Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/5739
Tuesday, January 5, 2010 – Daily News – 3B Cable believes he should remain coach ALAMEDA (AP) — Coach Tom Cable held a team meeting, met briefly with owner Al Davis and began roster evaluations with his assistants in a typi- cal start to an offseason. The question that will likely be hang- ing over the Raiders for the next week is whether Cable will be part of the team's future. In what seems to be almost an annual occurrence during an unprecedented seven-year stretch of losing at least 11 games a season, the Raiders go into the offseason with questions at head coach. Those questions apparently won't be answered until next week. Cable said Monday that after going through all the evaluations of the season this week, he will sit down with Davis next week, dur- ing which his status will likely be a major topic. ''All I know is I have a contract right now,'' Cable said. ''Whether or not that's honored is not up to me. I'm a ball coach. I'm a damned good football coach so things will work out. They always do.'' Cable said he believes he has done enough to keep his job, despite posting a 9-19 record since replacing Lane Kiffin early in 2008. The Raiders followed up a 5-11 season last year with another five- win campaign this year although there were some signs of progress with wins against two playoff teams and stronger play in the second half of the season. Cable admits he might have overex- tended himself this season, with the responsibilities of the head coach, the play-caller and overseeing the offensive line. He said he would be open to bring- ing in a play-caller next season if that is best for the team. Cable appears to have the support of most of the players, who were impressed with his ability to deal with off-field dis- tractions stemming from an investigation into whether he assaulted assistant Randy Hanson and allegations of vio- lence toward women. ''You ask anybody in this locker room that really cares about the right things, they all want him back,'' offensive line- man Robert Gallery said. ''We'll see what happens, it's not our decision, but we definitely want him back because he's getting this thing going the right way.'' Pro Bowl cornerback Nnamdi Aso- mugha said continuity is important for a franchise that has had five coaches dur- ing its seven-year run of losing. Aso- mugha said after Sunday's game that if he heard Davis was planning to fire Cable, he would go to the owner and speak up for his coach. ''Sometimes it doesn't take a coach two years, sometimes it does take him three,'' Asomugha said. ''We started to get a rhythm and we started to under- stand what we were doing. I would defi- nitely try to get Cable back, just because that gives us some consistency.'' While Cable talked to the team Mon- day about the importance of the hard word and dedication needed to take this struggling franchise back to the postsea- son for the first time since 2002, quarter- back JaMarcus Russell wasn't there to hear the message. Cable said Russell and defensive line- man Richard Seymour were excused from the meeting for personal reasons. Cable said last week that with average quarterback play or better this season, the Raiders clearly would have been a play- off team. But for much of the season with Russell at quarterback, the Raiders got nothing close to that. Russell completed 48.8 percent of his passes, with three touchdowns, 11 inter- ceptions and a 50.0 passer rating in a per- formance that he called ''shaky.'' That's the lowest passer rating for a season in 11 years, when Ryan Leaf, Bobby Hoying and Craig Whelihan fin- ished the season below 50. ''This is a quarterback-driven league,'' Cable said. ''That's the bottom line. When you want to sit around and talk about what could of and should have and all that kind of thing, you drive your- self crazy. The fact is we've had some issue there and we've dealt with it the best way we think for our team.'' The Raiders scored 5.8 more points and gained more than 100 additional yards of offense per game in the final seven contests started by Bruce Grad- kowski and Charlie Frye than they did in the first nine started by Russell. But the 15.6 points per game Oakland scored in that span would have been the fourth-worst mark in team history. The Raiders were their most produc- tive with Gradkowski, who led memo- rable comeback wins over Cincinnati and Pittsburgh before injuring both knees in the first half of a loss to Washington. But his performance when he did play likely puts him in position at least to compete for the starting job next season. Gradkowski completed 54.7 percent of his passes with six touchdowns, three interceptions and an 80.6 passer rating that was the best for an Oakland quarter- back since Rich Gannon in 2002. ''My play itself showed on film,'' Gradkowski said. ''The guys in this locker room know who they want to be out there with. That just all takes care of itself. I'm always open for open competition. I know the coach- es will do the right thing, and we got a good coaching staff. Hopefully, we can all stay together. It's all about consistency in this league. We need to build a nucleus around us and work together for a couple years, and we'll put a good run together of successful years.'' MNG photo Oakland Raiders coach Tom Cable leaves the field after Sunday's season ending loss to Baltimore. 