PRO FOOTBALL / DAILY REPORT : RAIDERS : Ismail Might Play Sunday

The countdown to the launch of Rocket Ismail was put on hold last weekend, but Coach Art Shell hopes his new receiver/return man will finally make his long-awaited debut Sunday against the Seahawks in Seattle.

Ismail reported to the Raiders last week after the completion of contract negotiations that had dragged over five months.

“He got here last Tuesday,” Shell said, “and to just throw him out there, I didn’t want to do that. We’ll get him prepared for this week and go from there.”

*

Not expected to play again Sunday is running back Nick Bell, who sat out Sunday’s season opener against the Minnesota Vikings because of a hamstring injury suffered the week before against the Rams.

Bell is expected to start running in practice this week.

“I can’t give you a timetable on when he’ll be back,” Shell said.

*

The official paid attendance for Sunday’s first NFL game in the renovated Coliseum was 44,120. The number of tickets sold was 45,136.

That information was unavailable Sunday because of a reported computer breakdown.

With the scaled-down seating arrangement, the capacity is now 67,802.

*

After conducting some research, the Raiders confirmed that quarterback Jeff Hostetler’s 15 consecutive completions Sunday were a club record. . . . Said Raider defensive lineman Anthony Smith of Minnesota quarterback Jim McMahon, whom he sacked twice on Sunday: “He’s a squirmy little dude. I hate going after quarterbacks like that. They make me look like a jerk.” . . . Offensive tackle Gerald Perry, who came from the Rams as a free agent, believes he did pretty well in his Raider debut. His main opponent across the line was Chris Doleman. “We won,” Perry said, “and you didn’t hear his name too much. I guess that was a successful outing for me.”