GET RUSSELL READY FOR MORE ACTION

JaMarcus Russell took his first real beating at the pro level. And what better team to do it than the physical Baltimore Ravens, led by Ray Lewis and the alleged ‘bounty’ hunter, Terrell Suggs.

Even through the tough afternoon, Russell found ways to get back up and complete some tosses with relative ease that many passers around the league can’t even dream about. His 60-yard bomb to Chaz Schilens was a thing of beauty. And getting the ball to Zach Miller on a couple of occasions with Raven defenders draped on him showed the type of moxie that this team will need out of their passer to legitimately call him the ‘franchise.’

“But today … you just keep on fighting,” stated Russell after the Raiders 29-10 drubbing. “Myself, I’m not gonna let ‘em stop me until I can’t throw it anymore. So no matter what it is - a hit or whatever - I’m just gonna keep punching, punching, until I get what I want, as far as in life as well as football.”

This Raider team, who is looking straight down the barrel of another losing season, has to find a silver lining. And that should be the continued development of Russell.

“You have to grow up fast. I think in certain situations, you become better. It’s tough out there, man. I promise. I mean, you can see,” said last year’s first overall pick.

At this point; its time to unleash his boundless talent. Yes, the running game is the backbone of this lowly attack and there isn’t much at wide receiver to compliment Russell’s great abilities. But why hold him back in his second year because of the team’s inability to find adequate targets? Why play conservative football because you are afraid of what he may not be able to do?

It’s time for the Raiders to stop babying Russell. He showed he’s a big boy, standing up to a rugged Ravens and getting back up to keep plugging away.

“To fight for my team. Just to show them that I’m capable. When you show toughness like that, it brings back up your level of play.”

TALKING TO HOWARD

I spoke to Thomas Howard after the game, and he didn’t seem to worried about the rush defense, especially after allowing 242 yards versus the Jets last week, and 192 yesterday against the Ravens.

“I don’t think the Jets ran for that many yards against us last week. I mean they only scored, what, 10-points against us last week. If that. I don’t know how many they had tonight…

But I felt we did pretty well against the run. The pass is what hurt us. A couple of big pass plays; one to [Williams] and the one to Flacco.”

Reality is, the Raiders have struggled against the run. A continuing theme from recent years, when they consistently ranked at the bottom of the NFL in that category. This after emphasizing all year the importance of Gibril Wilson’s acquisition and moving Tommy Kelly back to tackle.

As for that trick play where Joe Flacco was able to haul in a 43-yard pass from Troy Smith, Howard stated, “They made a god play. That’s Cam Cameron. He does trickery type stuff like that. We saw that when he was in Miami. We saw that a ton when he was in San Diego.”

“We had coverage on it, and it was a great play. I’m really surprised by Flacco; that he can run as well as he can.”

GRIFFITH DONE FOR THE YEAR

Oakland announced on Monday that fullback Justin Griffith will need season ending surgery on his right knee.

He tore the ACL in the third quarter yesterday and the managed to score on a 2-yard touchdown toss. “You lose a terrific person, a lot of leadership,” coach Tom Cable said. “He’s solid as a rock. He comes to work every day. He does things to the best of his ability every opportunity he gets. Someone who’s familiar with the system. You’re losing quite a bit there.”

This is the second fullback the Silver & Black has lost this season. During the pre-season, the bruising Oren O’Neal also went down with a knee injury. The only remaining fullback on the roster is the seldom-used Luke Lawton.

Although Griffith is not a focal point of the offense, his steady presence and knowledge of Cable’s zone blocking scheme has helped others on the roster improve the Raider rush offense the last two seasons. More adept at pass catching and not really known for typical punishing blocking at fullback, Griffith has compiled 35-receptions for 250 yards and 2 scores since becoming a Raider.