49ers' next step must be getting to playoffs SANTA CLARA (AP) — Mike Singletary's mood was borderline somber as he reflected on another season gone without a trip to the play- offs for the San Francisco 49ers. ''We've got to understand I don't care how close we were, we weren't,'' Singletary said Monday. ''We didn't make the playoffs, just didn't make it. 8- 8, that's it. ... No one stopped us but us.'' The 49ers did take a big step this season by ending a streak of six straight losing campaigns. Yet that's far from enough for their perfectionist coach, even if he's pleased with the progress. Singletary's next move will be getting this team back into the playoffs at long last on the heels a seven-year drought. The Niners haven't advanced since the 2002 season. ''I think a lot of the pieces are in place,'' Singletary said. ''The most important thing in place, I think, is the work ethic and the belief that we are a step away. ... All I know is this group of guys, I am very proud of what they have been able to accomplish. If we want to call ourselves a good team or a decent team or an average team, to me not being able to go to the playoffs — and it is for them because they have worked hard enough — but we just weren't smart enough, for the most part, to make it.'' A 3-1 start led to talk of playoffs for much of this year. The Niners then lost four straight and five of six to greatly diminish their chances. They also dropped six straight road games, five in a row by a combined 19 points, before winning their season finale 28- 6 at St. Louis on Sunday. Singletary switched quar- terbacks at halftime in Hous- ton on Oct. 25, turning to Alex Smith and benching Shaun Hill. That day also marked rookie Michael Crabtree's NFL debut after a 71-day con- tract impasse by the No. 10 overall draft pick. ''We did some good things this year but we didn't hit our goal,'' Smith said Monday. ''Consistency is the thing a lot of teams talk about and the teams that are consistently good are the ones that are in the playoffs.'' Singletary said Smith will be the team's quarterback going forward but didn't rule out the organization signing a quarterback this offseason. The coach also said Jimmy Raye would remain the offen- sive coordinator for now, though quarterbacks coach Mike Johnson has seemingly been gaining more responsibil- ity. Raye was the seventh offensive coordinator in as many years for this franchise. Singletary planned to meet with all his players in the com- ing days as well as with his coaching staff. Pro Bowl tight end Vernon Davis' breakout season was one of the bright spots for the Niners. He tied Antonio Gates' NFL record for touch- downs by a tight end with 13, making a career-long 73-yard TD reception in the fourth quarter Sunday. Yet Davis is so down about not making the playoffs, he said he won't be watching the other teams that are still in uniform. ''I will not watch the play- offs because I wish we were there, and it hurts me to know that we're not,'' Davis said. Singletary challenged his player to tune in, saying they can learn from seeing what other teams do in that pres- sure-packed scene. Four of the team's eight defeats came to teams headed to the postseason: Green Bay, Indianapolis, Minnesota and Philadelphia. ''We know we're better than what's happened,'' running back Frank Gore said. Singletary began this sea- son with his team in full pads from the physical first day of training camp, declaring from the start that San Francisco would be a power-run offense. Yet with Smith behind cen- ter, the 49ers became a largely passing offense. The balance Singletary has been seeking showed up later in the year, with Gore running for 100 or more yards in three of the last four games. Defensively, the Niners did a lot of good things. They fin- ished 15th in the league, fourth in points allowed with 281 total. Seven times San Francis- co held an opponent to 10 or fewer points. San Francisco also wound up with 44 sacks, the most by the franchise since recording 51 in 1998. The Niners had 33 takeaways, good for fifth in the NFL, with 18 interceptions and 15 fumble recoveries — all positives for a defense that wanted to pressure the quarter- back at every chance. Finding consistency is what Singletary called the hardest part of his first full season in charge of the Niners. His players won't argue that. ''I guess you can say we just haven't made plays when we need to make them,'' line- backer Parys Haralson said. ''Sometimes things just don't go your way. The thing we have to do better is just finish- ing games and not do a lot of things to hurt ourselves, defen- sively and offensively. We have to go out and not kill our- selves.'' Still, Singletary knows going out with two straight victories could give this team momentum heading into off- season workouts and prepara- tion for 2010. ''I'm a strong believer that it has everything to do with the way you finish going into the next year,'' Singletary said. ''It's a little bit frustrating that you have to look at it that way. No one is responsible for where we are but us.'' MCT photo Vernon Davis tries to haul in a pass during Sunday's win in St. Louis.