Raiders are happy with their quarterback

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INDIANAPOLIS -- Two years ago, the Raiders used the No. 1 pick on quarterback JaMarcus Russell. He wasn’t the first choice of then-coach Lane Kiffin, who wanted to take Georgia Tech receiver Calvin Johnson and then use a second-round pick on Stanford quarterback Trent Edwards.

But Raiders owner Al Davis really likes Russell, and Coach Tom Cable says he’s happy with the progress the quarterback made in the last six weeks of the 2008 season.

‘Where I want to see him really grow is with his maturity, his understanding of his responsibility,’ Cable said, speaking here at the NFL combine. ‘Not so much taking the snap and handing off, but his responsibility as a starting quarterback in the National Football League. That’s being able to grow more and come out of those post-college years and be more settled.

‘Understand that you really are the face of the organization,’ he said, ‘so you have to handle that the right way and act the right way. ... And he’s been great at that.’

-- Sam Farmer