Following his 109-yard passing day in a 21-16 loss to the Chargers on Sunday, Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell thought that he did a “pretty good job.”

From the Contra Costa Times:

“I did a pretty good job,” Russell told reporters. “When it all boils down to it, you had a chance at the end to try and win. Didn’t do too much damage with the interception. No matter what happened, I think we came out and fought despite the score and just kept pushing and just came out short in the end.”

Just the mere fact that he thinks a 109-yard passing day is good shows how far Russell has to go in order to become a leader. And if you think I’m being too hard on him, remember that he also threw an interception that led to a touchdown for the Chargers, fumbled once, averaged just five yards per pass attempt and took five sacks.

Compared to some other games this year, Russell’s performance wasn’t that bad. But for him to say that he was “good” would be disconcerting to me if I were in the Raider organization because he clearly isn’t striving to make himself better if he’s willing to settle for a performance like that.

He’s long overdue to put on the big boy pants and start working on his craft. He continues to take his situation for granted (i.e. he knows the Raiders won’t replace him) and refuses to put in the work to become better. I realize he doesn’t have the best supporting cast around him, but the Raiders still deserve more from their former first overall pick.

A week ago the Raiders beat the Eagles and I swear fire and brimstone started falling from the sky. Rivers and seas boiled. Forty years of darkness was upon us. Dogs and cats started living together. Mass hysteria. Earthquakes, volcanoes…

All right, enough Ghostbusters, although disagree with the greatness of that movie and I’ll punch you in your shin. Order was restored today in the NFL as the Jets hammered the Raiders 38-0 in Oakland. Rookie running back Shonn Greene exploded for 144 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries, as Leon Washington suffered what could be a serious leg injury. If Washington misses significant time, the third-round pick out of Iowa will see more opportunities, which he certainly deserves after his performance today.

Mark Sanchez rebounded from his five-interception performance last week, as he completed nine of 15 pass attempts for 143 yards and a touchdown. Granted, Sanchez didn’t have to do much because the Jets’ built a 24-0 halftime lead thanks to their running game and multiple turnovers by the Raiders. But at least New York was able to shift the focus off its rookie QB for one week.

Speaking of those hapless, heartless Raiders, JaMarcus Russell looked putrid once again. He was pulled in the second quarter in favor of Bruce Gradkowski after he set the Jets up with their first score by fumbling close to his end zone on Oakland’s first possession. Russell also threw two interceptions and as expected, Gradkowski didn’t fair much better as he threw for only 97 yards and also lost a fumble.

So much for Oakland building off last week’s win over Philadelphia.

According to San Francisco Chronicle writer David White, Raiders head coach Tom Cable will not be charged for assault on former assistant coach Randy Hanson. There is still a possibility that Roger Goodell could suspend Cable, but that seems unlikely seeing as how police didn’t charge the Oakland head coach.

With this behind them, the Raiders can now move on and look to build off of their surprising victory over the Eagles in Week 6. That said, one victory isn’t going to magically turn the tide for a franchise that is still in dire straits.

While Cable can breathe a sigh of relief that he isn’t heading to jail, he still has the unenviable task of trying to turn JaMarcus Russell into a pro quarterback. Oakland’s defense played great last week, but Russell still has major issues with consistency, accuracy and his mechanics.

By all accounts, it looks like the Raiders like playing for Cable. They might not give the best effort every week (see Week 5 against the Giants), but players don’t publicly out their head coach in the media. Maybe things will start to turn around for Oakland in the near future…

…wait, I blacked out for a second – is Al Davis still there? Ah, nevermind.

I don’t care that the game was in Oakland. I don’t care if it was just an “off day.” I don’t even care that they lost their starting left tackle. The Eagles should be freaking embarrassed that they lost to the Raiders on Sunday.

Philadelphia found out how important Jason Peters is to its football team in Oakland’s shocking 13-9 win over the Eagles in Week 6. Donovan McNabb was sacked six times and was never allowed to set up and throw. And when he did have time to set his feet, McNabb was either off line or his receivers weren’t open, which is amazing considering the Raiders were without Nnandi Asomugha, who didn’t see the field much after suffering an eye injury.

I understand this was just one loss and the Eagles will bounce back, but it’s inexcusable to lose to the Raiders when you’re supposed to be a Super Bowl contender. This was the same Oakland team that was accused of going through the motions after the Giants routed them in New York last week. Yet Philadelphia gained just 283 yards of offense and was 2 of 16 on third downs – against the Raiders.

It’s vital that Peters returns to health for the Eagles because if Oakland can generate a consistent pass rush, then the Giants and Cowboys will too.

It’s only right to give the Raiders some credit though. They looked like a JV team last week and instead of throwing in the towel they came out this week and fought hard. At times, JaMarcus Russell even looked like a NFL quarterback, which is shocking given just how bad he looked a week ago.

It may be a tad premature to write this given that he’s only in his third year, but it’s getting harder and harder not to tab JaMarcus Russell as one of the worst No. 1 overall picks in NFL history.

Al Davis was blinded by Russell’s arm strength three years ago. Russell might be able to throw the ball the length of the field, but his pocket presence his atrocious and his work ethic is abysmal. When he drops back to pass, it’s clear he doesn’t know where to go with the ball and how to read a defense.

