Oakland Raiders

Raiders outside linebacker Thomas Howard couldn't believe his unhindered view.

Lined up at the left edge, Howard saw nothing but unprotected grass between his helmet and JaMarcus Russell's backside. By the time Russell knew the blitz was coming, Howard had two hands on the quarterback's chest.

"Oh, ya'll liked that pressure, didn't ya'll?" Howard said. "He didn't see it coming. That would have been a big hit."

It made for a nice end of practice Tuesday in Napa. The question is: Will a blitz like that ever see the light of a regular-season day?

New defensive coordinator John Marshall has been dialing up blitz packages throughout training camp. But then, so did former coordinator Rob Ryan, only for those plans to get left behind at training camp.

Howard thinks this is the year the Raiders finally go after the quarterback more than four down linemen at a time.

"I'm telling you, we are going to pressure teams," he said. "I can see it in John's eyes. If he calls a pressure and we don't hit, he may back off. But if we're hitting it, he's going to keep letting us come."

Other players are like cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha, who said he's taking a "wait-and-see" approach.

The skepticism is well founded. The Raiders rushed the passer with four or fewer players 78.5 percent of the time last season. They had five blitz sacks, and just one on third down, according to Stats LLC. That's just not how an Al Davis defense rolls.

Middle linebacker Kirk Morrison said the players must do their convincing now, while they still get a chance.

"We're trying to make sure it's a part of who we are," Morrison said. "We've got to be attacking and stay on our front toes instead of our back toes. In this league, you've got to put pressure on the quarterback. That's what we need to do."

Don't look for evidence in Thursday's exhibition opener against the visiting Cowboys. If the Raiders are to become a blitz machine, they won't tip it off before the games count.

Bad timing: Russell struggled through team drills, completing 3 of 12 pass attempts to a wide receiver.

He missed a wide-open Johnnie Lee Higgins streaking to the end zone, then later drilled Higgins in the back. So continued Russell's trend of chasing a good practice with a bad one at camp.

"At times, he ripped it," coach Tom Cable said. "Then he got on a roll where everything was overthrow and overthrow ... where it's like 100 mph fastballs everywhere.

"Just keep reminding him to stay on time. Be on time when you let it go."

Briefly: Cable said the starters will play one quarter Thursday. ... Rookie safety Mike Mitchell missed the afternoon practice with a hamstring injury that could keep him out of Thursday's game.