of his third. His return from England one-day duties will also steel Yorkshires challenge and his control never wavered, Wayne Madsen outfoxed as he came down the wicket, a second stumping for Andrew Hodd delivering figures of 3 for 20.Only briefly did Yorkshire feel confident. Two towering sixes by Chesney Hughes, with 17 off an over from Tim Bresnan, should have made it Derbyshires game but when an outstanding catch at deep midwicket by Plunkett intercepted Jimmy Neeshams fast, flat pick-up, they still needed 13 off the last over.That over was bowled by Rafiq - and thereby hung a tale. It was Derbyshire who almost signed him after he was released by Yorkshire, only for his action to waver ahead of the season while contractual negotiations were underway.dddddddddddd His nerve held here - a yorker off his penultimate ball engineering a drive back by Critchley and the run out of Thakor - and Yorkshire look a better T20 side for having the option of bowling Rashid and Rafiq in tandem.Gillespie was full of praise for Rafiq, who conceded only 28 from four overs. It takes some nerve from a finger spinner to bowl in the powerplay and the last over of the innings, he said. It shows how far hes come in such a short time. Hes very relaxed, hes happy in his own skin and I cant tell you how happy I am to see him have that success after a challenging period for him.Some will contend that Yorkshire were fortunate to enter the match still with hopes of a quarter-final place. Adam Lyths acrobatic last-ball stop at long-on to complete an unexpected victory against Warwickshire at Headingley on Friday night was perilously near to the boundary according to some spectators with a close view. Yorkshires supporters celebrated victory, but their reaction might have been more critical if the situation had been reversed.Willey is another man Yorkshire are relying upon to bring fresh impetus to their last-eight challenge. Fourteen in three balls over long-on against Neesham, and 21 off in all off the over, gave Yorkshires innings early stimulus, but even he was relatively restrained apart from that, finally dismissed for 33 from 28 balls when he lofted Wes Durstons offspin to long off.From 42 for 0 off four overs, Yorkshire struggled to make headway, their batting strength undermined by a groin injury to Ballance which has made him doubtful for the first Test against Pakistan at Lords on Thursday. Lyth was first out, helping a short ball from Andy Carter to third man, and Jack Leaning and Will Rhodes succumbing quickly.Williamsons innings ended seven balls early, bowled around his legs by his fellow New Zealander Neesham. His seventh-wicket stand of 48 in 27 balls with Bresnan rallied Yorkshire, although as successful as it was, it seems wasteful for a side which struggles to hit long not to find a way to get the potentially destructive hitting of Plunkett into the action earlier.So for the second season in a row, the group stages of the NatWest Blast had reached the final stages with every county still in contention. That will be used as evidence by those dismissive of Twenty20 that it is such a short game that the result becomes more random and therefore is of less value.But it can be perceived in different ways. Those seeking comfort will view it as evidence of the depth, not always recognised in Englands professional game. Those committed to radical change will insist that it is the withdrawal of England players which levels the standards and only their introduction would lead to a tournament of real value. And some, this being England, just blame the whole thing on the rain which has caused 12 No Results and when matches have been played consigned them too often to sluggish surfaces where quality does not always out.Whatever the cause, only a fool would suggest with confidence who might win it. ' ' '