SHOULDERING BLAME : Beuerlein Faults Himself After Injury, Ineffectiveness Leave Status in Doubt

Steve Beuerlein was in obvious pain.

The Raider quarterback’s left shoulder hurt from a shot he took near the end of Monday night’s 35-27 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. But his pride was hurt even more.

Beuerlein, 23, a virtual rookie, has tried to carry his team on his inexperienced shoulders, and the burden has proved too great.

A week ago, he vigorously accepted full blame for his team’s 12-6 upset loss to the Atlanta Falcons and admitted that he was confused out there.

On Monday night, he again pointed the finger at himself, but this time he was more subdued, more resigned to the difficulties of being a first-year quarterback in the National Football League.

“No one person wins or loses a game,” he said. “I didn’t feel confused this time, but I’m obviously not happy. My problem this time was that I rushed things. I had antsy feet. I didn’t let things develop.

Beuerlein completed just 4 of 19 passes for 89 yards with 1 crushing interception in the fourth quarter, when he attempted to lob a safety-valve pass to Marcus Allen. Beuerlein overthrew his running back, and the ball landed in the hands of defensive back David Hollis.

“I tried to dump the ball off to Marcus,” Beuerlein said, “and it just got away from me. I got too excited. Just one of many on the day.”

At the end of his long night, Beuerlein was on the bench, his shoulder bruised, and Jay Schroeder was back on the field in the position that was expected to be his when he was acquired from the Washington Redskins .

Raider Coach Mike Shanahan was asked whether Schroeder had reclaimed the position.

“Steve Beuerlein went in with confidence,” Shanahan said, “but he didn’t get the job done. Jay came in and did an excellent job.”

Great. But what does that mean next week against the Denver Broncos? Who will it be, Beuerlein or Schroeder?

“I’ll make a decision on that later in the week,” Shanahan said.

But Shanahan’s praising of Schroeder, who completed only 4 of 11 passes for 84 yards with 1 interception, would seem to indicate that he is paving the way for the switch.

Pulling Beuerlein was not Shanahan’s most controversial move Monday. That occurred earlier, in the closing seconds of the first half. The Seahawks had just scored to go ahead, 21-20. With about half a minute to play, it certainly seemed as if the Raiders would have to be content with a 1-point halftime deficit.

Instead, Tim Brown returned the ensuing kickoff 95 yards to the Seattle 3-yard line.

On the first play from scrimmage, Bo Jackson made it into the end zone, but a penalty nullified the touchdown.

Nine seconds to play. The Raiders called a timeout. They still had 2 remaining.

Time to make another attempt at the touchdown?

Instead, Shanahan opted for the field goal and wound up with nothing when Chris Bahr’s kick was wide left.

Shanahan’s reasoning?

“Anything could have happened,” he said. “If we had gone for it, we could have had a bad snap or we could have come up short on a pass.”

Beuerlein agreed. At least later on.

“At the time, you want to go for it,” he said. “But with 9 seconds, down by one, if you get the three points, you can go into the locker room up by two.”

Instead, he wound up in the locker room after the game with the condition of his shoulder in doubt. And the status of his job also in doubt.

As every rookie learns sooner or later, in the NFL, pain can take a lot of forms.