PRO FOOTBALL DAILY REPORT : RAIDERS : Patterson’s Status Unclear

No one among the Raiders could recall anything like it happening before. Even in an organization that prides itself on producing and nurturing mavericks, there are rules of conduct.

And Elvis Patterson has broken one. Fighting with the enemy is sometimes necessary. Fighting with teammates is sometimes inevitable. Fighting with a coach is never permissible.

But that’s what Patterson, a safety and a valued member of the special teams, did Friday in Flagstaff, Ariz., where the Raiders scrimmaged the Phoenix Cardinals last week. Patterson, 31, got into a dispute with his defensive backfield coach, Jack Stanton, 54. The argument ended with Patterson slamming Stanton to the ground.

Patterson was sent home, but Raider Coach Art Shell made it clear that may not be the end of it.

“I have no comment,” Shell said upon his return to the Raider camp in Oxnard. “I’m still investigating. Nothing is finalized yet.”

Shell didn’t have much to be happy about after three days in Arizona that produced more fighting than football, more bad weather than good.

“I’m a little sour about it,” he said of the various fights between the Raiders and Cardinals. “We’re not about fighting. We’re about hard, tough football.”

The Raiders will resume two-a-day workouts through Wednesday, then cut back to one session each Thursday and Friday before heading north for their exhibition opener Saturday against the 49ers at Candlestick Park.