For Raiders, there’s no price on staying in contention

Reporting from Alameda, Calif. — It’s obviously an off week for the Oakland Raiders because Coach Hue Jackson was wearing a maroon sweat suit Thursday when meeting up with a reporter at team headquarters. That’s not standard attire in the land of Silver & Black.

“Sorry about the outfit,” Jackson said. “Just grabbed the first thing out of my closet.”

The colors aren’t changing, but the Raiders undeniably are a franchise in flux. They have a new owner — the late Al Davis has been replaced by his son, Mark — a first-year coach, and a just-acquired quarterback in Carson Palmer.

At 4-3 and half a game back of San Diego in the division, the Raiders are in the thick of a tightening AFC West race. They have a defense with potential, and an offense that hinges on the health of running back Darren McFadden, who sat out much of last Sunday’s loss to Kansas City because of a foot injury, and on Palmer picking up the playbook on the fly.

Palmer replaces the injured Jason Campbell (broken collarbone), and the franchise rolled the dice in acquiring the 2002 Heisman Trophy winner from USC. To pry Palmer loose from Cincinnati, the Raiders gave up their first-round pick in next spring’s draft, and a second-rounder in 2012 that would be upgraded to a first-rounder if the Raiders make the AFC championship game within the next two seasons.

It’s a steep price, but a gamble Jackson considers essential.

“Everybody says we paid too much,” Jackson said. “I don’t look at it that way. To me, having the potential to win is greater than anything. Let’s say we don’t give up what we need to to get a quarterback we think can help us win.

“Jason’s out five, six weeks, maybe the rest of the season. So you’re willing to go lose the rest of your games possibly to put yourself in a position where you say what? We’re just a loser?”

This is a win-now league, and Jackson clearly feels that urgency. He didn’t want to force Palmer into action so early, benching Kyle Boller for the second half of the Kansas City game, but few expected the Raiders to be so non-competitive in that 28-0 home loss. It was a disaster for Oakland all the way around, with three interceptions by both Boller and Palmer, both of whom saw picks run back for touchdowns.

Obviously, Campbell grasps the reality of the situation. If things go as planned, his days in Oakland are over. His story is a prime example of the harsh realities of the business. In a 48-hour period, he went from the quarterback of one of the league’s hottest teams, to hurt, to hoping to come back, to a forgotten man. He learned of the Palmer trade while watching TV.

“I’m a starter in this league,” he told CSN Bay Area. “Definitely. I look around the league and I play at a higher level than most guys. I’m definitely a starter. I’m not ready to accept being in a backup role. I’ve come too far and done too much and I feel like I’m pressing on and I haven’t even done my best yet.”

Jackson isn’t ready to write off Campbell for the season, saying that’s the reason he hasn’t put the quarterback on injured reserve. But the coach is also a realist.

“I want to do what’s right by him,” Jackson said. “But what’s wrong by him — and what’s wrong for this team — is if I just sit there and said, ‘OK, I’m just going to wait for Jason and see what we’ll be when he gets back.’ My No. 1 job here is to win. Coach Davis put me here to win. He didn’t put me here to worry about everybody’s feelings.

“I know that’s a hard pill to swallow if I’m in Jason’s shoes. But I can’t worry about that. All I can do is be very fair, very honest, very forthcoming, and the rest has to take care of itself. And it will.”

Big Bills for Fitzpatrick

Buffalo is reportedly weeks away from signing quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick to a lucrative contract extension expected to pay him in the neighborhood of $9 million per season. That would roughly quadruple his current pay.

The former seventh-round pick is heading into the final year of his three-year deal and said talks have been taking place for a new contract.

“I’d be lying if I said that it’s something I haven’t even thought about all year,” said Fitzpatrick, the centerpiece of the Bills’ recent resurgence. “It’s something that exists, that’s in the air. I’m human too, so I can’t just block it away.”

Dielman seizure

Kris Dielman, a Pro Bowl guard for San Diego, suffered a seizure on the flight home from New York on Sunday after a loss to the New York Jets, the Associated Press reported.

Citing an unnamed person with knowledge of the situation, the AP said an ambulance met the team plane and Dielman was hospitalized overnight. He was hurt in the fourth quarter and appeared dazed but continued playing. Because of other injuries, the Chargers were out of offensive linemen.

Although he declined to comment on the seizure, Dielman will not play Monday against Kansas City and has yet to take the test he’s required to pass before returning to practice.

sam.farmer@latimes.com

twitter.com/LATimesfarmer