PRO FOOTBALL / DAILY REPORT : RAIDERS : Scoring Returns a Thing of Past
More than half the teams in the league have returned at least one punt or kickoff for a touchdown, but the Raiders have not, despite having three of the league’s most dangerous returners in Tim Brown, Rocket Ismail and Alexander Wright.
Brown is the AFC’s second-best punt returner with a 13.2 average, although he has not scored.
Ismail leads the AFC with 32 kickoff returns, but he is 10th in return average at 22.3 yards. Wright’s 32.4 return average would lead the NFL, but he hasn’t had enough returns to qualify because opponents are kicking away from him.
Brown had the last Raider kickoff return for a touchdown in 1988.
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Strong safety Derrick Hoskins is fit enough to return to the starting lineup, but he will not get the call Monday at San Diego because the Raiders have handed the job to Patrick Bates, last year’s first-round pick from Texas A&M.; Bates has started the last three games in place of Hoskins, who injured an ankle in the first half at Kansas City on Nov. 6. . . . Cornerback Lionel Washington will sit out his third consecutive game because of a lower leg injury suffered against the Rams Nov. 13.
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