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Still, the Oakland Raiders receiver insists he'll be back on the field sooner.

"I could go get my wisdom teeth taken out and go get that corrective hip surgery and all that and it won't be six-to-eight weeks," Porter said Wednesday. "I'll be fine way before six-to-eight weeks. I'm going to leave it at that. I'm not exactly sure. I don't even think on the late end of the six weeks."

Porter had surgery last Friday in Tampa for multiple hernias. Oakland's team doctors initially said he had a strained abdominal muscle, but then sent him to get a second opinion, according to Porter.

Of course, Porter's story differs from what head coach Bill Callahan said last week. He said that Porter had gone on his own to Florida to seek a second opinion.

"It was a nagging thing that had been going on for a little while," the athletic wideout explained. "I had been misdiagnosed. It happened like that. It wasn't no thing where I [went to Florida] on my own. It was a thing where it was time to get a second opinion and our staff sent me. They said [misdiagnosis is] common because unless you see it you don't know."

Porter re-aggravated the injury that kept him out of the last two preseason games during the second quarter of the Raiders' season-opening loss at Tennessee.

He could return to play against the Detroit Lions on Nov. 2, following the Raiders' bye week.

The Raiders have been trying several inexperienced options during Porter's absence.

"It certainly hasn't helped us the first two weeks," Rich Gannon told Denver reporters Wednesday, refusing to speak with the Bay area media. "He's a great player and he's a big part of what we are trying to do. And he was a big part of our success last year, so obviously his absence is significant.

"But at the same time, we have other players who have to step up. We are continuing to probe and use a lot of different personnel groupings, and try to find ways to get guys on the field that can make some big plays for us."

Porter is scheduled to have his butterfly stitches removed Saturday. He spoke Tuesday with his doctor, who reported the procedure had gone well.

"I'll wait on my stitches to heal and I'll be fine," Porter said. "There's not really any rehab. I just have to let everything set and I'm fine. I will be doing bike work and lifting. The main thing is to let it set so you don't jump or upset anything they've done internally and make them have to go back in there.

"It's for the best that I sit still. It's kind of awkward to sit still."

Along those same lines. ...

In an article published last Friday, ESPN.com insider Len Pasquarelli noted that Porter's emergence last year prompted Callahan to open 13 games in three-wide receiver sets.

And the former second-round draft choice certainly opened up opposition secondaries to all the slants and precise timing routes in which Jerry Rice and Tim Brown specialize.

Pasquarelli further noted: "It's hard to quantify exactly what Porter meant to the Raiders' pair of future Hall of Fame receivers but here's one number that jumps out: When Porter was on the field, Rice and Brown collectively averaged 1.5 yards more per reception than when Oakland was in a two-wide receiver formation.

"Rice's average of 13.2 yards per catch was his second-best over the last seven seasons and it would naive to suggest Porter didn't play some role in that. The truth of the matter is, while secondaries still respect Brown and Rice, they don't respect their deep speed.

"The vertical dimension was one that Porter provided to an offense that throws the ball sideways an awful lot and there might not be another player on the roster capable of truly stretching the opposition defense north and south."

Alvis Whitted is fast enough to handle Porter's role, but his inexperience and suspect hands -- he has a grand total of 17 catches in five year's as a pro -- simply aren't sufficient to strike fear in the hearts of opposing defensive coordinators.