Wilson’s Ankle Tender; Raiders Trot Out Hilger : Rookie Quarterback Faces the Press, Might Face Chiefs in First Start Sunday

Raider quarterback Marc Wilson is again dropping back and throwing off his sore right ankle, but, Coach Tom Flores said Wednesday, he’s doing it very slowly.

Wilson displayed an ankle with all the colors of one of those murals in Venice. If he isn’t ready to start running the offense today, the Raiders might be starting another quarterback Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs at the Coliseum.

In that case, it would be rookie Rusty Hilger. There are several Raider executives who have been hoping out loud for such a development. Al Davis, himself, tells people that there could be greatness in Hilger.

This despite the fact that Hilger is a relative unknown from Oklahoma State, a No. 6 draft pick and largely unproven.

His experience consists of 1 1/2 quarters at New England last week. His teammates gave him high grades for his coolness under fire--”He took control of the offense. He wasn’t shy,” Dokie Williams said--but Hilger did have this little problem when it came to actually throwing the football.

He missed his first six receivers in a variety of ways. The highlight was a rising 1-iron shot that whooshed over the head of Jim Smith, who was running in splendid isolation behind the Patriot defense.

On the other hand, Hilger came back and threw the touchdown pass to Todd Christensen that broke the game open. He has a quick release, a strong arm and, a few stray passes notwithstanding, remarkable poise.

His teammates have gone out of their way to praise his banty-rooster composure. “The classic cocky quarterback,” Howie Long called him in training camp. But with the press, Hilger is engagingly humble.

“My greatest strength?” he asked Wednesday, grinning. “I didn’t know I had one.

“In the past, it’s been not to screw it up.”

With the mounting possibility that Hilger is going to be in there Sunday, the Raiders had an impromptu press conference for him. Hilger was unfazed, saying polite things.

Wilson’s critics often suggest that Marc is too down to earth, too willing to open his heart, that he lacks the aloofness of the prototypical National Football League quarterback. His defenders suggest that as soon as he plays one healthy season, they’ll know.

Bad luck for Wilson. He sprained his ankle and the future was now, such as it was.

Hilger trotted onto the field Sunday wearing the plays and formations on a pad taped to his wrist. One good pileup and a Patriot linebacker could have emerged with the Raider playbook, but that never happened.

“It was too small for them to read,” Hilger said. “We had it reduced three, four times.

“It was just a cheat-sheet for me. There are a lot of things in the game plan every week. If there’d been any problems, I’d have gone to it. I never had to refer to it.”

One reason was that the coaching staff called all his plays for him.

“I thought I played rather poorly,” Hilger said. “Rather like a rookie. That’s something we have to strive to overcome. This is no time to be a rookie in the NFL.

“I’m trying every day to do that. They need a lot of things out of the quarterback, hold the team together, make big plays, not screw it up.”

Chalk his first game up to complete inexperience. If his time comes Sunday, he’ll only be relatively inexperienced, so anything is possible.

For the Raiders, one of the most encouraging things about last Sunday was the play of the embattled offensive line, after Dave Dalby had gone back in at center and Don Mosebar had moved over to right guard for the first time this season, in Mickey Marvin’s spot.

Behind that line, the Raiders ran for 97 yards in 22 carries, by far their best performance of the season.

Flores, however, suggested later that the new combination might not have been the reason. He said it was hot and that the Patriots might have just been worn down by then. He said Marvin had left only because of back cramps.

Wednesday he was asked what his lineup would be. He named the old lineup, with Mosebar back at center and Marvin at guard.

Now there’s a postgame quote: Lyle Alzado, demonstrating his fumble-recovery touchdown on the “Tonight Show “ with Johnny Carson, dived onto Johnny’s desk. “I dove over it,” Alzado said. “I was showing off my agility.” . . . The newest Raider, Jerry Robinson, passed his physical, met the guys and said that he was delighted at all the high jinks in the locker room. “I told Lyle I saw him on the Carson show and I think he’s losing it,” he said.

Raider Notes Kick returner Cle Montgomery had surgery on his right knee and will be lost for the season. His replacement, Fulton Walker, returned seven punts for a 15.9-yard average last week and leads the NFL. Three days after arriving, Walker got one of the three game balls at New England. . . . The Raiders cut Dave Stalls, the mini-nose tackle whose quickness they thought would be so effective rushing passers. After a year out of football, it wasn’t and he’s gone. The Raiders are talking about getting Mitch Willis off injured reserve as a backup nose tackle. . . . The Raiders tried out quarterbacks Joe Dufek and Bob Avellini Tuesday. Result? If Marc Wilson can’t go Sunday, they may try to get rookie Russ Jensen of Cal Lutheran off injured reserve and through waivers.