LaMont redoubles efforts Raider wants to beat Jets, purge

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Dec 9, 2005 | by Bill SolidaySTAFF WRITER

ALAMEDA -- This was supposed to have been a big week for LaMont Jordan. The former Jet was going back to New York to show his stuff and show off for his "big brother."

"He will definitely have a chip on his shoulder," his Jets' counterpart and good friend Curtis Martin said.

If there's a chip on Jordan's shoulder, it's liable to have a crack in it. Yes, it's still a big week for the Raiders running back, but for a different reason.

To purge himself of embarrassment.

"I come off what I think is probably the worst game I've played in my NFL career," Jordan said. "And for me, it's all about how I bounce back from that game."

Not even the most sarcastic Raiders fan piles on Jordan as much as he has been beating himself up over that game. By Jordan's count, he 1) fumbled, 2) dropped a pass on a key third down, 3) missed his pass protection assignment twice resulting in sacks and 4) missed blocks letting the Chargers hit quarterback Kerry Collins hard on three moreoccasions.

"From the standards I set for myself and those that have been set for me since I came into the NFL, my performance ... was far below my standards," he said.

He said the fumble and the dropped pass were costly enough to take his team out of the game.

"They screwed up the momentum," he said.

The fumble hurt worst. It came at the end of the first quarter, one in which the Raiders were playing the Chargers evenly.

"Once the fumble happened, that was it," Jordan said. "Those guys (the Chargers) just went for it."

Jordan went to the sideline and slammed his helmet down as though he knew a touchdown was coming next -- which it did.

"Whenever you fumble the ball, you are always aware of how the other team does as a result," he said.

Jordan refused to be mollified when told that the fumble only occurred because safety Clinton Hart hit the ball with his helmet.

"It doesn't matter," he said. "As a running back, they trust you with the ball. Since I've been here, I haven't put the ball on the ground."

Of course, every player fumbles, but Jordan said it was something he didn't want Raider fans ever to see again.

Sunday was to have been a get-together of old friends/new opponents. Jordan spent four years behind Martin watching the Jets running back reel off 1,000 yards for a seventh through a 10th consecutive season.

Realizing he was behind a possible Hall of Famer, Jordan took the free-agent route to Oakland.

"Those guys are going to be coming out to knock my head off," Jordan said. "I feel like coming into this game, they could care less if we throw for 400 yards as long as I don't get off against the Jets."

Jordan has steadfastly spoken of Martin in reverent tones, telling how Martin took Jordan under Martin's wing. This week, Martin reciprocated.

"LaMont is probably the closest thing that I've had to a younger brother in the NFL," he told the New York media. "We played the same position, we talked about the same things, we did the same things, and we hung out together. It will be good to see him."

They have spoken rarely since the season got under way. When he said Jordan would have a chip on his shoulder, Martin indicated it wasn't an anger thing but more of a respect issue.

"When I left New England and went back to play New England or when Bill (Parcells) came here and we played New England, there's just something about it," Martin said. "You play with that chip on your shoulder -- you're like, 'If I don't have another good game for the rest of my career, this is the game that I want to have.'

"(It's) especially (true) that first year. I remember that first year (against Parcells). Bill talks about it today. I would make a long run, get up and just stare him down on the sideline, and he'd say 'What you staring at, Boy Wonder?' So we joke about it. It's just natural."

Jordan still wants to have a good game against the Jets, but it's because he wants to bounce back in a meaningful victory more than because he wants to show the Jets what they're missing.

"It would be sweet for the fact that we get another victory," Jordan said. "I still have nothing but the utmost love and respect for Herm ... the organization and my teammates out there. They will always be my teammates.

"But I know once the opening kickoff comes, they're going to come and tackle me, and I'm going to go out and try to run those guys over. That's what it's about."

EXTRA POINTS: Ed Jasper's bad back is better. Derrick Burgess' stomach is not. While Jasper has been able to practice all week and says he fully expects to return Sunday, Burgess sat out practice Thursday when he arrived at the team facility feeling ill. Coach Norv Turner said Burgess would have played had there been a game. ... Jasper nearly retired two years ago when he first injured his back -- a pinched L-5 nerve in his spine. "It comes and it goes," Jasper said. "It's always going to be like that. I was surprised it took this long into the season for me to aggravate it, so evidently it's getting better." He said he planned to continue playing so long as the back permits ... Turner said NT Ted Washington (shoulder) was improving daily and would be cleared to play barring a setback. ... He, LG Brad Badger and FB John Paul Foschi did not complete practice Thursday.