Holy Buddy Ryan — did Tom Cable really break the jaw of Oakland Raiders assistant coach Randy Hanson at practice recently? In a story first reported by the NATIONAL FOOTBALL POST this morning, and now being confirmed by the SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, Cable was involved in “an altercation” with one of his assistants earlier this month at the team’s Napa practice facility, and that assistant was treated for a broken jaw at Queen of the Valley Hospital on August 6.

Welcome to Al Davis’ world, in case you’re new to all of this. It’s a land ruled by dysfunction, where Davis and his flying monkeys watch practice in a crystal ball from a castle tower, coaches come and go with the frequency of a Tokyo subway train, and disputes are settled the old-fashioned way.

From the SJMN:

Napa Police Lt. Brian McGovern told the Web site that he isn’t permitted to reveal the identity of the injured person.“It’s an internal matter, and will be handled as such,” Raiders senior executive John Herrera said.

Raiders coach Tom Cable has not mentioned the incident in any of his news conferences. Two team officials confirmed that Hanson was not at practice Sunday.

“(The hospital) is required to report those things to the police department any time someone comes in the victim of an assault-type crime,” McGovern told the website. “We were dispatched to the hospital and ended up contacting the victim at that location. The victim said the assault had occurred the previous day at the Raiders’ training camp facility.

“Basically, he said he had been assaulted by a member of the staff but refused to identify who that person was. There isn’t anything we can do if the victim is uncooperative in providing us with any additional information as far as witnesses or suspect information.”

After the NATIONAL FOOTBALL POST broke the story, AOL FANHOUSE got a confirmation that the assistant involved was Hanson:

Neither Hanson nor the coach who threw the punch were identified in a Napa, Calif., police report taken Aug. 6 at Queen of the Valley Hospital. But one well-placed NFL source told FanHouse of the attacker: “It’s a well-known coach. Very well-known.”

Pressed to confirm the identity of the attacker, the source said, “It was Cable who hit him.”

Cable is expected to address the issue after practice today, at about 3:30 p.m. PST.

Hanson, who had been an assistant under Lane Kiffin, was suspended by Kiffin in September 2008, after Hanson openly questioned some of the head coach’s defensive strategies following a 41-14 loss to the Denver Broncos.

According to FANHOUSE, Hanson had been talking to another assistant at the time Cable hit him, and “never saw it coming.”

Both Cable and Hanson were assistants under Kiffin in 2008, and both grew up in Washington state — Hanson in Burlington, Wash., and Cable in Snohomish.