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		Although it’s pre-season, Seahawks a good test for Raiders By Stefani Rebekah Black August 28, 2007

	The Oakland Raiders organization in general has shown an improvement over the course of the last few weeks in camp as they've seen a lot of performance in terms of jelling together, being able to communicate how to click that's something that the Raiders have not been able to achieve for at least the last three years. This is an opportunity for the Raiders to come together as the organization sees this administratively as well as the team itself as the Raiders are ready to get out there and play this season. Coach Lane Kiffin said in the last game against the Rams last Friday night that the offensive line did not perform well and this was a game they not able to protect the quarterback as he would have liked to them do. This has been an issue for them, and the Raiders line will have to work on it and make some adjustments in their play calling and the Raiders have worked a little bit harder in the last few weeks but in the most part although Kiffin didn't like what he saw in this past game against the Rams. There were times when there were one or two sacks during this game against the Raider quarterback. The thing that Kiffin can be happy about is the fact that he is seeing who his starting quarterback is going to be. Lane Kiffin is being hard on himself and the team because he wants to achieve and because he wants to get better and he's seen what happened he's watched the game film with a 2-14 record last season. Kiffin is going to be hard on the club, so you understand his thinking but look for a drastic improvement with Cooper Carlise coming in as well as Jeremy Newberry. Who would have even thought that Newberry was going to be in the kind of shape to be able to hold out and so far he's held out in camp and his knees are holding out so far and Newberry has the attitude and the vision and the drive that the offensive line has lacked they need that leadership and it starts with the center position and the Raiders haven't had a center since Barrett Robbins. JaMarcus Russell and what his role would be if signed: Right now Daunte Culpepper has shown that he is the veteran quarterback presence on the Raiders offense on the quarterback unit its not that Josh McCown doesn't have it he's got skills he's got vision as well but Culpepper has got that pop. Culpepper has the size, he's mobile, he's proven he's in repair, thats he is able to get out there and play and compete. We saw him rush for a couple of first downs so he's focused and he's ready and it was about him learning this offense and about him getting out there and going with the flow and he's been able to do that. Culpepper is not trying to do everything himself, as he is relying on his offensive line he's going to his receivers and he's getting the ball out of the pocket as quickly as he possibly can. Culpepper is showing that leadership far and above Josh McCown and Andrew Walter. Kiffin taking things one step at a time: Kiffin is taking things one step at a time and he's looking at what is going to happen coming up against the Seahawks on Thursday night at Qwest Field. With Seattle being the last pre season game so Kiffin is going to have to go in there against an old competitor who used to be in the AFC West, and now the Seahawks who have moved onto the NFC so they still have a little bit of edge when it come to that AFC competitiveness in Seattle. The Raiders are going to show with the crowd that they're going to be willing to compete and the Raiders are thinking about that game. With the coach saying he really hasn't made up his mind who he's going to use at quarterback and whose going to start and there are some questions at the receivers positions whose going to be the top three or top four positions they're still some questions. The running backs situations Kiffin has work to do and he's going to use this opportunity to break all of that down. Kiffin studies constantly and is always thinking about football and working on the team and putting together the best product. This is the first time we've seen the coach use the talent effectively and across the board. Kiffin in driven: Even when coach Kiffin has Mono he's driven and he got well fast in less than a week and showed that he's on a mission and that he's got a project and he's not willing to let go but it was like "Lane just get better whatever you do" and wear black to home games. The attitude on this club is different this season, and has been a huge difference from last season: The locker room is chipper, it seems like a lot of the veterans and a lot of the players aren't really making themselves that available to the media these days and some of those veteran players are staying in the showers a long time. It's kind of like they want you to wait for them after hours and hours or maybe they want to avoid the media and it just seems like there's some vision there and the media doesn't know what they can do this year to make the athlete understand that the media is not the enemy. We want to be there to cover the story and to promote who they are they're ability and tell the truth about the game and thats something that we noticed about this Raiders locker room presence in 2007 that its more top secret which the Raiders have been known to be and a lot of these players just aren't there. Stefani Rebekah Black covers Raiders football and can be heard on 1690 KFSG Sacramento.