Woodson Will Stick to Defense Today

Jon Gruden, coach of the Oakland Raiders, has changed direction more times this week than a wide receiver. Well, at least more times than Charles Woodson will be able to as a receiver.

Gruden at first said there was “a real good chance” that Woodson, a rookie cornerback who won the Heisman Trophy at Michigan last year as a two-way player, would debut on offense in today’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Oakland.

The coach had dropped similar hints in mid-November, but never followed through. After Woodson reacted coolly to the latest suggestion, saying he’d heard it all before, Gruden changed gears and said Woodson would be restricted to defense.

“Charles is not going to play offense,” Gruden said. “I made a decision not to do that. Maybe at some point in his career here, he’ll get that opportunity. But it won’t be this season.

“I am just going to stay with our original plan, let him settle in and become a great cornerback for us. We don’t look at him as an offensive player. We look at him as a cover guy. We want to make sure he is at the top of that game.”

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Offensive lineman Bruce Matthews has played for the Oilers for 16 seasons. Now a chapter in franchise history closes--only he hasn’t had time to think about it.

“When I get older, not that I’m not already old, but I think it’ll kick in a little bit more,” Matthews said.

The Tennessee Oilers, who failed to make the playoffs, end their season today against the Minnesota Vikings at Nashville.

Then comes a makeover.

The Oiler nickname will be gone and the oil derrick logo will be retired. When they take the field again in 1999, they’ll be the Titans.

“You don’t realize the impact of it,” Matthews said, “but that’s the Oilers’ last game [today]. That’s a big deal.”

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The Miami Dolphins signed wide receiver Lamar Thomas and cornerback Jerry Wilson to contract extensions.

The signing of Thomas--who caught three touchdown passes against the Denver Broncos last Monday night--reflects how much the receiving corps has improved after a maligned start this season.

Thomas signed a two-year contract worth about $1.6 million, said his agent, Howard Weinberg.

The six-year veteran is tied for second on the team with 39 receptions for 524 yards and five touchdowns. He will start ahead of Oronde Gadsden on Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons.

NFC / Cardinals Still Hope to Lift Blackout

The NFL is giving the Arizona Cardinals additional time to try to sell out Sunday’s game against the San Diego Chargers at Tempe, Ariz., which could put the Cardinals in the playoffs.

Under NFL rules, team must have a sellout 72 hours before kickoff if a blackout on local television is to be lifted. That would have made 2 p.m. Thursday the deadline for Sunday’s game.

Cardinal owner Bill Bidwill successfully got the league to extend the deadline to 4 p.m. today in light of the holiday season.

By Thursday evening, the Cardinals were about 9,900 tickets short of a sellout after having sold about 63,000.

The Cardinals (8-7) need to beat the Chargers (5-10) to gain a playoff berth for the first time in a non-strike season since 1975.