OAKLAND – Raiders rookie running back Darren McFadden was severely limited Sunday because of his injured right big toe.
The No. 4 overall pick out of Arkansas had seven rushes for 20 yards, with a long run of eight yards, and caught two passes for 17 yards. His tipped ball of a JaMarcus Russell screen pass that ended up being intercepted late in the third quarter was not only Russell's first interception of the season, it was a huge momentum turner.
"Not being himself at full capacity," said tight end Zach Miller, "we didn't have one-half of our lightning (and thunder) running attack."
Michael Bush is said to be thunder.
"Darren wasn't right today," said Raiders coach Lane Kiffin. "We even thought of not dressing him, but we didn't have anybody else.
"Same thing with Nnamdi (Asomugha at cornerback); their injuries affected them."
Asomugha, who has an injured right elbow, saw time mostly on third-down passing situations.
Perfect from 75 yards and in – Scratching your head over the Raiders sending Sebastian Janikowski out to attempt a 76-yard field goal to end the first half?
"He's made 73, 74 (yards) in practice," Kiffin said. "Going that way with the wind, at the end of the half, we never would have tried it at any other time with the field position.
"As long as you feel OK with your coverage unit, nothing bad can happen there."
It was Janikowski's first missed field-goal attempt of the season.
Sporting home whites – For the first time in recent memory, the Raiders wore their white jerseys in a home game. Defensive backs coach Willie Brown, an Oakland cornerback from 1967 to 1978, remembered sporting white as a player but didn't remember exactly when.
Kiffin said the warm weather was his reasoning, the thinking being to put the opposition in a dark jerseys to take advantage of the heat.
"It's not very complicated," he said.
So, no, it was not a possible final act of defiance by Kiffin toward Al Davis.
A decent outing – JaMarcus Russell completed 22 of 37 passes for 277 yards and one touchdown and one interception for an 80.6 passer rating.
He was also sacked six times for 26 yards in losses.
Russell left the locker room before reporters arrived, as did many of his teammates.
Supporting the coach – Those players brave enough to address the topic said they are fans of Kiffin and do not want a coaching change.
"You can see by our effort what we think of our football coach," said middle linebacker Kirk Morrison. "He's been an inspiration for us. It's not his fault (we lose); it's on us as players.
"If it was up to us, we'd like to keep things the way they are right now."
Call The Bee's Paul Gutierrez, (916) 326-5556.
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