Team Doctor Says Jackson Won’t Play

Raider tailback Bo Jackson will not be available for Sunday’s AFC championship game because of a hip injury suffered in last week’s victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, a team doctor said Wednesday.

“He won’t play this week,” Raider physician Robert Rosenfeld said after Wednesday’s practice.

Rosenfeld also suggested that Jackson’s injury could force the tailback out of Super Bowl XXV should the Raiders defeat the Buffalo Bills at Rich Stadium.

“I only wish we had two weeks before the Super Bowl,” he said.

This year, as part of the NFL’s new television package, there will not be an extra week off between the conference title games and the Super Bowl.

The Raiders would not reveal the results of Jackson’s magnetic resonance imaging test and offered no status report until Wednesday, when teams must report injury updates to the league. The team listed Jackson as “doubtful” for Sunday’s game. The Raiders had the option of listing him as “out.”

The team would say only that Jackson’s left hip was sore. Rosenfeld would not expand on the specifics of Jackson’s injury, suffered when he was tackled by linebacker Kevin Walker after a 34-yard run in the third quarter.

Jackson did not practice Wednesday and was not seen at the Raider complex in El Segundo.

“He’s getting constant treatment,” Coach Art Shell said Wednesday morning. “He’s doubtful for this week, but you never know.”

Shell said that Greg Bell would be activated for Sunday’s game regardless of Jackson’s condition. Shell said Bell’s role would be limited, which would leave the bulk of the Raider rushing game for Marcus Allen, who rushed for 140 yards in 21 carries last week.

News of war breaking out in the Persian Gulf cast a somber cloud over game preparations.

“It’s the only true reality going on right now,” Raider nose tackle Bob Golic said. “What we’re going through is a game. I don’t want to see it break out like it has. It really makes you think about it.”

Running back Napoleon McCallum, a Navy lieutenant on inactive reserve, said he has many friends in the Middle East. “We’re prepared,” he said as a naval officer. “But this is the real thing.”

Added Raider Coach Art Shell: “Sure, we’re concerned. We want peace like everyone else.”

Linebacker Riki Ellison of the Raiders got stuck in traffic outside the Coliseum on his way to last Sunday’s game, so he decided to ditch his car and walk to the stadium.

Ellison got out of his car and handed the keys and a parking pass to several fans in a van who were in the next lane and asked them to park his car.

“I’d never seen them before,” Ellison said. “But the game was more important to me. I knew I could always replace the car.”

Ellison’s teammates told him he’d never see the car again.

But the man who took the keys to Ellison’s car was waiting for Ellison when he emerged from the locker room after the game.

“I didn’t really know what he looked like, but he sought me out and gave me the keys to the car,” Ellison said. “He left a note in the car which said he really enjoyed driving his first Porsche.”

A matchup to watch in Sunday’s game is Raider left tackle Rory Graves and Buffalo’s All-Pro defensive end Bruce Smith. In the first meeting between the teams Oct. 7, Graves did not allow Smith a sack.

“I know he knows that in the back of his mind,” Graves said. “I know he’ll be coming after me full speed. I’m watching him. I know he’s looking at me.”

The Raiders ordered Buffalo News reporter Bob DiCesare from the team’s complex when he was discovered watching Wednesday’s practice. Other visiting media members were permitted to watch. DiCesare, a hockey writer who is supplementing game coverage for his paper, was allowed to return and conduct interviews after practice had concluded.

Times staff writer Chris Baker contributed to this story.