Raiders Russell still struggling

Dec 25, 2007 - 3:03 AM OAKLAND, California (Ticker) -- JaMarcus Russell saw his first extended playing time on Sunday.

If Oakland Raiders coach Lane Kiffin has anything to say about it, Russell will be a much different quarterback than he showed on Sunday during his team's 49-11 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

After playing the majority of Sunday's game, Kiffin announced he would start the No. 1 overall pick of the 2007 NFL Draft in this weekend's game against the San Diego Chargers.

Russell took all the snaps after regular starter Josh McCown was unable to lead the offense to any points after two drives. The 22-year-old signal caller finished 7-of-23 for 83 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions.

However, he did not mince words in assessing his prized rookie's performance.

"There's a list - where do you start?" Kiffin said. "Ball-handling in the running game. Footwork in the passing game. Timing. Accuracy. You name it, it was out there on film yesterday. He's got a long ways to go.

"Naturally, his confidence wavered a little bit. Extremely poor decision making, I haven't been around decision making like that before as far as just throwing the ball up across the field, like he did a number of times. I'm sure that didn't help his confidence. In your first time playing an extended amount of time like that, to not have success like that can't help."

Kiffin has allowed Russell to work slowly into games over the course of the season, as Sunday was the rookie's third appearance in December. He combined to go 6-for-12 for 50 yards without a touchdown or interception in limited action in a 34-20 win over Denver Broncos on December 2 and a 21-14 loss to the Indianapolis Colts on December 16.

Russell likely played himself into this situation after choosing to hold out until after the regular season began on September 10. The 2007 Sugar Bowl MVP, Russell passed for 3,129 yards and 28 touchdowns while completing nearly 68 percent of his passes as a junior for Louisiana State.