In the Raiders’ 44-7 loss to the Giants on Sunday, Russell completed just 8 of his 13 pass attempts for 100 yards, was sacked six times and lost three fumbles. He simply cannot function in an NFL offense and relies too much on his natural ability to get by. If he doesn’t start putting in the work and learning how to read defenses, he’s never going to succeed and he’ll be out of the league in a couple of years.

Russell is a prime example of why it’s so important for teams to evaluate the intelligence of players. That will never happen with Davis because he’ll always put talent above all else, but draft evaluators are dreaming if they think they can teach work ethic and football smarts. Russell can make all the throws, but he doesn’t have the awareness to get the ball out on time or to deliver it to the right spot. One would think that he would compensate for that by working harder, but he doesn’t.

If Russell doesn’t show vast improvement this season, the Raiders can’t wait to start developing another quarterback. He’s regressed every year he’s been in the league and he’s not going to start succeeding overnight. I realize the Giants have a great defense and make a lot of quarterbacks look bad on Sundays, but Russell can’t even accomplish basic functions. It doesn’t matter if he’s playing the Giants or Rams, if he doesn’t understand the basics the Raiders will continue to spiral into football purgatory.

The San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that Raiders head coach Tom Cable has officially named JaMarcus Russell his starting quarterback.

Raiders coach Tom Cable made the unstunning declaration during a conference call, all while lamenting how Jeff Garcia’s calf strain kept a true quarterback competition from breaking out in training camp.

It’s not that Cable wanted Garcia to beat out Russell. The job was Russell’s to lose. It’s just that Cable hoped Garcia would use his experience and fiery attitude to spur Russell to greater growth.
This is the season Russell has to step up and stop relying on the excuse that he’s still learning. He’s entering his third year and while Oakland doesn’t have the greatest line in which to play behind, Al Davis has surrounded Russell with more than enough playmakers to be effective.

I don’t think the Raiders are expecting Russell to post a 100-plus QB Rating and lead the league in touchdowns. But they do expect him to look more comfortable in the pocket, not overthrow his receivers by 20 feet and most importantly, to work hard and be a leader.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that wide receiver Chaz Schilens broke a bone in his left foot.

Schilens was hurt cutting on a route. There was no contact on the play. He hopped it to the locker room and emerged after practice on crutches.

Schilens did not say how long he’d be out. When asked if he’d play Sept. 14 against the Chargers, he said, “God does miracles,” which is another way of saying it’d take a miracle.
As for Raiders coach Tom Cable, he said “nothing happened” when asked about the Randy Hanson incident before resuming his no-comment stance.

This is a serious blow to the Raiders’ passing game, as Schilens was having a great camp and was quickly emerging as quarterback JaMarcus Russell’s go-to guy.

In Oakland’s preseason opener last Thursday against Dallas, Schilens caught five passes for 52 yards. He demonstrated good speed and pass-catching ability to go along with his great size (6’4, 225 pounds) and if the performance was any indication of how he would fair this season, Schilens was set up for a breakout year.

The Raiders have given no timetable for how long he would be out for, but chances are he’ll miss the first couple weeks of the season.

Here are six quick-hit thoughts on some of Week 1’s preseason NFL action.

1. Stafford was impressive.
While it was only the first preseason game of his young career, Matthew Stafford was awfully impressive Saturday against the Falcons. In his debut, Stafford completed 7 of 14 passes for 110 yards and a touchdown. And if Keary Colbert didn’t have hands made of concrete, Stafford’s numbers would have been more impressive. Granted, he was playing against Atlanta’s backups, Detroit kept their starting offensive line largely intact and he did throw an interception that was returned 41 yards for a touchdown. But the key was that Stafford looked comfortable in the pocket, showed confidence in his throws and for a rookie, displayed great footwork and overall mechanics. He still has much to prove, but if he continues to play this well throughout the preseason, it might be hard for the Lions to keep the rookie off the field in his first year.

2. The Bears secondary looked shaky.
If Saturday’s preseason loss to the Bills was any indication of how Chicago’s secondary will play in the regular season, then the Bears are in trouble. Lee Evans abused cornerback Nathan Vasher repeatedly, while Trent Edwards and Ryan Fitzpatrick completed over 88 percent of their passes. Granted, it was only one preseason game and rookie sixth round pick Al Afalava was impressive against the run. But the Bears look awfully thin in the secondary and if the starters perform as poorly as they did last night for the remainder of the preseason, then trouble could be on the horizon.

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Reports coming out of Raiders training camp surrounding JaMarcus Russell have been mostly negative as the third-year quarterback continues to struggle with consistency and trying to get his timing down with his receivers.

But in Oakland’s 31-10 win over Dallas in the Raiders’ preseason opener on Thursday night, Russell showed the poise that once made him the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft. He completed six of his nine pass attempts for 50 yards and while his average pass only went for a messily 5.6 yards, it was a promising start for a player who is expected to turn the corner this year as a quarterback.

Granted, one preseason game in which he only threw for 50 yards isn’t going to tell us whether or not Russell is finally developing. But he has looked so poorly at times during his short career that it’s worth mentioning when he resembles a NFL quarterback.

Of course, Russell wasn’t the key performer in Oakland’s first preseason win and neither was former first round pick Darren McFadden, although he did rush four times for 63 yards (15.8 average).

That distinction goes out to former seventh round pick Chaz Shilens, who hauled in five passes for 52 yards. Shilens, who has a nice blend of size, speed and hands, is starting to emerge as a nice go-to receiver for Russell in the passing game and could turn out to be the Raiders’ best playmaker this season.