OAKLAND – For the first time in his football life, JaMarcus Russell was being told he wasn't good enough. That his mere presence on the field was essentially hurting his team. That he was being benched midway through the second quarter in Sunday's 38-0 loss to the New York Jets.
Was he angry? Did he throw a fit on the sideline? Did he plead his case? What, exactly, was his reaction?
"Really," answered a weary Tom Cable, who delivered the news to Russell, "there was no reaction. No reaction."
Wait, what?
Russell, the No. 1 overall pick of the 2007 draft, was told after five series and a 14-point deficit that journeyman Bruce Gradkowski gave the Raiders a better chance to beat the New York Jets and nothing more than a glazed look greeted Cable?
So there you have it. Further proof that Russell still doesn't get it.
No, he should not have thrown his helmet in a fit or cussed out his coach. But he should have done something. Anything to show his displeasure.
Instead, he became more animated on the sideline than he's ever appeared as Gradkowski's biggest, both literally and figuratively, cheerleader. He waved a white rally towel in support of his backup. He sat with him on the bench and playfully went over plays while the defense was on the field.
Good for him in not becoming a bigger distraction than the chorus of boos that accompany him on the field.
Unfortunately, he also still refused to take ownership for his poor play that put the Raiders in that early hole en route to the worst home loss in team history.
Russell committed three turnovers – a fumble on the game's first play and an interception that set the Jets up at Oakland's 4-yard line both times, and a pick in the Jets' end zone.
But to hear Russell tell it, his receivers were at fault.
And when the coach said Russell seemed "out of sorts" from the start – "the first play of the game he could not get the formation lined up the right way," Cable added – Russell disagreed.
"The first interception was a matter of a guy coming across my face and getting to the spot," he said. "I tried to get it down but it was too late.
"As far as the second (pick), I thought I gave the guy a chance to make a play on the ball … had a 50-50 chance."
Cable was quick to say this was not about teaching him a lesson.
But still, you have to wonder what Russell will glean from this.
"It depends on him, depends on how he looks it at," said running back Michael Bush. "If he tells himself, 'OK, we need to get going, pull myself up a little more,' instead of getting mad about it or thinking, 'That's not right,' then we'll be fine."
There have been very few success stories of purported franchise quarterbacks rallying back from early-career benchings to light the league on fire with the team that drafted him.
We're still waiting to see how Matt Leinart emerges from his skull session with humility in Arizona, and Alex Smith, based on one half of football with the 49ers on Sunday, seems on the right track.
Maybe that would get Russell's attention.
Call The Bee's Paul Gutierrez, (916) 326-5556, and read his Raiders blog and more on the team at www.sacbee.com/raiders.
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