PRO FOOTBALL DAILY REPORT : AFC : Raiders’ Hostetler Out for the Season

Oakland Raider quarterback Jeff Hostetler underwent arthroscopic surgery on his ailing left shoulder Wednesday and will be sidelined for the rest of the season.

The Raiders (8-7), who have lost five games in a row to jeopardize their chances of qualifying as a wild-card team in the playoffs, will start Billy Joe Hobert at quarterback Sunday at Oakland against Denver, with Vince Evans ready in reserve.

Hostetler sat out 3 1/2 games because of the original injury suffered in a loss to Dallas on Nov. 19. He returned Sunday at Seattle, and re-injured the shoulder when sacked.

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The Buffalo Bills will rest quarterback Jim Kelly this week against the Houston Oilers but let Thurman Thomas play so he can join an elite group of running backs.

Kelly has started all season but played the last three games with a sore passing shoulder, prompting Coach Marv Levy to give rookie Todd Collins his first career start Sunday.

Thomas is 15 yards shy of joining Eric Dickerson and Barry Sanders as the only running backs to gain more than 1,000 yards rushing in seven consecutive seasons.

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John Elway, 35 and nearing the end of his 13th NFL season, said he feels obligated to return in 1996--the final year of his four-year contract with the Broncos. “Then again, I’ve also got to see where the Broncos are coming from,” he said. “Heck, I’m a lot of money against the [salary] cap.” . . . Carlton Haselrig, the suspended New York Jet guard wanted for missing a court appearance in Pennsylvania, waived extradition from Georgia. Authorities in Georgia expect Haselrig to go to Pennsylvania within 10 days.