I dropped by the Raiders' practice Wednesday, the next-to-last workout in this four-week funfest, and I couldn't scribble down the news fast enough. (Alert to Raiders' staffers: It's not all good!) Where to begin?

-- How about with JaMarcus Russell? The big fella dropped a bombshell, announcing that between the last day of spring practice and the beginning of training camp July 30 he plans to host his own passing-game minicamp at an undisclosed location.

The rap on Russell - from his former Raiders coach, current coach, Rich Gannon, and other insiders - has been that he isn't exactly a workaholic.

I asked Russell whose idea the minicamp was.

"I talked to coach (Tom Cable) about it," Russell said. "Sometimes they have the rookies come back here for a week, and instead of them coming back here, I decided we'll do it on our own. ... Get somewhere where nobody knows where you're at and go and do your own thing."

This is an ideal time for Russell to buff up his image and his game, considering that Jeff Garcia is competing like a maniac for the starting quarterback job, doing everything but letting the air out of Russell's tires.

Who will be invited to the secret camp?

"Everybody that plays receiver and wears the (Raiders') uniform."

What about other quarterbacks? (That's how I phrased my question, rather than asking, "Will Jeff Garcia be invited?")

"I don't know," Russell said. "Jeff just had a newborn, and Bruce (Gradowski) and (Charlie) Frye, we're working on that."

Cable likes the idea. Players working out even though the team can't make them work out? Quarterback of the Future acting leaderish? What's not to like?

"Yeah, I think it's a big step" for Russell, Cable said. "It's kind of what we've been talking about all along ..."

A cynic would say Cable loves Russell's camp idea because Cable must start Russell, on orders from Al Davis, even if Garcia plays rings around Russell in training camp (as Garcia appeared to do Wednesday), in which case Cable would like to use Russell's new work ethic as part of the explanation/rationale.

But I'm not a cynic, and we've got more news to cover!

-- Halfway through Wednesday's two-hour workout, Darrius Heyward-Bey, the team's No. 1 draft pick, pulled up lame during a no-defense passing drill and hobbled to the locker room. Appeared to be a hammy.

Hey-Bey, remember, tweaked a hamstring the second day of the May 8-10 minicamp and became a spectator. The Raiders will have a hard time running a vertical passing game with a horizontal wideout.

-- Also idling on the sideline Wednesday: rookie safety Mike Mitchell, with a sore leg. Mitchell came up sore at the May 8-10 minicamp, missed three weeks of practice because of a rule technicality, worked out Tuesday and was a sore spectator Wednesday.

The Raiders see Mitchell as their new Jack Tatum, but unless he gets a little sturdier, Mitchell won't see much more playing time this season than the old Jack Tatum, who is 60.

-- Hey, at least they showed up. Nnamdi Asomugha, during the current four-week stretch of practice, has attended three of the 11 workouts. Chris Johnson, the other corner, was also a no-show. Also volunteering not to participate in the voluntary workouts: Derrick Burgess, Michael Huff, Tommy Kelly and Andrew Walter. They'll all kick themselves when they find out how much fun the other guys had.

-- There was even a mini-brawl, with guard Cooper Carlisle and defensive back Tyvon Branch squaring off, quickly joined by several others. It's mid-June and the fellas are already ready to rumble.

-- Final bulletin: The Raiders' new star was on the field. Greg Ellis, a defensive end recently signed after 11 outstanding years as a Cowboy, pulled on a black No. 99 jersey and got into the thick of the action.

This is great news, and about 10 media people rushed to interview Ellis when practice ended, but a team PR man bull-rushed Ellis off the field and into the Raiders' locked-down locker room, saying, "He's got a plane to catch."

Too bad. The Ellis signing is a big hunk of positive news for the Raiders, who need all of that they can get. You would think they would have booked Ellis on a flight leaving five minutes later so he could briefly charm Raiders' fans, via the media.

Now we'll all have to wait six weeks to find out what the catch is - why a top free agent, healthy, good team guy, good leader, with lots of game left in his tank, would sign with a team that in recent years has become the Last Chance Saloon.

There's a good story there, but it will be told soon enough. In terms of positive Raiders' news, there's no sense peaking too early.

NFL notes: Linebacker Barrett Ruud is back in Bucs camp; Vince Young tries to lay low. D3

E-mail Scott Ostler at sostler@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page D - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle