ALAMEDA, Calif. (AP) -The Oakland Raiders returned to the practice field Monday for the first time since an embarrassing exhibition blowout and, according to their coach, looked like they had a hangover.
That’s just the kind of reaction Tom Cable wanted to see following Saturday’s 45-7 loss to the New Orleans Saints, which exposed all sorts of problems facing the Raiders this season.
“I don’t like losing. Nobody does,” Cable said. “But right now I am excited about the fact that we really show a lot of remorse. … We talked about being embarrassed about it but we’re taking responsibility for it. I think that’s a big step for us.”
That was the kind of reaction that has been missing in past years around the Raiders, who are an NFL-worst 24-72 the past six seasons. Most notably, there was the laughter in the locker room after a 34-7 primetime loss to the San Diego Chargers last December.
That got All-Pro cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha particularly riled up when he felt like some of his teammates didn’t care enough.
locker room after the loss to the Saints was quite different, with players talking about being embarrassed. That carried over to Monday, when the Raiders got back on the field for the first time since the loss.
“That was very embarrassing the way things ended up happening as far them to put up forty-some points and we only scored one touchdown,” quarterback JaMarcus Russell said. “We left a lot of points on the field. We’ve got to get better on third down, moving the ball. I thought we kind of, you know how they say you shoot yourself in the foot? I think our foot would be off by now.”
Russell shouldered much of the blame for the offense’s struggles, even though he was not helped out at all by missed blocking assignments and dropped passes from his teammates.
He said that a third-down pass that hit off receiver Johnnie Lee Higgins’ hands could have hit him in the chest instead. On a long pass play to Louis Murphy that ended with a fumble, Russell could have put the ball in a spot that was easier for Murphy to tuck it away. On a holding penalty or a sack, maybe he could have stepped up in the pocket sooner or gotten rid of the ball quicker.
After completing two passes for first downs on the opening two plays, Russell lost a fumble on the next play. The Raiders went three-and-out on their next three drives and had only one more first down and 13 more yards in the half.
18 for 153 yards and was sacked three times playing into the third quarter without leading his team to a score. Oakland’s only touchdown came on a pass from Jeff Garcia to Jonathan Holland after New Orleans was up 45-0.
“That’s not us, the team that we strive to be and how hard we practice in training camp,” Russell said. “The team that went out the other day, I don’t think that was us at all.”
Russell said the competitor in him would like to play a lot in Thursday’s exhibition finale at Seattle, but he expects the coaches will only let him go a series or two to make sure he’s healthy for the opener on Sept. 14 against San Diego.
NOTES: The Raiders released OLs Jonathan Compass and Marcus Johnson, WRs Shawn Bayes and Will Franklin, and DT Joe Cohen to get under the 75-player limit before Tuesday’s deadline … C John Wade returned to practice for the first time since leaving the exhibition opener Aug. 13 with a stinger. … Rookie DE Matt Shaughnessy returned to practice after missing nearly two weeks with a foot injury. … CB Nnamdi Asomugha missed practice and met with a specialist to determine how to rehab a chip fracture in his left wrist.
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