PRO FOOTBALL / DAILY REPORT : RAIDERS : Rathman Knows Saints

Although the Raiders have played New Orleans only once since 1988, fullback Tom Rathman will be familiar with the Saints’ defense Sunday. He played against the Saints twice a year for eight seasons while with San Francisco.

“They’re doing the same things that they’ve always done, except their personnel is different,” Rathman said. “When I played with San Francisco, they had the best group of linebackers in the league, but now they are gone except for one.”

That one is Sam Mills, whose Pro Bowl teammates Rickey Jackson, Pat Swilling and Vaughan Johnson have left over the last two seasons. In that time, the Saints have gone from one of the top defenses in the league to 21st.

“I still have a lot of respect for them because we used to have some battles over the years,” Rathman said. “But you can tell that they are not as good as they used to be.”

*

Ten games into his first season with the Raiders, Rathman says that the biggest difference from playing with the 49ers has been penalties.

The Raiders lead the league with 98 penalties for 761 yards; the 49ers have 75 for 653 yards.

“I know that it’s a part of football, but the Raiders get a lot of calls against them,” Rathman said. “I mean major 15-yard penalties. You can call holding on every play, but we always seem to be called for it. Unfortunately for us, mistakes like that have killed us this season.”

*

Second-year cornerback James Trapp will make his first start of the season if Lionel Washington is unable to play because of a deep lower leg bruise. Washington, who started last week against the Rams in place of Albert Lewis, did not practice and is listed as questionable. Lewis, who suffered a knee injury two weeks ago at Kansas City, will be sidelined for at least one more week. Safety Derrick Hoskins said he will play after sitting out one game because of an ankle injury.