NAPA, Calif. -- Jason Campbell is as eager as anybody to find out more about Terrelle Pryor and how the Oakland Raiders plan to use the former Ohio State quarterback.
Those answers didn't come Tuesday.
The Raiders are hoping they'll come soon enough.
While Campbell returned to the practice field for the first time since a jarring hit to the helmet, Pryor was nowhere to be found at Raiders camp. Pryor can't practice until he's under contract, and he had yet to even travel to the West Coast by the time the team ended practice in the evening.
New coach Hue Jackson was optimistic that Oakland would reach a deal by the end of the week with Pryor, whom the team selected in the third round of the NFL's supplemental draft on Monday. Messages were left seeking comment from Drew Rosenhaus, Pryor's agent.
"You don't know what we're really going to do with him yet," said Campbell, who was cleared to practice for the first time since he took a knee to the helmet in Saturday's 17-3 exhibition loss to San Francisco. "He's definitely a big, fast guy. There are different things you can do with him. He's a teammate now. We welcome him. We just go out here and do what we can to help the team win."
Even Oakland's starting quarterback had no idea his team would draft Pryor.
Campbell said he was sitting in a meeting room Monday when a few teammates poked inside to tell him the news. He hasn't had a chance to speak with Pryor yet, and Campbell said he's going to welcome the new quarterback when he arrives -- the same way veterans Mark Brunell and Todd Collins did with him in Washington.
Just don't expect him to concede his job.
"People forget, I'm still a young guy, too," said Campbell, who's 29. "So I'm trying to go out and get things right for this team and be the future for this team."
Pryor will have plenty of catching up to do whenever he arrives.
He has missed three weeks of training camp, two preseason games and countless meetings. Pryor gave up his final season with the Buckeyes after an investigation into the team's memorabilia-for-cash scandal cost coach Jim Tressel his job.
When he was allowed to enter the supplemental draft, he was handed a five-game suspension by Commissioner Roger Goodell -- the same number of games he would have sat out had he returned to Ohio State. Pryor has said he will not appeal the suspension.
Pryor will be able to practice immediately after signing and play in the remaining two exhibition games. But he will not be eligible to practice with or play for Oakland during the regular season until the team's sixth game.
"He's already missed pretty much all of training camp," Campbell said. "So there's a lot of important information he's missed out on."
NOTES: Jackson said LB Travis Goethel is likely out for the season after tearing a ligament in his knee. He is expected to have surgery. ... Temperatures soared into the upper 90s in Napa and a fan passed out briefly while watching practice on the sideline. Jackson and team trainers came over in the middle of practice to check on the woman. She was smiling and joking after a few minutes.
Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press
