It took Richard Seymour five days to get over being "blindsided" by his trade from New England to Oakland. But that's over. He reported to the Raiders yesterday and is expected to play tomorrow night when the Raiders open their season against San Diego (10:15 p.m., ESPN).

In his first public comments since the deal, Seymour told the Boston Herald yesterday that he was taken aback when coach told him of the trade, which sent him from one of the NFL's model franchises to the one with the worst record over the past six years.

"First of all, I was blindsided by this whole event," Seymour told the Herald. "When you get blindsided, you should take a moment to gather your thoughts. I have a lot of personal issues more pressing than football."

Seymour said he has been in regular contact with Raiders owner Al Davis and coach Tom Cable. He said he has talked with the Raiders about a possible contract extension or a promise not to be designated the franchise player following the season, but was given no guarantees.

Now, all Jay Cutler has to do is deliver. After all the hype and hoopla surrounding his arrival in Chicago, the Pro Bowl quarterback is ready for the Bears' opener following an offseason that seemed like a blur.

And how's this for a starter?

Rival Green Bay in prime time at Lambeau Field tonight (8:20 p.m., WPXI), as if that spotlight on him wasn't bright enough already.

Of course, Cutler's been center stage the entire offseason, from his falling out with new Broncos coach Josh McDaniels to his forced trade to the Bears.

No one needed to remind Cutler about the history between these teams. The game will be the 178th between them, including a playoff encounter, but this one has a twist. Both team boast top young quarterbacks and have high expectations this season, with Sports Illustrated even picking the Bears to go to the Super Bowl.

It was reported earlier this week that NFL ticket prices climbed 3.9 percent to an average of $74.99 for the 2009 season. Now for the numbers behind the number.

The main reason for the percentage increase was the new Dallas Cowboys' stadium that cost $1.2 billion to build. The average ticket to a Cowboys game costs $159.65, a record for the Fan Cost Index survey, which dates to 1991. The New England Patriots previously had the priciest ticket: $117.84.

Not to be completely outdone, the Patriots still have the highest-priced premium ticket average of $566.67.

On the other side of the Fan Cost Index, 18 teams maintained ticket prices, and the Lions, who were 0-16 in 2008, dropped prices 1 percent. The Dolphins' average went down .8 percent.

Still in the field of economics, supply and demand and all that crazy stuff, as many as a dozen NFL teams are staring at the real possibility of having multiple games blacked out this season. In the last three years, just 26 of 768 NFL games have been blacked out because they didn't sell out. There could be that many this year by midseason.

Mark Sanchez will be the first rookie to start a game at QB for the Jets since Matt Robinson in 1977. ... Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has confirmed that wife Gisele Bundchen is pregnant. ...BetUS.com is laying odds on what team the Lions are most likely to beat to end their losing streak. The Rams seem to be the best bet at 5-2. However, they don't show up on Detroit's schedule until Nov. 1, or six more losses from now.