ALAMEDA – Pro Bowl selections will be announced tomorrow.
Predictably, Raiders that deserve consideration aren’t expressing any angst.
There are four Raiders worthy of playing in the game. But the Raiders have only four wins. And there’s no way they’ll get a Pro Bowler per win.
Linebackers Thomas Howard and Kirk Morrison, cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha and punter Shane Lechler are the most likely candidates to earn a nod.
The selection show will air at 1 p.m., local time, on the NFL Network.
Howard said he’d bring linebacker coach Don Martindale and the rest of the linebackers if he makes the team. He has six interceptions this season, the most by a linebacker since Ray Lewis in 2003.
Morrison said friends around the league have told him he’s worthy, but he won’t be sitting around worrying about it tomorrow.
Lechler wasn’t around to talk in the locker room, but he’s not in a good mood after having another punt returned for a touchdown yesterday.
Asomugha was worthy last season, but he’s only been thrown at 27 times and had only nine catches against him this season.
And with only one interception in a year where Antonio Cromartie has 10 might not be enough to get him in the game.
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Other tidbits from the locker room:
Stuart Schweigert spoke about his reduced role on the team. He was in for only one snap on defense after having started 37 straight games until missing the game in Kansas City.
He said he hasn’t really been told what’s going on.
“It’s a deal where I think I’ve maybe played four games where there wasn’t any question about who the starter was,” Schweigert said. “And I thought I played great. And now, after the Minnesota game I get hurt, now it’s a deal where they have Chris Carr in for the dime packages, and they Hiram Eugene in for the base coverages.”
*There was plenty of talk of what’s happened to the punt coverage the last two weeks. It began with Jarrod Cooper, who watched the game from a box at McAfee Coliseum who said he was “disgusted” for what’s happened to Lechler’s stats as a result.
Without having watched film, no one really knows why T.J. Rushing was untouched for 90 yards on a punt return for a score.
Special teams breakdowns are responsible for 21 points for the opposition the last two games.
Cooper added that he’s feeling better and should be 100 percent for next season after tearing his ACL.
--Jason Jones
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