Pro Football weekly

Curry returned to practice Wednesday for the first time since May after dealing with nagging knee problems in recent months.||||||| Curry began the season on the physically unable to perform list and was unable to practice for the first six weeks. He made his first appearance on the field Wednesday, starting a three-week window for Oakland to decide whether to activate him, release him or place him on season-ending injured reserve.

The Oakland Raiders have added Curry to the team's active roster.||||||| Curry was taken off the physically unable to perform list Tuesday. Curry was placed on the list at the start of training camp because of injured knees. He resumed practice on Oct. 17 and needed to be activated this week or he would have been unable to play for the Raiders this season.

Curry has returned to the Raidersafter spending last week in Los Angeles getting his injured knees checked out||||||| Coach Dennis Allen said he has seen signs of improvement, but won't activate Curry from the physically unable to perform list until he is healthy. Curry, the fourth overall pick by Seattle in 2009, was acquired by Oakland in a midseason trade last year. He played in 11 games, starting nine, for the Raiders and had 32 solo tackles, three passes defensed and two fumble recoveries.

Three days ago Aaron Curry was a backup strongside linebacker in Seattle. Now he's preparing to start at the weak side for the Oakland Raiders on Sunday.||||||| Curry's prospects took a sudden turn Friday when coach Hue Jackson announced that the first-round pick in the 2009 draft will replace Quentin Groves in the Raiders' starting defense at home against the Cleveland Browns. Groves has been a starter since signing with Oakland before last season.