From the San Jose Mercury News:
ALAMEDA, Calif.—The Oakland Raiders are benching former No. 1 overall pick JaMarcus Russell, handing the starting job to Bruce Gradkowski.
Coach Tom Cable said after practice Wednesday that Gradkowski will get the nod Sunday against Cincinnati. Cable says the plan is for Gradkowski to start the rest of the season. Cable has pulled Russell for ineffectiveness in two of the past three games.
This will be just the second start for Gradkowski since 2006. He started one game last year in Cleveland and 11 games as a rookie for Tampa Bay in 2006. Gradkowski is 17 for 30 for 163 yards and two interceptions.
Russell has completed just 46.8 percent of his passes this season. He has also thrown nine interceptions and lost five fumbles.
I'm with you on the NOW issue Payton. They were quick to jump on the Cable case but never said a word on the Merriman case. Just goes to show you that it isn't just ESPN and other media outlets that have a conspiracy against our Raiders. Even an entity that normally doesn't get involved in NFL issues found it relevent to chastize our coach while turning the other way when it came to Merriman. And the sad part is that other teams and fans DON'T believe it's a conspiracy. I bet they wouldn't feel this way if it kept happening to their team. Since they have obviously never seen any of our games, they have no idea how bad the officiating is against the Raiders but I dare ANY fan from another team to sit and watch some of our games and then tell me that the TD catch versus San Diego wasn't a catch as well as being flagged for excessive celebration in the end zone in another game after an interception, when DeAngelo Hall was doing the EXACT SAME THING at the EXACT SAME TIME and wasn't penalized. No conspiracy? Yeah right!!!!
Nov 18, 2009
08:17 PM
What have you done for the Raiders lately? Hard to stay in the fast lane when you drive on a learner's permit. Take notes while you are out, Russel.