PRO FOOTBALL / DAILY REPORT : RAIDERS : Groggy Hostetler Expects to Play

Jeff Hostetler knew the signs all too well--the migraine headache, the blurred vision, the flashing lights, the foggy memory and the nausea. So when the Raider quarterback got hit in the head by Pittsburgh Steeler linebacker Chad Brown on Sunday at the Coliseum late in the first half, he realized he might have a concussion.

Hostetler, who sat out practice Wednesday but is confident he’ll play Monday night against the San Diego Chargers, has had five previous concussions. The worst, suffered in his days as a New York Giant, landed Hostetler in a hospital for several days in 1992 and cost him three games. Another, suffered in sub-zero temperatures last year in Green Bay, left Hostetler without much memory of that game.

Still, when Coach Art Shell asked Hostetler on Sunday if he knew where he was, the quarterback replied, without hesitation, “The L.A. Coliseum.”

Hostetler stayed in for seven more plays, was pulled for the final series of the half, and then was examined at intermission.

Vince Evans started the second half, but Hostetler kept lobbying to go back in, sending both players and coaches over to Shell to argue his case.

Finally, Shell relented for one series in the fourth quarter of a game the Raiders lost, 21-3.

Hostetler’s symptoms have gradually subsided. He will get checked again this morning and hopes to return to practice today.

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Three days after questioning a game plan that enabled him to catch only three passes in a 21-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, receiver Tim Brown was ready to put the controversy behind him.

“Whatever happened last week, whether they (the coaches) agree with me or not, it was my feelings on it,” Brown said, “so I had to express how I felt. But I know the coaching staff can’t be happy because we lost the game. If we would have won the game and I would have been saying that, then they would be looking at me like I’m crazy. I know none of my teammates is happy that we lost the game.

“That’s the important thing. That’s what I was upset about was the fact we lost a real big game at home.”

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Shell said cornerback Albert Lewis will return to the starting lineup this week if his sprained right knee is sufficiently healed. Cornerback Lionel Washington, who missed two games because of a bruised calf muscle, practiced Wednesday.