PRO FOOTBALL DAILY REPORT : RAIDERS : Hobert: Jaeger Can Have His Job Back

At practice Monday, rookie quarterback Billy Joe Hobert had a question for Art Shell.

“Coach,” he asked, “I don’t have to kick extra points, do I?”

Shell replied: “Nah, you don’t have to worry about that.”

With regular kicker Jeff Jaeger recovered from a calf injury and freely swinging his leg again, Hobert can go back to his specialty--throwing the football.

Although Jaeger could have kicked in last Saturday’s exhibition opener against the Green Bay Packers, the Raiders gave Hobert, their third-round draft choice from Washington, a chance to double as the kicker.

It didn’t turn out quite the way Hobert had envisioned. He missed on his first extra-point attempt, made his second, but then his third was blocked when the trajectory appeared to be too low.

“I was very uncomfortable,” Hobert said. “I was just too quick (on the kicks). I had too much of an adrenaline rush. I looked at how other guys do it and I thought it was easy. What’s the big deal? In high school, it was easy.”

So, a reporter asked Shell, Jaeger’s job is safe?

“You said that,” the Raider coach said, “not me.”

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Quarterback Jeff Hostetler showed no ill effects from the hyperextended right knee he suffered Saturday against the Packers.

Hostetler smiled when asked about the quarterback challenge, the made-for-television contest that was shown during the weekend. He won the competition and $25,000 by beating such stars as Dan Marino, Troy Aikman, Steve Young and Jim Kelly in everything from throwing accuracy to distance to mobility. The competition was held in Orlando, Fla., in April.

“It starts out as fun,” Hostetler said, “but when everybody gets out there, it gets real serious.”

Hostetler, who played the first half of last Saturday’s game, is expected to get the same amount of work Sunday when the Raiders face the San Francisco 49ers at Stanford.

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Saturday’s 19-3 victory marked the first time in a decade that the Raiders won their opening exhibition. Their last opening victory came against the 49ers in 1983, 26-23 in overtime.