NEW ORLEANS – It wasn't the type of homecoming JaMarcus Russell envisioned.
Far from it.
The last time the Raiders quarterback played in the Louisiana Superdome, he elevated himself to an NFL No. 1 overall draft pick with an MVP performance in LSU's 41-14 spanking of Notre Dame in the 2007 Sugar Bowl by throwing for 332 yards and two touchdowns on 21-of-34 passing.
This time, in a 34-3 loss to the New Orleans Saints? Russell played more like the quarterback he outdueled in that star-making bowl game – Notre Dame's Brady Quinn.
"It was fun to come back (but) that was in the past," said Russell, who went to school about 40 miles up the road and passed out 40 tickets to family and friends. "I'm just trying to move forward from there and just try to keep this team moving forward and, hopefully, we'll get wins like that."
Not if he turns in more performances like he did against the Saints.
Russell's season-low 40.1 passer rating Sunday came from him completing just 13 of 35 passes for 159 yards. Both of his turnovers – a fumble on a sack and an interception – resulted in Saints touchdowns.
In reality, six of his passes should have been intercepted, and when Russell missed his receivers – who, to be fair, did not have the best day either – he missed by a lot. Such as when he had rookie Chaz Schilens wide open down the left sideline late in the fourth quarter, but overthrew him.
Russell, essentially in his first full season, having missed training camp in 2007 because of a contract dispute, is getting more comfortable in the pocket. He's not throwing off his back foot as much, and when he ran against the Saints, he did so with authority. Russell showed off his arm strength on the first play of the second quarter when he took a shot at Ashley Lelie downfield by effortlessly flinging a ball 67 yards.
It's just that he lacked touch on his passes, which should come with more repetition.
"Patience is everything," Raiders interim coach Tom Cable said. "Unfortunately, in this league at this level, there isn't a lot of patience by the powers that be.
"The bottom line is, to bring a young quarterback where you want him to be, you got to have patience and we'll do that. We'll take care of it."
Saints linebacker Scott Shanle was impressed with Russell.
"He has a cannon of an arm," Shanle said. "He'll get better with experience. They have good players. A lot of it is getting experience at this level."
Russell agreed.
"You're going to have times when things go bad," he said. "You've just got to move forward and everything's not going to be perfect as far as how you draw it up. You've just got to work hard and keep going."
Call The Bee's Paul Gutierrez, (916) 326-5556.
