ALAMEDA, Calif. -- While Kelechi Osemele wouldn't mind "pancaking" a few former Baltimore Ravens teammates on Sunday, a former benefactor of the first-year Oakland Raiders left guard's ferocity wouldn't mind, well, having pancakes with Osemele.
Or some such.
"K.O., man, that's my guy," Ravens running back Justin Forsett said Wednesday on a conference call with Bay Area media.
"A lot of offensive linemen are closer, they spent more time with him than I did, but K.O. is a special player. We have some good guys over here that are filling in his role, but K.O. will always be a special player."
In what ways, exactly?
"He's just one of those nasty offensive linemen," Forsett said. "He goes out, he tries to dominate every play. He's physical. You're going to see guys getting pancaked and he's standing over them. He's kind of that mouthpiece out there, that headhunter that you want on the offensive line."
Osemele came to the Raiders as a free agent after four years in Baltimore -- who took him in the second round of the 2012 draft out of Iowa State -- on a five-year, $58.5 million contract.
"I kind of let my agent handle all of that," Osemele said. "He would report back to me what the offer was and what he thought I was worth and [Baltimore's] numbers just didn't come anywhere close.
"Yeah, it hurts your feelings a little bit because you spent the last four years there. There's been a lot of ups and downs, winning the Super Bowl there and to kind of find out that's probably not where you're going to end up can be a little emotional."
Yes, he came to Oakland with said "head hunter" reputation and got into a couple of dust-ups in training camp, with middle linebacker Ben Heeney and defensive end Mario Edwards Jr. ... twice ... in the same practice.
Both Osemele and Edwards were kicked out of practice that day.
Osemele told Baltimore media on a conference call he looked forward to playing the Ravens defensive line after practicing against it for so long.
"There's a few guys, obviously, that it's going to be fun to finish through and play against them in a game," Osemele said. "You couldn't really finish through and pancake your own teammate [in practice]. Just to go out there and talk a little trash and get to compete against those guys is going to be fun."
After signing with the Raiders, Osemele said the offensive line was "appreciated" in Oakland, as if it was not in Baltimore.
“That, in particular, had to do with an individual in the organization that I didn't quite gel [with] and had issues with,” Osemele said. “That wasn't the organization as a whole. That was one coach in particular. That wasn't really directed at the entire organization. That was directed at one person."
And no, Ravens coach John Harbaugh did not have to warn his defensive linemen about getting into it with the 6-feet-5, 330-pound Osemele on Sunday.
"He did not disappoint, ever, at any point in time in terms of what he contributed to our program," Harbaugh said. "So, lot of respect for him and we expect him to play really well and expect it to be a real tough matchup because we know how good he is.
"I'm sure K.O. will be fine, I mean he's a smart guy. We don't anticipate any issues like that."